October 1991

Today's trend toward industry consolidation yields a grim byproduct for some researchers: the loss of their jobs Chiron buys Cetus, while Genzyme merges with Integrated Genetics. Quidel acquires Monoclonal Antibodies, and American Home Products agrees to buy 60 percent of Genetics Institute. The headlines are coming fast and furious these days. But while the torrent of announcements concerning mergers and acquisitions among biotechnology firms are greeted warmly by many industry watchers as a

A House panel questions methodology, motivation behind agency's warning that a huge shortfall threatens the work force WASHINGTON--A congressional committee is investigating whether political considerations influenced the National Science Foundation's prediction that the United States faces a cumulative shortage of some 675,000 college-educated scientists and engineers over the next two decades. The NSF prediction, based on studies conducted since 1985 by agency policy analyst Peter House and

Universities and other grant recipients seek to comply with requirement that curricula include moral rectitude courses "So what do you do if you see misconduct in scientific research?" asked a student at last month's introductory lecture for a new "Ethics in Research" series, organized jointly by New York's Rockefeller University, Cornell University Medical College, and the Sloan-Kettering Institute. Cornell medical dean, Robert Michels responded to the question by voicing his school's offici

Two years ago, Joseph Alexander, an assistant professor of biomedical engineering at Vanderbilt University, returned to his Nashville, Tenn., position after a six-month stay in Japan, during which he learned how to apply nonlinear systems theory to models of biological systems. It's a new field, but one in which his hosts at Kyushu University already excel. Today, Alexander's fond memories of his NSF-sponsored visit are still very much alive. Indeed, about his life in the city of Fukuoka, wher

Analytical chemists and lab managers based on the West Coast of the United States traditionally have had to travel long distances to attend major trade expositions in their field. The Pittsburgh Conference--commonly known as PittCon--the "grandaddy" of analytical shows, for example, usually is held in New York or New Orleans and has never made it farther west than Chicago. While smaller, regional conferences take place in many areas, they tend to emphasize scientific meetings and presentations

WASHINGTON--The National Science Foundation has reshuffled its grant-making bureaucracy to give greater prominence to the social and behavioral sciences. The reorganization, announced earlier this month by NSF director Walter Massey, also addresses simmering problems within the foundation's policy analysis and survey research programs that have led to congressional inquiries and heated debate within the field. The new NSF organizational chart, as described by Massey during a meeting of its gov

Recent revelations of scientific misconduct and fraud have brought into question the claim of the science community to self-regulation. Treatises on research fraud and problems in "peer review" proliferate, and even the United States Secret Service reportedly has been enlisted in the search for fraud in scientific notebooks (Science, 251:1168-72, 1991). The old assumption that fraud inevitably will be revealed seems unacceptable. The stakes have become too high to rely on traditional mechanism

I was flattered to be included with the high-ranking American Chemical Society officers who were interviewed by Robin Eisner for her very interesting article "Chemists Anxious About Discipline's Fate" (The Scientist, April 1, 1991, page 1). However, in my conversations with Eisner I did not allege that Paul Gassman's concerns about impending personnel shortages were "politically motivated." What I said was that I am concerned that there are people who would seize on this issue to persuade Congr

The July 22, 1991, issue of The Scientist [page 12] includes a letter from Thomas H. Jukes about my debate with Arthur Caplan over the cancellation of my assignment as a columnist for Scientific American (The Scientist, Feb. 18, 1991, page 11). Jukes poses a series of curious questions. Here are his questions and my responses: "According to creationists, fossils are bones of animals that drowned in the Great Flood, with the best swimmers on top. Does Mims agree?" I collect fossil insects, arac

The Scientist has in a very short time gained a reputation for informed and balanced coverage of important developments in world science. It is therefore difficult to understand why the paper should publish a misleading article on the National Science Foundation's Division of Science Resources Studies (SRS) in the July 22 issue [page 1]. The United States and international scientific communities both have much to thank SRS for in respect of its continuing role in pioneering the production of us

"I'm not at all surprised at the time it's taken for monoclonal antibodies to move forward," says Patrick Scannon, president of Xoma Corp., a San Francisco-based biotechnology company that specializes in monoclonal antibody--or MAb--therapeutics. "I was always incredulous about the so-called magic bullet claims." The bold claims to which Scannon refers began springing up in 1975, the same year that the monoclonal antibody was first developed. Essentially bioengineered forms of antibodies--the

D.A. Tomalia, A.M. Naylor, W.A. Goddard III, "Starburst dendrimers: molecular-level control of size, shape, surface chemistry, topology, and flexibility from atoms to macroscopic matter," Angewandte Chemie International Edition in English, 29:138-175, 1990. Donald A. Tomalia (Michigan Molecular Institute, Midland, Mich.): "It is well known that critical molecular design parameters (CMDPs) such as size, shape, surface chemistry, topology, and flexibility are exquisitely controlled in nature, esp

S.J. Rhodes, S.F. Konieczny, "Identification of MRF4: a new member of the muscle regulatory factor gene family," Genes & Development, 3:2050-61, 1989. Stephen F. Konieczny (Purdue University, West Lafayette, Ind.): "This paper describes the identification and characterization of MRF4, the fourth member of a structurally and functionally related family of muscle regulatory factors that includes MyoD, myogenin, and Myf-5. Forced expression of MRF4 in fibroblasts converts nonmuscle cells to skele

V.J. Emery, S.A. Kivelson, H.Q. Lin, "Phase separation in the t-J Model," Physical Review Letters, 64:475-78, 1990. Victor J. Emery (Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, N.Y.): "The t-J model of high-temperature superconductors regards the copper oxide planes as a background array of spins--antiferromagnetically coupled via an exchange integral J--and the charge carriers as `holes' (or missing spins) hopping from one site to another with amplitude t. "In this article we present analytical a

Throughout his academic career, Frank Brown, a 29-year-old, fourth-year medical student at the University of Southern California, has sought--and heeded--the counsel of mentors. "When I'm groping for answers, I believe the best way to make a decision is to talk to people who have already been through the process," he says. When Brown was an undergraduate, he considered being a physical therapist, but his adviser, a professor of chemistry, encouraged him to get his Ph.D. and do research. Later

Making the transition from clinical training to basic research can be difficult for a young scientist; it's almost like starting a new career. With no research track record, getting established and obtaining funding loom as monumental tasks. This was the prospect facing William Honer when he finished his psychiatry residency at Columbia University. Fortunately for Honer and others like him in the field of psychiatry, assistance was available. The Chicago-based National Alliance for Research on

Last Friday, the 1991 Gairdner Foundation International Awards were presented in Toronto to six scientists--three from the United States, two from England, and one from Canada. The winners, each of whom received a $30,000 prize and a small statuette, come from a cross-section of disciplines. They were recognized for contributions to medical science ranging from the growth and functioning of blood vessels and their constituent cells to the invention of a revolutionary technique for copying piece

-------- MacArthur Funds Environment Studies The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, through its World Environment and Resources Program, fundsresearch aimed at increasing scientific and popular understanding of the functioning, extent, and value of tropical biotic systems. Eligible areas of study include biological inventories, biogeographic studies, ecological research, natural resource management, endangered species recovery programs, conservation education, design and protectio

NSF Gets Lots More For Education Isn't That Good Enough President Upgrades NSF Fellowship More Help For SSC Accelerations What No Bubble Gum? In hammering out this year's budget, science education has emerged as a favored child of federal legislators. The 1992 NSF budget, which was approved earlier this month, now contains a 44 percent increase over last year's allotment, to $465 million, for education and human resources, after legislators added $75 million to President Bush's request