June 1998

Research in genetics has changed the way scientists view many disorders that befall patients. For example, investigators have taken giant steps in understanding the molecular basis of diseases such as cancer and cystic fibrosis. Genetic research also has radically revamped the understanding of afflictions--including manic-depression and obesity--that in the past were blamed on the infirmity and weak will of their sufferers. CONFIDENTIALITY CONSIDERED: Utah's Jeffrey Botkin, says his study on

Principals behind joint-venture proposal and public effort seek to define relationships A private effort to sequence the human genome four years ahead of the Human Genome Project's 2005 goal could either compete directly with the federal project or meld seamlessly with it. Before any relationship between the two efforts becomes formalized, scientists and federal officials involved with the Human Genome Project must determine whether the private approach will work, who will own the data, how qu

May 18 marked the one-year anniversary of President Bill Clinton's pledge--some say more politically motivated than realistic--that there will be an AIDS vaccine by the year 2007. READY FOR PHASE III: Donald Francis of VaxGen is ready for Phase III trials of its AIDS vaccine to begin. The field of AIDS vaccine research has been and remains acrimonious. The basic researchers who insist on proof of immune response prior to large clinical trials disagree with the vaccine researchers whose experi

NAS president Bruce Alberts Along with the honor that comes with this year's election of new members into the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) also comes a challenge: Get involved. Bruce Alberts, NAS president, urges new inductees to step up their efforts to influence public policy. "A major role of the academy is to encourage scientists to be more active in their community," Alberts emphasizes. NAS elected 60 new members and 15 foreign associates at its 135th annual meeting on April 28 i

"Here's one for the book -- they call DOGS their best friend."

In the article "Bioweapons Research Proliferates" (R. Lewis, The Scientist, 12[9]:1, April 27, 1998), Zachary Selden offered a hypothetical example of ordering Ebola virus from the American Type Culture Collection. Nancy Wysocki, a representative of ATCC, informed The Scientist after the article was published that the facility does not provide Ebola virus, or any other level 4 pathogen. In preparing the article, The Scientist contacted ATCC several times, with no response. "It has been ATCC's

The Scientist has been in print for more than 11 years now--this is the 279th consecutive issue. During that time it has evolved through various stages guided by its founder and publisher, Eugene Garfield, who has brought it to its present position as a respected and established source of news and information for the life sciences professional. Recently, it was a great honor and challenge to me to assume the role of publisher. It is my primary goal and responsibility to guide The Scientist thr

In the article "Decisions, Decisions: NIH's Disease-By-Disease Allocations Draw New Fire" (B. Agnew, The Scientist, 12[7]:1, March 30, 1998), Harold Varmus (director of National Institutes of Health) seems to evade the issue of funding allocation by promoting NIH-sponsored workshops. These workshops are sure to enhance interdisciplinary research on various diseases, as well as attract the interest of new scientists. My question is: From what source will these new scientists obtain funding? P

Regarding your article on gene names (P. Smaglik, The Scientist, 12[7]:1, March 30, 1998), you make a couple of major errors in the yeast example. This does go to show the difficulty of different systems of nomenclature, but also, the information in your box on page 6 should be corrected. It's not just yeast, but fission yeast, S. pombe. Accepted nomenclature is not wee-1 (as you write), but wee1+. It does not make an abnormally small protein, but rather, the mutant causes the yeast to divide

A resounding yes to attorney Philip M. Goldman's question in the April 13, 1998 issue of The Scientist: Do Investigators Need Their Own Lawyers? (P.M. Goldman, 12[8]:9). This is especially the case for academic investigators because of the great differences among universities in their intellectual property policies regarding patents. At one extreme is the University of Wisconsin, which does not claim proprietary rights to the inventions of its faculty and, in fact, allows them to own their inve

In the last 50 years, increasing criticism of American medical education has centered on an overloaded curriculum, inadequate basic science-clinical integration, and limited commitment of the faculty to teach. Curriculum changes at a number of medical schools have not resulted in widespread reform. Our recently published study analyzed these complaints and offered suggestions for improvement. The study (J.J. Smith et al., Advances in Physiology Education, 17:S36-46, 1997) states that the inade

