Although this year's research and development budget may be the biggest ever, it may also be the hardest to decipher. About half of the FY1999 spending bills reside in a 40-pound, 4,000-page document that has sent legislative staffers and departmental budget staff members scrambling to make sense of the hundreds of what some call earmarks and others call pork. Normally, the federal budget coalesces from 13 separate bills. But this year, election-year political wrangling between President Bill

The lobbyist credited his client. The client credited his lobbyist. Both praised scientists and legislators on the brink of an historic vote that would put the National Institutes of Health on the path to doubling its budget in five years. Congress, as of press time for The Scientist, was poised to pass a $500 billion legislative package that includes a $2 billion increase for the National Institutes of Health. The agency received $13.648 billion for 1998. Prior to the vote on the "omnibus" spe

A plan to screen pesticides, fungicides, and herbicides for endocrine disruptor activity could be bad news for the manufacturers of those synthetics, but good news for research in biocontrols, a natural alternative to those chemicals. Recently, the Endocrine Disruptor Screening and Testing Advisory Committee (EDSTAC) recommended that about 15,000 commercial chemicals be tested for their interaction with reproduction and development (P. Smaglik, The Scientist, 12[18]:1, Sept. 14, 1998). Although

GENOME SYMBOL: DNA strands form the basis of a graphic symbol of the genome project. They said it wasn't a race. When a private venture announced plans in May to produce a version of the human genome four years ahead of the international nonprofit Human Genome Project's deadline, scientists associated with the public project insisted that the private effort wasn't really a challenge to theirs. The private effort would present, at best, a "rough draft" with many holes--if it worked at all, they

The stream of life science students entering the graduate school pipeline should be frozen to prevent researcher job applicants from flooding the market, according to a recent National Research Council (NRC) report. However, just who will control the valves regulating enrollment--government, universities, or some combination--remains to be seen. "I don't think the federal government alone can provide the answer to this," explains Shirley Tilghman, chair of NRC's Commission on Life Sciences, whi

A proposed plan to screen about 15,000 commercial chemicals that may interact harmfully with the endocrine system could be one of the most ambitious and expensive such efforts ever. The first tier of the two-part plan would cost an estimated $200,000 per chemical for high throughput screening. Those screens would test chemicals for interactions with five endocrine receptors, including estrogen, androgen, and thyroid receptors. Chemicals testing positive would move on to the next level, which co

Vaulting from the lab bench to the marketing office sounds tempting for scientists considering leaving the research world for a business environment. But several scientists who have made that move report that it takes more time, effort, and patience than many may realize. LONG-TERM MATTER: Dennis Bittner, group product manager at Bio-Rad Laboratories, says most Ph.D. scientists with no business experience will likely fail to land marketing positions immediately. "They'd like to go straight fr

Antifreeze proteins produced in some fish have hooked the attention of industry. But chemists are still casting inquiries into how these proteins act to prevent some species of flounder, cod, and sculpin from icing up in below-zero Centigrade water. RED HERRING: Although antifreeze proteins produced by the flounder are the most studied, they may be the least representative. Scientists at the 216th American Chemical Society Meeting in Boston last month trolled through the merits of a number of

A fat substitute made its public debut in an oatmeal raisin cookie last month. The substitute, a coarse beige-yellow flourlike substance called Nu-Trim, contains high percentages of ß glucans--the soluble fibers that lower cholesterol through the same mechanisms as oat bran. While those mechanisms are not well understood, they are effective, remarked the product's developer, George E. Inglett , of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Agricultural Research Service in Peoria, Ill. Ear

As first complimentary oligonucleotide is poised for market, questions remain about mechanisms A drug that halts an AIDS-related eye infection could be the first antisense therapy to reach the market. However, whether the drug can truly be called "antisense" depends on some specifics--such as the ability to bind to targeted messenger RNA (mRNA) but avoid clinging to other proteins. Representatives of the drug's manufacturer, Isis Pharmaceuticals Inc. of Carlsbad, Calif., say fomivirsen (Vitra

LEFT AND RIGHT: A wild type st 45 Xenopus embryo with rightward heart looping and counter-clockwise gut coiling is shown on the left. In contrast, a st 45 embryo that was injected with Pitx2 at the 4 cell stage exhibits leftward heart looping and clockwise gut coiling. When it comes to organ orientation, one gene can make the difference between right and left. That gene, Pitx2 , has been identified as the key to asymmetry, or "handedness," the property describing on which side of the body the

Reporting on the federal science funding process over the last year has been like watching a drama unfold. Especially since, after careful scrutiny, one gets the impression that the players--the legislators, the administrators, the activists, the lobbyists--can only really carry out their scripted roles. Curtains parted last fall to reveal a soaring economy and an unprecedented budget surplus. There was going to be a research bonanza, a renewed commitment to R&D. Even deficit hawks such as