October 1991

A recent [Department of Defense] report defines technology transfer as the transition of R&D programs from research to application by a user. It begins when an R&D agency shows the users, early in the planning stage of a project, how a technology can be applied to their needs. Based on that definition, there is very little evidence of technology transfer from federal agencies to the industrial sector.... Despite the fact that the U.S. makes major investments in R&D, the results are not reflect

"Public Scientific Literacy: We Can Achieve It!" (The Scientist, Aug. 19, 1991, page 12) is a brave statement because the article's author [Frederick A. King] has assumed that most scientists and most science teachers are fully literate in science. Judging by what one sees in introductory science textbooks, there are two simple facts that are not well known by scientists and teachers: (1) The formulation and development of theories, small and large, is the central activity in the growth of sci

"Where is their sense of loyalty?" asked the article by Susan Dickinson about "The Nomadic Scientists of Today" (The Scientist, July 22, 1991, page 1). But loyalty is generated and reinforced when it is a mutual matter, and today's scientists are about as loyal to their institutions as their institutions are loyal to them. The article should have inquired, "Where is the institutions' sense of loyalty?" Since the 1950s, American universities have treated their scientists as milk cows whose pro

Research Antisense Making Lots Of Sense To Biotech Researchers Author: Joshua Fischman, p. 14, 17. In the early 1980s, at an international conference on synthetic DNA and disease, molecular biologist James Hawkins first heard what chemists proposed to do with small pieces of synthetic genetic material called antisense DNA. And he was stunned. "It was the first time," he says, "that there was a clear concept: `Let's send these molecules into a cell and regulate a gene.' This was apocalyptic--tha

Hot Papers Molecular Biology M.V. Milburn, L. Tong, A.M. deVos, A. Brünger, et al., "Molecular switch for signal transduction: structural differences between active and inactive forms of protooncogenic ras proteins," Science, 247:939-45, 1990. Sung-Hou Kim (University of California and Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, Berkeley): "This paper provides three-dimensional structural information essential for (1) understanding the molecular switching mechanism for signal transduction i

Cell Biology T. Sollner, G. Griffiths, R. Pfaller, N. Pfanner, W. Neupert, "MOM19, an import receptor for mitochondrial precursor proteins," Cell, 59:1061-70, 1989. Thomas Sollner (University of Munich): "The complex organization of eucaryotic cells into various membrane-bound compartments (organelles) requires a very specific targeting of newly synthesized proteins to their final destinations. All noncytosolic proteins are synthesized as signal-carrying precursors, which are decode

Immunology J.-P. Li, A.D. D'Andrea, H.F. Lodish, D. Baltimore, "Activation of cell growth by binding of Friend spleen focus-forming virus gp55 glycoprotein to the erythropoietin receptor," Nature, 343:762-64, 1990. Jing-Po Li (Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research, Cambridge, Mass.): "Most malignant diseases involve a multistage process. This often features an early phase of abnormal proliferation of the affected tissues, and a late phase, during which additional genetic chang

The Research Team Meeting: Functional, And Often Fun Author: Ricki Lewis, p. 19, 20 A key part of the scientific method not often mentioned in textbooks is the group meeting. At these gatherings, researchers at all levels working in the same lab share their results, ideas, and experiences. Group meetings are a vital training ground, at which young investigators learn the art of public speaking, which is so much a part of science. For a young graduate student, criticism coming from familiar fa

Public Awareness Of Cancer Research: The Driving Force Behind GM's Awards Author: Lee Katterman, p. 21, 22. It's not easy to compete with the prestige of the Nobel Prize. But the 13-year-old General Motors Cancer Research Foundation's annual awards program is quickly earning a reputation as a Nobel "predictor." Of the 47 cancer researchers to receive awards from the GM Foundation, four later received Lasker Medical Research Awards, and five won the Nobel, including 1990 laureate E. Donnall Thom

For The First Time, A Nutritionist Is Named As Winner Of $200,000 World Food Prize Harvard Microbiologist Huang Assumes Newly Created Post, NYU Dean of Science For The First Time, A Nutritionist Is Named As Winner Of $200,000 World Food Prize Nevin S. Scrimshaw, director of the Food, Nutrition, and Human Development Program for the United Nations University of Tokyo and a member of Harvard University's Center for Population Studies, has been named the recipient of the 1991 World Food Prize.

New Technologies Improve Biotech's Downstream Processing Author: Rebecca Andrews, p. 24, 25. Over the last few years, the number of recombinant pharmaceutical products that have entered the regulatory fray to gain approval for marketing has grown rapidly, and is now in the hundreds. As biotechnology companies seek regulatory approval for their products, however, they also face the problem of producing these proteins in quantity, at an affordable cost. Downstream processing is the isolation and