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Cal Takes The Field For ALSPrized Pizza The Digital MerckThe Whole Kit And Kaboodle Immortal GenesIndia Joins MacArthur Leaders Extraordinary ExpeditionsTourette Training Grants On September 6, Baltimore Orioles shortstop Cal Ripken, Jr. broke the consecutive-games-played record of 2,130 set by Lou Gehrig, the New York Yankees first-baseman who died in 1941 of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) -- now known as Lou Gehrig's disease. To honor Gehrig, 260 one-time, $5,000 seats were sold along the first- and third-base sides of the field at Ripken's record-breaking game to raise $1.3 million to establish the Cal Ripken/Lou Gehrig Fund for Neuromuscular Research at Johns Hopkins University. The team kicked in another $700,000 to raise the total to $2 million. The money will support continued basic research on ALS at Hopkins, where the first modestly successful treat-ment for the disease -- a drug called Riluzole -- was recently developed. Riluzole, currently awaiting Food and Drug Administration approval, blocks release of the neurotransmitter glutamate. Research at Hopkins has shown glutamate's capacity to damage neurons when present in excess, as well as ALS patients' inability to remove glutamate from their systems. "Cal Ripken's achievement . . is a very historic event for the entire country, but obviously has a deeper meaning in Baltimore," where Hopkins is located, said Orioles chairman and CEO Peter Angelos in a statement released by the team and Hopkins. Hopkins interim president Daniel Nathans, winner of the 1978 Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine, praised the Orioles organization "for their clear understanding of the relationship between research and the development of effective treatment." Pizza, that all-American fast food favorite, just got faster. Students in the food science department at Cornell University have invented a toastable variety that won't squirt sauce, leak cheese, or make a mess of shirts or toasters. The delicacy -- which its inventors dubbed a Pizza Pop-Up -- jumped to No. 1 in Anaheim, Calif., at the 1995 product development competition sponsored by the Institute of Food Technologists. It beat out other products, including variations of cookies and tortilla chips. The food team, based at the university's Agricultural Experiment Station in Geneva, N.Y., researched a number of factors before coming up with their prize-winning entry. After deciding upon the product, they surveyed the local market for the most desirable qualities -- which turned out to be crispness and convenience. The designers also did some research into toasters for deciding upon the optimal shape and size of the product, in addition to packaging and product design. Prototype development and taste tests were carried out in the kitchen of one of the students. The winning pizza -- filled with the classic pepperoni and cheese -- is about the size of an English muffin and has a fluted edge to prevent leakage. Students developed an acetylated monoglyceride as a moisture barrier between the filling and crust to maintain crispness, and used a thick, pastelike sauce that does not squirt or run after the first bite. Based on their research, students estimate that the retail cost would be $2.69 for a package of eight. They also figured that an established food company would require an initial investment of less than $5 million to start producing Pizza Pop-Ups. Scientists building a CD-ROM reference shelf in their labs will be able to include The Merck Index beginning next spring with the 12th edition. Chapman and Hall, an academic publisher based in London, will produce and market the disc, which, like the print edition, will contain more than 10,000 monographs describing human and veterinary drugs, biologicals, natural products, agricultural compounds, and commercial and laboratory chemicals. The entries include chemical, common, generic, and brand names; molecular weights and formulas; physical and toxicity data; citations to the scientific and patent literature; commercial and therapeutic uses; and depictions of chemical structures. In addition, the CD-ROM will provide powerful text and chemical substructure searching tools. Merck, one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the United States, first published the index in 1889 (R. Lewis, The Scientist, March 19, 1990, page 24). The print edition is published on a nonprofit basis, a practice the company plans to continue. What is the best method for isolating DNA in a clinical lab? A recent survey of 75 laboratories conducted by BioInformatics Inc. -- a Bethesda, Md.-based business research firm serving the biotech industry -- found that less than half of the respondents used prepackaged kits. For the study, three major segments of the overall clinical market were surveyed: clinical hospitals, university medical centers, and large reference labs performing molecular testing. BioInformatics found that only 48 percent of those questioned purchased commercial isolation kits. The use of kits was most prevalent in hospitals (57 percent) and universities (56 percent), which valued convenience and ease of use, according to the research firm. Those respondents that did not use kits reported that they were skeptical that commercial methods can achieve the same level of performance as noncommercial methods, which cost less. The study also found that few labs are using a combination of commercial and noncommercial isolation methods. For information on the survey, contact BioInformatics Inc., 3 Metro Center, Suite 750, Bethesda, Md. 20814; (301) 961-1985. Fax: (301) 657-9776. Nobelists who've left a piece of themselves to the Repository for Germinal Choice in Escondido, Calif., a sperm bank that reportedly specializes in deposits from laureates, can go several steps further and immortalize their entire genomes. But there's a simpler way to preserve a portion of yourself for posterity -- and you don't need to be a science giant to get in on the act. For $55, Seattle-based Third Millennium Research Inc. will preserve anyone's DNA in perpetuity. Upon request, prospective customers are sent the "Immortal Genes" kit. The procedure for immortality is simple: Rub a piece of sterile gauze (provided with the kit) on