THE SCIENTIST VOLUME 7, No:20 October 18, 1993 (Copyright, The Scientist, Inc.) Articles p

                          THE SCIENTIST


VOLUME 7, No:20                               October 18, 1993
(Copyright, The Scientist, Inc.)

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October 18, 1993


                               NEWS


INTEGRATED BUT UNEQUAL: Recent efforts by National Institutes of 
Health administrators to confront long-standing inequities in the 
status of women scientists may meet with resistance within 
specific institutes, officials and women researchers say  
PAGE : 1


LASKER AWARDS: The winners of this year's Lasker Foundation 
awards in biomedical science were researchers whose studies have 
current or future clinical applications, a reflection of the 
foundation's concern that the importance of basic research be 
part of the agenda in national health care reform  
PAGE : 1



ANIMAL RIGHTS DAMAGE REPORT: A congressionally mandated report, 
recently produced and released by the Justice Department, on the 
extent of acts of property damage committed by animal rights 
groups documents 313 such incidents, with university research 
facilities being the most frequent targets  
PAGE : 1


AFTER RIO, REAL PROGRESS: A year and a half after the summit, 
progress is being made on agreements and treaties reached at the 
United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) 
held in Rio de Janeiro, according to a report by an environmental 
watchdog group, with several countries ratifying the documents 
and the United States playing a substantial role  
PAGE : 3



                               OPINION


UNHEARD VOICES: With all of the hand-wringing, initiatives, and 
discussions aimed at improving science education in the United 
States, rarely have the subjects of this national attention--the 
students--been consulted on their views of the situation. There 
are several fundamental ways, many of them costing little or no 
money at all, to instill skills and enthusiasm in science 
classes--if administrators and policymakers are willing to take 
some advice--say six University of Miami science undergraduates  
PAGE  :  11


COMMENTARY: During his long career as a biochemist, author, and 
teacher, J. Murray Luck made an enormous impact on the science 
community, the most enduring among his achievements being the 
launch of Annual Reviews, says William Kaufmann, the series' 
current editor-in-chief  
PAGE : 12


AIDS INVESTIGATIONS: Rapidly working its way up the list of 
highly cited AIDS papers are ones produced by biotech and 
pharmaceutical firms, according to the newsletter Science Watch    
PAGE : 14



HOT PAPERS: A molecular biologist discusses T cell longevity  
PAGE : 15


PERFUSION PROFUSION: For years, neuroscientists have relied on 
homemade perfusion systems in their studies of cell membranes and 
the substances passing in and out of cells across them. Now, 
several research-scale perfusion systems are commercially 
available  
PAGE :  18


JOB QUEST: In the current economy, the job search is apt to be 
anxiety-ridden; but some techniques make the quest more 
productive.  
PAGE :  20


FRANCE CORDOVA, head of the department of astronomy and 
astrophysics at Penn State University, has been appointed chief 
scientist for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration  
PAGE : 22


NOTEBOOK  
PAGE : 4


CARTOON  
PAGE : 4


LETTERS  
PAGE : 12


CROSSWORD  
PAGE : 13


SCIENTIFIC SOFTWARE DIRECTORY  
PAGE : 30


(The Scientist, Vol:7, #20, October 18, 1993)
(Copyright, The Scientist, Inc.)
  
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TI  :  Lasker Awards Celebrate Biomedical  Scientists  For  Their 
       Advances In Health-Related Research

As U.S. health care system is undergoing review, this year's 
prestigious prizes emphasize the inherent value of basic 
investigations


AU   : BARBARA SPECTOR


TY   : NEWS


PG   : 1


In selecting the recipients of its 1993 medical research awards, 
the Albert and Mary Lasker Foundation has singled out three 
scientists whose basic investigations have current or future 
clinical applications. A foundation official says he hopes that 
honoring these individuals at a time when the United States 
health care system is undergoing revision will convey a message 
to President Bill Clinton and the public about the importance of 
basic research.



Gunter Blobel, John D. Rockefeller, Jr. Professor at Rockefeller 
University in New York and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute 
investigator, received the Albert Lasker Basic Medical Research 
Award for his studies of protein sorting and targeting. Donald 
Metcalf, a research professor of cancer biology at the Walter and 
Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, Melbourne, Australia, 
won the Albert Lasker Clinical Medical Research Award for 
discovering colony stimulating factors (CSFs), hormones that 
control white blood cell formation and resistance to infections.



Nancy S. Wexler, a professor of clinical neuropsychol-ogy at 
Columbia University's College of Physicians and Surgeons in New 
York, was selected to share the Albert Lasker Public Service 
Award for her work on Huntington's disease. Her co-recipient is 
Paul G. Rogers, a former Democratic Florida congressman (1955-79) 
who chaired the House subcommittee on health and the environment.



The 1993 awards were presented at an October 1 luncheon in New 
York. First lady Hillary Rodham Clinton, architect of U.S. health 
care reform, was the keynote speaker. "These winners join a 
remarkable group . . . men and women whose work has found cures 
for disease, who have aided the kind of breakthroughs that we've 
only been able to dream about in the past but now take for 
granted," Clinton said. "This is a time when the past and the 
present in medical research join together to point us to a new 
future. And it is one that I think all of us have a 
responsibility and an obligation to help shape."



Jordan U. Gutterman, director of the Lasker awards program and 
chairman of clinical immunology and biological therapy at the 
University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, says 
Metcalf and Blobel's work proves that basic research is not as 
far removed from patient care as the layperson might believe. 
CSFs, the subject of Metcalf's research, Gutterman points out, 
are now being used to promote blood cell formation and resistance 
to infection in cancer patients. "He--along with others--started 
a whole field and developed it over the past several decades to 
the point of clinical application now," Gutterman says.



Likewise, says Gutterman, Blobel's studies of protein transport 
across cellular membranes have "incredible applications in basic 
biology, but also practical applications," including treatment of 
diseases involving localization of proteins, such as cystic 
fibrosis.



Wexler is a key member of the Huntington's Disease Collaborative 
Research Group, which last March pinpointed the gene causing the 
disease (Cell, 72:971-83, 1993). Beyond her research activity, 
she has devoted herself to fostering a greater public 
understanding of the importance of basic science, Gutterman says. 
"She is an individual who has tried to balance science and public 
service," he says.


A Nobel In The Future?
Each Lasker winner receives or shares a $25,000 prize--increased 
this year from $15,000. Winners also receive a statuette of the 
Winged Victory of Samothrace, the Lasker Foundation's symbol of 
"victory over disability, disease, and death."



And, if tradition holds, there may be another award in the cards 
for Blobel or Metcalf. In the 46 years that the Laskers have been 
presented, 50 recipients of the basic or clinical research award 
have gone on to win the Nobel Prize. Given Blobel and  Metcalf's 
impressive citation records, this may indeed be a possibility. In 
1981, both men's names appeared on a list of the 1,000 most cited 
contemporary scientists for the period 1965-78 compiled by the 
Philadelphia-based Institute for Scientific Information (E. 
Garfield, Current Contents-Life Sciences, Oct. 12, 1981, pages 5-
14).



The New York-based Lasker Foundation was established in 1944 by 
Albert Lasker, the late owner of the Lord & Thomas advertising 
agency, and his wife, Mary, who has long been an advocate of 
biomedical research. "She has understood better than most of us 
ever do that the work that  takes  place in our 
laboratories...[and] the work that takes place in the halls of 
Congress are all devoted to enhancing life," said Clinton at the 
awards ceremony. The awards, once presented annually, have been 
given every other year since 1991 to honor those making 
significant contributions in basic and clinical research.



Protein `Zip Codes'
In 1975, Blobel developed the "signal hypothesis," postulating 
that translocation of proteins across intracellular membranes is 
accomplished via "signal sequences"-- series of 15 amino acids, 
on average. The signal sequences, he explains, are targeted to 
one specific cellular membrane; thus, they function as a "zip 
code addressed to the proper membrane."



Blobel, now 57, published this hypothesis in a landmark paper (G. 
Blobel, B. Dobberstein, "Transfer of proteins across membranes. 
I. Presence of proteolytically processed and unprocessed nascent 
immunoglobulin light chains on membrane-bound ribosomes of murine 
myeloma," Journal of Cell Biology, 67:835-51, 1975), which has 
been cited more than 2,300 times. Its companion paper (G. Blobel, 
B. Dobberstein, "Transfer of proteins across membranes. II. 
Reconstitution of functional rough microsomes from heterologous 
components," J. Cell Biol., 67:852-62, 1975) has been cited 
nearly 850 times. 



The signal hypothesis, Blobel says, "was conceived without much 
evidence, but most of the predictions turned out to be correct."



It wasn't until more than 15 years after publication of these 
papers, however, that "the last facet" of the hypothesis was 
confirmed, Blobel says. A pair of papers (S.M. Simon, G. Blobel, 
Cell, 65:371-80, 1991; S.M. Simon, G. Blobel, Cell, 69:677-84, 
1992) reported the existence of a "protein-conducting channel," 
the mechanism of trans- location. "The protein-conducting channel 
proved very difficult; it had to be tricked to reveal itself," 
Blobel says. "That was the most fun of my entire career."



Joshua Lederberg, University Professor at Rockefeller and a 
former president of that institution, says the signal hypothesis  
has important implications for genetics: "Genetic defects may be 
[malfunctioning] signal peptides."



Lederberg says that at Rockefeller, Blobel is respected for his 
amiability as well as for his work: "He's very popular on campus, 
and engaged with the life of the campus." In addition, Blobel is 
known for his "high moral principle," Lederberg says; "he gets 
exercised when he sees something that violates" his ethical 
standards.



Blobel received his M.D. from the University of Tbingen in his 
native Germany in 1960. In 1963, he came to the United States as 
a Ph.D. candidate in oncology in the lab of Van Rensselaer Potter 
at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, concentrating on 
ribosome-membrane interaction.



At Wisconsin,  he wrote his second-most-cited paper (G. Blobel, 
V.R. Potter, "Nuclei from rat liver: Isolation method that 
combines purity with high yield," Science, 154:1662-5, 1966), 
which has been referenced in more than 1,400 publications to 
date. "He was always enthusiastic and full of ideas about his 
research," Potter recalls.



After earning his Ph.D. in 1967, Blobel came to Rockefeller--
where he has been ever since--as a postdoc in the lab of George 
Palade, studying the mechanisms of membrane-bound ribosomes in 
the synthesis of secretory proteins. This work later led to 
development of the signal hypothesis. He received the Gairdner 
Award, another Nobel "predictor," in 1982. He is a member of the 
National Academy of Sciences.



Blood Cell Formation
In the mid-1960s, while Blobel was finishing up at Wisconsin and 
moving to Rockefeller, Metcalf was developing a breakthrough 
cloning technique, enabling researchers to study the cellular 
basis of blood cell formation in vitro using large numbers of 
cells.



His paper describing this technique (T.R. Bradley, D. Metcalf, 
Australian Journal of Experimental Biology and Medical Science, 
44:287-300, 1966) has been cited in more than 1,800 papers.



"His studies of hematopoiesis [formation and development of blood 
cells] in the mouse set the stage for everything we know about 
hematopoiesis in man," says David Nathan, physician in chief at 
Children's Hospital in Boston and Robert A. Stranahan Professor 
of Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School. "Those experiments of the 
'60s have stood the test of time."


A result of the development of these cultures was Metcalf's 
discovery--followed by purification and, years later, mass 
production--of CSFs, which now result in shorter hospital stays 
for patients and more intensive chemotherapy. About 25 such blood 
hormones have now been identified.



Purification of CSFs proved a tricky business because of the low 
concentration of the hormones in the body. Metcalf and colleagues 
tried to purify them from human urine but found that they were 
only a minor urinary component. Coauthor E. Richard Stanley (E.R. 
Stanley, D. Metcalf, Aust. J. Exp. Biol. Med. Sci., 47:467-83, 
1969) recalled in a Current Contents-Clinical Medicine  classic 
commentary (May 18, 1981, page 20): "It became clear . . . that 
considerable volumes of urine would be required. The resources of 
the entire male staff of the Institute were mobilized and urine 
was collected in white buckets placed by the urinals. These 
buckets, with their accompanying poster requesting contributions 
(and subsequent graffiti), became an Institute conversation 
piece."



Like Blobel, Metcalf had to wait many years before seeing the 
full realization of his theory--in his case, animal studies with 
CSFs, leading ultimately to their use in clinical practice. "The 
direct test wasn't till the mid-'80s," Metcalf says. "The proof 
had to wait 20 years, because it was impossible either to 
synthesize these molecules--they're too big--or to purify enough 
material from the tissues to inject in an animal. The 
breakthrough that was needed was the entry of molecular biology." 
It thus became possible to isolate the genes that code for CSF 
production and express recombinant CSFs in bacteria or yeast. 
Metcalf's paper "The molecular biology and functions of the 
granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimul- ating factors" (Blood, 
67:257, 1986) had received 685 citations as of June 1993, 
remarkable for a paper only six years old.



