April 1996

Influence Few and far between, scientists serving in and running for Congress say they offer benefits of reasoning, judgment. EYES ON THE PRIZE: Former pharmaceutical executive Charles Sanders hopes to be the Democratic nominee for Senate in North Carolina this fall. Charles Sanders hopes to give Bill Frist some company. Sanders, a cardiologist and former professor of medicine and pharmaceutical executive, is seeking North Carolina's Democratic nomination for the United States Senate. If he w

Uncertainties Of 1996 Presidential science adviser John H. Gibbons calls fiscal year 1996 a "grim year for science budgets." BACK TO BASICS: Rep. Robert Walker (R-Pa.) contends that the FY 1997 budget supports applied research at the expense of basic science. Small wonder. On March 19, President Bill Clinton submitted his FY 1997 government budget proposal to the United States Congress. Yet the FY 1996 budget, which was to take effect on Oct. 1, 1995, has yet to be agreed upon. For many scie

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

By Eric Albert Email: ealbert@world.std.com ACROSS 1 Sexual response cycle component. 4 First stage of mitosis. 9 Visual pigment in the rod. 11 With 14 Across, it makes a compound polar. 12 Body's first line of defense against pathogens. 13 See 11 Across. 16 It conveys semen 18 Vertebrate, collectively. 20 Specimen-treating dye. 21 Canine companion. 24 Counterpart of a rod. 25 It conveys information to a ribosome: abbr. 26 Galena is one of its principal ores. 29 Intestinal inhabitant: abbr. 3

By Eric Albert Email: ealbert@world.std.com ACROSS 1 Sexual response cycle component. 4 First stage of mitosis. 9 Visual pigment in the rod. 11 With 14 Across, it makes a compound polar. 12 Body's first line of defense against pathogens. 13 See 11 Across. 16 It conveys semen 18 Vertebrate, collectively. 20 Specimen-treating dye. 21 Canine companion. 24 Counterpart of a rod. 25 It conveys information to a ribosome: abbr. 26 Galena is one of its principal ores. 29 Intestinal inhabitant: abbr. 3

March 16 was not the best of days for Sotheby's, the venerable New York auction house. Albert Einstein failed to sell, and Ross Perot failed to buy. HIGH-FLYING FIDO: This 1959 prototype canine high-altitude, partial-pressure suit for use in Soviet suborbital biological research flights sold for $25,300. A 72-page Einstein manuscript on special relativity, which first sold for $1.2 million in 1987, did not attract any bidders above the confidential minimum price. Earlier the same day, Sotheb

And Books Don't throw away that rough draft of your latest paper just yet, archivists advise. It may never have the multimillion-dollar value of Albert Einstein's draft chapter on special relativity (see story on page 3), but it may still be sought after by historians and collectors. Scientific memorabilia-including books, manuscripts, letters, instruments, and signatures-are actively collected. Einstein, who was a prolific letter writer, commands great attention and prices. So do Galileo, Kep

Face Of U.S. Embargo Most American scientists know little about Cuba, except as a principal in a conflict with their country, and they seldom think of the American economic embargo or its effects upon ordinary Cubans. Most Cuban scientists seldom think of anything but this embargo. After I set aside Americans' divergent views of Cuba's Castro, Castro's government, and the two governments' adventures, what came into my sight as a visiting scientist in Havana last autumn was the remarkable cit

In the article "Scientific Community Recognizing Link Between Ecology And Health" (K.Y. Kreeger, The Scientist, March 4, 1996, page 1), incorrect information was given about funding for a temporary secretariat formed by the Tri-Council Program of the Canadian government. The secretariat has guaranteed funding through fiscal year 1996-97. In the article "10-Year-Old Arthritis Institute Goes Beyond Aches And Pains Of Joints" (K.Y. Kreeger, The Scientist, March 18, 1996, page 13), incorrect infor

Of Science My big annual conference-the American Physical Society meeting-held in March, will have come and gone in St. Louis by the time you read this. That simple fact won't mean much to you, but it catapults me 33 years into the past. I gave my first scientific paper in St. Louis, in March 1963, at the same annual meeting of the same scientific society. I'm not one for the treacherous emotion of nostalgia, but this time I am giving in just a little. I remember how scared I was as a graduate

I enjoyed reading Jesse H. Ausubel's article ( The Scientist, Feb. 5, 1996, page 11) because he provided an historical analysis of the increase in the number of Ph.D.'s, and offered novel ideas to change the current situation. Unfortunately, his analysis and suggestions are based on his acceptance of the current fiscal policies of the federal government. This quiet acceptance troubles me greatly, because it will hurt future generations of researchers, and significantly decrease the quality of l