the inside of the cheek to swab up epithelial cells. Let the gauze dry overnight and mail it back to Third Millennium with the fee. At the company's lab, the DNA is purified and encased in a suitable-for-display aluminum box engraved with the DNA owner's name and date of birth. Company literature speculates that the "handsome storage case will serve as a memento and will become a special heirloom." Molecular biologist James Bicknell, president of Third Millennium, claims that the samples should last 10,000 years or longer in the container. What will be done with the DNA is anyone's guess. as Edward Cornish, president of the World Future Society, asked in a recent commentary (The Futurist, September-October, 1995, page 67): "What will future generations do with all the preserved DNA? Who among today's people should have their DNA immortalized -- anyone who wants it, or only extraordinary people?" Bicknell is currently marketing the kit to genealogy enthusiasts. According to Bicknell, 100 kits, most bought as gifts, have been sent out. A few scientists, but no Nobelists, are among the group. For more information, contact James Bicknell, Third Millennium Research Inc., 5739 33rd, N.E., Seattle, Wash. 98105. E-mail: 73021.506@compuserve.com. This year the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation added India to the list of developing countries -- which until now included only Brazil, Mexico, and Nigeria -- supported by its Fund for Leadership Development. The fund, which is a part of the foundation's Population Program, makes awards to emerging leaders in the participating countries who show initiative, pragmatism, and commitment to addressing various population issues. Six individuals and one couple were chosen as the 1995 winners in India, for their work in the designated theme of reproductive health and rights: Jashodhara Das Gupta and Abhijit Das, a teacher and medical doctor, respectively, are developing a community-based program to train health workers in gender and reproductive-related issues and disseminate this information to about 50 villages in the isolated region of Uttarakand in northern India. Radhika Chandiramani, a clinical psychologist, will be creating a help line for reproductive health in New Delhi to provide information and low-cost health services with a focus on sexuality and reproductive health. Monisha Behal, a researcher on women's issues, has developed a program to bring reproductive and gender-based health awareness -- via research, training, and networking -- to remote, impoverished regions in the northeastern states of India. Vanita Nayak Mukherjee, a health economist and activist, is studying issues of reproductive rights and providing accessible health services, focusing her efforts on the fisher community in the southern state of Kerala. S. Ramasundaram, an officer in the Indian Administrative Service in charge of primary health care and AIDS prevention in the state of Tamil Nadu, has developed a project to provide direct links between scientists, educators, and activists on one side and government on the other side. It aims to provide policymakers with the information required for making decisions on health and reproductive policies. Shree Venkatram, a journalist, will be establishing a regional feature service based in New Delhi to provide articles on women's rights, health, and environmental issues to smaller local newspapers in towns with limited access to information. Geeta Sodhi, a pediatrician, has developed a program to improve the availability of health services and information. Sodhi's project has targeted Tigri, a large urban slum in Delhi with a population of 15,000. The amount of the awards was not released by the foundation. As part of its 125th-anniversary celebration, the American Museum of Natural History in New York is publishing a book that documents the adventures of museum-sponsored explorers. The aim of 125 Years of Expedition and Discovery (L. Rexer, R. Klein, New York, Abrams Inc., 1995) is to capture the romance and larger-than-life character of expeditions that literally trekked to the ends of the Earth. It chronicles the experences of the men and women behind the museum's paleontological, anthro-pological, and natural-historical safaris, digs, and treks, whose booty filled the halls of the museum over this century. Some of the more colorful entries: Roy Chapman Andrews, "a real-life Indiana Jones who fought bandits and braved sandstorms" while on fossil-hunting treks in Mongolia in the 1920s; Robert E. Peary, leader of the first expedition to reach the North Pole and who brought to the museum in 1909 a 35-ton meteorite, the largest ever recovered; and Margaret Mead, the world-famous anthropologist whose studies of human culture focused on societies as diverse as Samoa and the United States during the 1920s to 1970s. Ongoing research in far-flung field projects is also covered. The publication includes 240 photographs, many from never-before-published archival prints, and a foreword by Harvard University entomologist Edward O. Wilson. For more information on the book, which is due out in November, contact the museum's bookstore, AMNH-The Book Balcony, Central Park West at 79th Street, New York, N.Y. 10024-5192; (212) 769-4741. The Bayside, N.Y.-based Tourette Syndrome Association (TSA) is accepting applications for research and training grants. Grants are provided in three categories: proposals in basic neuroscience specifically relevant to Tourette syndrome ($5,000-$25,000); clinical studies related to the etiology, pathophysiology, and treatment of the disease ($5,000-$25,000); and one- or two-year training postdoctoral fellowships ($15,000-$20,000). As a preliminary screening process, letters of intent briefly describing the scientific basis of the proposed project, as well as an approximate level of funding required, should be sent to the association. The deadline for letters of intent is October 18. For information, contact TSA at (718) 224-2999. Fax: (718) 279-9596. E-mail: tourette@ix.netcom.com. Letters of intent should be sent to Anne B. Young, TSA Scientific Advisory Board, 42-40 Bell Blvd., Bayside, N.Y. 11361-2874. (The Scientist, Vol:9, #18, pg.1 , September 18, 1995) (Copyright © The Scientist, Inc.)

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