Metcalf, 64, is referred to by several of his colleagues as "a 
role model," not only for his research but also for the interest 
he takes in the work of others. "He tackles problems in a simple 
and straightforward way," says Nathan. "His experiments are 
beautifully designed, and have revealed an enor- mous amount of 
information."



"I can't think of one aspect of experimental hematology that his 
observation isn't in some way connected to," says David Williams, 
Kipp Investigator of Pediatrics at Indiana University School of 
Medicine, Indianapolis, and an associate investigator of the 
Howard Hughes Medical Institute.



"He's very, very keen to learn new things, to continue to try to 
contribute to the field, to help young people just coming into 
the field," Williams says.



Metcalf received his M.D. from the University of Sydney in 1953. 
He has been at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute since 1966, 
except for several intervals as a visiting scientist at 
institutions in the U.S. and Europe. An NAS foreign associate, 
Metcalf has received the Royal Society of London's Wellcome Prize 
(1988), among other honors.



Fighting Hereditary Disease
Wexler "has devoted at least most of her waking hours, and 
possibly her REM hours, too," to conquering Huntington's disease, 
says Huntington's researcher P. Michael Conneally, Distinguished 
Professor of Medical and Molecular Genetics and Neurology, 
Indiana University Medical Center, Indianapolis. Her activity in 
this area dates from 1968, when she found out her mother had the 
disorder and that she herself was at risk. She did her Ph.D. 
dissertation on the neuropsychological and emotional consequences 
of being at risk for the disease, earning her doctorate in 
clinical psychology from the University of Michigan in 1974.



Wexler, 48, is president of the Santa Monica, Calif.-based 
Hereditary Disease Foundation, founded by her father, Milton 
Wexler, 25 years ago. The foundation sponsors workshops bringing 
together scientists working on similar biological questions in 
hereditary disease.



Wexler notes that the majority of researchers invited to the 
workshops do not work on Huntington's; the foundation selects 
investigators focusing on related areas to foster productive 
exchanges with Hunting- ton's researchers and "make a much wider 
mark," she says.



Wexler believes it's important to have researchers understand the 
clinical implications of disease. "We always start workshops by 
having someone with Hunting-ton's speak to the scientists," she 
says. "At the lab bench, [scientists] may see the DNA repeats" 
characteristic of Huntington's, she says, but meeting a person 
who has it enables them to grasp the "massive rippling effect 
within the whole family."



A genetic marker for Huntington's disease gene was found in 1983 
and was reported in a paper coauthored by Wexler (J.F. Gusella, 
et al., Nature, 306:234, 1983), which has been cited in more than 
900 publications to date. Despite this early success, it took 10 
years to isolate the gene itself, and much more work remains to 
be done before gene therapy is possible. The Hereditary Disease 
Foundation's grants for research on Hunting-ton's and allied 
disorders are essential to sustain labs during these long years 
of work, according to Marie-Fran~oise Chesselet, a professor of 
pharmacology at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. 
The grants, says Chesselet, "allowed [researchers] to have part 
of their lab continually working on Hunting-ton's during the 
years when it was so easy to be discouraged."


Wexler and her foundation have fostered several collaborations of 
Huntington's researchers. One, the Huntington's Disease 
Collaborative Research Group--an alliance of six labs in the 
U.S., England, and Wales--discovered the gene last March. Another 
collaboration, known as "centers without walls," involves two 
interdisciplinary, interinstitutional research centers based in 
Boston and Baltimore. "The ethos in Huntington's all along has 
been not to be bounded by artificial borders," Wexler says. 



Scientists say Wexler kept the collaborations running smoothly. 
"She was the driving force behind keeping people working 
together," says Chesselet. "She provided fund-raising efforts and 
also psychological drive." Wexler acknowledges her role in 
motivating the scientists: "If they see me, they know that I'm at 
risk. I represent all the families they got to know and to like."



Wexler's 1979 expedition to Venezuela to collect genetic data 
from the largest known extended family with Huntington's disease-
-more than 13,000 people--was a key contribution to locating the 
gene and developing a test for it. After seeing a presentation by 
Venezuelan physician Americo Negrette at a 1972 conference, 
Wexler recalls, "I thought that Venezuela was the answer, but we 
just had to figure out the question."



"The Venezuela family was pretty important for determining the 
[genetic] linkage," says Margaret Wallace, an assistant professor 
of genetics at the University of Florida, Gainesville. Wallace 
speculates that location of the gene might have taken another 
year without the Venezuelan blood samples. "When you've got a 
family to study of that size, you've got the best chance 
possible." 



Wexler's other activities include chairing the Ethical, Legal, 
and Social Issues Working Group of the Human Genome Project, 
which involves discussing the genome project with the public. 
While nonscientists "don't understand [the work] on a scientific 
level," Wexler says, "they understand on an emotional and 
practical level--and that's what counts. People know that 
diseases run in families; there's a gut appreciation of 
heredity." Thus, she says, when the project is explained to them, 
people understand the rationale behind "finding all of their 
genes and [discovering] what they do. I hope that as people 
understand, they will push for more resources put in."



Gutterman says the fact that a Huntington's disease researcher 
has received the Lasker Public Service Award "does not rule out 
eventually a research award" given for work on the disease if 
research in the area progresses. One of the criteria assessed 
during the judging, he says, is the "maturing" of the field under 
consideration: "Is it ready for this particular field? Are there 
more experiments that need to be done?"


Gutterman says that when nominations are reviewed "it's 
astonishing to see    the rate of knowledge that's occurring. The 
deliberations are a detailed, soul-searching, mind-searching 
experience. It's quite exciting--no, that's too mild a term--it's 
exhilarating."

(The Scientist, Vol:7, #20, October 18, 1993)
(Copyright, The Scientist, Inc.)
  
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TI    : Sex Discrimination Controversies Continue  To  Plague 
        Health Agency


Some NIH insiders fear an entrenched culture could thwart efforts 
to improve conditions for women scientists


AU   : FRANKLIN HOKE


TY   : NEWS


PG   : 1


Recent efforts by National Institutes of Health administrators to 
address agencywide inequities in the status of women scientists 
may be frustrated by resistance within specific institutes, 
agency officials and women researchers say.



A number of these remedial actions are in direct response to a 
June 1993 report produced by an internal Task Force on the Status 
of NIH Intramural Women Scientists. Using newly assembled data, 
the task force found that "disparities and inequities exist for 
NIH intramural women scientists with regard to pay, tenure, 
promotion, and visibility," and suggested avenues to remedies 
(see story on page 17). Hynda Kleinman, a research chemist and 
section chief at the National Institute of Dental Research, 
chaired the task force.



"The [NIH] administration has been very responsive," Kleinman 
says, citing Lance A. Liotta, the deputy director for intramural 
research, as particularly so. "But I would say that when you get 
down to the scientific directors, there's been less 
accountability."



Changes in place as of late last month that are intended to 
improve the professional prospects of NIH's women scientists 
include a new tenure policy--NIH tenures scientists much as 
academia does--designed to ease conflicts between family 
obligations and the tenure-track schedule; the appointment of a 
woman scientist adviser to the scientific director of each 
institute to confer on gender issues; and a sharp rise in the 
representation of women as speakers at NIH-sponsored scientific 
meetings.



At this point, the administration "has implemented or is in the 
process of implementing every single recommendation" of the task 
force report, according to NIH spokes- woman Anne Thomas.
To be sure, however, a number of high-profile, unresolved cases 
of sex discrimination at NIH cloud this view. Women scientists 
who say they have been victimized speak of a deeply entrenched 
hierarchical, sexist culture at the institutes. And they say the 
sexism tends to target the best and the brightest of young women, 
effectively pushing them out of research. The loss to science--as 
well as to the individual women--is substantial, they say.



Kleinman herself, although encouraged by the response from the 
NIH administrators, acknowledges that the problems run deep. She 
concurs with a widely held view that the culture of science is 
generally discriminatory against women, but she says that NIH 
does not differ greatly from many universities in that respect. 
She does, however, see unique organizational differences between 
universities and NIH that serve to exacerbate difficulties for 
women at the health agency.



"At NIH, the system doesn't depend on grants," Kleinman says. "It 
depends on your relationship with your boss. At a university, 
women have the basis of their grants to help them hold their 
positions and to help them move up. The more grants they get, the 
more promotions they're going to get. And you can't take lab 
space away from someone who's got a grant."



Administrators, too, acknowledge that the hierarchical structure 
of NIH labs may serve to stymie improvement in the status of 
women scientists there. But they insist that, even so, the 
situation is no worse at the institutes than in university-based 
biomedical research settings. And they say they are committed to 
improving conditions for women.



"Something like 40 to 50 percent of the graduate students in 
biological sciences are women these days," says Ruth Kirschstein, 
acting director of NIH, speaking of the universities. "And in 
medical schools, something in the order of 30 to 40 percent are 
women. So the issue is not getting them interested and having 
them go through their programs to get advanced degrees."



The issue, she suggests, is that women scientists in university 
settings have difficulty being promoted to senior positions, with 
ever-declining representation at higher rungs on the career 
ladder.


"And it's sort of the same thing here," Kirschstein says. "They 
go through postdoctoral training, and then the question is, what 
happens to them as they move into independent careers, as they 
move into tenure track and being tenured? And that's where the 
entire system, for women, falls apart. There are far fewer women 
in tenure track at NIH--and at universities and medical schools. 
There are far fewer women in tenured positions, and there are 
very few women who are in high-level administrative positions."



The New Numbers
One of Kleinman's contributions to the debate over sexism at the 
institutes was to enlist the help of Michael Fordis, director of 
the NIH's three-year-old Office of Education, in assembling hard 
new data to inform discussions about pay, tenure, promotion, and 
visibility. One of Fordis's primary responsibilities is 
recruitment of young scientists into the intramural program.



"You can't recruit the best and the brightest if there are 
perceived barriers," Fordis says. "And we felt that we should 
make certain that we had numbers to see where the problems are, 
because there are very different solutions [possible]."



For example, to assess the pay levels of men and women 
scientists, Fordis matched pairs of scientists on the basis of 
their educational degrees, the number of years since graduation, 
and other factors. From the overall pool of about 1,200 
individuals, he identified 77 matched pairs--although in some 
cases in which three individuals could be matched, the 
information for all three was included in the "pair." In 77 
pairings, men earned $3,300 more than women, on average.



The new view provided by Fordis's number-crunching had an 
important impact on the NIH community.



"People are very angry about the pay issue, very angry," says 
Kleinman. "You just look at the pay data, and you get ill."



The problem now facing the agency administration is how to 
respond to this information. Because of the difficulties he had 
in matching pairs, Fordis suggests that assessing comparable pay 
levels will be problematic. It will involve looking closely at 
each institute and, ultimately, each individual and making 
judgments.



"There's not an across-the-board formula that can be applied," 
Fordis says, "but surely people can look and rectify any areas in 
which there are inequities."



The numbers assembled by Fordis,  largely a  statistical  
portrait of women  scientists' problems at the institutes, also 
show a few encouraging signs. For example, although tenured women 
represent only about 18 percent of the total tenured scientists 
at NIH, 45 percent of scientists granted tenure in 1992 were 
women, a figure much closer to--even a bit above--their 
representation in the pool of candidates. The 1992 number was a 
sharp jump up from rates over the previous decade, which had 
hovered between 15 and 25 percent. Of course, the potential long-
term significance of a one-year improvement remains to be seen.



On the visibility issue, too, Kleinman notes that historically 
women were rarely invited to deliver the important sponsored 
lectures on campus. The prestigious Dyer Lecture, for example, 
was given by a woman only once in the 37 times it was delivered 
between 1951 and 1990. This year, however, women received nearly 
all of the lectureships, Kleinman says, in response to complaints 
from her group.



The Best And Brightest
The importance of confronting sexism in the laboratories of the 
nation's top biomedical research organization, in order to keep 
talented women scientists in science, is emphasized by all 
parties--administration officials, women scientists, and critics 
of NIH. Those most critical of the environment confronting women 
at NIH charge that, in fact, it is precisely the most talented 
women who are most victimized at NIH, the ones whose research is 
most likely to be appropriated, for example, without proper 
credit.



"If you are not an efficient or inspired [female] researcher, 
they leave you alone, and you can work for years undisturbed," 
says one congressional committee staffer, on condition of 
anonymity. Her committee has been investigating scientific 
misconduct at NIH, including possible links to sexism, racism, 
and other discriminatory behavior. "It's only the ones who really 
accomplish something who have anything to fear."



Viola Young-Horvath, executive director of the Federation of 
Organizations for Professional Women in Washington, D.C., agrees.



"It's often the best and the brightest of the women who are 
discriminated against," she says. "I think there is more of it at 
NIH simply because you have a concentration of some of the most 
brilliant, competitive people in the world of science at NIH."



