Issue | July 1995 | July 1995 | The Scientist Magazine®

News

Scientists See Broad Attack Against Research And Reason

A rising tide of "irrationalism" in the United States and Europe is helping to fuel dangerous anti-science sentiments, according to a number of researchers and academics. Proof, they say, can be seen in the increased prominence given to postmodernist science studies in the universities, creationism, and alternative medicine. They claim that the spread of these and other untestable belief systems in society may destabilize science by skewing science education and diminishing public support for

British Drug Takeover Is Expected To Have Worldwide Repercussions

Repercussions Author: Peter Gwynne London-based pharmaceutical giant Glaxo plc's $14.1 billion acquisition in March of the Wellcome Foundation, another London drug power, is expected to have long-term repercussions--some good and some bad--for many scientists around the world. Researchers at the newly formed pharmaceutical firm--named Glaxo Wellcome plc, with facilities in Europe and the United States--face the prospect of layoffs in coming months, according to analysts. Some R&D personnel cu

Small U.S. Biotechs, Foreign Firms Join In Investment 'Mating Dance'

With Wall Street investment rapidly drying up for small United States biotechnology companies and large foreign drug firms eying lucrative overseas markets for American biotech products, partnerships between the two may be the wave of the future, biotech executives and industry analysts say. OBSERVER: Formatech president and AAPS official Benjamin Isaacs notes benefits of the increase in alliances. These international alliances generally include a combination of R&D collaborations; product ma

Minority Investigators Speak Out On The Value Of Affirmative Action

Recent political and judicial setbacks to affirmative action throughout the United States have minority and women scientists concerned that whatever advantages they have gained in the lab or clinic in the 30 years since such laws and regulations were enacted will be decimated. Impassioned national debate on the issue has been sparked by a number of widely publicized events. Among them are an effort by two professors in California to do away with any vestige of affirmative action in hiring by s

Faculty By The Numbers

According to the latest figures from the American Council on Education, of the more than 500,000 faculty members in 1991, 68 percent were men and 32 percent were women, compared with 73 percent of men and 27 percent of women in 1981. In 1981, whites made up 91 percent of the faculty; in 1991, they constituted 88 percent of the total. In 1991, of the remaining 12 percent minority, there were twice as many male as female African American, Hispanic, Asian American, and American Indian faculty memb

Funding For All

John Ruffin thinks the National Institutes of Health's 20-year effort to ensure that affirmative action goals are carried out through minority research and training programs must have been a benefit to society. But he can't really say that for sure--because he just doesn't know. No one is keeping track. And in order to find out just how effective NIH is in moving and keeping minorities in research careers, Ruffin is heading a multiyear effort to evaluate the various programs aimed at minorities

An 'Iterative Process'

Sidebar: The AIDS Research Evaluators The 100-plus members of a newly constituted National Institutes of Health task force have begun their daunting task: a comprehensive reevaluation of NIH's entire $1.4 billion AIDS portfolio, including both intramural and extramural research. Compounding the challenge for the scientists and AIDS activists who make up the task force is a withering schedule. They will have to produce a report due in January 1996, to aid in planning the 1998 Office of AIDS Rese

The AIDS Research Evaluators

Chairman: Arnold Levine, chairman, department of molecular biology, Princeton University Barry Bloom, Weinstock Professor and Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) investigator, department of microbiology and immunology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, New York Rebecca Buckley, professor of pediatrics and immunology, Duke University Medical Center Charles Carpenter, chairman, Office of AIDS Research Advisory Committee; professor of medicine,Brown University School of Medicine Don

Public Science Literacy Must Be Increased To Stem Tide Of Anti-Science Sentiment

Anti-Science Sentiment Author: LEON M. LEDERMAN Anti-science sentiments have waxed and waned over the past few centuries, shifting with public awareness of science and its conflict with authority. There is little doubt that we are in a waxing phase today (see story on page 1). For the scientific community to react to the new onslaught, it is important to appreciate the diversity of anti-science armies arrayed in the field. Most familiar among them are the religious fundamentalists, some left

Where Math, Biology Meet

The Society for Mathematical Biology P.O. Box 11283 Boulder, Colo. 80301 Fax: (303) 665-8264 E-mail: jchorbaj@mines.colorado.edu 600 members Leah Edelstein-Keshet, president Contact: Torcam Chorbajian, treasurer/secretary Bulletin of Mathematical Biology Editor: Lee Segal published by ier Science Inc., New York Phone: (212) 633-3950 * Journal of Computational Biology Editor-in-chief: David T. Kingbury published quarterly by Mary Ann Liebert Inc., Larchmont, N.Y. Phone: (914) 834-3100 *

Median Annual Salaries Of Doctoral Scientists And Engineers By Field Of Doctorate And Sex, 1993

ENGINEERS BY FIELD OF DOCTORATE AND SEX, 1993 Field of Doctorate All Male Female All $60,000 $61,500 $48,400 Computer and math science 57,800 58,800 51,700 Computer/info. science 60,800 63,000 53,100 Math science 56,500 57,200 50,300 Life and related science 55,000 58,200 47,400 Agricultural/food science 53,100 54,800 42,800 Biological/health science 55,100 59,400 47,800 Environmental science 57,500 58,600 44,600 Physical and related science 64,100 65,500 52,500 Chemistry (except biochem.) 64,

