Issue | May 1995 | May 1995 | The Scientist Magazine®

News

For Asian American Students, Science Success Bears A Cost

Editor's Note: This is the first of a two-part series on Asian Americans in academic science. It addresses issues concerning Asian American students. The second part, to appear in the May 29 issue, will examine the representation of Asian Americans on academic faculties and in university administration. A growing number of government and private programs throughout the United States are aimed at increasing the ranks of underrepresented minorities in university science classrooms. But one mino

Influential Consortium's cDNA Clones Praised As Genome Research Time-Saver

IMAGE group's DNA libraries are made freely available to other researchers, as long as they, too, pass on information to the public. In less than two years, a research initiative begun by four geneticists has grown from an ad hoc collaboration to an international cooperative effort to freely share complementary DNA (cDNA) clone libraries. To date, in excess of 100,000 clones from the Integrated Molecular Analysis of Genome Expression (IMAGE) Consortium have been sent to more than 40 facilities

Insurance Industry, Scientists Team Up For Mutual Benefits

The United Nations Convention on Climate Change, held in Berlin March 28-April 7, was marked by a presence hitherto unseen at such events_representatives from the insurance industry. The company officials, who attended in order to learn more about climatic issues, herald a rapidly expanding dialogue between these traditionally mutually exclusive communities, according to both insurance and science observers. SCENE OF CHANGE: BBSR provides scientists and insurers a platform to discuss issues of

AAAS Gives Dissident Group A Chance To Challenge Physics Theory

In Norman, Okla., this month, about two dozen speakers will gather to challenge dominant paradigms of modern theoretical physics and to discuss alternatives. At the annual meeting of the Southwestern and Rocky Mountain Division (SWARM) of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) on May 22-24, these self-styled dissidents are planning to renew their attack on the special theory of relativity and big-bang cosmology. This is not the first time the group has met in a AAAS foru

A Varied Group

Theory (The Scientist, Vol:9, #10, pg 3, May 15, 1995) In Norman, Okla., this month, about two dozen speakers will gather to challenge dominant paradigms of modern theoretical physics and to discuss alternatives. At the annual meeting of the Southwestern and Rocky Mountain Division (SWARM) of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) on May 22-24, these self-styled dissidents are planning to renew their attack on the special theory of relativity and big-bang cosmology. This

People: La Jolla High School Senior Wins Top Westinghouse Prize

Irene Ann Chen, 17, a senior at La Jolla High School in San Diego, captured first place in the 1995 Westinghouse Science Talent Search. She received a $40,000 college scholarship at the award ceremony in Washington, D.C., in March. TOP OF HER CLASS: Irene Chen of La Jolla High School plans to use her $40,000 Westinghouse scholarship award to study molecular biology. Chen, who is first in her graduating class, says she was "definitely" surprised that she garnered the top honor, noting that her

Profession

Veteran Whistleblowers Advise Other Would-Be 'Ethical Resisters' To Carefully Weigh Personal Consequences Before Taking Action

A prominent committee of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) advises beginning researchers that, if they suspect a colleague of violating the ethical standards of the scientific community, they have "an unmistakable obligation to act"--that is, to blow the whistle on the misconduct. VINDICATED BUT . . . Carolyn Phinney won $1.246 million in court; however, she suffered post-traumatic stress disorder and is now unemployed. Historically, however, many researchers who have tried to carry throu

Clarification

The article "African American Genome Mappers Pledge To Carry On Despite Grant Rejection" (N. Sankaran, The Scientist, March 6, 1995, page 1) may have conveyed the impression that the proj-ect's grant application was rejected for funding by the National Institutes of Health. Following the three-year African American genome project (G-RAP) planning grant, the researchers submitted a synopsis of an intended follow-up study that was reviewed internally by the program staff of the National Center fo

People: USC Specialist In Craniofacial Molecular Biology Is Named As New Director Of National Institute Of Dental Research

COLLABORATIONS: Harold Slavkin observes that "the growth area for oral medicine is at the interface with other kinds of science. Harold Slavkin, director of the Center for Craniofacial Molecular Biology at the University of Southern California (USC) School of Dentistry and the George and Mary Lou Boone Professor of Craniofacial Molecular Biology, has been appointed director of the National Institute of Dental Research (NIDR). Slavkin, 57, will assume the position in July, replacing Harald Loe,

Leaders of Science

Ida S. Owens

The Leaders of Science -- The Readers of The Scientist Date: May 15, 1995 IDA S. OWENS, Chief, section on genetic disorders of drug metabolism, human genetics branch, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health "THE SCIENTIST...provides helpful and factual information that can help you advance in your career. I especially enjoy reading the coverage of science politics and, of course, the Hot Papers section." At the National Institute of