Young-Horvath points to the case of Margaret Jensvold as a prime 
example. With especially strong academic credentials--she was 
selected by the Association for Academic Psychiatry as one of the 
six most promising residents in the country--Jensvold came to the 
National Institute of Mental Health in 1987 to study premenstrual 
syndrome. There, she says, as the only woman researcher in her 
area, she was denied important professional opportunities made 
available to male fellows. On Feb. 28, 1994, Jensvold's case will 
go to trial in U.S. District Court in Baltimore.



Jensvold, now director of the Institute for Research on Women's 
Health in Washington, says that, as a result of the problems, she 
was forced to abandon her research.



"My career was taken from me, my research was taken from me, and 
promising work wasn't done, because of the way they viewed me as 
a woman," Jensvold says.



Jensvold is one of several women with sex discrimination 
complaints against NIH who believe that the problems are linked 
to the hierarchical  power structure  of  the  labs there.



"There is a gender problem here," says Jensvold. "But, once you 
scratch beneath the surface, we're really talking about much 
bigger stuff having to do with the whole misuse of power in the 
workplace."



Young-Horvath concurs, suggesting that the predation of more 
powerful, usually senior, male scientists on the creativity of 
other scientists viewed as less powerful is not unusual.



"And who would you choose to do it to?" she asks. "You'd choose 
the scientists that, in your mind, you conceived of as being 
weakest or most vulnerable, and that's frequently women."



"That's the way it is at NIH," says Maureen Polsby, a neurologist 
with a sex discrimination and research fraud case against NIH 
that has gone from U.S. District Court in Baltimore to the 
Supreme Court and back over the past five years. "If you are a 
woman, you are perceived as easy to take advantage of and someone 
who can be exploited."



Billie Mackey, president of SelfHelp for Equal Rights, an 
informal employment rights group at NIH, calls appropriation of 
research one of the most devastating aspects of sex 
discrimination at NIH for women scientists.



"These young, bright women bring a lot of their creative ideas 
into the laboratory, and many times these ideas are stolen," 
Mackey says. "Many of them are so discouraged that they leave NIH 
and they leave research."



Saru Devi is a former NIH researcher from India who is struggling 
not to be pushed out of science. This year, she filed complaints 
with the NIH's Office of Equal Opportunity for discrimination on 
the bases of sex and ethnicity and the Department of Health and 
Human Service's Office of Research Integrity for theft of 
research. She says that, despite the skepticism and resistance of 
her supervisors at NIH, she successfully developed a vaccine for 
cryptococcal meningitis, a fungal disease that kills 
approximately 10 percent of people with AIDS. After the vac- 
cine's success was demonstrated, she says--a patent application 
has been submitted by NIH for the discovery--she was pushed out 
of the lab and the work turned over to others.



In May, at the American Society for Microbiology meeting in 
Atlanta, she says she watched from the audience as another 
researcher presented her data as his own--including showing a 
graph she herself had prepared. She was given only an 
acknowledgment, she says, for work on which she feels she should 
be first author.



Since then, she has fought to receive the credit she feels she 
should have,  but she says the experience has been traumatic.



"Coming from a foreign country, looking at NIH as the best place 
and NIH scientists as the role models and then working so hard, 
being a mother of a small child, working over the weekends and 10 
hours a day to achieve something, and then to undergo all these 
things is something very terrible," Devi says. "If they take my 
patent away and make money out of it, it doesn't bother me at 
all. But my work--it's my whole life."



(The Scientist, Vol:7, #20, October 18, 1993)
(Copyright, The Scientist, Inc.)
  
              ================================


NEXT:


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TI   :  TASK FORCE RECOMMENDATIONS


TY   :  NEWS


PG   :  17


In June, the internal Task Force on the Status of NIH  Intramural 
Women  Scientists  made the following recommendations  to  agency 
officials:


* A woman scientist adviser to the scientific director of each 
institute, center, or division should be appointed to increase 
and enhance effective communication between women scientists and 
the administration.


* Compensation should be equalized throughout NIH, where 
appropriate.


* A uniform tenure plan should be established at NIH.


* A uniform NIH promotion plan should be established, 
implemented, monitored, and evaluated.


* The visibility of intramural women scientists of all racial and 
ethnic groups should be increased by including them in greater 
numbers at NIH forums and at NIH-supported meetings.


* A family-leave flextime plan for NIH should be established, 
uniformly implemented, monitored, and evaluated.


* The position of NIH woman scientist coordinator should be 
established in the office of the deputy director for intramural 
research to implement the recommendations of this task force and 
to communicate the concerns of intramural women scientists, 
including those of minority women scientists, to NIH's deputy 
director for intramural research and its director.



Source: The NIH Catalyst, June 1993.


(The Scientist, Vol:7, #20, October 18, 1993)
(Copyright, The Scientist, Inc.)
  
              ================================


NEXT:


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TI   :  Unprecedented Justice Department Report Documents  Extent 
        Of Animal Activist Attacks On Research Labs


Academic facilities are the most frequent targets of assault by 
animal rights advocates, congressionally mandated study reveals


AU   :  RON KAUFMAN


TY   : NEWS


PG   : 1


A report released last month by the United States Department of 
Justice states that, since 1977, at least 313 acts of what it 
categorizes as animal enterprise terrorism have occurred. Such 
attacks, the report says, peaked in frequency several years ago. 
However, according to the report's authors, the violent nature of 
attacks has not diminished, with the majority of incidents being 
perpetrated at university research centers.



The study, called "Report to Congress on the Extent and Effects 
of Domestic and International Terrorism on Animal Enterprises," 
is the first time such incidents have been specifically 
documented by the federal government. The report, mandated by 
Congress, was compiled after months of investigations by staff in 
the Criminal Division of the Justice Department, along with some 
assistance from the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service of 
the Department of Agriculture.



The document, released last month, was required by Congress as 
part of last year's passage of the Animal Enterprise Protection 
Act of 1992 (P.L. 102-346). That legislation, signed into law by 
President Bush in August 1992, makes an act causing physical 
disruption to the functioning of an animal-use enterprise, 
resulting in property damage exceeding $10,000, a federal 
offense--punishable by fine and/or imprisonment for up to one 
year. Although the law's potential effectiveness was questioned 
at the time of its passage (R. Kaufman, The Scientist, Oct. 26, 
1992, page 1), thus far it has not been tested.



Frankie Trull, president of the Foundation for Biomedical 
Research, a nonprofit group based in Washington, D.C., says she 
is pleased that the federal government is finally paying 
attention to animal rights terrorism.



"The reason we were anxious to have [the Animal Enterprise 
Protection Act] passed in the first place was that we felt, 
historically, the federal government had not given illegal 
activities by animal rightists a high priority," Trull says, 
"mainly because they didn't recognize that a lot of the incidents 
that took place could indeed be related to other incidents.



"We were pleased with this report because it confirmed what we 
had been saying all along. Now, when a break-in occurs, the 
federal government can have its intelligence network in motion, 
working alongside state and local police."



The Justice Department study tracks and describes the extent of 
animal rights terrorism from 1977, the earliest animal rights-
related incident that the department could document, through June 
30, 1993. Starting in March, Justice staffers conducted an 
extensive round of interviewing, fact checking, and data 
compilation that turned up 313 separate acts of property damage 
against animal enterprises across the U.S. An animal enterprise 
is identified by the law as any commercial or academic 
undertaking that uses animals for food or fiber production, 
agriculture, research, or testing.



"What we found was that the biomedical research community, the 
fur industry, and the meat industry are the three principal 
target areas for animal rights groups," says Scott Hendley, a 
policy analyst in the Justice Department's Office of Policy and 
Management Analysis, who, along with attorney Steve Weglian of 
the Terrorism and Violent Crime Section, were the principal 
investigators and authors of the report.



The Findings
Among  the report's findings are:
* The most frequently victimized animal enterprises were 
university facilities (20.1 percent of the 313 incidents) and fur 
retailers (15.3 percent).


* Of the 313 total incidents, the most frequent type of 
destructive animal rights activities were minor vandalism (160 
acts), theft or animal release (77 acts), and personal threats 
(29 acts).


* The most frequent locale for these attacks was California (143 
incidents or 46 percent of the total), followed by Maryland (20 
incidents), and Pennsylvania, Florida, and New York (each with 16 
incidents).


* A time line of attacks in the report shows these activities 
peaking from 1987 through 1989, with 142 incidents. Between 1990 
and 1993, 84 incidents are documented.



Law Doesn't Apply
Hendley says that the most unusual fact he uncovered throughout 
his investigation was the large number of relatively minor 
incidents that would not be covered by federal law. "We were 
expecting a much greater problem at the national level as it 
impacted on federal interests," he says. "In fact, the vast 
majority of the incidents would not be covered by federal law."



>From the total number of attacks, the study found only 21 
exceeded the Animal Enterprise Protection Act's $10,000 damage 
threshold; the largest was a 1987 fire at a University of 
California, Davis, research lab that caused an estimated damage 
of $4.5 million.



In recent years, Hendley says, property damage by animal rights 
groups against research labs "has been persistent, but it seems 
to have been decreasing in frequency; however, I would not say in 
severity."



Perpetrators
The report identifies one group as the main instigator and 
perpetrator of animal rights vandalism: the Animal Liberation 
Front (ALF).



"In all, 23 different entities were documented as having claimed 
responsibility for violent or disruptive acts against animal 
enterprises in the United States since 1977," the report states. 
"Approximately 60 percent of the total incidents documented were 
claimed by ALF."



ALF is an underground animal rights group whose headquarters is 
unknown and its members unidentified. From 1988 through 1990, the 
FBI investigated ALF as a domestic terrorist organization. Yet, 
to date, only one individual identified as a suspected ALF member 
has been officially charged; a five-count indictment was handed 
down against Rodney Coronado by a federal grand jury in Grand 
Rapids, Mich., in relation to a February 1992 break-in and arson 
at Michigan State University in East Lansing. Coronado's 
whereabouts, however, currently are unknown.



"The FBI ceased investigating ALF as a domestic terrorist group 
in 1990 as the frequency and severity of the vandalism appeared 
to be declining," says Hendley. "And our report concluded that 
the frequency seemed to peak in the late 1980s. Right now, it 
seems to be waning somewhat, and, hopefully, it will continue to 
do so."



(The Scientist, Vol:7, #20, October 18, 1993)
(Copyright, The Scientist, Inc.)
  
NEXT:


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TI   : Report Cites Significant Progress Made In Wake Of Rio Earth Summit

AU   : RON KAUFMAN

TY   : NEWS

PG   : 3


Nations around the world are making good on agreements hammered 
out at last year's United Nations Conference on Environment and 
Development (UNCED) in Rio de Janeiro, according to an 
encouraging report issued earlier this month by the National 
Resources Defense Council (NRDC), a Washington, D.C.-based 
environmental watchdog group.



The report, titled "One Year After Rio: Keeping the Promises," 
points out, for example, significant progress being made in 
relation to the three main documents produced at the June 1992 
Rio conference, popularly known as the "Earth Summit": the 
Framework Convention on Climate Change; the Convention on 
Biological Diversity; and Agenda 21.



"We're really heartened by the level of activity we've seen," 
says S. Jacob Scherr, survey coordinator for the NRDC document. 
"With regard to the climate change and biodiversity conventions, 
the process of ratification to make the treaties legally binding 
has moved forward extremely quickly."



According to the report, a total of 162 nations so far have 
signed the Framework Convention on Climate Change, which commits 
industrialized countries to the "return of emissions by the end 
of the decade to . . . 1990 levels." The study notes that 35 
signatories have ratified it; an additional 43 are expected to 
ratify it by the end of this year.



Similarly successful has been the international response to the 
Convention on Biological Diversity, whose ratifying countries 
agree to be committed to "the conservation of biological 
diversity, the sustainable use of its components and the fair and 
equitable sharing of the benefits arising out of the utilization 
of genetic resources." To date, 27 signatories have ratified the 
treaty, and 38 are expected to follow suit by the end of this 
year.



Furthermore, Agenda 21, an 800-page blueprint for "sustainable 
development" that was created through discussions at Rio, has 
been made part of national policy in 71 countries. 



"The Summit was an extraordinary undertaking representing an 
investment of what we estimate to be hundreds of millions of 
dollars," the report says. "It also raised people's hopes around 
the world. The real question is whether the promises made at the 
Earth Summit will in fact be turned into actions."



The report, on the strength of detailed, country-by-country 
analysis, concludes that "the Earth Summit represented in itself 
a broader, deeper awareness of the serious environmental and 
development challenges facing the global community."



Regarding the scientific com-munity's participation in the 
progress shown during the past year and a half, Scherr says it 
has "played an extraordinarily important role in alerting people 
of the threats to the global environment. The scientific 
community was in the forefront of efforts to make people aware of 
what we were doing to the global atmosphere, the ozone layer, and 
effects to the basic composition of the atmosphere.



"Without the scientific community, we wouldn't have been alerted 
to the problems of desertification, deforestation, and the 
degradation of the planet's biotic riches. And in the future, 
scientists will play an important role in providing people with 
both technological and sociological ways of dealing with these 
problems."



