Issue | September 1997 | September 1997 | The Scientist Magazine®

News

Embryonic Stem Cells Debut Amid Little Media Attention

STARTING POINT: Johns Hopkins' John Gearhart announced at a July meeting that he and a colleague had cultured human embryonic stem cells. Last July, with repercussions from Scottish sheep clone Dolly yet to die down, came news of potentially even greater importance. At the 13th International Congress of Developmental Biology in Snowbird, Utah, held the week of July 12, John Gearhart, a professor of gynecology and obstetrics at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, reported

New Drugs, Devices Mount Assault On Diabetes

Scientists are racing to find the grail of diabetes research, a therapy that will eliminate the need for insulin injection. New products, innovative clinical trials, and a boost in federal funding all are contributing to a multifaceted effort to control one of America's most complex and dangerous ailments. With research getting promising results in several different fields, skilled people are in demand. TRANSPLANT SUCCESS: Transplantation of the whole pancreas should be performed more often, s

Political Controversy Puts Ag Biotech In Spotlight

INSECT-RESISTANT: Monsanto's NewLeaf potatoes, above, are genetically engineered to protect against the Colorado potato beetle, which can severely damage plans, below Controversy is stirring in the European Union (EU) over genetically engineered food crops. The EU has already demanded that genetically engineered crops imported after July 31 be labeled as products of biotechnology. In the United States also, some consumers are wary of these new "supercrops," fearing that introduced genes could

Four Receive Gairdners For 'Tangible Achievement'

Four prolific researchers, all working at institutions in the United States, will receive or share Gairdner Foundation International Awards at a ceremony next month. The Ontario, Canada-based foundation annually presents no-strings-attached awards of $30,000 Canadian (about $22,500 U.S.) and a sculpture to honor "individuals whose work or contribution constitutes tangible achievement in the field of medical science." This year the foundation is citing: Corey S. Goodman, a professor of neurobiol

Opinion

Supervising International Students Requires Cultural Sensitivity

International students are major participants in the life sciences. According to the Chronicle of Higher Education (Almanac, "Characteristics of Recipients of Doctorates," Aug. 28, 1991, page 27; Sept. 2, 1996, page 20), among all the recipients of doctoral degrees in the life sciences, the proportion of non-United States citizens increased steadily from 22.1 percent in 1989 to 35.2 percent in 1995. These students, with their rigorous research training and strong knowledge base, offer rich reso

Commentary

Presenting Science As a Human Endeavor Can Help Take Fear Out Of First Contact

This fall quarter I have 200 freshmen, all nonscience majors, taking BIOL 104: Human Biology. I'm concerned. What should I teach them? The power and limits of this responsibility overwhelm me. Traditionally, if I follow the most-used textbooks, Human Biology is a survey of the systems: respiratory, digestive, reproductive-about a system a week. But this is one of only two required courses in science they will have, and perhaps the only lab experience. What of the nature of science itself; how m

Letter

Misconduct Case

In the article on the misconduct case at the Fox Chase Cancer Center (FCCC) (B. Goodman, The Scientist, Aug. 18, 1997, page 1), Patricia Harsche, a center official, in commenting on why no conclusion of fraud was made by the FCCC investigating committee, stated that they "have expertise that [Jerome] Freed and [Faith] Fenderson do not have." Actually, the only expertise required to find the falsification at issue was the knowledge of how to use a computer spreadsheet. The FCCC committee conclud

Promoting Science

In your article concerning the promotion of science (P. Gwynne, The Scientist, July 21, 1997, page 1), I find virtually nothing with which any good scientist, including members of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS), could disagree. I say "virtually" nothing, because I think that your article can be criticized for the impression created by several remarks concerning the late Carl Sagan and NAS. I have been a member of that body for more than 30 years and have participated actively in its mee

Pay Now or Pay Later

The article "Can You Promote Science Without Losing Respect?" (P. Gwynne, The Scientist, July 21, 1997, page 1) addresses bias against scientists who promote science through the media, but it ignores a similar bias against academic scientists who wish to promote science by helping to improve precollege science education. For 40 years, the Biological Sciences Curriculum Study (BSCS) has depended on practicing scientists to collaborate with science educators on the development of scientifically s

Research

Neural Prosthetics Come Of Age As Research Continues

This summer the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved three devices intended to replace or supplement neurological function in people who are disabled. Two medical device companies are now marketing "brain pacemakers" to control epileptic seizures and to quiet the tremors of Parkinson's disease, and a third is selling a device that allows paraplegics limited control of their hands. Other neural prosthetics, most notably the cochlear implant, which can return a sense of heari