Opinion

To Ensure Accountability, A Whistleblower's Bill Of Rights

The stakes for scientific research integrity have never been higher. Since World War II, a surge of scientific breakthroughs has geometrically increased the profession's benefits and corresponding risks to society. At the same time, federally financed research funding is under the deficit-cutters' microscope. Well-publicized scandals have shaken public confidence that scientific conclusions can be trusted, and that taxpayers are getting their money's worth. Until the perception of integrity is

Letter

Need For Leadership

I enjoyed Leon Lederman's Opinion essay in the Jan. 23, 1995, issue of The Scientist: "Memo to Research University Presidents" [page 12]. Warren Bennis, whose books include Why Leaders Can't Lead (San Francisco, Jossey-Bass, 1989), has said, "I can't remember the last time any university president addressed any problems beyond his or her own campus. Universities have changed, and so have university presidents." W. Honan, in an editorial in the New York Times (July 24, 1994), wrote: "Today almo

Blood In The Lab

I read with interest your commentary on the use of human blood in undergraduate laboratory experiments [A.F. Sanborn, G.E. Ellis, The Scientist, Jan. 23, 1995, page 13]. My training as a clinical biochemist utilized human blood from members of the class. Thus, instruction in the proper handling of biological materials that may cause disease became integrated with the primary purpose of the laboratory experiment. To my knowledge, no member of my class contracted any disease from these laboratory

Commentary

Biogerontological Research: Shedding New Light On Old Questions Of Longevity And Prolongevity

The maximum human life span is about 115 years. And that has not changed for millennia. What has changed more recently is our life expectancy. The average person in ancient Greece and Rome could expect to live about 20 years. By 1900, this had increased to nearly 50 years. Today, people in developed nations can expect to live more than 75 years. My interest in this subject goes back more than three decades, when I began a book about it. The term "prolongevity" was coined in 1955 by historian Ger

Research

National Eye Institute Celebrating 25 Years Of Visionary Research

The National Eye Institute (NEI) celebrates its 25th anniversary this year. But, as institute director Carl Kupfer notes, while its accomplishments over the years have more than justified its formation as a separate research agency of the National Institutes of Health, it took a bit of persuasion to carry out that vision. FAR-SIGHTED FOCUS: Cal Kupfer, the institute's first director, recounts NEI's past successes and looks forward to achieving new goals in treating eye disease. "In the 1950s,

Hot Paper

Hot Papers

Edited by: Neeraja Sankaran ON TARGET: André Van Steirteghem reports success in treating severe male-factor infertility. A.C. Van Steirteghem, J. Liu, H. Joris, Z. Nagy, C. Janssenswillen, H. Tournaye, M.P. Derde, E. Van Assche, P. Devroey, "Higher success rate by intracytoplasmic sperm injection than by subzonal insemination--report of a second series of 300 consecutive treatment cycles," Human Reproduction, 8:1055-60, 1993. (Cited in 60 publications through March 1995) A.C. Van Steirt

Hot Papers

Edited by: Neeraja Sankaran D.A. Geller, C.J. Lowenstein, R.A. Shapiro, A.K. Nussler, M. Di Silvio, S.C. Wang, D.K. Nakayama, R.L. Simmons, S.H. Snyder, T.R. Billiar, "Molecular cloning and expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase from human hepatocytes," Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 90:3491-5, 1993. (Cited in 135 publications through March 1995) GROUNDWORK: Cloning the human gene for iNOS opens up avenues of therapy for a variety of diseases, says David Geller Comment

Technology

Technology Makes DNA Isolation, Purification Simple And Swift

WIZARD SERIES: Promega Corp. offers a variety of DNA purification products. One of the first steps that biologists perform in the quest to identify a gene, learn the function of a particular protein, or identify the perpetrator of a violent crime is to purify the genetic material away from other cellular constituents. Where once purifications were nearly as complicated as the biophysical assays performed on the products, now they are in many cases the simplest part of the experiment. While man

Notebook

Contents Abstractors, Indexers Protest Reinventing Peer Review Bowhead Bioremediation Pan-American Science Symposium Pigeon Perception The Sex Lives Of Trees Culpeper Scholarships 75-Year Headach Ends NIH Names Gene Therapy Panel Dreyfus Duo The Philadelphia-based National Federation of Abstracting and Information Services (NFAIS) has issued a call to journal publishers, libraries, authors, online distributors, and others in what it calls the "information chain" to come up with a solution to a