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Leaders of separate public and private efforts to sequence the human genome used words such as "cooperation," "collaboration," and "partnership" to describe their intentions toward each other during a hearing last month in Washington, D.C. But both projects appear headed on separate, although not quite independent, courses. The private project--a joint venture between Perkin-Elmer Inc., a Norwalk, Conn.-based manufacturer of sequencing equipment, and J. Craig Venter, president of The Institute

PHANTOM PAIN GUT-WRENCHING STORY PACEMAKER IN THE BRAIN THE SCOOP ON DINO DINING SUMATRAN TIGER, A DISTINCT SPECIES FUNGUS AMONG US HONORABLE QUARTET FROM GM PAIN EXPLAINED: Washington University's Min Zhuo found that a region of the brain in rats could activate neurons in the spinal cord, possibly causing feelings of pain without any external stimulation. PHANTOM PAIN Results from a Washington University study bring up new questions about your high-school gym teacher's old proclamations tha

Commencement ceremonies this spring at many colleges and universities across the country honored not only graduating students, but scientists hailing from a variety of fields. In recognition of their achievements, dozens of scientists received honorary degrees; some also offered words of advice to graduates. The speeches included the usual all-important cliches: Strive to be your best. Take risks. Seize opportunities. Retain your individuality. Learn for the sake of learning. However, several s

With a flourish of the checkbook and a call for research proposals, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration has summoned into prominence a virtually new discipline of science: astrobiology. When the principal investigators of the first 11 member organizations in NASA's Astrobiology Institute gathered on June 10-11 in Washington, D.C., no definition of astrobiology had been formally adopted and no director chosen. Many of the members had never met and knew little or nothing of each oth

At what price do we bring clean air to cities around the United States? To some government agencies and oil refiners, the answer is clear. At an average cost of 2-3 cents per gallon of gasoline, the oxygenate methyl tertiary-butyl ether (MTBE) can significantly reduce toxic automobile emissions and improve air quality in many smog-choked cities throughout the nation. To lawmakers, the answer has been less certain. MTBE has taken center stage in a political debate that has cast doubt on the safe

  DOUBLE WINGS: An ultrabithorax mutant fly has a total duplication of the body segment that carries wings. Recent issues of The American Journal of Human Genetics have featured a newcomer: Drosophila melanogaster. The fruit fly is a frequent star of a series of review articles called "Insights From Model Systems." The insect's appearance in a human genetics journal is a telling sign that this model among model organisms, long used to decipher the general principles of inheritance

Pointing to a few empty chairs in a conference room, moderator David T. Curiel joked that a symposium on emerging nonviral vectors was a "failure" compared to other packed talks at the American Society of Gene Therapy's inaugural meeting last month. The director of the University of Alabama at Birmingham's gene therapy program also noted that viral vectors have generated more research activity than nonviral vectors. However, nonviral backers think their delivery vehicles for therapeutic geneti

LAB-PROVEN: With this equipment, Manish M. Shah of the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory has demonstrated that enzymes in spinach can neutralize explosives. POPEYE WOULD BE PROUD Remember how Popeye turns into human dynamite whenever he eats spinach? Well, the new word is that enzymes in spinach may reduce dynamite to a harmless bunch of chemicals. Manish M. Shah, a research scientist at the U.S. Department of Energy's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Richland, Wash., is using nitr

The first large-scale clinical trial of any HIV vaccine got a green light this month from the Food and Drug Administration. And VaxGen Inc. of South San Francisco, Calif., announced that it would begin almost immediately Phase III clinical trials of its bivalent gp120 vaccine. The approval did not come without VaxGen fighting criticism and negative speculation ( M. E. Watanabe, The Scientist, 12[12]:1, June 8, 1998, and The Scientist, 11[22]:1, Nov. 10, 1997). This concern was conveyed in an a

Research in genetics has changed the way scientists view many disorders that befall patients. For example, investigators have taken giant steps in understanding the molecular basis of diseases such as cancer and cystic fibrosis. Genetic research also has radically revamped the understanding of afflictions--including manic-depression and obesity--that in the past were blamed on the infirmity and weak will of their sufferers. CONFIDENTIALITY CONSIDERED: Utah's Jeffrey Botkin, says his study on

Principals behind joint-venture proposal and public effort seek to define relationships A private effort to sequence the human genome four years ahead of the Human Genome Project's 2005 goal could either compete directly with the federal project or meld seamlessly with it. Before any relationship between the two efforts becomes formalized, scientists and federal officials involved with the Human Genome Project must determine whether the private approach will work, who will own the data, how qu

May 18 marked the one-year anniversary of President Bill Clinton's pledge--some say more politically motivated than realistic--that there will be an AIDS vaccine by the year 2007. READY FOR PHASE III: Donald Francis of VaxGen is ready for Phase III trials of its AIDS vaccine to begin. The field of AIDS vaccine research has been and remains acrimonious. The basic researchers who insist on proof of immune response prior to large clinical trials disagree with the vaccine researchers whose experi