April 2007

In our May issue, contributor Jerry Guo traveled to the Wolong Nature Reserve in China's Sichuan Province to learn what researchers there are doing to increase the panda population. Here, see the pandas at play ? and what they leave behind.

By Meredith SmallCOMPANIES SUPPORTING OTHER COMPANIESIn the biotechnology world, service groups pick up crucial aspects from development through sales.Mark WickerJASON VARNEY | VARNEYPHOTO.COM In Greensboro, NC, Mark Wicker runs his own company, Carolina Research Glass, where he produces one-of-a-kind, hand-blown laboratory glass. One of only 600 scientific glass blowers in the country, Wicker works in Pyrex and produces about 500 objects a month. "I make drug- and aerosol-delivery devices, is

State of North CarolinaOffice of the Governor20301 Mail Service Center • Raleigh, NC 27699-0301Michael F. EasleyGovernorFebruary 26, 2007Dear Readers:Almost 25 years ago, North Carolina led the way to build a new economic engine called biotechnology. We created the world's first government-sponsored biotechnology center and began making systematic, long-term State investments in biotechnology infrastructure.Today North Carolina is the nation's third largest biotech state, with more than 350

NCCCS BioNetworkCutting-Edge Workforce TrainingWhen announcing Novartis' new vaccine-manufacturing facility at Holly Springs, NC, CEO Joerge Reinhardt said, "The fact that we can have instantaneous workers was absolutely essential. It was the main reason why we picked North Carolina." The NC Community College System (NCCCS) BioNetwork is providing that workforce for Novartis and the hundreds of other companies that make North Carolina the number-three biotech state in the United States. NC

Tarheel Teamwork Today's science depends on teamwork as experts from many fields come together. North Carolina's business leaders, government officials, and scientists started working together decades ago, and the results appear in the state's already powerful and continually growing science community. This section explores the history behind North Carolina's commitment to science, including the creation in 1959 of the 7,000 acre Research Triangle Park roughly in the center of the state. A qua

By Dennis MeredithTHE STATE OF LIFE SCIENCENorth Carolina combines academic, industrial, government, and private resources to drive research, development, and manufacturing A half century ago, the world was only beginning to grasp the stunning implications of Watson's and Crick's double-helix DNA structure. Amidst those earliest glimmerings of the genetic revolution, North Carolina was already laying the foundation for its 21st-century success in biotechnology. In 1959, however, the evidence o

The Catevo GroupCatalysts for Business EvolutionIn the world of science, a catalyst modifies and increases the rate of a chemical reaction by providing just the right spark at just the right time. In the business world, The Catevo Group strives to do the same - to provide just the right spark at just the right time to increase an organization's ability to achieve business and operational objectives. "Catalysts, by definition, provide energy to cause reactions," explains Catevo President and CEO

STATEWIDE SCIENCE In many respects, the dividing line between academics and industry blurs across many areas of North Carolina. As depicted here, this state provides a home for some of the most powerful research institutions in the world. Much of the academic work, however, leads to new applications, as shown here in the work on stem cells by Anthony Atala of the Wake Forest University School of Medicine's Institute for Regenerative Medicine and the genetic approach to diseases taken by Ol

By Mike May - Guest EditorTURNING TEAMWORK INTO BIOTECHA decade or two ago, North Carolina was known for few things: tobacco farming, furniture building, and the first flight of the Wright brothers. Most of all, North Carolina held a reputation as the training ground for astounding basketball players, including Grant Hill, Michael Jordan, David Thompson, and many others. The cognoscenti, however, imagined a new status for the state. Even as early as the mid-20th century, teams of academic scient

By Russ CampbellTHE STATE OF ACADEMIC RESEARCHWorking together drives academic projects across the state. Several years ago, Duke University created a task force to look at the study of the psychological sciences around its campus in Durham, NC. "A question came up on whether the departments should be merged," says James N. Siedow, vice provost for research at Duke. "There was really good psychological research going on all over campus, but there was nothing tying everyone together. So ever

