T.A. Wynn, I. Eltoum, I.P. Oswald, A.W. Cheever, A. Sher, "Endogenous interleukin 12 (IL-12) regulates granuloma formation induced by eggs of Schistosoma mansoni and exogenous IL-12 both inhibits and prophylactically immunizes against egg pathology," Journal of Experimental Medicine, 179:1551-61, 1994. (Cited in nearly 50 publications as of February 1996) Comments by Thomas A. Wynn and Alan Sher, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases After malaria, schistosomiasis is the second

D. Waters, L. Higginson, P. Gladstone, B. Kimball, M. Le May, S.J. Boccuzzi, J. Lesp}rance, Canadian Coronary Atherosclerosis Intervention Trial Study Group, "Effects of monotherapy with an HMG-CoA reductase inhibitor on the progression of coronary atherosclerosis as assessed by seral quantitative arteriography: The Canadian Coronary Atherosclerosis Intervention Trial," Circulation, 89:959-68, 1994. (Cited in nearly 60 publications as of February 1996) Comments by David Waters, Hartford Hospit

By Economic Embargo, Ideological Standoff Despite heightened political tension between the United States and Cuba, the number of collaborative projects conducted by scientists from the two neighboring countries has been quietly growing. Undeterred by events such as last month's passage of legislation strengthening U.S. economic sanctions against Cuba and February's shootdown by the Cuban government of two aircraft belonging to a Miami-based exile group, researchers are proceeding with collegial

Denizens Of The Deep Author: Karen Young Kreeger Stymied by drug-resistant tumors and antibiotic-outwitting microbes, researchers are taking the plunge and sifting through the largely unexplored biodiversity offered by marine organisms. Drugs and other products from the sea have been a steadily growing research interest for the last 20 years. Recently, however, backers from business and government have stepped up their involvement, opened up their wallets, and broadened their scope in the fiel

C.J. Hussussian, J.P. Struewing, A.M. Goldstein, P.A.T. Higgins, D.S. Ally, M.D. Sheahan, W.H. Clark, M.A. Tucker, D.C. Dracopoli, "Germline p16 mutations in familial melanoma," Nature Genetics, 8:15-21, 1994. (Cited in nearly 130 publications as of February 1996) Comments by Christopher J. Hussussian, Washington University School of Medicine This paper identifies and describes mutations in the p16 gene in families with malignant melanoma. These mutations affect the balance between the protei

And Pains Of Joints (The Scientist, Vol:10, #6, p. 13 & 18, March 18, 1996) SEEKING ADVICE: New NIAMS director Stephen Katz is consulting all sectors of the biomedical community to help set institutional priorities. "Chronic, common, costly, and crippling." That's how Stephen I. Katz, director of the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS) since August, describes the diseases that the institute explores. NIAMS is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year

SENSE OF PROPORTION: "more needs to be done relative to the scale of the problem," remarks Stanford ecologist Gretchen Daily. The worldwide spate of emerging and reemerging infectious diseases in the first half of this decade has prompted a growing recognition of the connection between global climate change and human health. Individual researchers from such disparate disciplines as epidemiology and public health, ecology, virology, climatology, nutrition, and biomedicine have directly addresse

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

Gene Genies: One of the most important implications is that we showed the [adenovirus-vector] approach was feasible," asserts Cornell's Ron Crystal. Experiments described in this paper represent two firsts in the burgeoning and fledgling field of gene therapy: the first human trial using a virus-specifically an adenovirus, a microbe isolated from human adenoid tissue-to transport a gene, and the first human trial for cystic fibrosis (CF). CF attacks many organs, but the pulmonary disease that

Comments by Virginia M.-Y. Lee and John Q. Trojanowski, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine New Twist On Tangles: Research conducted by Penn's John Trojanowski and Virginia Lee suggests that phosphatases may be "lazy," or inactive, in Alzheimer's tangles. This paper offers a new way of looking at the formation of tangles-a twisted neuronal knot of paired helical filaments (PHFs). PHFs are one of the two primary diagnostic features found in the brains of Alzheimer's disease (AD) pat

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

Viruses, Diseases Author: Karen Young Kreeger Sidebar: Professional Resources for Viral Disease Researchers In the mid- to late 1980s, numerous correlations were discovered between viruses and various types of cancers. For example, Epstein-Barr virus was associated with nasopharyngeal carcinoma and B-cell lymphoma, hepatitis B virus with liver cancer, and human papillomavirus with cervical cancer. Now, a decade later, basic and clinical scientists are finding out that viruses may also play a r