Although public and scientific response to President Bill 
Clinton's environmental policies have been mixed (R. Kaufman, The 
Scientist, July 26, 1993, page 3), the NRDC report shows the 
United States as one of the nations in the forefront of 
responding to the needs identified at Rio.



The report cites the Clinton administration's commitments to 
reducing greenhouse gases, establishing an energy tax, creating 
the National Biological Survey, and forming the Office of 
Environmental Policy and Council on Sustainable Development as 
important steps to making the environmental care an important 
issue.



"The impact of the Earth Summit on the government seems 
positive," states the report. "The concept of sustainable 
development is embraced by the highest levels of government, and 
by local authorities as well."



On the international front, four post-Rio world conferences have 
been scheduled:


* The Global Conference on Sustainable Development of Small 
Island Developing States is scheduled to be held in Barbados from 
April 25 to May 6. Based on recommendations found in Agenda 21, 
the small islands conference will focus on drafting a plan to 
help islands, with their unique size and geographic isolation, 
deal with oceanographic and atmospheric problems.


* A U.N. Conference on Straddling Fish Stocks and Highly 
Migratory Fish Stocks is slated for March and August. As was 
discussed at Rio, negotiations will take place regarding disputes 
over high seas fishing and efforts to promote sustainable 
management of fish and marine resources worldwide.


* A U.N. Conference on Population and Development in Cairo is 
scheduled for Sept. 5-13, 1994. At this meeting, discussions will 
commence on ways to deal with overpopulation at a global level.


In addition, next June in Paris, negotiations will take place 
among many countries affected by the problems of desertification 
and land degradation.



(The Scientist, Vol:7, #20, October 18, 1993)
(Copyright, The Scientist, Inc.)
  
              ================================


NEXT:



-----------------------------------------------------------------
TI   :  Bakelite In The Limelight

TY   :  NEWS (NOTEBOOK)

PG   :  4


Though possibly an event of dubious distinction to 
environmentalists and others, the American Chemical Society will 
commemorate the invention of "bakelite," the world's first 
plastic, with ACS's first National Historic Chemical Landmark 
designation on November 9. Bakelite was the invention of Leo H. 
Baekeland, a Belgian-born chemist who developed the material in 
Yonkers, N.Y., 90 years ago. ACS will mark the occasion at the 
Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History in 
Washington, D.C., where the first "bakelizer," the landmark 
device used to form bakelite and nicknamed "Old Faithful," is 
housed. Bakelite and plastic gained in popularity in the 1930s, 
when colors were introduced. Bakelite radios and even plastic 
jewelry designed by such artists as Jean Schlumberger and 
Salvador Dali had a heyday from the 1920s to 1940s. Today, 
bakelite items may be even more popular; one collector recently 
paid $10,000 for an old bakelite radio.


(The Scientist, Vol:7, #20, October 18, 1993)
(Copyright, The Scientist, Inc.)
  
              ================================


NEXT:


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TI   :  Teaching Technology


TY   : NEWS (NOTEBOOK)


PG   : 4


The National Science Board--the National Science Foundation's 
policy-making arm--will begin accepting proposals next month for 
NSF's Advanced Technological Education (ATE) program. The ATE 
effort aims to fund model projects for undergraduate and 
secondary school curriculum development, "including the design 
and implementation of new curricula, courses, laboratories, and 
instructional materials, as well as teacher and faculty 
enhancement," according to an NSF statement. As part of the 
program, NSF will help establish up to five "centers of 
excellence" to serve as national and regional models of 
technological education and clearinghouses for model curricula, 
instructional materials, and methods. The agency will award 
planning grants to establish the centers in the first year of the 
program. Two-year and four-year colleges and universities, as 
well as secondary schools and industry, will be involved in the 
program, says Robert Watson, director of NSF's division of 
undergraduate education, who will also oversee the ATE program. 
NSF expects to begin granting the ATE awards next spring. 
Information on the ATE program is available on the agency's 
Science and Technology Information System (STIS). For information 
on STIS, contact the NSF Publications System at (202) 357-7861 or 
send an E-mail message to stisinfo@nsf.gov (on internet) or 
stisinfo@nsf (on bitnet).



(The Scientist, Vol:7, #20, October 18, 1993)
(Copyright, The Scientist, Inc.)
  
              ================================


NEXT:

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TI   : Space University


TY   : NEWS (NOTEBOOK)


PG   : 4


Applications to attend the International Space University's 1994 
summer session, to be hosted by the Universitat Autonoma de 
Barcelona in Spain, are now available. The 10-week ISU summer 
program is designed for graduate-level students and young 
professionals in space-related fields. The deadline for 
applications is January 1. For information, contact the ISU 
Executive Office, 955 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge, Mass. 02139; 
(617) 354-1987. Fax: (617) 354-7666.



(The Scientist, Vol:7, #20, October 18, 1993)
(Copyright, The Scientist, Inc.)
  
              ================================


NEXT:


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TI   :    High-Tech Farming


TY   :    NEWS (NOTEBOOK)


PG   :    4


According to Purdue University agricultural scientists, farmers a 
decade from now will be pushing the outer limits of modern 
technology in pursuing a new type of agriculture known as site-
specific farming. In site-specific farming, conditions are 
measured for growing areas as small as a few feet or even inches 
square, and pesticides and fertilizers are applied accordingly--a 
technique that, its pro- ponents predict, will dramatically 
reduce chemical use and increase yields. To facilitate the 
pinpoint accuracy needed to tend crops this way, farmers will 
rely on satellites for positioning, lasers and microphones to 
measure characteristics of the soil, and computers to make sense 
of the enormous amount of data this technique will require. At 
present, the costs to conduct this sort of farming are 
prohibitive, the Purdue scientists acknowledge, but they predict 
that cost-efficient technology will catch up to the methodology 
in about 10 years. Despite its space-age accoutrements, the 
concept is not all that new, says Purdue associate professor of 
agricultural economics Howard Doster: "We're going back to what 
Squanto taught John Smith about putting a seed in a fish in a 
small hill of dirt."


(The Scientist, Vol:7, #20, October 18, 1993)
(Copyright, The Scientist, Inc.)
  
              ================================


NEXT:

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TI   :    Recognizing Cognitive Neuroscience


TY   :    NEWS (NOTEBOOK)


PG   :    4


The McDonnell-Pew Program in Cognitive Neuroscience, a joint 
effort of the James S. McDonnell Foundation and the Pew 
Charitable Trusts, is offering two sets of grants to promote the 
development of cognitive neuroscience. Research grants are 
intended to support collaborative, interdisciplinary 
investigations by cognitive neuroscientists, such as combining 
experimental data from cognitive psychology and neuroscience or 
exploring the implications of neurobiological methods for the 
study of higher cognitive processes. The goal of the training 
grant awards is "to encourage broad participation in the 
development of the field and to facilitate participation of 
investigators outside the major centers of cognitive 
neuroscience." Both awards are two-year, nonrenewable grants of 
$30,000 per year. The application deadline for both grants is 
February 1. For information, contact McDonnell-Pew Program in 
Cognitive Neuroscience, Green Hall 1-N-6, Princeton University, 
Princeton, N.J. 08544-1010; (609) 258-5014. Fax: (609) 258-3031. 
E-mail: cns@clarity.princeton.edu.



(The Scientist, Vol:7, #20, October 18, 1993)
(Copyright, The Scientist, Inc.)
  
              ================================


NEXT:


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TI   :  The Wonders Of Glycerine


TY   :  NEWS (NOTEBOOK)


PG   :  4


The Soap and Detergent Association (SDA) is calling for papers 
for the 1994 Recognition Award for Innovative Uses of Glycerine--
a substance already having more than 1,500 known uses, including 
major applications in cosmetics and toiletries, food and 
beverages, over-the-counter drugs, surface coating resins, and 
polymers.  The competition is sponsored by SDA's glycerine and 
oleochemical division to recognize innovative research, 
development, and commercial use of glycerine. The winner will 
receive a $1,000 honorarium and a commemorative plaque. 
Submission deadline is next June 1. For information, contact the 
Soap and Detergent Association, Glycerine and Oleochemical 
Division, 475 Park Ave. South, New York, N.Y. 10016; (212) 725-
1262. Fax: (212) 213-0685. 



(The Scientist, Vol:7, #20, October 18, 1993)
(Copyright, The Scientist, Inc.)
  

NEXT:


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TI   :  We, The Students, Also Have A Lot To Say About U.S. Science Education


Editor's Note: The Opinion section of the April 5, 1993, edition 
of The Scientist (page 11) carried an essay on the state of 
science education by Bill G. Aldridge, executive director of the 
National Science Teachers Association. In the essay, Aldridge 
expressed his impatience with the slow progress being made in 
improving science and math education in the United States; 
focusing primarily on secondary education, he urged scientists to 
lend their names, their expertise, and their time to the goal of 
reforming a system that, in his view, is deficient in several 
respects.


When Cesare Emiliani, a geology professor at the University of 
Miami, read Aldridge's essay, he decided to find out what his 
students--recent high school graduates--felt about the situation. 
He distributed copies of the piece, and asked whether any members 
of his honors class in geology would care to respond to The 
Scientist's article. Six of them--ranging from first-year college 
students to seniors, representing the spectrum of socioeconomic 
classes, and products of secondary schools both public and 
private, rural as well as urban--volunteered. "They went to 
work," says Emiliani. "I did not provide guidance or suggestions. 
It is the students' work."



AU   : ROBERT ANDREASEN, GREG FISK, DAVID FREILICH, JOY 
       HOLTVLUWER, GRACE KESSLER, AND TAO SEMKO


TY   : OPINION


PG   : 11


The National Science Foundation, the journals dedicated to 
education, and the public press have discussed over and over the 
problems afflicting science education and have advanced a variety 
of so-called solutions. Although innumerable articles, essays, 
and position papers have been written by the experts, the 
problems remain--and the students know it. We feel that it is 
high time that we, the objects of debate, should be heard.



We are a group of six students enrolled in the marine science 
program at the University of Miami. We come from a diverse group 
of high schools, and we wish to reflect on our secondary school 
experience from the vantage point of recent high school 
graduates. In our opinion, secondary education is where the 
problem lies, whether the symptoms manifest themselves in a lack 
of preparedness for advanced science and math education or in the 
humanities. No matter what field is being considered, the problem 
rests in verbal skills. And this simple fact is overlooked by 
even the most sensitive and well-meaning authorities in the broad 
field of education.



The ideas and opinions expressed here are not only ours, but also 
were drawn from undergraduate honors students at the University 
of Miami--from freshmen to seniors--who represent a wide range of 
geographical distribution and social types. We felt that the most 
important aspect in proposing new ideas was to assemble many 
different viewpoints so that the entire range of schools could 
benefit, from religious, private, urban schools to rural public 
schools.



Our purpose is to suggest ways to upgrade the preparedness of all 
students and ready them for the competitive college environment. 
We also hope, of course, that our first-hand experience through 
the American educational system can provide science and math 
instructors and school administrations with new ideas that will 
benefit not only the students but also the nation at large.



While our main concern is with secondary education, it is 
necessary to point out our dismay concerning the many problems 
remaining at the primary-school level, because they have been 
addressed so enthusiastically by education experts. 
Unfortunately, the applied behavioral innovations meant to 
increase the awareness of primary students have proved to be 
ineffective. Many college students today still find themselves 
having to sing their ABCs in order to alphabetize titles; while 
having been taught "new math," they nevertheless find themselves 
having to confess to their inability to simply multiply or divide 
large numbers. Grammar and syntax have been deemphasized at the 
primary level, resulting in a generation of young, bright minds 
unable to express themselves effectively, in either words or 
numbers.



Today, the ever-changing cultural aspects of society, the 
politically emphasized breakdown of "family values," and the 
general fear among people--young and old alike--of 
intellectualism have all contributed to the notion that "students 
aren't what they used to be." And the notion is valid; it is most 
prominently manifested in high school, where the intensity of 
academic, social, and biological factors all come into play at 
once. The politicians of the educational system have consistently 
agreed with this claim; but they have suggested no effective ways 
that will lead to correcting the problems.



Of course, local situations and funding levels of schools in 
different cities, counties, and states may be widely different; 
we understand that. Our aim is more general: We want to change 
established philosophies pertaining to high school structure and 
content, rather than to suggest ways to improve funding levels, 
grants, and budgets.



The most important question concerns the ways in which secondary 
school administrations and faculties can get students interested 
and enthusiastic about education and academics. Virtually all 
students that we have talked to on our University of Miami campus 
about secondary education agreed that the major problem stems 
from the fact that the lecture format of most secondary school 
classes almost entirely lacks integration with the content of 
subjects covered in different classes. This tends to quell 
potential interest or excitement that students may have felt when 
they entered secondary school. The study of English and, for 
example, the study of mathematics are never connected. In our 
opinion, this is why almost all students that we interviewed felt 
that they had graduated from high school with fundamental 
weaknesses in both English and math.



