The Scientist - Home

Bringing together the normally disparate disciplines of ecology, ethics, environmental management, economics, and medicine is the goal of the two-year-old International Society for Ecosystem Health. The society and its journal, Ecosystem Health (Blackwell Science Inc., Cambridge, Mass.), are run by ecologist David Rapport, who holds the Eco-Research Chair in Ecosystem Health at the University of Guelph in Ontario, Canada. In 1994 Rapport and University of Maryland ecologist Robert Costanza coc

In the excitement over functional foods in the supermarket, researchers shouldn't overlook other opportunities -- namely, animals and agriculture, according to George Kidd, president of the management consulting firm Kidd and Co. Inc. of Shorewood, Wis. Kidd believes that the animal feed market offers pharmaceutical companies the perfect chance to seize functional food technology. "There are 1,200 human health companies that specialize in biotech," he says. "On the other hand, only a few speci

Depletion Date: March 4, 1996 (The Scientist, Vol:10, #5, pg.9 & 12, March 4, 1996) (Copyright ©, The Scientist, Inc.) Editor's Note: Three months ago, the Nobel Prize in chemistry was presented to three researchers "for their work in atmospheric chemistry, particularly concerning the formation and decomposition of ozone." In announcing the awarding of the 1995 prize to Paul Crutzen of the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry in Mainz, Germany; Mario Molina of the Massachusetts Institute of

American Association for Cancer Research Public Ledger Building, Suite 816 150 S. Independence Mall West Philadelphia, Pa. 19106-3483 (215) 440-9300 Fax: (215) 440-9313 E-mail: aacr@aol.com 11,200 members Executive director: Margaret Foti President: Joseph R. Bertino Journals: Cancer Research; Clinical Cancer Research; Cell Growth and Differentiation; Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention American Society for Cell Biology 9650 Rockville Pike Bethesda, Md. 20814 (301) 530-7153 Fax: (

Date: February 19, 1996 Bioscan Inc. Boeckeler Instruments Inc. Data Translation Inc. Imaging Research Inc. Intracellular Imaging Inc. Jandel Scientific Software Noesis Vision Inc. Oncor Inc. Optimas Corp. Princeton Instruments Inc. Scanalytics Universal Imaging Corp.

Sophistication, Experts Say Author: Thomas W. Durso An October dismissal of a lawsuit filed under the federal False Claims Act-which allows whistleblowers to sue institutions defrauding the government and to recover up to three times the funds involved, plus additional penalties-shows that the courts are becoming more sophisticated in judging science-related cases brought under the law, according to several observers. Kathryn M. Milam, a former postdoctoral researcher at the Brain Tumor Resea

Another Vote To Nix The Pox Four Scientists Get Met-It Pay Help For Insomniacs? Cleaning Up The Cleanup Mullis On HIV: Where's The Beef? Hope For The Heavy Date: February 19, 1996 CONDEMNED: One of the two remaining smallpox stores Like a death-row inmate running out of chances to appeal, the last two remaining stores of smallpox virus have again been condemned to destruction. Late last month the governing board of the World Heath Organization (WHO) in Geneva recommended that the smallpo

Generation Ages Author: Karen Young Kreeger Date: February 19, 1996 As the baby-boomer generation gets older, biotech companies are stepping up their research efforts with the goal of capitalizing on the huge potential market for anti-aging products. The number of drugs and therapies in development for diseases of the elderly increased from 125 in 1993 to 132 in July 1995. The number of companies developing those remedies climbed from 60 to 71 in the same time frame, according to New Medicines

Too Much On Alzheimer's? Author: Steven Benowitz Date: February 19, 1996 The National Institute on Aging (NIA) spent approximately $216 million last year-practically one-half of its 1995 total budget of $433 million-on research related to Alzheimer's disease. Overall, the National Institutes of Health funded some $311 million in Alzheimer's-associated work. Concerned: Richard Adelman worries about a lack of money for basic aging science. Is that too much? Is spending that much on Alzheimer'

In what some industry observers liken to biotechnology's early days of scientific hope mixed with public pessimism, gene therapy has come under the scope of scrutiny at the National Institutes of Health. A much-publicized December panel report commissioned by NIH director Harold Varmus lambastes companies' use of clinical trials to lure investors; urges stringent peer review of gene therapy protocols; calls for more basic research; and warns that "overselling of the industry" could cause a back

While scientists debate how the National Institutes of Health should allocate gene therapy dollars, the agency is quietly moving out of routine clinical-protocol review. In December, an ad hoc committee of biomedical experts appointed by NIH director Harold Varmus gave a formal stamp of approval to the changes. NIH's Recombinant DNA Advisory Committee (RAC) is a panel of 14 independent scientists and nine public representatives. For years, RAC has reviewed gene therapy protocols by any research

NRC Date : 11/78 Location : University of California, San Francisco Isotope : 32p Dose/Intake : 3-4 millicuries (110-190 megabequerels) Perpetrator : suspected self No. of People : 3 Contaminated Date : 2/82 Location : Brown University Isotope : 32p Dose/Intake : 157 microcuries (5.8 megabequerels) Perpetrator : none found No. of People : 2 Contaminated Date : 3/83 Location : Washington University, St. Louis Isotope : 125I Dose/Intake : 0.360 microcuries, (0.013 megabequerels) Perpetrator : s