October 1996

'OPENING THE DOOR': FDA's Joseph Contrera claims the new testing guidelines will encourage innovation. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is considering a plan to revise a 25-year staple of preclinical pharmaceutical testing in the United States. Under the current procedure-criticized by some as lengthy and expensive-development of a new drug must include two-year bioassays conducted on two separate rodent species to determine whether it could cause cancer in humans. FDA recently closed

SIDEBAR: For More Information Supporters of the controversial funding category are fighting efforts to keep its budget from growing and trying to increase applications in an attempt to mollify critics. Funded by a growing "tax" on federal R&D funds that will total almost $1.2 billion in fiscal year 1997, Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grants are becoming increasingly controversial. Intended to help companies with fewer than 500 employees commercialize new technologies, the progr

SIDEBAR: For Further Reading 1996 LASKER LAUREATES: Seated, from left, are John Robbins and Rachel Schneerson; standing from left, are Ferid Murad, David Smith, Robert Furchgott, Paul Zamecnik, and Porter Anderson. The Albert and Mary Lasker Foundation entered its second half-century earlier this month by presenting a new prize along with its coveted medical research awards. For the first time in its 51-year history, the New York-based philanthropy bestowed the Albert Lasker Award for Special

The October 9 issue of JAMA-Journal of the American Medical Association contains three special articles commemorating this year's basic and clinical awards from the Lasker Foundation: J.B. Robbins, R. Schneerson, P. Anderson, D.H. Smith, "Prevention of systemic infections, especially meningitis, caused by Haemophilis influenzae Type b: Impact on public health and implications for other polysaccharide-based vaccines," JAMA, 276:1181-5, 1996. R.F. Furchgott, "The discovery of endothelium-derive

Gregory Milman, chief of the pathogenesis and basic research branch in the Division of AIDS at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, has written a lengthy document containing down-to-earth advice on applying for SBIR grants. It is available on the Web at http://www.niaid.nih.gov/newsletter/maya/sbir/cover.htm. For more information about the SBIR conferences sponsored by the National Science Foundation, the Department of Defense, and the Small Business Administration, conta

By Eric Albert Email: ealbert@world.std.com ACROSS 1 Site associated with epilepsy. 10 Plato's P. 11 It prevents attachment of viruses to epithelial surfaces. 12 Tooth material. 13 Alkaloid that's hot stuff. 15 Substance that, when injected into a rat, produces a paper. 17 Metamorphosis undergoer. 19 Polar amino acid. 21 It's needed to avoid beriberi. 23 Get fitter. 27 Nucha. 28 What comes naturally? 31 Item isolated by Urey. 32 Dissertation reward: abbr. 33 Nonpolar amino acid: abbr. 34 Sex h

Two hundred thirty-nine issues later, the paper's mission remains the same. 

By Eric Albert Email: ealbert@world.std.com ACROSS 1 Site associated with epilepsy. 10 Plato's P. 11 It prevents attachment of viruses to epithelial surfaces. 12 Tooth material. 13 Alkaloid that's hot stuff. 15 Substance that, when injected into a rat, produces a paper. 17 Metamorphosis undergoer. 19 Polar amino acid. 21 It's needed to avoid beriberi. 23 Get fitter. 27 Nucha. 28 What comes naturally? 31 Item isolated by Urey. 32 Dissertation reward: abbr. 33 Nonpolar amino acid: abbr. 34 Sex h

The article "Trying To Unlock The Mysteries Of Free Radicals And Antioxidants" (A. Mack, The Scientist, Sept. 30, 1996, page 13) included an incorrect description of findings by researchers at Eukarion Inc. in Bedford, Mass., and the University of Southern California. The researchers demonstrated (A.J. Bruce et al., Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 93:2312-6, 1996) that EUK-8-a chemical mimic of the active site of Mn SOD, the mitochondrial form of the enzyme superoxide dismutase

     The Scientist Celebrates Its 10th Anniversary- And Its Millionth 'Hit' On The World Wide Web The Scientist, Vol:10, #21, p. 10 , October 28, 1996. Author: Eugene Garfield     This is the 240th consecutive issue of The Scientist, marking our 10th anniversary. Such a milestone prompted this review of the publication's original mission statement. In my inaugural commentary (E. Garfield, The Scientist, Oct. 20, 1986, page 9), which is reprinted on the following pag

Recently I have noticed an interesting trend in the pages of The Scientist. Recognizing that the government plays an important role in their future, scientists are beginning to mobilize for greater involvement in the political process. In many ways, this can only be seen as a positive step. There is one aspect of this growing trend that troubles me, however. Whether it was the story on communicating with Congress by Robert Finn [page 14], the commentary by Raymond DuBois [page 10], or the lett

The article "Decision In Imanishi-Kari Appeal Spurs Call For Changes In System" in your edition of August 19 [B. Goodman, The Scientist, page 1] reports that an appeals panel of the Department of Health and Human Services cleared Thereza Imanishi-Kari of all 19 counts of scientific misconduct. The panel consisted of two lawyers of the department and a Distinguished Service Professor from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. The panelists could not deny that there are many things wr

