December 1994

Date : December 12, 1994 Incensed that the terms exclude industrial scientists, Merck announces sponsorship of competing project A powerful new, privately held database of human complementary DNA (cDNA) sequences has become available to researchers eager to test its capabilities to rapidly identify new genes. The proposed terms of access to the database, however, exclude pharmaceutical and other industry-affiliated scientists, an

Manufacturer Up In Arms Incensed that the terms exclude industrial scientists, Merck announces sponsorship of competing project A powerful new, privately held database of human complementary DNA (cDNA) sequences has become available to researchers eager to test its capabilities to rapidly identify new genes. The proposed terms of access to the database, however, exclude pharmaceutical and other industry-affiliated scientists, angeri

Along the way, she bumps into an old friend and current colleague, a radiologist with whom she shared an early-morning physics class in her undergraduate days; he is now a nuclear science professor at the school. Reliving old times and casually discussing their disparate research, they settle in a nearby alcove, one of several "interaction spaces" that dot the architecture of the building. An off-hand remark by her friend implants

Date : December 12, 1994 Sidebar: PHARMACEUTICAL INDUSTRY JOB STATISTICS As 1995 approaches, changing economic forces in the pharmaceutical industry are presenting its scientists with tough challenges, both professional and scientific, according to researchers, company officials, and other observers. Financial setbacks and shifting business dynamics, such as mergers and takeovers, have caused companies to drastically downsize thei

Along the way, she bumps into an old friend and current colleague, a radiologist with whom she shared an early-morning physics class in her undergraduate days; he is now a nuclear science professor at the school. Reliving old times and casually discussing their disparate research, they settle in a nearby alcove, one of several "interaction spaces" that dot the architecture of the building. An off-hand remark by her friend implants

Date : December 12, 1994 Sidebar: PHARMACEUTICAL INDUSTRY JOB STATISTICS As 1995 approaches, changing economic forces in the pharmaceutical industry are presenting its scientists with tough challenges, both professional and scientific, according to researchers, company officials, and other observers. Financial setbacks and shifting business dynamics, such as mergers and takeovers, have caused companies to drastically downsize thei

Date : December 12, 1994 Incensed that the terms exclude industrial scientists, Merck announces sponsorship of competing project A powerful new, privately held database of human complementary DNA (cDNA) sequences has become available to researchers eager to test its capabilities to rapidly identify new genes. The proposed terms of access to the database, however, exclude pharmaceutical and other industry-affiliated scientists, an

Manufacturer Up In Arms Incensed that the terms exclude industrial scientists, Merck announces sponsorship of competing project A powerful new, privately held database of human complementary DNA (cDNA) sequences has become available to researchers eager to test its capabilities to rapidly identify new genes. The proposed terms of access to the database, however, exclude pharmaceutical and other industry-affiliated scientists, angeri

Margaret A. Hamburg, health commissioner of the New York City Department of Health, became the third member of her family to be elected to IoM. Her parents, psychiatrists David A. Hamburg, currently president of the New York-based Carnegie Corporation, and Beatrix A. Hamburg, who now serves as the president of the William T. Grant Foundation, were elected to the institute in 1971 and 1979, respectively. Margaret Hamburg recalls tha

Margaret A. Hamburg, health commissioner of the New York City Department of Health, became the third member of her family to be elected to IoM. Her parents, psychiatrists David A. Hamburg, currently president of the New York-based Carnegie Corporation, and Beatrix A. Hamburg, who now serves as the president of the William T. Grant Foundation, were elected to the institute in 1971 and 1979, respectively. Margaret Hamburg recalls tha

Date : December 12, 1994 Back To: Pharmaceutical Companies Stress Innovative Research For Success The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), a trade association of research-based pharmaceutical companies, reports an almost 15 percent reduction in the overall work force in the past two to three years, with current employment totaling 266,000. 19900 19912,700 19925,950 199324,850 199412,880 TOTAL46,380 Ma

Date : December 12, 1994 Back To: Pharmaceutical Companies Stress Innovative Research For Success The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), a trade association of research-based pharmaceutical companies, reports an almost 15 percent reduction in the overall work force in the past two to three years, with current employment totaling 266,000. 19900 19912,700 19925,950 199324,850 199412,880 TOTAL46,380 Ma

Among scientists, Joachim Messing, in his excellent commentary (The Scientist, June 27, 1994, page 13), made the case for supporting many small, rather than a few large, projects. Some excellent suggestions on improvements have also been proposed by Jose M. Musacchio, though he, too, refrains from suggesting major changes in the peer-review system (FASEB Journal, 8:679-83, 1994). Of all the information recently brought out on spons

Among scientists, Joachim Messing, in his excellent commentary (The Scientist, June 27, 1994, page 13), made the case for supporting many small, rather than a few large, projects. Some excellent suggestions on improvements have also been proposed by Jose M. Musacchio, though he, too, refrains from suggesting major changes in the peer-review system (FASEB Journal, 8:679-83, 1994). Of all the information recently brought out on spons