It's A Knockout: Mice Advancing Research As Lab Animals Of Choice

The Scientist 9[14]:, Jul. 10, 1995 News The Rodent Revolution By Holly Ahern A nude mouse What do nudes, knockouts, and gnotobiotics have in common? Contrary to the images these terms might conjure up, they are not characters in an X-rated horror film set on an alien planet. These are all laboratory animals created expressly for use by scientists in several areas of biology and biomedical research. The applications for laboratory animals are many and varied, including

Leaders of Science

Beatrice Mintz

Beatrice Mintz, senior member, Institute for Cancer Research, Fox Chase Cancer Center, Philadelphia. Beatrice Mintz has turned her interest in the genetic control of pigment cell dvelopment toward basic research on the mechanisms underlying the progression and spread of melanoma. In 1993, she and her colleagues produced the first laboratory animal model of skin melanoma by genetically altering mice so that they become susceptible to this malignancy. The development and progression of tumors in t

Opinion

Equity Vs. Excellence: A False Dichotomy In Science And Society

Society Author: S. James Gates, Jr. The first commitment of a scientist ought to be to using logical and rational effort to comprehend objective reality without regard to one's emotions or prejudices. Those of us who have had the privilege of a scientific career and love the doing of science are hard pressed not to accept this as one of the paradigms in our view of life. Recently, as an African American, I have often been asked about my attitudes and opinions regarding affirmative action and di

Letter

Information Suppression

The recent flurry of stories concerning information suppression and punitive actions against scientists who do not conform (P. Rushton, The Scientist, Oct. 3, 1994, page 13; P. Duesberg, The Scientist, March 20, 1995, page 12) is quite disconcerting. To those who contrive to withhold from nonconformists grants or access to public debate, one should say: Please be kind to our dissidents. Anything worth doing has been started by them, and any mainstream that today dominates segments of science wa

Electronic Grant Submission

I enjoyed your recent article on electronic National Institutes of Health grant submission [L. Reif-Lehrer, The Scientist, April 3, 1995, page 1] and found the inset addressing computerized forms particularly interesting to me as a software developer. I am writing to alert you and your readers to our product, GrantSlam, which many investigators have found preferable to the options listed in the article's inset. GrantSlam is a Windows-based program dedicated to preparing NIH/Public Health Servi

Research

Interface Between Biology And Mathematics Expanding Rapidly

Biologists and mathematicians alike are finding their respective disciplines meeting at a very busy crossroads. The rapid advances in both fields, they say, have resulted in an explosion of information in the life sciences, and the creation of sophisticated mathematical tools for handling complicated biological systems. Studies over the entire range of the life sciences--from the molecular level (DNA and proteins) to entire organisms and ecosystems--benefit from insights derived from the mathe

Hot Paper

Plant Biology

A. Nagatani, J.W. Reed, J. Chory, "Isolation and initial characterization of Arabidopsis mutants that are deficient in phytochrome A," Plant Physiology, 102:269-77, 1993. (Cited in 44 publications through May 1995) Comments by Joanne Chory, Salk Institute for Biological Studies, San Diego Because light plays an integral role in modulating both the development and the physiology of plants, the subject of how plants respond to their light environment "is of fundamental interest to the plant sci

Vaccinology

G. Dranoff, E. Jaffee, A. Lazenby, P. Golumbek, H. Levitsky, K. Brose, V. Jackson, H. Hamada, D. Pardoll, R.C. Mulligan, "Vaccination with irradiated tumor cells engineered to secrete murine granulocyte-macrophage colony stimulating factor stimulates potent, specific, and long-lasting anti-tumor immunity," Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 90:3539-43, 1993. (Cited in 170 publications through May 1995) Comments by Glenn Dranoff, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical Sc

Profession

NSF Survey: Biology Ph.D.'s Have Lower Pay, But Higher Job Security

Security Author: Edward R. Silverman A National Science Foundation employment survey has found that the median salary paid to individuals holding doctorates in biological and health sciences was lower in 1993 (the last year examined) than that paid to science and engineering Ph.D.'s in many other disciplines. At the same time, however, the study, scheduled for release next month, reports that doctoral degree- holders in the life sciences in general--including biological scientists--also experi

Former ACS President Named 1996 Priestley Medal Recipient

The American Chemical Society (ACS) has named organic chemist Ernest L. Eliel, W.R. Kenan Professor Emeritus at the University of North Carolina, as the 1996 recipient of the Priestley Medal. He will receive the solid gold medal--the United States' highest award in chemistry--at the ACS national meeting in New Orleans next March. Eliel, 73, who was ACS president in 1992, says he has been overwhelmed by well-wishers since the announcement of the award was made in late May: "I've received letters

MIT Provost Mark Wrighton Moves To Washington University As Longtime Chancellor William H. Danforth Steps Down

As Longtime Chancellor William H. Danforth Steps Down Author: Franklin Hoke Mark S. Wrighton, 46, became the new chancellor of Washington University in St. Louis on July 1. Wrighton, a research chemist, was provost and chief academic officer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology until his appointment. He succeeds William H. Danforth, Washington University's top officer for 24 years. The university's $1.7 billion endowment ranks it in the top 10 of United States schools; its operating bu

Notebook

The 30,000-member, Providence, R.I.-based American Mathematical Society (AMS) has joined numerous advocates for biomedical research in objecting to recently proposed federal budget cuts for scientific research. Late last month, AMSUs Committee on Science Policy issued a resolution stating that it "is very concerned that proposed reductions in the federal budget for support of scientific research will seriously damage the U.S. scientific capacity for many years. . . . Support of scientific resea