Hot Paper

Cell Biology

Edited by: Ricki Lewis S. Miyamoto, H. Teramoto, O.A. Coso, J.S. Gutkind, P.D. Burbelo, S.K. Akiyama, K.M. Yamada, "Integrin function: Molecular hierarchies of cytoskeletal and signaling molecules," Journal of Cell Biology, 131:791-805, 1995. (Cited in more than 123 publications through August 1997) Comments by Kenneth M. Yamada, Craniofacial Developmental Biology and Regeneration Branch, and J. Silvio Gutkind, Oral and Pharyngeal Cancer Branch, National Institute of Dental Research 'A NEW A

Genetics

Edited by: Ricki Lewis E. Lander, L. Kruglyak, "Genetic dissection of complex traits: Guidelines for interpreting and reporting linkage results," Nature Genetics, 11:241-7, 1995. (Cited in more than 182 publications through August 1997) Comments by Eric Lander, Whitehead/MIT Center for Genome Research MAKE 'EM LAUGH: Eric Lander used humor to counterbalance heavy use of statistics in his paper on establishing linkage between a complex trait and genetic markers. For decades, geneticists have a

Profession

Formal Programs Promote The Age-Old Custom Of Mentoring

HELP BEGETS HELP: Florida's David Challoner says the memory of an old mentor now inspires his own mentoring efforts. The traditional mentor gets a lot from giving. David Challoner, vice president of health affairs at the University of Florida in Gainesville, remembers a personal mentor like that. Challoner, who studied medicine at Harvard Medical School, then trained in endocrinology under Robert Williams at the University of Washington in Seattle, says Williams would follow the graduates of h

Technology

Death Be Not Proud: PhiPhiLux from OncoImmunin Inc. Offers New Insights into Apoptosis

Time-lapsed confocla microscopic images of T-cells undergoing apoptosis. The green fluroescence (a cyanine dye, which indicates a mitochondrial membrane potential) marks healthy cells, while the red fluorescence is derived from PhipPhiLux cleavage in apoptotic cells. Time-of-death determinations are not just a challenge for coroners. Researchers in the field of apoptosis are constantly striving for ways to detect the onset of cell death earlier and with greater specificity to bring them closer

Va-Va-Voom!: New Strip-EZ(TM) Technology from Ambion Aims to Optimize Blots

What is Strip-EZTM? This new technology is incorporated into Ambion's StripAble¦ RNA Probe Synthesis Kits to optimize analysis of RNA and DNA populations using Northerns, Southerns, and related nucleic acid blots. Strip-EZ Technology (patent pending) employs modified nucleic acids that can be degraded by a reagent that does not affect standard RNA or DNA. Standard RNA ProbeHigh sensitivity, Difficult to strip Strip-EZTM RNA ProbeHigh Sensitivity, Easy to strip controlStripped 2x with bo

The Artel PCS(TM) Pipette Calibration System Now Available From Seradyn

Seradyn is now offering the portable PCS¦ Pipette Calibration System for the verification of the volumetric delivery of pipettes. Designed to aid in quality assurance, the PCS automatically computes pipette performance statistics and provides internal system diagnostics including self calibration. Volume Verification: The Artel PCS from Seradyn The PCS combines reagents with a patented photometer. Users of the PCS sequentially pipette aliquots of sample solution into a vial of blank solut

Technology Profile

Transfection Connection: Methods of Nucleic Acid Delivery Into Eukaryotic Cells

Date: September 29, 1997 Table Comparing Products Perhaps the most fundamental question when one has a nucleic acid or gene sequence in hand is "So, what does it do?" Whether these sequences encode a protein, or are promoter/enhancer regulatory elements, the general goal is to determine function and to understand the regulation and interaction of these genes and gene products with other cellular components. These questions are, of course, best addressed within a cellular context. The abilit

High Speed Centrigfuges

Date: September 29, 1997 Table Comparing Products Imagine working in a life science lab without a centrifuge. Be it a microfuge, a general purpose centrifuge, or even an ultracentrifuge, little work would be accomplished in its absence. Unquestionably, these ubiquitous and indispensable instruments have made an incalculable contribution to our scientific understanding of the world. Where would we be without them? Fortunately, the centrifuge has come a long way since the old hand-cranked cont

Heat Wave : The Thermal Cyclers of 1997

Date: September 29, 1997 Product Comparison Table Most researchers have probably been coerced into listening to their superiors and mentors reveal at length what thermal cyclers used to be. The twelve years since the description and publication of the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) have given scientists and manufacturers ample time to create and refine highly specialized machines dedicated to thermal cycling. The thermal cyclers of today have expanded applications and increased performance a

Notebook

Table of Contents Gene Genies Nuclear Mass All in the Family Presenilin Problems Scientists Recast Stymied Stem Cells Plants on the Wild Side Deadeye Death Gene HUMAN ENHANCEMENT: Gene-shopping could be a future consumer craze, if the predictions in a book about science in the year 2025 are correct. The year 2025 will be no time for traditionalists, if the three authors of a new book on future science are on the mark. In the book 2025: Scenarios of U.S. and Global Society Reshaped by Scienc