In a Nov. 7, 1994, letter, Marvin Cassman, acting director of the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS), informed NIGMS grantees that the institute is "making special efforts" to fund applications that contain risky or unorthodox ideas or methods. Specifically, these would be applications that contain ideas that challenge current dogma; include experimental approaches that have inherent or unavoidable elements of ri

In a Nov. 7, 1994, letter, Marvin Cassman, acting director of the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS), informed NIGMS grantees that the institute is "making special efforts" to fund applications that contain risky or unorthodox ideas or methods. Specifically, these would be applications that contain ideas that challenge current dogma; include experimental approaches that have inherent or unavoidable elements of ri

Cancer Researcher For 'Crazy Ideas' AUTHOR: NEERAJA SANKARAN, pp.23 AUTHOR:BARBARA SPECTOR, pp.23 DATE: December 12, 1994 Cancer Researcher For 'Crazy Ideas' Author : NEERAJA SANKARAN, pp.23 Date: December 12, 1994 Beatrice Mintz, a senior member of the Institute for Cancer Research at the Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia, was presented with the John Scott Award during a reception on November 18 at the American Philosophi

Beatrice Mintz, a senior member of the Institute for Cancer Research at the Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia, was presented with the John Scott Award during a reception on November 18 at the American Philosophical Society in Philadelphia. The prize was set up in the early 1800s by John Scott, a Scottish druggist, who entrusted the administration of the award--originally $20 and an inscribed copper medal--to the city of Phila

Cancer Researcher For 'Crazy Ideas' AUTHOR: NEERAJA SANKARAN, pp.23 AUTHOR:BARBARA SPECTOR, pp.23 DATE: December 12, 1994 Cancer Researcher For 'Crazy Ideas' Author : NEERAJA SANKARAN, pp.23 Date: December 12, 1994 Beatrice Mintz, a senior member of the Institute for Cancer Research at the Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia, was presented with the John Scott Award during a reception on November 18 at the American Philosophi

Beatrice Mintz, a senior member of the Institute for Cancer Research at the Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia, was presented with the John Scott Award during a reception on November 18 at the American Philosophical Society in Philadelphia. The prize was set up in the early 1800s by John Scott, a Scottish druggist, who entrusted the administration of the award--originally $20 and an inscribed copper medal--to the city of Phila

Molecular biologist John Fagan made nationwide headlines the week before Thanksgiving when he said thanks--but no thanks--to the National Institutes of Health, returning a grant of nearly $614,000. Fagan, a professor of molecular biology at Maharishi International University (MIU) in Fairfield, Iowa, returned the grant--for research on two genes that are blueprints for cytochromes P450, involved in carcinogen and toxin metabolism-

Molecular biologist John Fagan made nationwide headlines the week before Thanksgiving when he said thanks--but no thanks--to the National Institutes of Health, returning a grant of nearly $614,000. Fagan, a professor of molecular biology at Maharishi International University (MIU) in Fairfield, Iowa, returned the grant--for research on two genes that are blueprints for cytochromes P450, involved in carcinogen and toxin metabolism-

Date : December 12, 1994 Sixty-seven years ago, German physicist Werner Heisenberg informed us that we cannot determine with any degree of accuracy both the position and the momentum of a subatomic particle. This is the famous Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle of quantum mechanics. This principle revolutionized high-energy physics, taught us to think in relativistic rather than absolute terms, and has guided subsequent generations

Date : December 12, 1994 Sixty-seven years ago, German physicist Werner Heisenberg informed us that we cannot determine with any degree of accuracy both the position and the momentum of a subatomic particle. This is the famous Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle of quantum mechanics. This principle revolutionized high-energy physics, taught us to think in relativistic rather than absolute terms, and has guided subsequent generations

The Scientist, Oct. 17, 1994, page 13) concerning my commentary "Triage At NIH: A Smoke Screen Concealing The Real Problems Facing American Science" (The Scientist, Sept. 5, 1994, page 13) contains some interesting news, but also some unsubstantiated statements. I was glad to learn that the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) has changed the triage procedures regarding communication with the applicants, who now will receive th

The Scientist, Oct. 3, 1994, page 13). Rushton needs to learn that some people are earnestly sensitive to the issues he is studying and are concerned about the implications of the misuse of this scientific information. He should not label all who disagree with his form of "one-party science" as politically correct. The arts and the sciences are under attack by those who do not understand them. His threatened "I'm a victim" stance do

The Scientist, Oct. 17, 1994, page 13) concerning my commentary "Triage At NIH: A Smoke Screen Concealing The Real Problems Facing American Science" (The Scientist, Sept. 5, 1994, page 13) contains some interesting news, but also some unsubstantiated statements. I was glad to learn that the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) has changed the triage procedures regarding communication with the applicants, who now will receive th

