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The volume of research conducted in Europe will be driven down dramatically and thousands of lives will be lost if a directive developed by the EU becomes law next year, warned leading UK research directors last week.

A leading cancer trial specialist warns that over-complexity of trials could be delaying the process by which successful drugs reach patients. Professor Richard Gray, Director of the Clinical Trials Unit at the University of Birmingham, voiced his concerns at the European Society for Medical Oncology conference. He called for a move towards simpler and more direct planning and organisation of trials.Currently, trials involve a great demand on patients to undergo extra investigations and attend f

The Scientist 14[20]:0, Oct. 16, 2000 NEWS Two Companies: Microscopic Collaborations By Arielle Emmett Some of the more established companies seem to hedge their bets by forming complex, multiple collaborative relationships with a number of companies. Neose, for example, a Horsham, Pa.-based biotech venture specializing in complex carbohydrate development, now has five formal corporate collaborations in place, according to P. Sherrill Neff, president and CEO. "One

Alfred Gilman Completion of a draft of the human genome and advances in gene expression manipulation imply the potential capacity to predict altered behavior from factors such as pharmacological inputs. In an age where collaborations and joint ventures are typical, a Nobel laureate in biomedicine will lead a research alliance that ultimately should promote faster disease treatment via targeted drug remedies. Alfred Gilman, chairman of pharmacology at the University of Texas Southwestern at Dalla

The Scientist 14[20]:1, Oct. 16, 2000 NEWS Biotech Needs Collaborations, Joint Ventures Necessary for survival in today's world, partnering also has its perils By Arielle Emmett The biotech industry can no longer survive as a city of independent ventures. Collaborations, commercial alliances, joint ventures--a web of scientific, manufacturing, sales, and financial partnerships--is now the norm rather than the exception. Overwhelming benefits have resulted in terms of a f

Courtesy of PPL TherapeuticsA new generation of pigs. Headlines in late summer 2000 introduced long-awaited reports on pig cloning and retroviral transmission to mice, pig cells healing rat spinal cords, and a gaff by Dolly dad Ian Wilmut erroneously heralding halt of xenograft work at the Roslin Institute near Edinburgh, Scotland. So it seemed that the question of whether pigs can pass their retroviruses to humans might finally be on the road to resolution. Not quite. Pigs, as the purveyors o

A new strategic alliance has brought two countries separated by the Atlantic Ocean closer together, with Maryland becoming the first state to enter into a biotechnology agreement with Scotland. University of Maryland Biotechnology Institute's (UMBI) president Jennie Hunter-Cevera joined representatives from Maryland and Scotland's biotech communities at a recent ceremony where an agreement was signed designed to increase business and scientific collaborations. Hunter-Cevera was part of a 14-memb

Ubiquitin-related research has made the transition from the basic to clinical arena in the past decade, and the field is now central to understanding diseases ranging from cancer to neurodegenerative disorders.

The language of a DNA sequence is more than meets the eye. A string of A, C, T, and G can indeed encode a string of amino acids. At a higher level, however, nuances of sequence may impart evolutionary information, because variants accumulate over time. Single nucleotide polymorphisms--SNPs--for example, are scattered throughout the human genome on average about one every 500 to 1,000 DNA bases. But they are not distributed evenly, and their clustering or paucity may hold clues to the past. A te

What can people expect from biotechnology and genomics? Ten luminaries from the biomedical arena, law, and journalism grappled with issues related to that question at the City University of New York's Graduate Center on Sept. 20. In attendance was an audience of 350 whose research, medical, and counseling careers could hinge on how such issues are resolved. Syracuse University's Gene Media Forum (www.genemedia.org) sponsored the event. The recurring theme was biological predictability. Er

Genetic testing for Huntingdon's disease by insurance companies is to be sanctioned by UK ministers this week. Opposition to this decision by members of parliament and consumer groups raised concerns that DNA testing for insurance purposes would create a 'genetic underclass' of people unable to gain cover, or having to pay higher premiums. People would be forced to disclose the results of a DNA test or risk rendering their cover null or void.A spokeswoman for the National Consumer Council warned

A new law in the US requiring new adult drugs to be tested for use in children could result in a three-fold increase in the number of pediatric clinical trials.