By Russ CampbellTHE STATE OF ACADEMIC RESEARCHWorking together drives academic projects across the state. Several years ago, Duke University created a task force to look at the study of the psychological sciences around its campus in Durham, NC. "A question came up on whether the departments should be merged," says James N. Siedow, vice provost for research at Duke. "There was really good psychological research going on all over campus, but there was nothing tying everyone together. So ever

Slideshow: The whirling fish kill Andrea Gawrylewski visits a western Maryland fishery as workers haul nearly 40,000 pounds of rainbow trout infected with whirling disease out of the raceways. var FO = { movie:"http://www.the-scientist.com/supplementary/flash/53046/fishy.swf", width:"550", height:"450", majorversion:"8", build:"0", xi:"true"}; UFO.create(FO, "ufoDemo"); Please download the Adobe Flash Player to view this content:

Biosense or Biononsense? Years of development and hundreds of millions of dollars later, what has the CDC's syndromic surveillance program accomplished?By Katherine Eban ARTICLE EXTRAS Syndromic Surveillance in California It was two days before Thanksgiving 2004, when an epidemiologist in New Jersey's public health agency picked up a heart-stopping electronic message. The

Syndromic Surveillance in California One state's less-than-stellar experience tracking disease By Katherine Eban ARTICLE EXTRAS Biosense or Biononsense? As spinach tainted with a deadly Escherichia coli made its way last year from a California farm through 26 states, sickening more than 200 people and killing three, a bill to advance symptom mo

North Carolina State UniversityIt's lunchtime on the brickyard plaza at North Carolina State University, and the chatter includes impassioned discussions of research and learning. A chemistry professor and a graduate student debate the meaning of their newest data, while a cluster of entomology and genetics students practice French conversation over sandwiches. Budding industrial engineers discuss information extraction from three-dimensional images. Based on the conversations, any passerby

By Kendall MorganEIGHTY YEARS IN THE MAKINGThe life of a genetics pioneerOLIVER SMITHIES JASON VARNEY | VARNEYPHOTO.COM As a child in England in the 1930s, Oliver Smithies found his path before he knew that "science" was its name. "I remember, as a six- or seven-year-old, fairly clearly, that I wanted to be an inventor," says Smithies, who is Excellence Professor of Pathology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. "In a sense, that's what I've been ever since. I've invente

By Mike MayTHE STATE OF INDUSTRIAL RESEARCHNorth Carolina's industry rejuvenates traditional fields and spurs new ones. Harry Hart understands that traditional crops, corn and tobacco, can no longer sustain his family farm. In fields that once lay fallow in the winter, Hart now cultivates the cool-weather canola plant, whose seeds are rich in oil. In his own backyard, Hart extracts the oil and mixes it with methanol and a catalyst in 50-gallon drums to produce a clean-burning biodiesel fuel

Growing a New Antidepressant Nine years ago, Rusty Gage shattered a neuroscience dogma when he showed human brains give birth to new neurons. Today, a company is eager to take those findings to the clinic.By Kerry Grens ARTICLE EXTRAS 1 and Liz Gould and Bruce McEwen at Rockefeller had published a suite of studies on the effects of stress on neurogenesis in rodents.2 But the field was sparkling wi

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3-D Neurogenesis: Catch a 3-D glimpse of new neurons in the brain This spinning 40-micron section of rat hippocampus shows new neurons in the granule cell layer of the dentate gyrus. Mature neurons are labeled in green with NeuN and proliferating cells are labeled in red with BrDU. The video was generated by BrainCells Inc, a La Jolla, Calif. company searching for new antidepressant drugs based on their ability to stimulate neurogenesis in the hippocampus. All antidepressants on the mark

A HARSH DECREE Everything may die, nothing may be regenerated ARTICLE EXTRAS1 "I think it really was a turning point in the acceptance of the phenomenon as being real," Gould says. In the late 1990s Gould observed neurogenesis in the adult tree shrew as well,2 but the question remained: Did it occur in humans? "For us to believe it's more than an epiphenomenon, we needed to see if it occurs in humans," Gage s

