September 1996

GOLDEN OPPORTUNITY: Joan Combie's small company finds microbes in Yellowstone National Park. A small yet growing opportunity exists for biochemists and engineers interested in turning "extremozymes" into industrial catalysts. In nature, these peculiar enzymes fuel microbes that live in scalding sea vents, hot springs, and other adverse locales. Such hardiness means extremozymes might function in hotter, more high-pressure manufacturing conditions than can today's industrial enzymes. As a res

Discoveries announced at conference leave scientists feeling optimistic; yet their enthusiasm is tempered by several persistent concerns. AIDS researchers have many reasons to be encouraged. Studies show that treatments combining new and old drugs can control HIV levels in the blood. Moreover, many scientists and activists note, prevention efforts have helped reduce HIV infection rates. Yet the enthusiasm is tempered by several caveats. Drugs are expensive and have harsh side effects, leading

Editor's Note: This is the first of a two-part election series examining the positions of presidential candidates Bob Dole and Bill Clinton on science and technology as well as research and development. Clinton will be the subject of the second part of the series, to be published in the October 14 issue. The combination of his proposed 15 percent income-tax cut and current federal budget constraints has observers wondering how science funding will fare if former senator Bob Dole is elected pr

For the first time in almost 40 years of recognizing outstanding contributions to medical science, the Gairdner Foundation of Willowdale, Ontario, Canada, will honor the growing field of biomedical engineering. Robert Langer, a biomedical engineer from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who has made landmark discoveries in drug delivery, is one of five researchers who will be presented with the foundation's annual International Awards at a ceremony on October 25 in Toronto. "When I star

By Eric Albert Email: ealbert@world.std.com ACROSS 1 Element named after the moon 5 Best metal conductor of heat 9 Experimental subject, often 11 Antitoxin 12 Able to survive outside the uterus 13 Abnormal respiratory behavior 14 "Bad" kind of cholesterol; abbr. 16 Oval gland 17 It allows for movement between the femur and tibia 20 Morph prefix 21 Dissolve the maximum amount in a solution 24 Where babies come from 25 Nervous sensation 26 Communicate a pathogen to 29 Ceramic, for one 30 Weasel

By Eric Albert Email: ealbert@world.std.com ACROSS 1 Element named after the moon 5 Best metal conductor of heat 9 Experimental subject, often 11 Antitoxin 12 Able to survive outside the uterus 13 Abnormal respiratory behavior 14 "Bad" kind of cholesterol; abbr. 16 Oval gland 17 It allows for movement between the femur and tibia 20 Morph prefix 21 Dissolve the maximum amount in a solution 24 Where babies come from 25 Nervous sensation 26 Communicate a pathogen to 29 Ceramic, for one 30 Weasel

Irving Klotz's "Opinion" piece (The Scientist, July 22, 1996, page 9) against postmodernism in science disturbed me greatly. Klotz held that the postmodernist view of science is put forth by nonscientists, that it is untenable, there being absolute truths, and that our scientific views are uncolored by who we are. The assertion that philosophers writing about science, but not actual scientists, hold postmodernist beliefs is not supported by data. I imagine that there are many practicing scient

Irving Klotz's criticism of postmodernist criticism [The Scientist, July 22, 1996, page 9] had the usual clarity and analytical logic that have been familiar to me since I met him the first time 40 years ago. While in full agreement with him, I would like to suggest that philosophers and humanists have some justification for resenting scientists and, indirectly, the liberal democracies and the Western civilization that spawned us. Traditionally, humanists were the darlings of the ruling classe

The debates concerning science and postmodernism [I.M. Klotz, "Postmodernist Rhetoric Does Not Change Fundamental Scientific Facts," The Scientist, July 22, 1996, page 9] seem to me to miss the point. I don't believe the philosopher Foucault, in particular, dismisses scientific facts. The important contribution is his discussion of how and why these particular facts and theories come to be known by scientists, and how they are understood within science communities. Since the communication and

Regarding the article "New Animal Care Guide Leaves Details To Scientists' Discretion" (R. Finn, The Scientist, July 22, 1996, page 1): Although it was mentioned that scientists who are experts in animal care agree that the new guidelines are a real improvement over the old ones, there needs to be more emphasis on the following positive aspects of performance-based approaches: Animal welfare is an art, as Thomas Wolfle said in the article, and the art requires education and training. Scientis

SIDEBAR : Resources For Free Radical And Antioxidant Research Professional Societies: Oxygen Society 74 New Montgomery, Suite 230 San Francisco, Calif. 94105 (415) 546-3124 - Fax: (415) 764-4915 E-mail: 76125.3071@compuserve.com 750 members President: Bruce Freeman Executive Director: Carol Holland Parlette Journal: Free Radicals in Biology and Medicine Internet home page: http://www.biophysics.mcw.edu/oxsoc/ International Society for Free Radical Research c/o Lester Packer, president-elec

Professional Societies: Oxygen Society 74 New Montgomery, Suite 230 San Francisco, Calif. 94105 (415) 546-3124 - Fax: (415) 764-4915 E-mail: 76125.3071@compuserve.com 750 members President: Bruce Freeman Executive Director: Carol Holland Parlette Journal: Free Radicals in Biology and Medicine Internet home page: http://www.biophysics.mcw.edu/oxsoc/ International Society for Free Radical Research c/o Lester Packer, president-elect Department of Molecular and Cell Biology 251 Life Science Additi

Edited by: Thomas W. Durso and Karen Young Kreeger S.M. Frisch, H. Francis, "Disruption of epithelial cell-matrix interactions induces apoptosis," Journal of Cell Biology, 124:619-26, 1994. (Cited in nearly 145 publications through August 1996) CHEATING CELL DEATH : Understanding a form of apoptosis called anoikis may lead to better cancer treatments, notes the Burnham Institute's Steven Frisch. Comments by Steven M. Frisch, Burnham Institute, La Jolla, Calif. Apoptosis, or programmed cell d

Edited by: Thomas W. Durso and Karen Young Kreeger J. Jen, J.W. Harper, S.H. Bigner, D.D. Bigner, N. Papadopoulos, S. Markowitz, J.K.V. Willson, K.W. Kinzler, B. Vogelstein, "Deletion of p16 and p15 genes in brain tumors," Cancer Research, 54:6353-8, 1994. (Cited in more than 100 publications through August 1996) Comments by Jin Jen, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore MISSING GENES: Jin Jen and coworkers at Johns Hopkins found that a pair of genes are lacking in certain b

SIDEBAR: Opportunities for Biographers Scientific biographies have the potential not only to engender interest in an individual's life and work, but also to spark re-examinations of an entire discipline. Biographers, historians, and scientists, however, have differing views on just what a scientific biography should entail. Should it center on the scientist's life or research? How far should the biographer go to avoid hagiography, a devotional and uncritical work? On the other hand, how can th

Biographies are popular, and publishers are continually looking for authors willing to write about important scientists. Cambridge University Press, for example, has published seven books in its Cambridge Scientific Biographies series, and series editor David M. Knight of the University of Durham says that there are a half-dozen others in various stages of preparation. In addition, says Knight, "We're looking to commission fresh titles." He invites interested authors to contact him to explore