February 1998

TACTICAL RETREAT: Many institutions, fearing lawsuits, will abandon their affirmative action programs, predicts NACME's George Campbell, Jr. Universities are feeling the impact of recently approved anti-affirmative action initiatives that ban the consideration of a student's race in admissions decisions. Medical schools have seen a dramatic decrease in minority enrollment; grad schools also have seen a noticeable decline. In hopes of maintaining diverse student bodies, many institutions-includ

The mortality rate for prostate cancer is twice as high for African American men as it is for white men. The mortality rate for breast cancer is 1.35 times higher for African American women than for white women. Because of these discrepancies, reported by the National Center for Health Statistics, review panels that make cancer research funding decisions should include more African Americans, contend minority cancer advocates. "Without representation, there's not going to be funding," says W.

Hispanics are the fastest growing minority group in the United States, predicted to reach about 15 percent of the population within the next two years. But these numbers are not reflected in the percentages of Hispanic students in college and graduate school. As debate swirls over what is causing Hispanic students to drop out of the educational system, several organizations are working to increase the numbers of Hispanic students in the pipeline to science programs in four-year colleges, as wel

The federal government is beginning to take a close look at the accountability of programs designed to increase opportunities for minorities in science. Funding applications now require that grantee institutions set internal goals, fashion programs to meet those objectives, and become actively involved with government agencies in the evaluation process. Moves also are afoot to create an independently managed clearinghouse of data on such programs. But these changes are occurring under a shadow

Edited by: Paul Smaglik T.P. Leary, A.S. Muerhoff, J.N. Simons, T.J. Pilot-Matias, J.C. Erker, M.L. Chalmers, G.G. Schlauder, G.J. Dawson, S.M. Desai, I.K. Mushahwar, "Sequence and genomic organization of GBV-C: A novel member of the Flaviviridae associated with human non-A-E hepatitis," Journal of Medical Virology, 48:60-7, 1996. (Cited more than 150 times since its publication in January 1996) Comments by Thomas P. Leary and Isa K. Mushahwar, Virus Discovery Group, Abbott Laboratories Inc.,

Edited by: Paul Smaglik H. Duan, A.M. Chinnaiyan, P.L. Hudson, J.P. Wing, W. He, V.M. Dixit, "ICE-LAP3, a novel mammalian homologue of the Caenorhabditis elegans cell death protein ced-3, is activated during Fas- and tumor necrosis factor-induced apoptosis," Journal of Biological Chemistry, 271:1621-5, 1996. (Cited in more than 125 publications since its publication in January 1996)Comments by Vishva M. Dixit, Director of Molecular Oncology, Genentech Inc., South San Francisco, Calif. THE EXE

'DAUNTING TASK': James Wyche of the Leadership Alliance says that increasing minority representation in the sciences isn't easy. By exposing young minority researchers to established scientific luminaries and opportunities that might be denied them otherwise, minority research societies are helping to even out a playing field that advocates believe still needs leveling. These organizations run the gamut of scientific fields and of minority population groups. Though more poorly funded and

Breast Tumor Section showing nonamplified HER-2/neu (<4 signals/nucleus). Cells are stained with DAPI. Probe is detected with flurorescein. There is perhaps nothing more disturbing to a woman than a diagnosis of breast cancer. Beyond the usual fears associated with this dreaded disease is the uncertainty concerning the prognosis. Breast cancer is one of those cancers that can be very deadly but also from which there can be long term survival. Despite a plethora of indicators-tumor size, lym

As you walk through the laboratory and pass the centrifuge you purchased just a few years ago, you realize it has already outlived its usefulness in your lab. It still spins like it did the day you rolled it in, but honestly, people could be using the machine in the lab next door. What do you do? Perhaps it's time to step up to the auction block and earn some revenue on those functional pieces of equipment that are taking up space in the lab. LabConsumer found a newcomer that is creating a nic

