Issue | March 1997 | March 1997 | The Scientist Magazine®

In Vitro Diagnostics Firms Frustrated By FDA Delays

Sidebar: In Vitro Diagnostics (IVD) industry -- more information Manufacturers of devices that test fluids or tissues outside the body say the agency's excessively high standard hinders innovation. Photo: Feit's Photography MAJOR BLOW: National Medical Device Coalition’s Wayne Barlow says delays in FDA approval devastate small companies. The in vitro diagnostics (IVD) industry has long been frustrated by lengthy delays in the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) product-appr

Computers Add New Twists To Medical School Training

"Physicians will not be able to practice medicine in the next century without computers. Individual hospitals and medical centers will have their own intranets, as will health care systems." Robert Trelstad,Professor and Chairman of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine,Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. THE TIME FACTOR: Southwestern’s M. David Low says medical school faculty may worry about development time for computer-based instruction. Most physicians and educators agree that computer

Optimism Prevails As New Chief Completes Move To Salk Institute

Seven months after he was hired as president of the Salk Institute, Thomas Pollard has finally settled in at the modernist scientific citadel with its legendary view of the Pacific Ocean. Photo: Jim Cox/The Salk Inst. FOCUSED MISSION: Thomas Pollard’s mandates are to bolster the endowment and improve scientific leadership. Pollard officially began in his post at the San Diego laboratory on July 1. After months of commuting, the scientist has finally moved from Baltimore, where he was ch

NIH Is Advised To Expand Its International Activities

Sidebar: Advisory Panel's Recommendations to NIH But budget concerns may force the agency's heralded Fogarty Center to stand pat A comparatively small proposed budget increase for the center that coordinates international programs of the National Institutes of Health may prevent any significant expansion of its global efforts in the near future. A report submitted last fall by an external advisory panel recommended "a strengthening of international activities" at NIH (see list of recommendatio

The Advisory Panel's Recommendations

The external advisory panel that reviewed international efforts of the National Institutes of Health made 10 recommendations "to enhance and strengthen" these activities. They are as follows: "The panel strongly endorses an international role for all NIH components, consistent with the mission of each component, and a strengthening of international activities at the NIH." "To meet the challenges in international health, the panel advocates retention of the FIC [Fogarty International Center] as

For Further Information

FOR MORE INFORMATION: Date: March 3, 1997 American Association of Physics Teachers One Physics Ellipse College Park, Md. 20740 (301) 209-3300 Fax: (301) 209-0845 aapt-exec@aapt.org http://www.aapt.org American Physical Society One Physics Ellipse College Park, Md. 20740 (301) 209-3233 Fax: (301) 209-0865 exoffice@aps.org http://www.aps.org American Chemical Society 1155 16th St., N.W. Washington, D.C. 20036 (202) 872-4600 http://www.chemcenter.org Fred Pryor Seminars 2000 Sha

For More Information

For more information about the In Vitro Diagnostics (IVD) industry, contact: Health Industry Manufacturers Association 1200 G St., N.W., Suite 400 Washington, D.C. 20005-3814 (202) 783-8700 ¤ Fax: (202) 783-8750 hima@himanet.com ¤ http://www.himanet.com National Medical Device Coalition c/o Medical Device Manufacturers Association 1900 K St., N.W., Suite 300 Washington, D.C. 20006 (202) 496-7150 ¤ Fax: (202) 496-7756 The Food and Drug Administration's Center for Devices and Radio

The Scientist - Crossword Puzzle - March 3, 1997

By Eric Albert Email: ealbert@world.std.com ACROSS 1 Heaviest halogen 5 Disease whose suffers have St. Vitus as a patron saint. 9 Carry a solute across a membrane. 11 Calcium for one 12 Suddenly depart from a heritable types 13 Labyrinth 15 Melanin-deficiency condition 16 Bedroom-dwelling arachnid 19 External: pref. 20 Bihemispherical body 23 It can be treated with isopentyl nitrite 24 Methane, ____, propane,... 27 Class member 28 Not dominant 29 Cuspid 30 Mass of blood outside a vessel DOWN

