August 1992

Their field is blossoming, but many are disturbed by what they see as a lack of official recognition The field of medical genetics--whose practitioners are, for the most part, Ph.D.'s--recently received a significant boost by being offered member status by the American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS), an Evanston, Ill.-based indepen- dent body that evaluates and certifies physician specialists, such as cardiologists. The prestigious ABMS hasn't admitted a new field to its 23-group roste

As some hail the VP nominee's grasp of the issues, others claim he exploits science in order to advance his own political agenda When Arkansas Gov. Bill Clinton tapped Tennessee Sen. Al Gore as his vice presidential running mate last month, many political pundits found it easy to challenge the wisdom of Clinton's decision. They pointed out the striking similarities between the two men--both young political moderates from neighboring southern states--wondering what, indeed, Gore was adding to t

The compilers of the new Directory of Federal Laboratory & Technology Resources, due out early next year, say their publication should make it easier for researchers and others to locate like-minded federal investigators and their facilities. Cooperative research projects involving federal and private researchers might be one important outcome, they say. But some in the nonfederal research and development community say that, while the directory may help with its primary purpose of technology

The recent Earth Summit in Rio de Janiero may have raised worldwide consciousness on the seriousness of global environmental problems, but it did not raise a lot of cash to study and act against the problems. So, environmental scientists in the United States should not expect to see a flood of new funding or a preponderance of new research directives in the wake of the June meeting, according to environmental policy experts. There are budget difficulties in Congress. There is a presidential

Have you ever wished that you had quality comparison information on a scientific product before buying it? I certainly have, and so have many of my colleagues. If I want to buy a vacuum cleaner for my home, I can go to Consumer Reports for a clear and concise summary of the models on the market, how they are rated in unbiased trials, and a cost comparison. Scientists, unfortunately, have no such luxury. When we purchase a centrifuge or a power supply, we make our choice based on price, produ

The face of science has altered significantly within the past 30 years, and education has not kept up. If universities and medical schools continue to create new scientists from the old mold, thousands of new biologists, chemists, physicists, and doctors will venture into new laboratories unprepared for necessary interdisciplinary involvement. They need this preparation now to meet medical and technological challenges, such as curing AIDS, creating nuclear fusion, and finding environmentally

The days of the dreary, dimly lit, and dangerous scientific lab are over, or certainly should be. Every researcher has the right to work in an environment that's bright, clean, orderly, and safe. Modern technology and architecture, supported by reasonable regulations, ensure this for today's scientists. Before accepting a job offer, all scientists should take a stroll around the workplace-to-be to make sure that the facility is safe and designed to promote productive intellectual activity. I

In taking issue with my remarks about Americans for Medical Progress (AMP), Adrian Morrison has come to the defense of AMP's pro-animal research, anti-animal rights ad campaign (Ron Kaufman, The Scientist, May 25, 1992, page 8; Adrian Morrison, The Scientist, July 6, 1992, page 12). That he would defend these simplistic and polarizing ads is not surprising, given that he refers to the middle ground on this complex issue as "mythical." In his view, the controversy consists of the good guys defen

Your recent article on the impact of state budget cuts on academic science researchers (Renee Twombly, The Scientist, May 25, 1992, page 1) paraphrases statements made by David Call, dean of Cornell University's College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, to the effect that at Cornell, "The entomology department has been wiped out" and "no one [is] doing research on insects and pests." As chairman of the department of entomology at Cornell, I can assure you that in spite of very serious budget

In a recent commentary in The Scientist (June 8, 1992, page 12), Bryan Farha calls for a collective project involving scientists and religious leaders in "a grand endeavor to address the greatest existential questions on the grandest of scales: Who or what orchestrated the birth of the universe, and for what purpose?" I would think that the first step in such a process would be for scientists and religious leaders to agree on the kinds of evidence that bear on this question. If the participan

With its traditional bent toward physical sciences, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration has never funded biological studies adequately, and biological investigators have not taken space science seriously, space agency officials say. So, to boost biology into a high-profile orbit within the space program while delivering payoffs to National Institutes of Health-funded investigators on the ground, NASA administrator Daniel Goldin and NIH director Bernadine Healy recently signed an a

I.C. Hsu, R.A. Metcalf, T. Sun, J.A. Welsh, N.J. Wang, C.C. Harris, "Mutational hotspot in the p53 gene in human hepatocellular carcinomas," Nature, 350:427-8, 1991. Curtis Harris (National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, Md.): "Classical epidemiology has successfully identified human populations at high cancer risk and associated the risk with exposure to environmental agents. For example, hepatitis B virus and aflatoxin B1 have been epidemiologically linked to human liver cancer. "More recen

A.V. Smrcka, J.R. Hepler, K.O. Brown, P.C. Sternweis, "Regulation of polyphosphoinositide-specific phospholipase C activity by purified Gq," Science, 251:804-9, 1991. Paul Sternweis (University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas): "The regulation of phosphatidylinositol-specific phospho-lipase C (Pl-PLC) by many hor- mones has been intensely studied because of the importance of the second messengers generated in the regulation of calcium mobilization and protein kinase C activity.

R. Srinivas, D. Slzle, W. Koch, C.H. DePuy, H. Schwarz, "SiOH+/HSiO+ and SiOH*/HSiO*: gas-phase generation and characterization. A combined neutralization-reionization mass spectrometry and ab initio molecular orbital study," Journal of the American Chemical Society, 113:5970-5, 1991. Helmut Schwarz (Technische Universitat Berlin, Germany): "The chemistry of silicon compounds and, in particular, an understanding of the anomalous distribution of atomic silicon in the ionosphere are viewed as

To many assistant professors, the tenure process is something of a mystery--a black box, waiting to be opened at the end of the probationary period, generally after six years. But while the determining factors may seem out of reach to some, senior scientists and others who have long experience reviewing candidates for tenure say it is hardly necessary to walk on water to win tenure at most colleges and universities. At the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, all that's necessary, accordin

Chemical company Rohm and Haas has named Angelo A. Lamola, former head of the molecular biophysics department at AT&T Bell Laboratories, as the new director of the company's exploratory chemicals and exploratory plastics research divisions. Lamola begins his tenure as the leader of the two groups on October 1. Philadelphia-based Rohm and Haas, whose research laboratories are in Spring House, Pa., is a specialty chemical company that orients its basic and applied investigative facilities towa

Frederick Francis, an emeritus professor of food science and nutrition at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, has been elected chairman of the board of directors at the American Council on Science and Health (ACSH). The council is a nonprofit consumer education and public health consortium made up of scientists and physicians. The author of more than 300 technical papers and seven books, Francis has received several national and international awards for excellence in science. But, he s

Journals, Journals Everywhere A Who's Who of Persecuted Scientists It Gets Smaller and Smaller... Mars at Coach Prices Seven Eyes Better Than One Wellcome Funding Researchers in physics and in neuroscience have new outlets for showcasing their work, as two new journals make their debut. The American Vacuum Society unveiled its new quarterly, Surface Science Spectra, in June. Journal staff, led by editors Charles E. Bryson III of Surface/Interface Inc., Mountain View, Calif., and Gary E.