The Scientist, Oct. 3, 1994, page 13). Rushton needs to learn that some people are earnestly sensitive to the issues he is studying and are concerned about the implications of the misuse of this scientific information. He should not label all who disagree with his form of "one-party science" as politically correct. The arts and the sciences are under attack by those who do not understand them. His threatened "I'm a victim" stance do

SIDEBAR: High Risk, High Payoff From the early days of research in molecular biology--the discovery of restriction enzymes, which paved the way for recombinant technology, for example--to pharmacologist Alfred G. Gilman's 1994 Nobel Prize-winning investigations of G proteins, scientists funded by the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) have been advancing the life sciences. In fact, more than half of the National

SIDEBAR: High Risk, High Payoff From the early days of research in molecular biology--the discovery of restriction enzymes, which paved the way for recombinant technology, for example--to pharmacologist Alfred G. Gilman's 1994 Nobel Prize-winning investigations of G proteins, scientists funded by the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) have been advancing the life sciences. In fact, more than half of the National

Date : December 12, 1994 H.T. Orr, M. Chung, S. Banfi, T.J. Kwiatkowski, Jr., A. Servadio, A.L. Beaudet, A.E. McCall, L.A. Duvick, L.P.W. Ranum, H.Y. Zoghbi, "Expansion of an unstable trinucleotide CAG repeat in spinocerebellar ataxia type 1," Nature Genetics, 4:221-26, 1993. (Cited in 114 publications through October 1994) The subject of this paper, the genetic basis of the neurodegenerative disease spinocerebellar ataxia type 1

Daniel Cosgrove, a professor of biology at Pennsylvania State University, University Park, says that this paper breaks new ground in that it gives the first insights into "the biochemical basis of one of the key processes in plant-cell growth; namely, the extension of the cell walls. "We identified proteins that make cell walls grow in surface area," he adds. Plant-cell walls are composed of large units of polysaccharides (such as

Date : December 12, 1994 H.T. Orr, M. Chung, S. Banfi, T.J. Kwiatkowski, Jr., A. Servadio, A.L. Beaudet, A.E. McCall, L.A. Duvick, L.P.W. Ranum, H.Y. Zoghbi, "Expansion of an unstable trinucleotide CAG repeat in spinocerebellar ataxia type 1," Nature Genetics, 4:221-26, 1993. (Cited in 114 publications through October 1994) The subject of this paper, the genetic basis of the neurodegenerative disease spinocerebellar ataxia type 1

Daniel Cosgrove, a professor of biology at Pennsylvania State University, University Park, says that this paper breaks new ground in that it gives the first insights into "the biochemical basis of one of the key processes in plant-cell growth; namely, the extension of the cell walls. "We identified proteins that make cell walls grow in surface area," he adds. Plant-cell walls are composed of large units of polysaccharides (such as

But, just as antibodies are finding increasing utility in cell biology, a new Food and Drug Administration classification for those products with clinical utility may affect researchers' access to the important technology (see accompanying story). Monoclonal History MAbs were born in 1975, when Georges Kohler and Cesar Milstein at the Medical Research Council Laboratories in Cambridge, England, fused two types of cells to form a hy

But, just as antibodies are finding increasing utility in cell biology, a new Food and Drug Administration classification for those products with clinical utility may affect researchers' access to the important technology (see accompanying story). Monoclonal History MAbs were born in 1975, when Georges Kohler and Cesar Milstein at the Medical Research Council Laboratories in Cambridge, England, fused two types of cells to form a hy

The PRO250 is a hand-held or post-mounted homogenizer reportedly capable of processing sample volumes as small as 0.03 ml. The unit features a 3/4 -horsepower motor and built-in variable speed control up to 30,000 rpm. It is capable of homogenizing with the full line of PRO quick-connect generators, safety-sealed chambers, and ST series assemblies. PRO Scientific Inc., Monroe, CT Circle No. 100 on Reader Service Card ---------------

The PRO250 is a hand-held or post-mounted homogenizer reportedly capable of processing sample volumes as small as 0.03 ml. The unit features a 3/4 -horsepower motor and built-in variable speed control up to 30,000 rpm. It is capable of homogenizing with the full line of PRO quick-connect generators, safety-sealed chambers, and ST series assemblies. PRO Scientific Inc., Monroe, CT Circle No. 100 on Reader Service Card ---------------

Editor's Note: "For many of us, giving a scientific presentation can be stressful," writes Duke University Medical Center molecular neurobiologist and cell biologist Robert R.H. Anholt in his book Dazzle 'Em With Style (New York, W.H. Freeman and Co., 1994), a guide to presenting an effective talk. "Yet," he adds, "the ability to deliver a polished oral presentation in front of an audience of peers is an essential skill that is indi

Editor's Note: "For many of us, giving a scientific presentation can be stressful," writes Duke University Medical Center molecular neurobiologist and cell biologist Robert R.H. Anholt in his book Dazzle 'Em With Style (New York, W.H. Freeman and Co., 1994), a guide to presenting an effective talk. "Yet," he adds, "the ability to deliver a polished oral presentation in front of an audience of peers is an essential skill that is indi