Duplicate gels sequences with Stratagene's CastAway System. Sequencing data loaded G A T C from left to right. Control primer and template from the T7-SequenaseTM Version 2.0 DNA Sequencing Kit from Amersham. Manual gel pouring can waste precious time in the laboratory. From preparing plates to loading your gel, you might spend the same amount of time it would take to drive to a theater and watch the latest movie-a recent blockbuster about a sinking ship excluded. The business of precast gels

Date: February 16, 1998 Chart 1 Chart 2 nyone tired of mixing darkroom chemicals should read this article. The modern generation of instruments for viewing both radioactively and fluorescently labeled samples can save you countless hours of time and provide quantitation only dreamed of by researchers in the past. The products to consider are phosphor screen and fluorescent imagers. These handy devices offer numerous advantages over film autoradiography: Sensitivity: estimates of sensitivity

Date: February 16, 1998 Thermal Cyclers Chart DNA Ligation Chart here are specialized thermal cyclers on the market today with prices comparable to that of a luxurious automobile or a small to midsized home. However, LabConsumer wanted to devote an article to thermal cyclers that don't send you reeling when you go to balance the checkbook. Perhaps your laboratory doesn't have endless cash reserves, or maybe too many people are fighting for time on one thermal cycler. Pay heed, for your optio

"You won't believe this, but even if the vaccine works, they won't give it to other sick mice."

Alpha Innotech (San Leandro, Calif.) recently released the AlphaArchiverTM 600 Gel Documentation System, designed as an entry-level solution for documentation and archiving of gels, films, and membranes. The system is also fully upgradeable. Utilizing the finest CCD camera technology and optics to capture realtime (30 fps) images, setting a standard for the Life Sciences industry, the AlphaArchiver 600 achieves 762 (v) x 494 (h) pixel resolution and greater than 65 db signal-to-noise ratio, cre

POSITIVE SIDE EFFECT Proposed legislation designed to ban genetic discrimination may boost participation in clinical trials, says Kathy L. Hudson, assistant director for policy coordination at the National Human Genome Research Institute. Vice President Al Gore issued guidelines for genetic discrimination legislation in a report entitled "Genetic Information and the Workplace" January 20 at the National Academy of Sciences. The legislation, if enacted, would bar employers from using genetic mak

Major disparities exist between the health status of the overall population of the United States and that of its socioeconomically disadvantaged groups, especially African Americans, Hispanics/Latinos, American Indians, and Pacific Islanders, as shown by health survey analyses (H. Freeman, Journal of the National Cancer Institute, 83:525-7, 1991; C. Baquet et al., J. Natl. Cancer Inst., 83:551-7, 1991; M. Angell, New England Journal of Medicine, 329:126-7, 1993). The most striking health discr

The Scientist has dedicated this issue to the topic of underrepresentation in science of African Americans, Hispanic Americans, and American Indians. Must we continue to remind ourselves about these perennially low numbers? What can America expect if it does not correct this exclusion of a large proportion of its citizens in all research fields? Consider the growing numbers of Hispanic citizens in the United States, keeping in mind the other two prominent underrepresented groups, African Ameri

The "Nobel Lesson" by Barry A. Palevitz and Ricki Lewis ("Show Me The Data: A Nobel Lesson In The Process Of Science," The Scientist, Dec. 8, 1997, page 8) errantly dismissed the criticisms by molecular biologist Peter Duesberg of the infectious AIDS model. Duesberg is a University of California, Berkeley, professor and retrovirus pioneer who has concluded that HIV is harmless and that AIDS can be explained by noninfectious factors such as party drugs; various non-HIV contaminants in hemophili

WORTH WAITING FOR: Kwaku Ohene-Frempong of the Sickle Cell Disease Association of America says "gene therapy is the ultimate cure of sickle cell disease." Back in 1949, Linus Pauling determined that sickle cell disease-an inherited blood disorder that afflicts 1 in 400 African Americans-is caused by a defect in one of the genes that codes for hemoglobin. Now people with sickle cell disease are finally reaping the benefits of a half-century of research. Within the last two years, several treat