One obvious solution is to downplay the lecturing in specific 
subjects and to allow more group discussion and other forms of 
close involvement among students and teachers. Of course, before 
group discussion can be really productive, the students must have 
an essential grasp of subject matter. Can textbooks help? Yes, 
but not as they are currently published. They are both too 
concise and too complex; at the same time, they are filled with 
unnecessary details at the expense of the fundamental ideas a 
student needs to prepare himself or herself for classroom 
discussion. A new generation of expanded texts, focusing on 
fundamentals and explaining key concepts in a number of different 
ways and from different points of view, is needed. Group 
discussions, an effective way to focus on a given subject, can 
then follow naturally.



In the group discussion context, the teacher should be viewed 
more as a general leading his or her troops in a concerted effort 
toward victory--the victory being an understanding of the subject 
matter. No longer would the teacher have to be a boring lecturer 
droning on in front of a half-asleep class. If class sizes are 
too large for open discussion, the students should be divided 
into groups of five or six, each group with its own leader. Each 
leader would then present the views of his or her group in open 
classroom discussion, with the instructor moving among the groups 
as a coordinator. In this way, all students--not just the most 
outgoing--would be required to contribute.



We believe that this approach would lead not only to better 
learning but also, incidentally, to a lessening of the discipline 
problems that now beset nearly all secondary classes. The "focus 
group" approach has worked very well in American business; it 
could be applied even more effectively in our high schools, where 
the diversity of the par-ticipants' backgrounds, ideas, and 
knowledge is probably much greater than in the business world.



We feel that through group discussion, leading to greater 
communication and coordination among students and teachers, the 
fundamentals of science--physics, chemistry, geology, and 
biology--could form a core to be learned by all. But they should 
be learned along with the fundamentals of the humanities and 
social sciences--history, geography, literature, and the arts. 
Today, too many students study many subjects in many different 
classes, but they have no idea how to fit them together. They 
learn things, but they don't get an integrated education. And 
isn't this the real aim of liberal education? With our approach 
to "core" education, the students would acquire a basic 
understanding of general principles in a wide variety of 
subjects; and they would acquire an understanding of how the 
general principles all link together. And this would prepare them 
for more  advanced  and specialized studies better  than  the  
way  they are being prepared today.



Here are some of our other ideas:
* Math as well as English should be required in every single year 
of high school. Both subjects are the two basic components upon 
which the humanities and sciences rest. Also required should be 
one foreign language, computer courses, and some basic courses in 
economics or business.


* A number of electives should be available to the student, 
according to personal inclination, that will enhance his or her 
interest in the learning process. Electives may include 
specialized humanities, such as English poetry; specialized 
social sciences, such as psychology; specialized science studies, 
such as human anatomy; or others. We believe that one class per 
week should be dedicated to current events, using as a basis for 
group discussion pieces from the mass media, especially 
newspapers, instead of textbooks.



* We also need better teachers, in particular teachers who are 
expert in their disciplines and who have a broad educational 
background. These teachers should be able to lead group 
discussions cutting across the various disciplines and 
integrating what students learn in different classes. A teacher 
should not  be hired solely on the basis of a teaching 
certificate and should not be promoted solely on the basis of 
seniority.



* The expanded textbooks that we recommend for the students 
should be accompanied by expanded manuals for the teachers. Many 
rural high schools have poor or nonexistent libraries. The 
student texts and the teacher manuals should contain everything 
that might be needed to impart a truly first-class education to 
all students, including those confined to the poorest school  
districts.



* We believe that self-confidence has much to do with enthusiasm 
for secondary school academics. The core approach, personal 
selection of classes beyond the cores, and group discussions, all 
will contribute to this building of self-confidence. Self-
confidence among the students might be enhanced if the better 
students were not segregated into gifted or honors programs but 
remained part of the general student population.



These suggestions are from the students' perspective, rather than 
from that of educators who have long since lost contact with the 
classroom.



The coauthors of this essay are enrolled in science programs at 
the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Fla.


(The Scientist, Vol:7, #20, October 18, 1993)
(Copyright, The Scientist, Inc.)
  
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NEXT:


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TI   :  Legacies Of Luck: Reflections On A Scientist's Scientist


AU   : William Kaufmann


TY   : OPINION (COMMENTARY)


PG   : 12



When the news came this past August 26 that my friend and mentor 
J. Murray Luck--an emeritus professor at Stanford University and 
the founder of Annual Reviews--had died early that morning, some 
words from a short essay, "On Libraries," by the American 
novelist Wallace Stegner, came to mind. "They say that in 
Africa," Stegner wrote, "when an old man dies, it is as if a 
great library had burned... because in non-literate societies the 
whole cultural tradition must be carried in human memories. 
Literate cultures are luckier...."



Thanks to Murray Luck, we are luckier, indeed. For the enriching 
impact he had on scientific literacy during his long career as 
biochemist, teacher, author, and editor is bound to reverberate 
in laboratories, science libraries, and classrooms around the 
world for a long time to come.



Among the luckiest, of course, are the individual researchers, 
teachers, and students who will continue to be the chief 
beneficiaries of the concept of authoritative, critical reviews 
in the sciences, which he nurtured during the past 60 years into 
an immensely valuable intellectual tool in the research process. 
I think the widespread and growing use of such reviews will be 
the most enduring legacy of this versatile, widely accomplished, 
and very wise man.



In a life spanning nearly the entire 20th century, Murray Luck--
as a student of Sir Gowland Hopkins and a contemporary at 
Cambridge University of distinguished researchers such as J.B.S. 
Haldane and Joseph Needham--represented a direct link with the 
beginnings of modern biochemistry. Born in Paris, Ontario, on 
Oct. 23, 1899, he attended the University of Toronto on a 
scholarship, graduating in 1922. Another scholarship provided for 
postgraduate study in England, where he was awarded his Ph.D. in 
biochemistry at Cambridge in 1925. From 1926 to 1965 he was a 
member of Stanford's chemistry department, where, in addition to 
his research activities, he taught and inspired more than 2,500 
students.



He was the author of more than 200 publications, including 
several books on a wide range of topics, including malnutrition, 
poverty, and the history of Switzerland. His published papers 
focused primarily on biochemistry, but they also included works 
on consumer cooperatives, population and environmental issues, 
and numerous other education and science-related public policy 
subjects.



His greatest achievement took form in 1932, when he successfully 
launched the Annual Review of Biochemistry, which led to his 
founding of Annual Reviews Inc., a nonprofit enterprise devoted 
to the advancement of the sciences through regular publication of 
critical reviews and analyses of the rapidly expanding scientific 
research literature worldwide. The organization he founded now 
publishes highly cited Annual Reviews in 26 fields in the 
physical, biological, behavioral, and biomedical sciences. The 
company's eminence today is a living tribute to Murray Luck's 
unique combination of talents as scholar, teacher, and 
entrepreneur, as well as to his unswerving commitment to the 
highest ideals of intellectual quality and service.



In 1977, recognizing the growing importance of reviews to the 
progress of science, the National Academy of Sciences 
established, in Murray Luck's honor, the NAS Award for Scientific 
Reviewing. Sponsored jointly by Annual Reviews Inc. and the 
Institute for Scientific Information, the award pays tribute to 
authors who have performed significant service to science and 
their fellow research scientists in the writing of outstanding 
scientific reviews--a daunting task of selection, analysis, and 
synthesis of the research literature. Nominations for the NAS 
award are invited from scientists, editors of scientific 
publications, and others broadly acquainted with the scientific 
literature.



Murray Luck himself certainly appreciated the scientist's 
problems in dealing with the growing breadth and volume of 
scholarly publications, and he took well-earned satisfaction in 
knowing he had played a major role in helping to distill it and 
make it accessible to others around the world. On the final page 
of his "Confessions of a Biochemist," written as a prefatory 
chapter for the 50th volume of the Annual Review of Biochemistry 
(1981), he commented on his full and rewarding life as 
biochemist, professor, and publisher.



"I have greatly enjoyed almost everything in which I have 
engaged," he concluded, "and have had the lasting pleasure of 
association with many students and others in teaching, research, 
and other activities. Should one ask for more?"



William Kaufmann is editor-in-chief of Annual Reviews Inc., Palo 
Alto, Calif.


(The Scientist, Vol:7, #20, October 18, 1993)
(Copyright, The Scientist, Inc.)
  

NEXT:


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TI   : Variola Virus Sequencing


TY   : OPINION (LETTERS)


PG   : 12


The article on the war on AIDS in the June 28, 1993, issue of The 
Scientist (R. Lewis, page 1) contains a minor, but still 
significant, error. In describing AIDS vaccine strategies, the 
author incorrectly states that HIV genes are being cloned into 
the smallpox virus. The smallpox virus, variola virus, is not the 
poxvirus currently under study as a vaccine vector. The genomes 
of several strains of variola virus are being sequenced at the 
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Moscow 
Research Institute for Viral Preparations, the only two labs in 
the world that retain stocks of that deadly virus.



The sequencing is preparatory to the deliberate destruction of 
all remaining stocks of smallpox virus in December of this year. 
According to proponents of the destruction of the smallpox virus, 
knowledge of the complete genetic code of variola virus will 
answer any future scientific questions that might be raised about 
variola-like viruses. Smallpox itself was eradicated from the 
world in 1977.



The poxvirus under study as an AIDS vaccine vector is vaccinia 
virus, a largely avirulent poxvirus of obscure origins. Vaccinia 
virus is the live vaccine that provides immunity against 
smallpox.



CAROL SHEPHERD MCCLAIN
Medical Anthropology Program
Epidemiology and Biostatistics
University of California
San Francisco


(The Scientist, Vol:7, #20, October 18, 1993)
(Copyright, The Scientist, Inc.)
  

NEXT:

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TI   : Bioreactor Manufacturer

TY   : OPINION (LETTERS)


PG   : 12


Although your article on advanced lab bioreactors (F. Hoke, The 
Scientist, July 12, 1993, page 17) was excellent, our company was 
rather conspicuous by its absence. You recognized other 
commercial bioreactor manufacturers, and you very prominently 
featured the NASA rotary wall vessel (RWV), but you failed to 
mention that Synthecon Inc. manufactures and markets the 
commercial version of the RWV.



R.P. Schwarz invented this equipment in 1986 while he was a 
contractor employee of the NASA Johnson Space Center 
Biotechnology Program. His innovations have, as you correctly 
noted, been used very successfully to establish a whole new 
concept in cell culture. In recognition of his inventions, 
Schwarz was selected for the 1991 NASA-wide Inventor of the Year 
Award. Schwarz is now the chief engineer and a principal owner of 
Synthecon Inc.



Synthecon Inc. was incorporated three years ago. NASA granted 
Synthecon exclusive license to the government patents covering 
Schwarz's inventions more than two years ago.



We have manufactured and sold more than 40 complete rotary cell 
culture systems during the last year.



C.D. ANDERSON
President
Synthecon Inc.
Friendswood, Texas



(The Scientist, Vol:7, #20, October 18, 1993)
(Copyright, The Scientist, Inc.)
  
              ================================


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-----------------------------------------------------------------
TI   : Animals In Research


TY   : OPINION (LETTERS)


PG   : 12


Charles  S. Nicoll inaccurately claims that the Medical  Research 
Modernization  Committee  (MRMC)  is  an  "antivivisection/animal 
rights organization" (Letters, The Scientist, July 12, 1993, page 
12). MRMC has, on many occasions, stated unequivocally that it is 
not categorically against all animal experimentation and that  it 
has  no stance on the moral status of animals. MRMC's  objections 
to animal research have been based on historical, scientific, and 
epistemological analyses.


Unfortunately,  MRMC's views, held by a large and growing  number 
of  scientists  and  clinicians, are rarely  represented  in  the 
mainstream scientific literature. This permits misrepresentation.


Interested  readers may contact MRMC at P.O. Box 2751, New  York, 
N.Y. 10163.



STEPHEN R. KAUFMAN
Medical Research
Modernization Committee
New York



WHERE TO WRITE:
Letters to the Editor
The Scientist
3501 Market Street
Philadelphia,  PA 19104
Fax:(215)387-7542
E-mail:
Bitnet: garfield@aurora.cis.upenn.edu
71764.2561@compuserve.com


              =====================================

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TI   :  AIDS Research: Which Institutions Are Most Productive And 
        Influential?

                       ---------
Editor's Note: Until the late 1980s, significant production of 
research papers on AIDS--in terms of both volume and impact--was 
achieved almost exclusively by public-sector research 
institutions, such as the National Institutes of Health, and 
various universities and private institutes around the world. 
During the past five years, however, corporate laboratories in 
the United States and elsewhere have emerged dramatically in this 
field of investigation, as well. In fact, according to the 
newsletter Science Watch, publication and citation data covering 
the years 1988-92 places several commercial firms within the top 
25 for AIDS-related publications, either in the total number of 
papers they produced during that period or in the number of times 
their papers were subsequently cited in reports by other 
researchers. Data from the Philadelphia-based Institute for 
Scientific Information (ISI), which publishes Science Watch, 
reveal, for example, that only 14 institutions produced more AIDS 
papers during those years than did the British pharmaceutical 
giant Wellcome Plc; and in terms of citation impact, the 
California biotech firm Genentech Inc. actually placed No. 1.



