May 2001

Medical institutions across the United States will begin recruiting volunteers next month for a study that its investigators and outside observers describe as groundbreaking. They say it is the first large-scale trial to test the feasibility of using DNA shed by tumors to find early-stage cancer. During the three-year government-funded project, researchers will analyze DNA from stool samples to detect patterns characteristic of colorectal cancer (CRC). The study will have two other notable fe

Several months into the International Biodiversity Observation Year (IBOY), American mass media coverage of this worldwide initiative is virtually nonexistent. Major publications for general audiences and high-impact scientific journals have not run news or feature articles about a collaboration that involves 45 major projects embracing numerous countries, habitats, and species. Why the silence? Comments by prominent biologists suggest that the answer lies, at least in part, in the very nature o

How do you "rapidly" screen 250 million small molecules--eventually 1 billion small molecules--for their cancer-fighting potential? Enlist, literally, a "world" of computers to perform the computational chemistry. That's the goal of Graham Richards, chairman of the chemistry department at Oxford University and director of the National Foundation for Cancer Research Center for Computational Drug Design, a virtual collaboration set up last August with a $750,000 NFCR grant. Richards recently got

Time after time, Steven A. Rosenberg, chief of the surgery branch in the National Cancer Institute's (NCI) Clinical Oncology Program, has seen cancer immunotherapy destroy melanomas that conventional therapies leave unmolested. When immunotherapy works, even bulky metastatic tumors are destroyed. The frustration and tragedy, he says, speaking recently to a Grand Rounds audience at the National Institutes of Health, "is that it happens in only a small percentage of patients." For nearly 20 year

Marshalling a healthy dose of pomp and circumstance, the Franklin Institute Science Museum (FI) in Philadelphia honored seven distinguished scientists and engineers on April 27 as part of its annually awarded Benjamin Franklin Medals and Bower Awards. A red carpet lined with uniformed swordsmen led awardees and distinguished guests and FI contributors into the institute's grand domed entrance hall for the medals presentation and a black tie dinner. ABC News anchor Cokie Roberts hosted the ceremo

Since news that researchers had restored sight in dogs with Leber congenital amaurosis (LCA) broke two weeks ago, Jean Bennett's phones at the F.M. Kirby Center for Molecular Ophthalmology at University of Pennsylvania's Scheie Eye Institute haven't stopped ringing. Anxious parents, whose infants suffer from this and other retinal degenerative diseases, want help. But they have to wait a few years; much more needs to be done. Researchers at Penn, Cornell University, and the University of Florida

The political movement led by Harold Varmus as described in "A Science Publishing Revolution,"1 displays an unfortunate disregard for the study of dissemination, information science. The PubMed Central advocacy is storming about, armed with rhetoric and anecdotes rather than carefully gathered evidence. Moreover, they have carefully avoided admitting that the institutions with libraries could easily pay more than they do to support access to the most esoteric reports. Research universities are v

Your survey in the April 16 issue1 is an invaluable resource in the current research environment, both for personal considerations and for recruitment and retention of faculty. I was surprised by the comment that the longer a person is in academia, the better off he/she is in landing an industry position. That has not been my experience. Perhaps there is a point of diminishing returns? John S. Torday, Ph.D. Professor, Department of Pediatrics and Obstetrics and Gynecology Director, The Guenthe

For this article, Jim Kling interviewed Robert Siliciano, associate professor of Medicine at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Data from the Web of Science (ISI, Philadelphia) show that Hot Papers are cited 50 to 100 times more often than the average paper of the same type and age. D. Finzi, J. Blankson, J.D. Siliciano, J.B. Margolick, K. Chadwick, T. Pierson, K. Smith, J. Lisziewicz, F. Lori, C. Flexner, T.C. Quinn, R.E. Chaisson, E. Rosenberg, B. Walker, S. Gange, J. Gallant, R.F.

For this article, Jim Kling interviewed Louis J. Picker, associate director of the Vaccine and Gene Therapy Institute at the Oregon Health Sciences University. Data from the Web of Science (ISI, Philadelphia) show that Hot Papers are cited 50 to 100 times more often than the average paper of the same type and age. C.J. Pitcher, C. Quittner, D.M. Peterson, M. Connors, R.A. Koup, V.C. Maino, L.J. Picker, "HIV-1-specific CD4(+) T cells are detectable in most individuals with active HIV-1 infection

Does the likelihood of buying a flow cytometer for use in the lab rank right up there with the likelihood of winning the lottery? The high cost of flow cytometers and the dedicated personnel required to operate them usually limit their placement to core facilities. But what if someone were to design a cytometer that was easier to use, didn't need frequent internal adjustment and maintenance, was considerably smaller than a conventional flow cytometer, and carried a bargain price tag? Guava Techn

Researchers routinely prepare proteins in test tubes using the in vitro translation (IVT) reaction.1 These reactions are fast, efficient, and reasonably cost-effective. They are also highly flexible. Proteins can be synthesized either from RNA transcribed in vitro (uncoupled), or from plasmid DNA via a coupled transcription/translation system. In addition, the proteins are easily labeled with [35S]-methionine or biotinylated lysine simply by addition of the labeling reagent to the reaction. Unfo

Labeled Nucleotides Complete Labeling Kits Courtesy of BioCrystal Ltd.Cancerous human colon tissue (tumor margins) showing non-transformed cells, which are stained with specifically prepared BioPixels. Not long ago, the options available to scientists for labeling nucleic acids were severely limited. Not only were researchers restricted to working with radioisotopes, but they also had to be satisfied with being able to address only the most basic questions about gene expression and localiz

Reagents That Distinguish Th1 and Th2 cells Courtesy of R&D SystemsSchematic representation of cytokines influencing the development of antigen-activated naive CD4+ T cells into Th1 and Th2 cells. Editor's note: Although individual techniques are associated with specific researchers in this article, it should be noted that these investigators commonly use several different techniques to analyze T lymphocyte populations. The human body is constantly under siege. It must defend itself fr