Jesse H. Ausubel's Opinion page article regarding Ph.D. education in the United States ( The Scientist, Feb. 5, 1996, page 11) was interesting. However, I don't agree with his generalized view that foreign students preferring to remain in the U.S. will accept slow progression to the degree and a succession of low-paying postdocs. Almost all of the more than 100 foreign graduate students in different areas I have known work very hard and try to finish their degrees sooner, whether preferring to

I'm confident that the various study groups cited by Jesse H. Ausubel in the article "Malthus And Graduate Students: Checks On Burgeoning Ranks Of Ph.D.'s" [ The Scientist, Feb. 5, 1996, page 11] provide detailed data and exhaustive investigation to determine that an excessive number of Ph.D.'s are being graduated from distinguished educational institutions. While the author's opinion as to the reasons for this proliferation sounds reasonable and well- considered, I feel compelled to add one mo

I read the article "A Plan For Revitalizing Science And Technology: Grants With Tax Credits" by Dudley G. Moon and John W. Fenton II in the Opinion section of the Jan. 8, 1996, issue of The Scientist [page 10]. I would like to express my full support for the ideas set forth by these scientists. I think it is about time we took such measures to boost extra resources for the future of biomedical research in the United States. The current amount of government funds will not be enough to support

I read the letter to the editor of The Scientist about alternative medicine by Saul Green ( Feb. 19, 1996, page 11). I was surprised to see the comment, "When rigorous scientific trials on laetrile, vitamin C, hydrazine sulfate, chelation therapy, chiropractic, and homeopathy proved them worthless . . ." While I recognize that some of the trials to which he refers fail to demonstrate significant scientific evidence to support the use of a particular approach, that cannot be stated about the app

Health As Hot Research Areas Editor's Note: Throughout the year, the newsletter Science Watch, published by the Institute for Scientific Information in Philadelphia, lists the 10 currently most cited research papers in biology and medicine. The lists provide a glimpse of recent trends in basic and applied biomedical science. The following article discussing biology's hot papers (Science Watch, 7[1]:8, 1996), by Jeremy Cherfas, a science writer who works with the Biological Sciences Research Co

K.M. Standifer, C.C. Chien, C. Wahlestedt, G.P. Brown, G.W. Pasternak, "Selective loss of delta-opioid analgesia and binding by antisense oligodeoxynucleotide to a delta-opioid receptor," Neuron, 12:805-10, 1994. (Cited in more than 30 publications as of February 1996) Comments by Gavril W. Pasternak, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center Unzip a chunk of DNA. Two strands result. One, dubbed the "sense" strand, carries genetic information. The other, the antisense strand, says nothing. In th

X.D. Wang, R. Sato, M.S. Brown, X.X. Hua, J.L. Goldstein, "Srebp-1, a membrane-bound transcription factor released by sterol-regulated proteolysis," Cell, 77:53-62, 1994. (Cited in more than 65 publications as of February 1996) Comments by Joseph L. Goldstein, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center SURPRISED: Joseph Goldstein investigates cholesterol control. The work reported in this paper reveals the mechanism for transcriptional control of the genes that regulate cholesterol in

Institution's Research COLLABORATION: A feature on her work helped Anne Cress get help of others. With color photographs, glossy paper, snazzy graphics, and snappy copy, the annual and periodic magazines, newsletters, and reports published by United States research institutions are the obvious products of considerable money, time, and effort. But they are more than just pretty faces, according to the editors who put them together and the researchers featured in their pages. Take, for exampl

Cells In A New Light By combining the sensitivity of fluorescent dyes with optical systems that can detect colorful but low-intensity fluorescent light, researchers in many life sciences are able to peer inside cells and view fine detail as never before. With a fluorescent microscope, an investigator is now better able to study individual cells and image subcellular entities, such as organelles, proteins, microtubules, and chromosomes. Owing to advances in fluorescent microscopy techniques, res

SEEKING SHELTER: Surplus lab chimps need a place to stay. While no plans are under way to build them a golf course or shuffleboard court, a nonprofit organization has been established to create a "retirement home" for chimpanzees not needed in biomedical or behavioral research. Chimp Haven, a San Antonio, Texas-based group, aims to build a facility to provide long-term housing for the unneeded chimps. The United States has a surplus of chimpanzees bred for research purposes, a result of the s

Shirley Malcom, director of education and human resource programs, American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), and member of the President's Committee of Advisers on Science and Technology, Washington, D.C. Fostering science education and diversifying the talent pool of researchers and engineers are Shirley Malcom's main goals at AAAS. As a leader in science, she has advocated greater access to science by all people, especially encouraging broader public appreciation of scienc