Following is Science Watch's report on its analysis of 1988-92 
AIDS papers. Originally published in the newsletter's May 1993 
issue (4[5]:1-2), it is presented here with the permission of 
Science Watch and ISI.

                             -------


TY   : RESEARCH


PG   : 14



Science Watch focuses here on relatively recent AIDS-related 
research papers. Early on in the epidemic, during the years 1981-
85, the field was dominated by a handful of investigators and 
institutions and a cluster of discovery accounts. Naturally, the 
past shapes current perceptions strongly, so Science Watch 
eliminated the past, as it were, and looked at only those papers 
published from 1988 through 1992, as well as how often they were 
cited by the end of 1992. As much as possible, Science Watch 
wanted to see AIDS research as it now is, instead of what it once 
was.



To identify AIDS-related papers, a profile of 30 specific terms 
and eight dedicated AIDS journals was constructed and run against 
the Institute for Scientific Information's Science Indicators 
Database. In all, some 24,515 papers were identified, which 
collected a total of 161,961 citations by the end of 1992, for a 
citations-per-paper average of 6.61. These papers were then 
distributed by institutional origins, as listed in the author 
addresses on the papers.



The accompanying table lists the top 25 institutions in AIDS 
research, 1988-92, according to total citations (a measure of 
gross influence to some degree reflecting output) and by 
citations per paper (a weighted measure known as citation 
impact). Only institutions that published at least 50 papers 
indexed by ISI over these five years were ranked.



All the institutions listed on the impact side of the ledger 
achieved at least twice the average citations-per-paper score of 
the entire AIDS paper set. Seventeen institutions appear in both 
columns, with the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious 
Diseases, headed by Anthony S. Fauci, perhaps exhibiting the most 
impressive performance--fourth in total citations and fifth in 
citation impact.



Also notable in the ranking of institutions investigating AIDS 
research during the 1988-92 period is the presence of several 
industrial entities: Genentech Inc. (South San Francisco, 
Calif.); Abbott Laboratories (North Chicago, Ill.): Merck, Sharp 
& Dohme (West Point, Pa.); and Wellcome Plc (London).



In a similar ranking for the years 1981-92, no biotechnology or 
pharmaceutical firm appears in rankings of the top 25, by papers, 
by citations, or by citations per paper.



The private sector has, in recent years, been taking a greater 
and greater leadership role in AIDS research. 



Genentech, which has appeared highly ranked in other Science 
Watch surveys, tops the citations-per-paper ranking. During this 
brief period, Genentech fielded seven AIDS-related papers, most 
on CD4 cell depletion and the HIV envelope gene and protein, 
which collected 100 citations or more by the end of 1992. Only 
0.5 percent of all papers tracked by ISI ever achieve that level 
of recognition--and that is over their entire lifetime, not just 
in the space of a few years! The four most cited Genentech papers 
appear on page 14.



(The Scientist, Vol:7, #20, October 18, 1993)
(Copyright, The Scientist, Inc.)
  
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                                                                                                --
-----------------------------------------------------------------
TI   :                        AIDS RESEARCH


TY   :  RESEARCH


PG   : 14


INSTITUTION              NUMBER OF      RANK    INSTITUTION     CITATIONS       
                         CITATIONS                              PER PAPER

National Cancer Institut    15,384        1     Genentech       28.62
University of California,

San Francisco Cancer Center 11,789        2     Dana Farber     22.90
                                                Cancer Center   

Harvard University          11,785        3     Georgetown      22.63
                                                University

National Institute for
Allergy and Infectious
Diseases                    11,288        4     Duke University  22.54


Centers for Disease Control  8,124        5     National Institute 21.54
                                                for Allergy and 
                                                Infectious Diseases     
University of California,
Los Angeles                  6,218        6     Institute for Cancer 
                                                 Research (London)      20.48


Duke University              5,386        7     Massachusetts General   20.13
                                                Hospital        


Veterans Administration      4,665        8     Abbott Labs             19.42

Johns Hopkins University     4,176        9     Merck, Sharp & Dohme    18.53


Dana Farber Cancer Center     4,167      10     National Institute      18.42 
                                                of Dental Research      


Institut Pasteur              3,230     11      National Institute of   17.63
                                        Neurological Disorders and Stroke


University of California,    3,112      12      Montefiore Medical Center 17.59
San Diego


San Francisco General        3,111      13      Harvard University      17.13
Hospital


New York University       2,961         14      Centers for Disease    17.00
                                                  Control

Wellcome                  2,913         15      Wellcome              16.46


Columbia University       2,854         16      San Francisco         16.29
                                                General Hospital

University of Miami       2,801         17      National Cancer       15.51
                                                Institute

University of Amsterdam   2,660         18      University of Ca.,    14.89
                                                San Francisco

University of Ca.,Davis   2,585         19      Univ. of Ca.,        14.84
                                                  Los Angeles   

Massachusetts General     2,556         20      Scripps Clinic      14.78
Hospital                                     & Research Foundation      


University of Washington  2,442         21      George Washington    14.51
                                                University


Karolinska Institute      2,240        22       University of Ca.   13.82
                                                 Davis

Genentech                 2,232        23       University of Miami  13.53


Georgetown University     2,218        24       University of 
                                                Ca., San Diego      13.41


Abbott Labs               2,156         25      University of       12.97
                                                 Rochester




(The Scientist, Vol:7, #20, October 18, 1993)
(Copyright, The Scientist, Inc.)
  
              ================================

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TI   :  GENENTECH'S MOST CITED AIDS PAPERS, 1988-92


TY   : RESEARCH


PG   : 14


RANK                    PAPER                          CITATIONS

1       R.F. Siliciano, T. Lawson, C. Knall,                205
        R.W. Karr, P. Berman, T. Gregory, E.L. Reinberz, 
       "Analysis of host virus interactions in AIDS with        
       anti-gp120 T-cell clones: Effect of HIV sequence 
       variation and a mechanism for CD4+ cell depletion," 
       Cell, 54:561-75, 1988.


2       R.L. Willey, D.H. Smith, L.A. Lasky, T.S. Theodore,  201
        P.L. Earl, B. Moss,D.J. Capon, M.A. Martin, "In 
        vitro mutagenesis identifies a region within the 
        envelope gene of the human immunodeficiency virus 
        that is critical for infectivity," Journal of Virology, 
        62:139-47, 1988.


3       D.J. Capon, S.M. Chamow, J. Mordenti, T. Gregory, 
        H. Mitsuya, R.A. Byrn,  C. Lucas, F.M. Furm, J.E.     190
        Groopman, S. Broder, D.H. Smith, "Designing CD4 
        immunoadhesions for AIDS therapy," Nature, 357:
        525-31, 1989.


4       P.W. Berman, T.J. Gregory, L. Riddle,                 154
        G.R. Nakamura, M.A. Champe, J.P. Porter, F.M. Furm, 
        R.D. Hershberg, E.K. Cobb, J.W. Eichberg, "Protection 
        of chimpanzees from infection by HIV-1 after vaccination 
        with recombinant glycoprotein gp120 but not gp150," 
        Nature, 345:622-5, 1990.

Source: Science Watch / Institute for Scientific Information



(The Scientist, Vol:7, #20, October 18, 1993)
(Copyright, The Scientist, Inc.)
  
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 NEXT:

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TI   :  MOLECULAR BIOLOGY


TY   : RESEARCH (HOT PAPERS)


PG   : 15


A.  Strasser, A.W. Harris, S. Cory, "bcl-2  transgene  expression 
inhibits T cell death and perturbs thymic self-censorship," Cell, 
67:889-99, 1991.



Andreas Strasser (Molecular Biology Unit, Walter and Eliza Hall 
Institute of Medical Research, Melbourne, Australia): 
"Physiological cell death plays a crucial role in the generation 
and function of an effective immune system. The vast majority 
(more than 95 percent) of immature T lymphocytes developing in 
the thymus are short-lived and die in situ, whereas most mature 
peripheral T cells have a long life span.



"There are three reasons for this. Developing T cells rearrange 
their antigen receptor genes by a random recombination mechanism, 
express the protein products on the surface, and are then 
selected on the basis of their binding specificity. Only those 
thymocytes expressing a T cell receptor (TCR) that binds to self-
major histocompatibility complex (MHC) molecules are positively 
selected for survival and further differentiation. Thymocytes 
with nonpro- ductive TCR gene rearrangements and those bearing a 
TCR that cannot bind to self-MHC molecules die because they 
failed to receive a positive signal. On the other hand, 
thymocytes expressing TCRs that bind with high affinity to self-
antigens presented by self-MHC molecules are actively deleted to 
prevent the development of autoimmunity.



"In these three circumstances, thymocytes are thought to undergo 
apoptosis. This death process can also be induced in thymocytes 
by a variety of experimentally applied stress stimuli, which are 
believed to mimic signals involved in physiological cell death.



"The protein encoded by the oncogene bcl-2 is the only known 
inhibitor of apoptosis in mammalian cells (D.L. Vaux, et al., 
Nature, 335:440-2, 1988). Work in our laboratory and Stanley 
Korsmeyer's group (published in the same issue of Cell: C.L. 
Sentman, et al., Cell, 67:879-88, 1991) and in Mark Greene's 
group (R.M. Siegel, et al., Proceedings of the National Academy 
of Sciences, 89:7003-7, 1992) has now demonstrated that 
constitutive bcl-2 transgene expression in T lymphoid cells 
markedly inhibits cell death induced by cytokine deprivation or 
by a variety of cytotoxic agents (for example, corticosteroids, 
g-irradiation, calcium ionophores, and phorbol ester). 
Interestingly, however, deletion of autoreactive thymocytes is 
only delayed, but not abrogated, in bcl-2 transgenic mice.



"We believe that these data provoked interest for two reasons. 
First, the finding that bcl-2 inhibits g-irradiation and 
corticosteroid-induced death implicates this oncogene in a novel 
mechanism of cancer therapy resistance and offers a plausible 
explanation why hemopoietic tumors with high levels of Bcl-2 
cannot be completely eradicated. This also suggests that the 
predominant role of the oncogene bcl-2 in neoplastic 
transformation is to promote extended cell survival, even during 
anti-cancer therapy, thereby facilitating the accumulation of 
further genetic alterations.



"Bcl-2 protein is normally undetectable in immature cortical 
thymocytes, which are subject to immunological selection but 
strongly expressed in mature T cells (F. Pezzella, et al., 
American Journal of Pathology, 137:225-32, 1990; D.M. Hockenbery, 
et al., PNAS, 88:6961-5, 1991). Thus, the second implication of 
these bcl-2 transgenic mouse studies is that bcl-2 synthesis 
might normally be induced as a result of antigen receptor 
engagement during positive selection.



"The finding that bcl-2 transgene expression does not abrogate 
the deletion of autoreactive thymocytes demonstrates that at 
least two separate apoptosis-inducing pathways must operate 
during T cell development. We believe that similar mechanisms of 
selection operate during B lymphopoiesis and probably also during 
the development of cells of other lineages.



"We believe that the genetic approach, combining bcl-2 transgenes 
with antigen receptor transgenes or mutant alleles that affect 
lymphocyte survival, will soon uncover the regulatory networks of 
cell death and survival."



(The Scientist, Vol:7, #20, October 18, 1993)
(Copyright, The Scientist, Inc.)
  
              ================================


NEXT:


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TI   : CELL BIOLOGY


TY   : RESEARCH (HOT PAPERS)


PG   : 15


W. J. Tang, A.G. Gilman, "Type-specific regulation of adenylyl 
cyclase by G protein bg subunits," Science, 254:1500-3, 1991.



Alfred G. Gilman (Department of Pharmacology, University of Texas 
Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas): "The GTP-induced 
dissociation of the subunits of heterotrimeric G proteins 
releases two potential downstream regulators--a and bg. However, 
early studies of activation of adenylyl cyclase and retinal 
cyclic GMP phosphodiesterase by G proteins indicated that the a 
subunits were responsible. Thus, it was not surprising when J. 
Codina and associates (Science, 236:442, 1987) demonstrated 
activation of K+ channels by the a subunit of Gi, but it was 
considered heretical by some when D.E. Logothetis and colleagues 
(Nature, 325:321, 1987) described a similar effect of bg. The 
role of bg was highlighted again when genetic experiments in 
yeast indicated that bg, rather than a, mediated downstream 
signaling initiated by activation of the mating factor receptor. 
But it was not smooth sailing for bg. The significance of the 
effect of bg on K+ channels was denied by some, and the 
measurement is too specialized to be made by many. The 
biochemistry of the response to mating factor in yeast has yet to 
be clarified, and for some, seeing is believing.



