Profession Notes

Researchers can save time and reduce the number of rats sacrificed for toxicity studies by using cell lines, according to a National Toxicology Program official. One human and one mouse cell line tested in Europe show high correlations between lethality in the cell lines and in animals, explains William Stokes, director of the NTP Interagency Center for the Evaluation of Alternative Toxicological Methods. That center recently released the "Report of the International Workshop on In Vitro Methods for Assessing Acute Systems Toxicity." By reducing the number of animals needed in testing, the use of cell lines will save researchers' time, Stokes says, and should reduce the their workload and increase efficiency in toxicity testing. Reducing animal deaths can also help curb criticism of scientific methods. Results of cell line tests combined with a regression formula allow scientists to estimate the dose which is lethal to half the animals being tested for a substance's toxicity (LD50). "That gives a starting dose for animal testing," Stokes says. "You don't have to go through a dose range-finding study with your animals, because this information gets you pretty close to the LD50 value. So you don't kill a lot of animals if the substance is highly toxic, and you can use up to 40 or 50 percent fewer animals if it is predicted to be a non-toxic chemical," he says.

The National Science Foundation recently awarded $71 million for 24 new grants for plant genome research. A hundred and nine investigators will share the funding during the next five years. This latest round of grants will build on research from the previous three years and brings the total investment in the National Plant Genome Research program to more than $215 million. "This increase can be attributed to the recognition of the continuing importance of this program and the development of genomic tools in plant research," says Jane Silverthorne, program director for the NSF Plant Genome Research Program. The development of genomic tools has already had a tremendous effect on plant research and should figure in greater advances in future plant biotechnology. The grants will fund some bioinformatics work, but it appears that genomics will be the main thrust. "Because genomics allow scientist to get the whole picture and reapply it in other organisms, it allows us to tackle some of the oldest and most important biological problems that need to be understood to develop the next generation of crops," says NSF's Christopher Cullin. New projects will include innovative methods for gene discovery and characterization, development of homologous gene replacement, and the investigation of genetic networks that regulate plant response to environmental conditions such as drought, disease, temperature, and flowering time.

To expand the number of scientists and institutions capable of performing genomic science research, the National Institutes of Health is offering individual and institutional training grants. Postdoctoral students with no experience may qualify for $16,500 grants and more experienced postdocs can apply for grants of $28,260 to $44,412. For those in pre-doctoral studies, NIH grants pays the first $3,000 in tuition and 60 percent of the remaining amount. "We need a trained cadre of scientists who are well trained in this relatively new approach," says Bettie Graham, training and career program director of National Human Genome Research Institute. Most institutions have yet to establish graduate and postgraduate programs in genomic science. To expand the number of institutions capable of providing such training, NIH will evaluate proposed genomics training programs from investigators who will select their own pre- and postdoctoral students to participate. Each pre- or postdoc student will receive the $16,500-to- $44,412 stipend and the institution will receive an allowance of $2,500 to $5,000, and $5,000 for postdocs. "This gives people the chance to get the training they want and allows the investigators to work with who they want." Graham says. The genomics program is not limited to a specific field. "It offers opportunity for those trained in both the social and biological sciences," says Elizabeth Thomson, program director of ethical, legal, and social implications research for NHGRI.