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Barbara Mikulski If there is more "bullwhip and buzz saw" than "serenade by starlight" in the persona of U.S. Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski (D-Md.), it's because she isn't afraid to batter feelings in fighting for what she believes in. Certainly, not everyone likes the outspoken way she cuts through business-as-usual in pursuit of her goals. "Barbara, you just don't have a therapeutic personality," is how one of her teachers once put it, and Mikulski proudly declares that Ronald Reagan, George Bush,

Defining Genetics On Oct. 3, in a prelude to the 50th meeting of the American Society of Human Genetics in Philadelphia, several hundred geneticists attended a one-day international conference on the genetics of complex diseases. Organized by the National Disease Research Interchange, a Philadelphia-based nonprofit coordinating organization, the agenda included sessions on the genetics of thyroid disease, type I diabetes, and autism. The first session, "Defining the Genetics of Complex Disease

In the beginning, there were no posters. Now, many scientific meetings have thousands of them. At the 50th meeting of the American Society of Human Genetics (ASHG) in Philadelphia, Oct. 4-7, scientists signed up for 2,147 posters, compared to 287 slide presentations. Douglas Marchuk, associate professor in the department of genetics at Duke University, and this year's head of the ASHG program committee, describes the poster evolution this way: "In l977 and l978 they were all slide sessions. In

The results of the UK government's BSE Inquiry were published on Thursday 26 October, implicating civil servants and scientists in the health scandal.

While you take time out to eat your lunch, your computer could be busy helping crack one of the biggest challenges of modern biology.

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