The Scientist - Crossword Puzzle Answers - March 3, 1997

By Eric Albert Email: ealbert@world.std.com ACROSS 1 Heaviest halogen 5 Disease whose suffers have St. Vitus as a patron saint. 9 Carry a solute across a membrane. 11 Calcium for one 12 Suddenly depart from a heritable types 13 Labyrinth 15 Melanin-deficiency condition 16 Bedroom-dwelling arachnid 19 External: pref. 20 Bihemispherical body 23 It can be treated with isopentyl nitrite 24 Methane, ____, propane,... 27 Class member 28 Not dominant 29 Cuspid 30 Mass of blood outside a vessel DOWN

Our Radiation Protection Policy Is A Hazard To Public Health

Where public-health policy is concerned, it makes sense to be conservative. But when we try too hard, we may actually do more harm than good. An egregious example is our policy on low-level ionizing radiation, primarily gamma rays and neutrons. Regulations are based on the premise that any amount of radiation, however small, must be considered hazardous. This premise was not derived scientifically, and the policy based on it is not conservative but is actually detrimental to public health. Il

Distribution System For Research Funding Must Be Improved For The Sake Of Science

The enormous federal deficit and the intent of lawmakers to balance the budget portend that biomedical research funding will not increase in the future. It will be prudent for the scientific community to adopt a long-term, healthy approach to doing science by reevaluating how it funds research. Scientists have a responsibility to stem an increase in research expenditures. We cannot enjoy the "luxury" of conducting science without tightening our grip on the escalating costs of doing research.

Scientific Prose

In an article by Kathryn S. Brown (The Scientist, Jan. 20, 1997, page 16), the symptoms of poor scientific prose and their treatment were explained, but the cause of the problem was ignored. Most scientists (and engineers) today are seriously handicapped in their efforts to write well. Researchers deal with sophisticated, specialized, complex concepts and do so with technical knowledge developed in years of undergraduate and graduate education and work in their field. Yet they are trying to wr

When Did Scientists Turn Passive?

Kathryn S. Brown's article in The Scientist's Jan. 20, 1997, issue (page 16) discussed today's deplorable and stilted style of science writing. In college I saw it as my duty to insist that my students write their lab reports in the passive voice. But when, where, and why did that practice begin? No doubt scientists wanted to emphasize that they were not voicing opinions but reporting observations that others could confirm. The first observer is merely a reporter, the observations being valid

Self-Experimenters Sought

I am planning a "Dictionary of Self-Experimenters." I therefore appeal to any reader who has performed any kind of experiments on himself or herself. I also seek information about any kind of self-experiments performed by readers' colleagues in the past. Data and results of all kinds from self-experiments should not disappear from the face of the Earth. Every one of those experiments is unique, and the results may benefit humanity in the future. A great example is Werner Forssmann, who in 1929

William T. Golden

The Scientist Date: March 3, 1997 THE SCIENTIST® The Newspaper for the Life Sciences Professional (609)-786-7207 For Fast Service "THE SCIENTIST has character and personality....THE SCIENTIST is a stimulating and very important component of the scientific literature." WILLIAM T. GOLDEN, Member, National Academy of Sciences 1996 recipient of the National Academy of Sciences Public Welfare Medal Since early childhood," William T. Golden remarks, "I have always enjoyed tinkering with elect

Citation Records Reveal Top U.K. Universities in 21 Fields

Editor's Note: In its continuing examination of university research outside the United States, the newsletter Science Watch recently presented its first analysis of institutions in the United Kingdom. This article from the January/February 1997 issue of Science Watch (8[1]:1, 1997) ranks U.K. universities by the total number of citations of their papers published in 21 fields between 1991 and 1995 and analyzes the citation impact (citations per paper) of these articles. Both analyses are based

Top Three United Kingdom Universities in 21 Fields Ranked by Citation Impact, 1991-95

Ranked by Citation Impact, 1991-95 FIELD123 Physics University of Glasgow (6.85) University of Lancaster (6.77) University of Sussex (5.87) Chemistry University of Cambridge(6.35) University of Sussex (6.17) University of Durham (4.97) Materials Science University of Hull (3.90) Queen Mary & Westfield College (2.94) University of Cambridge (2.86) Engineering University of Glasgow (2.90) University of Oxford (2.61) University of Southampton (2.52) Geosciences Open University (5.21) Universi