Talecris Biotherapeutics

By Charles ChoiCAROLINA CROs Contract research organizations extend the capabilities of biotechnology companies.Fred EshelmanCOURTESY OF PPDIn 1985, Fred Eshelman took a gigantic risk. He left Glaxo, now part of GlaxoSmithKline, where he'd served as senior vice president of development and vice president of clinical operations, to go home - literally. Working in a home office, he started a one-person consulting firm called PPD. This contract research organization (CRO) grew rapidly. Over the y

By John V. BoyneCALLING IN CROP SCIENCETop agricultural companies make North Carolina home. John V. Boyne is director of communications at Bayer CropScience. To know why three of the world's top crop-science companies selected North Carolina for their North American headquarters, look at the example of Bayer CropScience. According to Bill Buckner, president and CEO of Bayer CropScience's US operations, "You can't beat North Carolina in terms of loc

From stem cells to wild trees and evolution to CSI, a recent crop of books has something to say about scientific conflicts, conquests and controversies. Christopher Thomas Scott reviews a trio of new stem cell books Jennifer Rohn reviews Lynn Margulis' Luminous Fish Brendan Maher examines faith, Darwin, and Intelligent Design Andrea Gawrylewski reviews Richard Preston's The Wild Trees Ne

By Frank DillerTHE STATE OF SPINOFFSThree different beginnings show the variety of ways to evolve from an idea to a company. In the late 1990s, scientists from R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company published many papers and abstracts about neuronal nicotinic receptors (NNRs). Knowing that such receptors respond to nicotine explains why a tobacco company would study them. Moreover, some research indicates that NNRs could play a role in tobacco's toxic effects. For example, bronchial epithelial cells

An Awkward Symbiosis Can fiction and scientific autobiography coexist? By Jennifer Rohn ARTICLE EXTRAS SPRING BOOKS Stem Cells on Shelves The Death of Faith? High in the Trees Bloody Isle The Enchantment of Enhancement Books about Bodies New Lab Manuals In Brief Luminous Fish: Tales of Science

The Death of Faith? Darwin's theory was part of a larger cultural shift towards naturalistic philosophy. Why is he still the target of so many attacks?By Brendan Maher ARTICLE EXTRASSPRING BOOKSStem Cells on ShelvesAn Awkward SymbiosisHigh in the TreesBloody IsleThe Enchantment of EnhancementBooks about BodiesNew Lab Man

High in the Trees What can you learn about ecosystems from the top of a 100 meter redwood?By Andrea Gawrylewski ARTICLE EXTRASSPRING BOOKSStem Cells on ShelvesAn Awkward SymbiosisThe Death of Faith?Bloody IsleThe Enchantment of EnhancementBooks about BodiesNew Lab ManualsIn Brief The Wild Trees: A Story of Passion and Daring, By Richar

By Myrna F. WatanabeSUCCESS IN TWO CAREERSCultivating an eye for targets. DANI BOLOGNESI JASON VARNEY | varneyphoto.com By all accounts, Dani Bolognesi has been tremendously successful. His Duke University laboratory did the early work on identifying anti-HIV activity in what would become AZT (zidovudine), the first drug developed against the disease. In March 2003, the Food and Drug Administration approved Fuzeon, an HIV fusion-inhibitor drug that cam

Bloody Isle When genetics and history compete, who wins?By Newamul Khan ARTICLE EXTRASSPRING BOOKSStem Cells on ShelvesAn Awkward SymbiosisThe Death of Faith?High in the TreesThe Enchantment of EnhancementBooks about BodiesNew Lab ManualsIn Brief Saxons, Vikings, and Celts: The Genetic Roots of Britain and Ireland, By Bryan Sykes, 320