"Cloning of cDNAs encoding adenylyl cyclases led to appreciation 
of multiple forms of the enzyme and reassessment of the role of 
bg. Our work demonstrated that two (largely brain-specific) forms 
of adenylyl cyclase are in fact regulated by bg. The type-I 
enzyme is inhibited, while, most surprisingly, the type-II enzyme 
is activated dramatically by bg, but only when the conventional 
activator, Gsa, is also present. The characteristics of the 
response suggest that the two regulators, Gsa and bg, arise from 
different receptor-activated pathways. This model provides an 
attractive mechanism for crosstalk between pathways, with 
adenylyl cyclase as the sensor of their simultaneous activation.



"The particular significance of the paper is thus twofold. It 
demonstrates novel and unsuspected regulation of adenylyl 
cyclase, and it seems to have squashed some of the bg 
controversy. The effect is obvious and easily reproducible. 
Effects of bg are now being found in many systems, including 
activation of isoforms of phospholipase C and regulation of 
receptor kinases. There are surely more to come."



(The Scientist, Vol:7, #20, October 18, 1993)
(Copyright, The Scientist, Inc.)
  
              ================================


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TI   : Research-Scale Perfusion Systems Aid Neuroscience Studies


AU   : FRANKLIN HOKE


TY   : TOOLS & TECHNOLOGY


PG   : 18


For many neuroscientists, the ability to accurately monitor the 
substances passing into and out of a cell is central to their 
studies. Investigators in such areas as ion channel function and 
neurotransmitter release, for example, depend on being able to 
perfuse the cell--specifically, the cell membrane--with selected 
substances in measured concentrations and then to record 
precisely the cell's biochemical or electrical responses. Often, 
simultaneous adjustment of other aspects of the cell's 
environment--of the temperature, pH, and oxygen levels, for 
example--is also required.



Just a few years ago, in order to control these parameters, 
researchers were forced to build customized devices with pumps, 
tubing, controllers, and sensors from different manufacturers. 
Many laboratories still do this, as their experimental needs 
dictate. But now, a number of commercial systems also are 
available to help manage this task. Each supports certain types 
of research protocols, and yet provides enough flexibility to be 
useful in many different neuroscience laboratories.



In many ways, what these systems share is an emphasis on membrane 
biology and its broad importance in understanding cell signaling, 
cell secretions, and other cellular actions. And the success of 
therapeutic interventions--with pharmaceuticals, for example--
when cellular mechanisms go wrong may be tied to this 
understanding.



"If you want to control what goes in and out of a building, you 
don't go searching through the building," explains Robert S. 
Eisenberg, an electrophysiologist and chairman of the department 
of physiology at Rush Medical College in Chicago. "What you do is 
you sit at the entrance. And cells are just like that. Cells have 
a membrane, and everything's got to cross it, so it's a natural 
place to control what goes on in cells."



Commonly, data from cell or tissue perfusion studies are 
collected through scintillation counts of radioactively tagged 
molecules released by the cells or through electrical recordings 
of ion channel activity in the cell membrane. Ion channels are 
protein structures in cell membranes that form passages to 
release neurotransmitters, for example, when opened by 
biochemical triggers. Traditionally, microelectrodes are used in 
electrical recording of this activity. Today, however, a 
technique called patch clamp recording is widely preferred 
because of its great precision.



Patch clamp recording was developed by two German scientists, 
Erwin Neher and Bert Sakmann, and it led to their sharing the 
1991 Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine for their discoveries 
concerning the function of single ion channels in cells. Unlike 
previous methods, patch clamping allows researchers to completely 
isolate ion channels for study. 



"These channels are very important clinically and biologically," 
says Eisenberg. "They are responsible for all signaling in the 
nervous system. They're responsible for the coordination of all 
muscle contraction, for example, including cardiac."



Like all good ideas, Eisenberg says, the technique is simple 
enough in concept.



"Patch clamp consists of taking a glass pipette, filling it with 
salt solution so it carries electricity, pushing it up against 
the cell, and creating suction in the pipette so that the 
membrane sticks to the pipette," he says.



"Anything that crosses the membrane then has to go into the 
pipette--there's nowhere else it can go--and it can then get 
picked up electronically or chemically in the lumen of the 
pipette."



What the commercially available perfusion systems offer 
researchers, overall, is the ability to effectively control the 
parameters of their investigations without having to design and 
construct their own experimental apparatus. The systems often 
also have greater reagent capacity than the prototype systems 
that might be developed by researchers in-house.



"It would be very difficult to do these types of experiments 
without this setup," says Dave Snyder, a pharmacology instructor 
at the Medical College of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. Snyder is 
studying neurotransmission in the heart using a BRANDEL 
Superfusion 1200 System from BRANDEL Inc. of Gaithersburg, Md. "A 
number of laboratories use their own homemade systems, but it's 
tough then to get the proper regulation and to get more than just 
a couple of [sample] chambers made."



Collecting Fractions
Snyder's studies involve measuring the release of radioactive 
norepinephrine, a neurotransmitter, from cardiac synaptosomes, or 
nerve terminals, taken from rats.



"We're interested in the quality of life as you age," says 
Snyder. "Part of that is maintaining good cardiac function, and 
norepinephrine release controls the contraction of the heart, the 
force of contraction, and your ability to respond to stress."



To assess release rates of the neurotransmitter, the researchers 
first prepare a pellet of purified nerve terminals tagged with 
radioactive norepinephrine. They then place small amounts of the 
tagged protein in the 12 chambers of the BRANDEL system. (The 
company also makes systems with six, 18, and 20 chambers.) The 
system washes the sample to remove any of the norepinephrine not 
bound by the terminals and then adds measured potassium pulses to 
the media from multiple reagent reservoirs to stimulate the nerve 
terminals to release the tagged neurotransmitter. Vials then 
collect five-minute effluent fractions for scintillation counts.



"We use young rats and senescent rats," Snyder says, "and we've 
found a reduction in norepinephrine release in the older rats. 
Now, we're exploring the mechanisms behind that difference."



Snyder says the multichannel, multichamber system allows him to 
run, in essence, 12 different experiments at the same time, 
because each parameter can be controlled independently.



"One of the things we can do with the system is perfuse the 
synaptosomes with different drugs," he says, "things that should 
stimulate or inhibit release. And then we can measure the 
response of the young and the old nerve terminals to those 
drugs."



As a result of the system's flexibility and reliable control, it 
is relatively easy to replicate experimental conditions. This, 
too, is an important feature of the system, Snyder says.



"We have it all timed and regulated so that the drugs that we're 
perfusing arrive in each chamber at the same time," he says. 
"Each chamber is nearly identical in terms of the stimulation. 
Also, from experiment to experiment, and day to day, variation 
isn't quite as large as it might be."



Sure control also means that the chances are greater that an 
experiment will run correctly the first time it is tried. In some 
labs, this can mean substantial savings in both time and money.



"Some of the samples researchers put in the chambers are worth 
thousands of dollars," says Brian Diaz, a BRANDEL representative. 
"Brain tissue, especially, is very expensive. That's why it has 
to be right the first time--if it's not, thousands of dollars can 
be lost."



C. William Balke is a physiologist doing controlled perfusion of 
isolated cardiac cells for patch clamp experiments and 
fluorescent recordings. Balke, who has joint appointments at the 
University of Maryland, Baltimore, and Johns Hopkins University 
in the same city, uses the Open Perfusion Micro-Incubation System 
marketed by Medical Systems Corp. of Greenvale, N.Y. (The company 
also markets two other related systems, the Brain Slice Chamber 
System and the Leiden Closed Perfusion Chamber.)



The microincubator is open at the top, Balke says, allowing 
access to the perfused cells with microelectrodes. It also has 
extremely precise temperature control, he says, and is capable of 
heating and cooling, where most systems are capable only of 
heating.



But, because of the extreme electrical sensitivity of the patch 
clamp technique he uses, Balke also stresses the value of another 
feature of the system.



"The electrical control of the system does not interject noise," 
Balke says,  "which  is  very,  very  important, because we 
measure currents on the picoampere scale. Excessive noise would 
make the system unusable."



As useful as the system has been, Balke does hope for a 
particular improvement in the next generation of the 
microincubator.



"We would like to see some attention paid to laminar flow in the 
bath," he says. "We have fluid coming in at one point and then 
exiting at the rear. There's a great deal of turbulence, and when 
we're perfusing cells or groups of cells with different 
chemicals, we don't know precisely when the cells see the new 
conditions. And if we had laminar flow, we would know exactly."



Patch Clamp Advances
Rush Medical's Eisenberg, with colleagues, has developed a 
variation on the patch clamp technique that involves highly 
controlled perfusion of the cell membrane through the pipette 
itself. The commercial version of the system is called the DAD-12 
Superfusion System by its manufacturer, Adams & List Associates 
Ltd. of Westbury, N.Y. Company vice president Andrew Pomerantz 
says the firm expects to be shipping the new product before the 
Society for Neuroscience meets in Washington, D.C., in early 
November. (Another perfusion-studies system also sold by the 
company is the 2PK+ Pipette and Whole-Cell Perfusion Kit.)



The DAD-12 system provides a method for changing the chemical 
contents of a pipette without breaking the electrically insulated 
seal at the cell. This specialized perfusion tactic involves 
introducing small capillaries into a positioned pipette.



Capable of computer-controlled delivery of up to 12 substances to 
a cell through the capillaries, the DAD-12 system also provides a 
13th capillary to remove substances from the pipette to prevent 
contamination. The system allows very precise application of 
substances to the cell membrane, Eisenberg says. And such 
precision is crucial to the outcome of patch clamp experiments.



"Control over the material inside the pipette is a first-order 
issue," Eisenberg says. "It is essential. Unless you can control 
the stuff in the pipette, you don't have control over the 
protein, making it very hard to study. And, of course, the name 
of the game is to study the molecule and not the apparatus."



(The Scientist, Vol:7, #20, October 18, 1993)
(Copyright, The Scientist, Inc.)
  
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TI   : SUPPLIERS OF SYSTEMS AND EQUIPMENT FOR PERFUSION STUDIES

TY   : TOOLS & TECHNOLOGY

PG   : 19



The following companies are among those manufacturing and 
distributing research-scale systems or equipment used in 
neurotransmitter release and other perfusion studies.


Adams & List Associates
1100 Shames Dr.
Westbury, N.Y. 11590
(516) 997-5780
Fax: (516) 997-0528


Products: DAD-12 Superfusion System, 2PK+ Pipette and Whole-Cell 
Perfusion Kit



BRANDEL Inc.
8561 Atlas Dr.
Gaithersburg, Md. 20877
(301) 948-6506
Fax: (301) 869-5570


Products: BRANDEL Superfusion 600, 1200, 1800, and 2000 Systems




Medical Systems Corp.
One Plaza Rd.
Greenvale, N.Y. 11548
(516) 621-9190
Fax: (516) 621-8503


Products: Open Perfusion Micro-Incubation System, Brain Slice 
Chamber System, Leiden Closed Perfusion Chamber



(The Scientist, Vol:7, #20, October 18, 1993)
(Copyright, The Scientist, Inc.)
  
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TI   : Experts Advise Job-Seekers: Try A Variety Of Techniques


AU   : ROBERT FINN

TY   : PROFESSION


PG   : 20


Continuing  economic problems throughout the United  States  have 
severely  curtailed job openings for scientists. These days  it's 
not  at all unusual for an open faculty position to  attract  600 
resume, or for a young researcher to apply for 100 jobs.



Unless  you're  a highly sought-after superstar,  looking  for  a 
permanent position in science--whether in academia, industry,  or 
government--is  apt to be a painful,  anxiety-provoking  process. 
But  there's no shortage of good advice on how to make  your  job 
search more productive. 



Unfortunately, however, the consensus of experts is that  there's 
no  magic  system likely to work for everyone.  Sally  Asmundsen, 
director  of  the  California Institute  of  Technology's  Career 
Development  Center,  asked 23 graduating Caltech  Ph.D.'s  about 
their  job searches in 1991 (E.R. Silverman, The Scientist,  June 
8,  1992, page 22). "We were hoping to come up with  some  fairly 
concrete  guidelines  for future Ph.D.'s, [but] what  worked  for 
each  person ended up slightly different," says  Asmundsen.  "The 
message  is  that--particularly for people looking  for  academic 
positions--people  need to do a variety of things. They  need  to 
find out about jobs from every possible resource."



According  to Asmundsen, there are few differences between a  job 
search in science and one in other professions--except,  perhaps, 
"that  the scientific community is more conservative about  one's 
approach."  Because  the similarities outweigh  the  differences, 
Asmundsen  recommends  that a scientist beginning  a  job  search 
consult some of the same resource materials as anyone else.



