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Members Disperse Author: Billy Goodman Sidebar:Where Are Roche Institute Members Going? The Roche Institute of Molecular Biology (RIMB)-once one of the premier basic research labs in the United States-is about to go dark. Hoffmann-La Roche Inc., the Swiss-owned pharmaceutical giant that chartered RIMB and gave it a great deal of independence, decided a year ago to close the Nutley, N.J.-based institute and move it to Palo Alto, Calif., where the company had just bought Syntex Corp., a small bio

Departing Roche Institute members received severance packages from Hoffmann-La Roche that include bridging grants to help the researchers restart their labs and pay their postdocs, and they are allowed to take essentially all their laboratory equipment with them. This generous offer comes with strings attached, say institute scientists: They must agree not to speak negatively of Hoffmann-La Roche or its officers. If the dispersing scientists hold their tongues--and many would not speak on the

In 1967, the establishment of the Roche Institute of Molecular Biology (RIMB) by Hoffmann-La Roche received wide news coverage.

Clnical Medicine Research, 1990-94 VS 1981-85. (Ranked by the magnitude of change among those publishing 1,000 or more papers, 1990-94) Institution Percent Change University of Texas, San Antonio +78 Oregon Health Sciences University +74 State University of New York, Stony Brook +70 Louisiana State University +65 University of Nebraska +63 University of Miami +62 City University of New York +61 Loyola University +61 Tulane University +61 Wake Forest University +57 Northwestern University +55 Un

Association Of Independent Research Institutes Honors Retired Director Of NIH Grants Division With New Award Author: Karen Young Kreeger Jerome Green, director of the National Institutes of Health's Division of Research Grants from 1986 to his retirement in June, was honored last month by the Association of Independent Research Institutes (AIRI) for distinguished service to the grantee community. Green received the $2,000 award, which was given for the first time, at the association's annual me

Their Fields Author: Neeraja Sankaran SIDEBAR: Technology Medalists Life scientists whose work has shed new light on genetic disorders and the basic mechanisms and structure of RNA were prominent among the individuals President Clinton presented with the National Medals of Science on October 18. The medals-the United States' highest scientific honor-were given to seven men and one woman. The event also featured the awarding of the National Medal of Technology to three scientists and business

ON THE BLOCK: An Ig Nobel celebrant won a date with Nobelist Dudley Herschbach. The Annals of Improbable Research followed tradition in its "Fifth First Annual Ig Nobel Prize Ceremony," honoring the 1995 Ig Nobel laureates with its own special version of pomp. Prizes-awarded to those whose achievements "cannot or should not be reproduced"-were presented by Nobelists Sheldon Glashow (physics 1979), Dudley Herschbach (chemistry 1986), Joseph Murray (physiology or medicine 1990), and Richard Robe

In Technology Transfer Author: Robert Finn An ongoing legal battle between Michigan State University (MSU) and the entities contracted to administer several of its highly lucrative patents has raised concerns among intellectual-property experts. These observers fear the dispute may cause a crisis in confidence among investors-and may further wrap inventors in red tape-in the rapidly burgeoning field of university technology transfer. NO NEED: MSU's Frederic Erbisch contends his school can han

Company Product Function Date Alza Corp., DynaCirc CR formulation of July 1994 Palo Alto, CA controlled-release antihypertensive drug Hybritech Inc., Tandem PSA detection of prostate Aug. 1994 San Diego cancer Molecular Bio- Albunex ultrasound Aug. 1994 systems Inc. contrast agent San Diego for detecting heart disease DNX Inc., BIODIGM reduction of LDLs Sept.1994 Princeton, NJ Quadra Logic Photofrin photosensitive drug Sept. 1994 Technologies Inc. for photodynamic Vancouver, BC therapy Canada

The recipients of the 1995 National Medals of Technology included two corporations, a team of three scientists from one company, and three other individuals. Like their science medal counterparts, the technology medals represent the United States' highest honor for achievement in technology. This year's winners are: A three-member team at IBM's T.J. Watson Research Center in Yorktown Heights, N.Y., consisting of Praveen Chaudhari, Jerome C. Cuomo (retired), and Richard Gambino (retired), for t

Struggles With Questions Of Leader's Role Author: Bruce V. Bigelow The Salk Institute has long been known as a premier center for biomedical research, but lately the San Diego laboratory has acquired a reputation in scientific circles as the home of hungry headhunters. Efforts by the independent, nonprofit laboratory to recruit and retain a new leader over the past seven years have repeatedly misfired. The Salk's fruitless quest hit home again on September 1, when Francis Crick stepped down f

SIDEBAR: Alternate Paths to Xenotransplantation The tantalizing possibility of using a potentially unlimited supply of organs from animals to replace damaged human ones -- through xenotransplantation -- has, in just the past few years, jumped the divide from purely academic possibility to big-business likelihood. A half-dozen or so well-supported biotechnology companies have sprung into existence to pursue the creation of transgenic animals -- pigs with human genes, primarily -- or to develop