The Scientist - Home

At an NIH workshop, they discover how advanced computation can improve their vision of life processes PITTSBURGH -- Time was, all that a biologist ever wanted was a new microscope. But times change. A decade after the first supercomputers began to open up new vistas for physicists and engineers, life scientists are beginning to use these powerful machines to work on everything from high-resolution protein reconstructions to detailing how the brain functions. "Anything I can do with a supercom

NIH Reviews Electronic Mailing Of Guide Electronic mailings will one day replace the distribution of the printed weekly Guide for Grants and Contracts. Those concerned about how this change will come about and how it will affect their institutions are invited to participate in a one-day workshop September 7 at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Md. The meeting will run from 8:30 A.M. to 4:30 P.M., and will include formal presentations and on-line and simulated demonstrations. Partic

Theodore Friedmann, professor of pediatrics at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, has been appointed to the Muriel Jeannette Whitehill Chair for Biomedical Ethics at the school. Friedmann, who has been at UC-San Diego since 1969, has focused his research efforts on the genetic mechanisms underlying disease and the development of methods to correct genetic defects. In a benchmark 1972 essay in Science (175:949-55), Friedmann introduced the phrase "gene therapy" to descr

The American Chemical Society, whose members will gather in Washington, D.C., next week for the organization's 200th national meeting, is facing several legal attacks against its profitable Chemical Abstract Service. In June, Dialog Information Services, a California-based online information vendor, filed a $50 million suit against the society for "anticompetitive, illegal and predatory" management of CAS databases. The society is also fighting several law suits brought against it by the Columb

The 1991 Budget: So Far, So Good Stifling Environment At Livermore Fast-Foods Chain Serves Up Science Breaking Down The Lab Walls Some Discretion, Please The House, on recess until after Labor Day, has passed along to the Senate several of the appropriations bills for fiscal year 1991 covering the government agencies that fund basic research. And the news, so far, is pretty good. NSF has tentatively received a $250 million increase over current levels, divided between $170 million more for r

WASHINGTON -- A Boston University computer scientist and a Baltimore software company have put an unusual twist on United States firms' practice of going abroad in search of cheap labor. For Yuri Shestov and Intelligent Resources International (IRI) Inc., the underdeveloped world is the Soviet Union. "A lot of companies don't realize how much scientific talent is available in Russia," says Shestov, vice president of research and development at IRI. "And it's unbelievable what you can pay for l

Bush's science adviser says he'd like to see government bolster financial support, urges more consideration for individual researchers WASHINGTON--The Bush administration wants to do more for "small science," says presidential science adviser D. Allan Bromley. But the type of support Bromley has in mind appears to be more psychological than financial. "The small investigator needs to have a feeling of being paid attention to," Bromley told The Scientist. "There's a feeling that the large proj

Innovative instruments, often jerry-built from parts of other devices, are making a wide array of new projects possible One look through something called a confocal microscope was all it took for William Sunderland to make a drastic change in his career plans. A math student with what appeared to be a bright future in computers, he peeked one day through the lens of a microscope invented in the lab where he worked. The dazzlingly detailed pictures of living cells convinced him to switch his ma

San Diego firm's future hinges on the success of a serendipitously wrought treatment for a variety of genetic diseases Until March of this year, no one paid much mind to Wick Goodspeed, president and CEO of Vical Inc. With a staff of 22 scientists, his three-year-old biotechnology company in San Diego was just another startup hoping to cash in on the $2 billion-plus markets for innovative drug design and drug delivery methodologies. Then serendipity stepped in. While looking for a new way to

The Scientist has asked a group of experts to comment periodically upon recent articles that they have found noteworthy. Their selections, presented here in every issue, are neither endorsements of content nor the result of systematic searching. Rather, the list represents personal choices of articles the columnists believe the scientific community as a whole may also find interesting. Reprints of any articles cited here may be ordered through The Genuine Article, 3501 Market St., Philadelphia,

Culpeper Funds Medical Scholars The Charles E. Culpeper Foundation Scholarships in Medical Science provide financial support for the career development of young academic physicians. Any accredited U.S. medical school can apply for up to three years of funding, in the name of a desired candidate, for awards of up to $100,000 per year. Three awards are scheduled for funding this year. Parameters for research topics are wide; anything that has relevance to human health is acceptable. However, the

Hilary Koprowski, director of the Wistar Institute in Philadelphia, recently was presented with the Philadelphia Award, also referred to as "Philadelphia's Nobel Prize." The annual $25,000 award, originated in 1921 by publisher Edward W. Bok, who died in 1930, is given by a board of trustees established in Bok's will. The honor recognizes outstanding achievement in the Philadelphia area. Previous winners include the Rev. Leon Sullivan and orchestral conductors Eugene Ormandy and Leopold Stokow