Top Three United Kingdom Universities in 21 Fields Ranked by Total Citations, 1991-95

Ranked by Total Citations, 1991-95 FIELD123 Physics University of Cambridge (14,801) University of Oxford (10,567) Imperial College (7,877) Chemistry University of Cambridge (13,881) University of Oxford (7,908) Imperial College (4,813) Materials Science University of Cambridge (1,753) University of Oxford (973) Imperial College (846) Engineering University of Cambridge (2,357) University of Oxford (2,088) Imperial College (2,008) Geosciences University of Cambridge (2,993) University of Oxfor

Clarification

In the letter to the editor by D. Gurwitz in the Jan. 20, 1997, issue of The Scientist (page 13), the correct reference for R. Paddenberg et al. is European Journal of Cell Biology, 71:105-19, 1996. [corrected in the Web version] A photo from the film 2001: A Space Odyssey that appeared on page 3 of the Feb. 17, 1997, issue of The Scientist should have been credited to Turner Enterainment.

Structural Biology

Edited by: Karen Young Kreeger J.P. Griffith, J.L. Kim, E.E. Kim, M.D. Sintchak, J.A. Thomson, M.J. Fitzgibbon, M.A. Fleming, P.R. Caron, K. Hsiao, M.A. Navia, "X-ray structure of calcineurin inhibited by the immunophilin-immunosuppressant FKBP12-FK506 complex," Cell, 82:507-22, 1995. (Cited in close to 70 publications as of February 1997) Comments by James P. Griffith and Joseph L. Kim, Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc., Cambridge, Mass. FK506 is an immunosuppressant drug used for preventing graft

Apoptosis

Edited by: Karen Young Kreeger M. Tewari, V.M. Dixit, "Fas- and tumor necrosis factor-induced apoptosis is inhibited by the poxvirus crmA gene product," Journal of Biological Chemistry, 270:3255-60, 1995. (Cited in more than 130 publications as of February 1997) M. Tewari, L.T. Quan, K. O'Rourke, S. Desnoyers, Z. Zeng, D.R. Beidler, G.G. Poirier, G.S. Salvesen, V.M. Dixit, "Yama/CPP32ß, a mammalian homolog of CED-3, is a crmA-inhibitable protease that cleaves the death substrate poly(ADP

SIX COMMON LAB MANAGEMENT MISTAKES

SIX COMMON LAB MANAGEMENT MISTAKES Date: March 3, 1997 A few researchers have started to address the need to discuss the various ways of setting up and running a lab. At the Society for Neuroscience's annual meeting last November, Women in Neuroscience-an independent organization supported in part by the society-sponsored a symposium called "Running a Laboratory: Issues in Scientific Style." One of the speakers was Vivien Casagrande, a professor of cell biology and psychology at

Researchers Setting Up Labs Must Learn Skills On The Fly

Also in this story : Six Common Mistakes For More Information ... Setting up one's first lab can be a tortuous process requiring many decisions. Researchers must choose what kind of lab they want to run and the role they want to establish with technicians, students, and colleagues, among others. But guidelines on how to make those decisions and skills like managing a lab budget or hiring the right employees aren't taught to budding scientists. Many researchers say they learned what works best t

Today's Centrifuges Offer Options For Every Research Need

COMPACT UNIT: Accurate Chemical and Scientific’s Saturn Micro24 microcentrifuge Centrifuges are a little like cars: For most biological laboratories they are an essential piece of equipment, but they may chug along for years with little service and less thought. When it comes time to buy a new one, make and model choices abound. With centrifuges, as with cars, capacity and features vary, but you can likely find one to meet your needs and your budget. Centrifuges work by spinning a samp

Notebook

Monday mornings can be tough, even if you're Bill Gates. The head of Redmond, Wash.-based Microsoft Corp. ran into a few glitches at a presentation he was giving at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in Seattle. In the middle of a demonstration on February 17 aimed at showing how Web browsers and E-mail will soon merge, the modem connection failed. A computer-vision demonstration by a Microsoft researcher didn't work, either. Then, during a ques

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