Prime among these is the popular job-hunter's guide What Color Is 
Your   Parachute?  by  Richard  Bolles,  published  annually   by 
Berkeley,  Calif.-based  Ten Speed Press and  available  in  most 
bookstores. A main message of the book is that you have to have a 
clear  idea of what you're looking for before you start  looking. 
This  message  is  echoed by Edward Aboufadel, who  was  a  young 
mathematician  finishing  a Ph.D. at Rutgers University  when  he 
chronicled  his  own job hunt in a recent series of  articles  in 
Focus,  the newsletter of the Mathematics Association of  America 
(12:14-16, October 1992; 12:18-21, December 1992; 13:13-16, April 
1993; 13:18-20, June 1993). "Before you even start the  process," 
he  advises, "you have to ask yourself, `Where do I want  to  end 
up, really? Do I want to be a researcher at a place like Rutgers? 
How  important  is  teaching to me?' And once  you  decide  that, 
that'll help you decide which places to apply for."




The Mentor
Most  scientists begin their job searches by looking for  ads  in 
the most popular trade newspapers and journals. Above and  beyond 
this,  however, the active support of one's mentor  often  proves 
critical  in opening doors. Marvin Miller, an organic chemist  at 
the  University of Notre Dame, has helped dozens of his  students 
find jobs in industry, academia, and government. "Anyone who  has 
students  who are working hard for them should work hard for  the 
students in return," says Miller. "Over the years I've  generated 
a master list--I call it my `jobs list'--of contacts I've made. I 
encourage  my students to write to select people on that list.  I 
may  or may not know that there's an opening, but I ask  them  to 
write, anyway. Sometimes you get in before the job is advertised, 
so you're on the top of the pile."



That's  what  worked  for Bill Gawne, who  was  in  the  graduate 
astronomy  program  at the University of Oklahoma  (OU)  when  he 
decided  he'd  have to find a permanent position to  support  his 
family. It was the fall of 1990, and there were indications  that 
the Baltimore-based Space Telescope Science Institute (STSI)  was 
going to need to hire a number of science operations  specialists 
very quickly. "We did kind of an end run," said Gawne. "We  faxed 
a rsum, and some of the profs at OU made some phone calls to some 
of  the people they knew. Some of the people at STSI had been  at 
OU and knew the program there. And they also personally knew  the 
people  who were recommending me. After that, things moved  quite 
quickly.  In  a matter of slightly over a month, I  was  able  to 
start working."




The Application Package
It is unusual for a job search to proceed so informally and  with 
such speed. More often, job hunters will find themselves  putting 
together   many  formal  application  packages.  Says   Caltech's 
Asmundsen: "We recommend that, in addition to a cover letter  and 
a resume, the application package include a complete  bibliography; 
a statement that includes both a summary of current research  and 
future  research ideas targeted to the position; a complete  list 
of references, including name, title, phone number, and  address; 
and  then, depending on the institution, a one-page  document  on 
teaching interests."



According  to Notre Dame's Miller, the research summary  is  key. 
"It  should  be  very short and to the  point,"  he  says.  "It's 
supposed  to be an eye-catcher." He recommends that his  students 
base  their  summaries  on structural diagrams  of  the  chemical 
problems  they're  investigating. "If a chemist  is  reading  it, 
that's something that catches his eye, because we all really love 
chemistry.  The more they can get from one glance,  the  better--
they're going to be screening many applications."



Miller's  activism  as a mentor doesn't end with keeping  up  his 
contacts  and  helping  his  students  craft  their   application 
packages. Several days after these have been sent out, he follows 
up  with letters to the people doing the hiring. "It's sort of  a 
double-whammy  effect,"  he says. "At least their files  have  to 
come to the top of the pile twice within a week or so, and  maybe 
catch  someone's eye. I try to write pretty honest  letters.  Not 
everybody  is  the best thing since sliced bread, so  we  try  to 
emphasize  strengths, but talk about weaknesses and how they  may 
be overcome." 



Once  the  applications have been submitted, the  most  difficult 
part of the process--the waiting--begins. Aboufadel began sending 
out  the  first of several dozen applications  in  October  1991. 
"Around  January or so I started getting anxious, because I  just 
hadn't  heard anything, or everything I heard was bad, so I  just 
started  sending more out," he says. He ended up applying for  90 
different positions. "The job I did get [at Southern  Connecticut 
State University in New Haven] was one of the early  applications 
I sent out. It just took them a long time to go through them."



The Interview
During  this  period, Aboufadel went to Baltimore to  attend  the 
Joint  Mathematics Meeting, a combined gathering of the  American 
Mathematical  Society, the Mathematical Association  of  America, 
and the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics. Like many 
scientific  conventions,  the  joint meeting  has  an  employment 
registry  that matches recruiters with job candidates  for  brief 
interviews. "When I first left Baltimore I was very excited,"  he 
recalls.  "I  thought the interviews went well. But,  as  nothing 
came of them, it began to sink in that this isn't going to be  as 
easy as I would like it to be."



Aboufadel says that, for him, the meeting's job fair was not an 
ideal way to seek employment: "The way it's set up doesn't match 
people up well enough. Another big problem is that most of the 
schools that interview there tend to be the smaller, teaching-
oriented schools." Of the bigger research universities, he says, 
"people tell me they don't need to go to the registry because 
they get enough applications."



But those who run scientific society placement clearinghouses say 
that many candidates do find jobs through such services. 
Jacquelyn Roberts, who manages the American Association for the 
Advancement of Science's four-year-old Employment Exchange, 
maintains that the program is so successful that AAAS plans to 
expand it to a year-round service that's not restricted to the 
annual meetings.



Roberts says that for the Employment Exchange to be productive, 
candidates need to be very specific about the kinds of jobs they 
want, and they must prepare themselves for being interviewed. To 
enhance candidates' job-hunting skills, AAAS has begun offering 
career-development seminars at meetings in addition to the 
traditional interview matchups. According to Roberts, "At the 
meeting in San Francisco [Feb. 18-23, 1994], we'll offer a series 
of seminars under two different topics: `Alternative Career 
Paths: Science as the Basis for Non-Scientific Careers' and 
`Capitalizing on One's Abilities: Moving Up the Scientific 
Ladder.' "



A unique aspect of interviewing for a scientific position is that 
most candidates are expected to deliver a seminar. Steven 
Barwick, a particle astrophysicist at the University of 
California, Irvine, recalls that when he was applying for 
positions in the summer of 1989, he prepared his seminar by 
starting with the short talk he'd been giving at conferences and 
expanding it to include more historical and background material. 
"I think what they're looking for is to find out if you can speak 
well: Can you defend your arguments in front of an audience of 
your peers?" he says. "I think they're trying to see if you can 
bring in research contracts, and part of that skill is being able 
to argue effectively that your research is interesting and 
important enough to support."



On the other hand, when Aboufadel interviewed at Southern 
Connecticut State, he got the impression that he was being 
evaluated more for his teaching ability than for his research 
interests. During his formal interview by the hiring committee, 
he recalls, almost all the questions focused on his teaching 
style: How did he distribute grades? Was he willing to fail 
students who deserved it?  



The interview is also the candidate's opportunity to ask 
questions. Says Aboufadel: "I think it's really helpful for you 
as an applicant to have questions about the institution. For 
instance, you want to know whether or not computers are being 
introduced into teaching. You want to know what kind of computing 
facilities you're going to have. You want to know something about 
the library.



"The people interviewing you are very interested in telling you 
about themselves, which surprised me at first. And I think it's 
helpful to have these questions ready, because it demonstrates 
your interest. When I came here for the interview I had two pages 
of questions."




Employment Sectors
Of course, not all scientific positions are in research 
universities or teaching institutions. Many scientists work in 
private industry or for government agencies, and looking for a 
job in these sectors requires some adjustments. Employers in 
industry and government tend to be much less interested in a 
candidate's teaching experience, and applicants may want to de-
emphasize their teaching abilities in resumes and cover letters. 
Notre Dame's Miller says that when employers from industry call 
him to inquire about his students, they routinely ask the same 
questions: "First, are they real good scientists? Are they going 
to be able to do science but also do it in an interactive way? 
The second question is, what are their communications skills? The 
third question is always, can I see them as a potential manager 
in X number of years?"



Many government agencies have highly bureaucratic hiring 
procedures, and failure to cross every t and dot every i can 
easily doom an application. And many government jobs require 
elaborate qualifying examinations. Ted Smith, a senior geologist 
at the California Division of Mines and Geology, notes that in 
that state agency there are no fewer than 25 different job 
classifications for geologists (such as "associate geologist," 
"senior oil and gas engineer," and "land and water use analyst"), 
each of which has a separate qualifying exam.



Some of these exams are given only once every four years, but the 
exact dates are announced only 30 days in advance, and the burden 
is on the candidate to keep up with the exam schedule.



Although the test's schedule is very rigid, preparing for such an 
exam is fairly straightforward. "The No. 1 thing is to look at 
the exam announcement," which lists the requirements for the 
position, says Smith. "Become familiar with anything that's on 
there. If it's a supervisory-level position, it'll say things 
like `knowledge of our department's affirmative action program.' 
There the applicant needs to contact the department and get a 
copy of that plan. A lot of them don't bother to do that."



But whether you're looking for a job in industry, government, or 
academia, you should be prepared for a prolonged search. Says UC-
Irvine's Barwick, "I quickly scanned through the number of pages 
devoted to jobs in Physics Today, and it's down by half over what 
it was when I was looking four years ago."



Robert Finn is a freelance science writer based in Pasadena, 
Calif.


(The Scientist, Vol:7, #20, October 18, 1993)
(Copyright, The Scientist, Inc.)
  
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TI   :  RESOURCES FOR JOB-SEEKERS


TY   : PROFESSION


PG   : 21


Edward  Aboufadel, "Job Search Diary," Focus: The  Newsletter  of 
the  Mathematics Association of America, 12:14-16, October  1992; 
12:18-21,  December  1992; 13:13-16, April 1993;  13:18-20,  June 
1993.



Richard Bolles, What Color is Your Parachute? A Manual for Job 
Hunters and Career Changers (Berkeley, Calif., Ten Speed Press, 
published annually).



A. Leigh Deneef, Craufurd D. Goodwin, and Ellen Sterm Mc-Crate, 
The Academic's Handbook (Durham, N.C., Duke University Press, 
1988).



Directory of American Research and Technology, 25th ed. (New 
York, R.R. Bowker Co., 1993).



(The Scientist, Vol:7, #20, October 18, 1993)
(Copyright, The Scientist, Inc.)
  
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TI   :  Penn State Astronomer Is Named Chief Scientist At NASA


AU   : RON KAUFMAN


TY   : PROFESSION (PEOPLE)


PG   : 22



National Aeronautics and Space Administration administrator 
Daniel Goldin has appointed Pennylvania State University 
astrophysicist France Cordova to become the agency's chief 
scientist, effective sometime this month. According to NASA, 
Cordova will be the administrator's senior scientific adviser and 
will serve as the principal liaison between the agency and the 
national and international science community and the general 
public.



Cordova, 46, who has been the head of Penn State's department of 
astronomy and astrophysics since 1989, will take a temporary 
leave from the school to work at NASA's Washington, D.C., 
offices.



"NASA is a civil space agency whose purpose is to explore science 
and technology in space for the benefit of the whole nation," 
says Cordova. "A couple of decades ago, getting to the moon was a 
mission people could easily understand. In the view of this 
administrator [Goldin], many of today's NASA programs look too 
exclusive and are only understood by the handful of communities 
that are directly involved with them.



"He would like me to find a way to overcome that and bring what 
NASA is doing to the public," she says. "Now the public is not 
only the National Academy [of Sciences], AAAS [the American 
Association for the Advancement of Science], or AIP [the American 
Institute of Physics], but also the kids who want to become 
astronauts and the people paying their taxes."



Cordova says implementing space station Freedom and creating an 
overall mission for the agency are two long-term goals that her 
office will work hard to achieve.



"I see one of my efforts as facilitating the development of a 
science plan that is fully integrated into the overall NASA 
plan," she says, "and one that helps set the tone for the 
development of interagency goals in science."



C"rdova received her bachelor's degree from Stanford University 
in 1969 and her Ph.D. in physics from the California Institute of 
Technology in 1979. From 1979 until she joined Penn State in 
1989, she was deputy group leader of the Space Astronomy and 
Astrophysics Group at  Los  Alamos  National  Laboratory.



--Ron Kaufman


(The Scientist, Vol:7, #20, October 18, 1993)
(Copyright, The Scientist, Inc.)
  
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TI   :  University Of Virginia Appoints Biologist To Vice Provost 
        For Research Position


AU   : RON KAUFMAN


TY   : PROFESSION (PEOPLE)


PG   : 22


Gene D. Block, a professor of biology, has been appointed to  the 
post  of vice provost for research at the University of  Virginia 
in  Charlottesville. Block, a researcher in  biological  rhythms, 
began his new job September 1.



Block  will  continue as director of the  Center  for  Biological 
Timing at Virginia, a $10.6 million science and technology center 
funded  by  the National Science Foundation. Researchers  at  the 
center  study  the oscillating electrical  signals  that  certain 
cells  produce,  such as the high-frequency oscillations  of  the 
nervous system.



"As  vice  provost,"  Block  says, "the  two  things  I  will  be 
concentrating  on are improving the information transfer  to  our 
faculty  about  obtaining  grants