Adrian Morrison's warning that the threat from animal rights groups remains (The Scientist, Aug. 19, 1996, page 11) must be taken seriously. As a 49-year-old convalescing from prostate cancer surgery and the father of a six-year-old born with an unformed left ventricle, I appreciate the legacy of biomedical research that gave me my son and allowed early detection and removal of the cancer that I may enjoy his growing years. In thanks, I have become a participant, as a member of Americans for M

I have come across your article [A. Mack, "Science 'Magnet' High School Programs Growing In Popularity, Variety," The Scientist, Sept. 16, 1996, page 3] in a bulletin board maintained by my high school alumni. I graduated from a magnet high school (it is called Ankara Science High School/Ankara Fen Lisesi in Turkey) in 1969. The school was then, and to a degree now, a very special school, and tens of thousands of students would enter the exams to get in. I am in touch with many graduates, and

SIDEBAR : Sleep Research Resources Some consider sleep an unavoidable nuisance; others, a sweet indulgence. For the most part, though, we take our slumber for granted, rarely considering why we spend a hefty chunk of our lives unconscious. But for sleep researchers, that question represents a supreme mystery. Exactly what purpose sleep serves, as well as how the body regulates sleeping and waking, remain largely unknown. Behavioral scientists and physiologists have pursued these questions for

Sleep Research Society (SRS) and American Sleep Disorders Association (ASDA) 1610 14th St., N.W., Suite 300, Rochester, Minn. 55901 (507) 287-6006 % Fax: (507) 287-6008 ASDA E-mail: asda@millcomm.com SRS Web site: http://bisleep.medsch.ucla.edu/SRS/srs_main.html ASDA Web site: http://www.wisc.edu/asda 600 members (SRS); 2,700 members (ASDA) Presidents: J. Christian Gillin (SRS), David P. White (ASDA) Executive Director: Jerome Barrett (ASDA) Journal: SLEEP (published by ASDA and SRS) (http://ww

Edited by: Thomas W. Durso S. Whitham, S.P. Dinesh-Kumar, D. Choi, R. Hehl, C. Corr, B. Baker, "The product of the tobacco mosaic virus resistance gene n: similarity to toll and the interleukin-1 receptor," Cell, 78:1101-15, 1994. (Cited in more than 75 publications through August 1996) Comments by Barbara Baker, Plant Gene Expression Center, University of California, Berkeley, and United States Department of Agriculture-Agriculture Research Service, Albany, Calif. Tobacco is seldom viewed as

Edited by: Thomas W. Durso S.D. Rosen, C.R. Bertozzi, "The selectins and their ligands," Current Opinion in Cell Biology, 6:663-73, 1994. (Cited in more than 60 publications through April 1996) Comments by Steven D. Rosen, University of California, San Francisco The selectins are a trio of related proteins involved in leukocyte-endothelium interactions, affecting the ability of leukocytes-that is, white blood cells-to interact with blood vessel walls. THREEPEAT: The selectins are a threesome

INDIVIDUALITY: James Perley has found that a small department enables a researcher to be "your own person." When biologist James Perley first began teaching at Ohio's Wooster College in 1967, he wasn't sure he'd like it. Wooster is a small place. Perley, however, had studied and worked in big schools, including the University of Michigan and Wayne State University. In a small department, would he feel content-or claustrophobic? Content, as it turns out. Nearly 20 years later, Perley is still

TIME EFFICIENT: The AMBIS radioisotopic imager from Scanalytics/CSPI. Already an invaluable tool in some basic research, image analysis is edging into the classroom and the clinic. "Any field of life science that can put a video camera onto a microscope will begin to use image analysis," predicts Richard Cardullo, an associate professor of biology at the University of California, Riverside. In general, the technique acquires, digitizes, and then processes a microscope or scanned image, enhan

Selected Suppliers of Image Analysis Software and Equipment Date: October 28, 1996 Alpha Innotech Corporation Amersham Life Science Inc. Applied Imaging Corp. Axon Instruments Inc. Bio-Imaging Technologies Inc. Genomyx Corp. Hamilton Thorne Research Intracellular Imaging Inc. Leica Inc. Meridian Instruments Inc. MicroBrightField Inc. Molecular Dynamics Inc. Photon Technology International Inc. Scanalytics/CSPI Inc. Signal Analytics Corporation VayTek Inc. Vysis Corp. Carl Zeiss

The Quips XL and Quips LS Genetic Workstations were developed for clinical use in karyotyping as well as research use in fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) and comparative genomic hybridization (CGH) analyses. The Quips XL workstation includes a Macintosh PowerPC computer, a printer, a 1.3-million-pixel cooled charge-coupled device (CCD) camera, a triple-band pass filter set, and an automated filter wheel. Both workstations are equipped with Quips Karyotyping Software, which enables u

BANNER YEAR: Sig Hecker will step down on a high note. Late last month, Sig Hecker, the director of Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, announced that he would leave his post in one year. Hecker says his decision did not hinge on ever-increasing cutbacks at the national labs. On the contrary, he comments, "actually, right now things [at Los Alamos] look as positive scientifically and from a budget standpoint as they have in 10 years. So it's a good time to step down when everything i