News Notes

Cell Engineering at Hopkins Already a hub for stem cell research, the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine has announced plans for a new center to focus on selecting and modifying human cells. Called the Institute for Cell Engineering (ICE), the 40,000 square foot building will be funded through a $58.5 million private, anonymously made donation. Hopkins faculty announced the new project at a January 30 press conference. "What we're interested in really is reprogramming cells and putting them back into the host," says Chi Dang, vice dean of research for the school of medicine. Projects at the ICE, which is slated to open in 2003, are to include the development of therapeutic cell transplants for neurodegenerative disease, spinal cord injury, diabetes, stroke, and heart failure. A previously garnered grant of $23.8 million from the state of Maryland will fund the construction of a new research building; ICE staff and equipment, funded exclusively by the private donation, will occupy one third of the building. Hopkins medical school leadership envisions the ICE with four or five sections focusing on areas such as stem cell research, bioinformatics, cell and molecular biology, and gene expression and regulation. As of right now, none of the donated money will go into endowments. According to Dang, program funds will last seven years; JHU leadership expects that the institute will continue on through further donations and external funding acquired by the ICE's investigators by the institute's fourth or fifth year. Dang says that legislation banning government funding for the use and/or derivation of stem cells would "throw a small monkey wrench" into the ICE concept, but that the institute would not hesitate to seek corporate support. --Eugene Russo Genes, Behavior, and Buddha For those interested in how genes affect behavior, Richard Lebovitz, a biologist who is also a lawyer, is continuing to add to an online encyclopedia he started that links genes to mental disorders, personality traits, and other behaviors for which a genetic basis has been discovered (www.biojuris.com). Lebovitz, who is director of intellectual property at OriGene, a genomics company in Rockville, Md., as well as an adjunct professor teaching biology and law at Northern Virginia Community College in Arlington, said he calls it, "The Neurobiologist's Guide to Buddha" because it invokes the controversy over whether genes cause behavior, which neurobiologists believe in but which Buddhists deny. He also said he called it that because Buddhism teaches that the root of human suffering is craving, which can be stifled by mind control and meditation. Among the categories of behavior that have been shown to have a genetic basis are basic personality traits--such as novelty-seeking, agreeableness or a lack thereof, depression, ability to learn, pain, schizophrenia, sexuality, and craving for alcohol, drugs, gambling, or food--based largely on studies of knockout or transgenic mice. Lebovitz adds that Buddhism is also invoked in his database because it "teaches how to free yourself of these genetic shackles," such as cravings. He said his company is developing and selling some gene chips, and that, based on the literature, "I can easily imagine a type of gene chip for determining personality type. He said he would call it "the Buddha chip." --Jean McCann Wort Likely for Treating Depression A systematic review of clinical trials of St. John's wort (SJW) as an antidepressant concludes that the plant holds promise, although more study is needed. The review (M. Nangia et al., "Efficacy and safety of St. John's wort for the treatment of major depression," Public Health Nutrition, 3:487-94, January 2000) analyzed numerous trials and meta-analyses, most of them conducted in Europe, where the botanical is widely used. Worldwide sales of SJW have grown rapidly in recent years to an estimated $570 million in 1998. About 36 percent of those sales were in the U.S., where SJW is not indicated for depression. The review, headed by clinical trials director P. Murali Doraiswamy of the psychiatry department at Duke University Medical Center, judged the data in relation to current American antidepressant treatment standards. It states that hypericin, the plant's most-studied extract, cannot be accepted as a first-line treatment until doses are standardized, trials conducted to assess severely (rather than mildly or moderately) depressed patients, studies done on the risk of relapse and recurrence, and comparisons made of SJW with psychotherapy. In contrast to most overseas trials, as-yet unpublished results from the first large-scale U.S. trial, conducted through Vanderbilt University, failed to show benefits of SJW beyond that of placebo. Doraiswamy is heading a multicenter trial currently underway. Three other major studies are being conducted in America, and yet another in Australia. If they indicate efficacy, Doraiswamy cautions, "A rapid growth in unsupervised use of SJW, even with a standardized extract, could be a double-edged sword for people with depression. On one hand, this may help some people with no access to mental health care and those who would not otherwise see a doctor. On the other hand, unless SJW comes with extensive educational materials, self-medication can lead to incorrect or inadequate treatment." --Steve Bunk New HHS Secretary Introduced On February 2, incoming Health and Human Services secretary Tommy Thompson was formally introduced to his new department. Thompson has 34 years of public service, including 12 years as Wisconsin governor. The new HHS secretary endorsed the National Institutes of Health budget increase and called NIH research "groundbreaking" and the "best in the world." Asked about issues such as HIV prevention and care, and a program to eliminate health disparities among minorities, Thompson only said he would be "aggressive" and that he "didn't like the status quo." He expects to modernize Medicare, compose a patients' bill of rights, and provide affordable healthcare for the 43 million Americans who are without. Thompson also announced plans to raise awareness during his first 100 days in office about the need for organ donations; the waiting list is 70,000 strong. --Eugene Russo

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Cell Engineering at Hopkins

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