Before the April 17 launch of Neurolab, the 16-day space shuttle Columbia flight during which 26 studies of the nervous system would be conducted, researchers differed in opinion concerning the microneurography experiment. Either the thin needle placed in a nerve just below the knee of an astronaut would show that electrochemical signals were being transmitted normally from brain to blood vessels via the autonomic nervous system, or the nerve activity would be greater in microgravity than on Ea

POSITIVE REDUCTION: Frank M. Sacks (left) of Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard University led a study that demonstrated that lowering cholesterol in patients from average to low levels significantly reduced the number of recurrent coronary events. The research team also included Lemuel A. Moye (right) of the University of Texas School of Public Health in Houston. F.M. Sacks, M.A. Pfeffer, L.A. Moye, J.L. Rouleau, J.D. Rutherford, T.G. Cole, L. Brown, J.W. Warnica, J.M.O. Arnold, C.C. W

C.J. Bult, O. White, G.J. Olsen, L. Zhou, R.D. Fleischmann, G.G. Sutton, J.A. Blake, L.M. FitzGerald, R.A. Clayton, J.D. Gocayne, A.R. Kerlavage, B.A. Dougherty, J.F. Tomb, M.D. Adams, C.I. Reich, R. Overbeek, E.F. Kirkness, K.G. Weinstock, J. M. Merrick, A. Glodek, J.L. Scott, N.S.M. Geoghagen. J.F. Weidman, J.L. Fuhrmann, D. Nguyen, T.R. Utterback, J. M. Kelley, J.D. Peterson, P.W. Sadow, M.C. Hanna, M.D. Cotton, K.M. Roberts, M.A. Hurst, B.P. Kaine, M. Borodovsky, H.P. Klenk, C.M. Fraser, H.

STARTED A TREND: Jane Lubchenco and her husband Bruce Menge became pioneers in the fractional tenure-track concept when they accepted positions at Oregon State University. Maybe you're just entering the work force, after four, six, nine, or even more years of post-high school priming. Or maybe you've been working for a few years and you just got wind of a fantastic opportunity you'd like to pursue. If you're the neophyte, now comes the seemingly monumental task of gathering transcripts and r

The Eastman Kodak Co. has come up with a line of intensifying screens for autoradiography that will make fluorography a distant memory. The first of its kind that can be used with weak beta emitters, the new BioMax™ TranScreen™ Intensifying Screens save time and improve resolution with strong and weak emitters alike. Improvements in the phosphors and design of the screens has upped the efficiency of autoradiography, dramatically reducing exposure times, and extending their applicat

Micromanimpulators, long a mainstay in neurophysiology laboratories, are finding applications in fields outside of neurobiology. Both microinjection and microscopic imaging applications provide other demanding uses of these instruments. Sutter Instruments' latest addition to its line of instruments, the motorized MicroManipulator MP-285, has been engineered to provide precise and reproducible positioning, suitable for even the most exacting applications. Motorized Micromanipulator MP-285 D

Date: June 8, 1998 Author: Michael BrushPoint of Use Water Filtration Systems He was described as a "grey-beard loon," but the superstitious old sailor of Samuel Taylor Coleridge's The Rime of the Ancient Mariner clearly understood the value of a reliable and consistent source of pure water. Trapped on a ship becalmed in the doldrums and faced with an exhausted fresh water supply, the old sailor lamented, "Water, water, everywhere, nor any drop to drink." The pure water requirements of the mode

Date: June 8, 1998 Author: Shane BeckLicensed Research Reagent Companies, Thermal Cyclers, Taq Polymerase Catalog Prices F or those of you who regularly read LabConsumer, this article may be something other than what you are used to seeing. The topic of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) licensing is one that, as LabConsumer gathered information from an increasing number of people with numerous points of view, it became more and more difficult to sort out. With a topic as hot as this, and with lit

Contents PATHOGENIC NECKTIES TWENTY-TWENTY VISION PROGRESS IN PARKINSON'S OLD BONES MARS ATTACKS FORECASTING CANCER FASHION CONTAGION: Roger Freeman and his pathogen-inspired silk ties, shown here with images of syphilis and herpes. PATHOGENIC NECKTIES: The late musician and artist Jerry Garcia may have some microscopic competitors in the necktie business. At the American Society for Microbiology annual meeting in Atlanta May 17-21, a company called Health Media International sold Contagious