By Charles Blackburn, JrTHE STATE OF EDUCATIONStarting early and intensely trains tomorrow's creative biotechnologists. "Overall it was just a great learning experience" one young alumnus said of Summer Ventures in Science and Mathematics, a free, state-funded program for academically talented North Carolina students who may pursue careers in science and mathematics. These summer camps are offered at six college campuses across the state. "Rising juniors and seniors come together in resid

By Peter GwynneSHOW US THE MONEYDespite limited sources of capital, would-be entrepreneurs with solid biobusiness ideas can usually obtain financial support.Art PappasJASON VARNEY | VARNEYPHOTO.COMIt might lack the intellectual cachet of life science in Boston-Cambridge and the Bay area, but North Carolina boasts a significant amount of research in biomedical fields. The work consistently produces both intellectual property and scientist-entrepreneurs eager to exploit it by forming startup compa

By Peter GwynneSHOW US THE MONEYDespite limited sources of capital, would-be entrepreneurs with solid biobusiness ideas can usually obtain financial support.Art PappasJASON VARNEY | VARNEYPHOTO.COMIt might lack the intellectual cachet of life science in Boston-Cambridge and the Bay area, but North Carolina boasts a significant amount of research in biomedical fields. The work consistently produces both intellectual property and scientist-entrepreneurs eager to exploit it by forming startup compa

By David WilliamsonGIVING BACKNorth Carolina companies contribute time, healthcare, and more to their employees and communities.COURTESY OF LABCORP Once a month, Dave Dorsey leaves his job as an account executive at the SAS Institute in Cary, NC, where he markets computer programs worth hundreds of thousands of dollars a year, to handle a decidedly nonglamorous chore. For several hours, he hand-washes dirty meal trays used by homeless people visiting the Shepherd's Table Soup Kitchen in Raleig

North Carolina's Bioprocessing Industry Requires Highly Skilled ProfessionalsAs one of the top three bioprocess-manufacturing regions in the United States, North Carolina is challenged to meet the personnel needs of its growing biomanufacturing industry. North Carolina's new Biomanufacturing Training and Education Center (BTEC) at North Carolina State Universityis ensuring that, as the industry grows, the state continues to educate and grow a job-ready workforce. Working with funds from the Gold

Reed Cartwright" />Reed Cartwright One day in March 2005, Reed Cartwright jotted his thoughts on his blog, De Rerum Natura, after reading a paper that had just been published in Nature. Cartwright, then a PhD student in genetics at the University of Georgia, was skeptical. Susan Lolle and colleagues at Purdue University had found a peculiar phenomenon regarding a mutant gene, called hothead (hth), in Arabidopsis. In parents carrying the mutant hth gene, 10% of the progeny ended u

Credit: DENISE WYLLIE, www.wyllieohagan.com" /> Credit: DENISE WYLLIE, www.wyllieohagan.com WOMEN IN SCIENCE>> The new Rosalind Franklin Society, which aims to encourage women's participation in science, holds its inaugural meeting April 6 at The Rockefeller University in New York City. For more information, E-mail mliebert@liebertpub.com. VACCINE VENTURES>> After you read the feature on global vaccine policy on page 48 register for the Tenth Annual Confer

Rainbow Trout affected by whirling disease." />Rainbow Trout affected by whirling disease. In the early hours of a frigid March morning, a dozen men in waders and coveralls plunge into the icy raceway waters of the Bear Creek fish-rearing station in Accident, Md. Using large plastic baskets, they haul more than 50 pounds at a time of rainbow trout out of the cold water and into even colder air, where the fish are weighed and then tossed into a front-end loader, to be trucked to a plan

Alkis Psaltis has seen more than his share of sheep with the sniffles. Over the past year or two, in the course of researching the role of bacterial biofilms in sinusitis, woolly ruminants with nasal congestion have become almost a daily event for the scientist at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Adelaide, Australia. "Basically, the sheep get runny noses," Psaltis explains. "They get a purulent discharge and all the signs of an inflammatory response, including frank pus and friable muc