Applied Genetics News articles from April 2002

Applied Genetics News archives from April 2002

BASIC SCIENCE: Engineering a Big-Hearted Mouse.
April 1, 2002... Scientists led by Sidney Fleischer, professor of biological sciences and pharmacology at Vanderbilt University (2201 West End Ave., Nashville, TN 37235; Tel: 615/322-7311; Website: www.vanderbilt.edu), have genetically engineered a new strain...

New Ways to Destroy RNA.
April 1, 2002... Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigators Harry C. Dietz, of The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine (720 Rutland Ave., Baltimore, MD 21205-2196; Tel: 410/955-5000; Website: www.infonet. welch.jhu.edu), and Roy R. Parker, at the...

More Life Below than Above.
April 1, 2002... Primitive bacteria exist in huge numbers deep in the earth, living on hydrogen gas produced in rocks, reports NASA Ames Research Center (Moffett Field, CA 94035) scientist Friedemann Freund, in the spring issue of the journal Astrobiology. ...

GENOMICS: Mitochondria Sequenced from 500 Individuals.
April 1, 2002... MitoKor (1194 Sorrento Valley Rd., San Diego, CA 92121; Tel: 858/793-7800, Fax: 858/793-7805; Website: www.mitokor.com) has published a study analyzing the mitochondrial DNA sequences of more than 500 individuals of different ethnic origins in...

Gene Linked to Muscle Atrophy.
April 1, 2002... A newly identified gene, atrogin-1, is involved in muscle loss associated with cancer, diabetes, fasting, and kidney disease, as well as in the atrophy occurring with disuse, inactivity, and nerve or spinal injury. The findings appear in the...

Virus Families Are Related.
April 1, 2002... According to Paul Ahlquist of the University of Wisconsin, Madison (500 Lincoln Dr., Madison, WI 53706; Website: www.wisc.edu), broad classes of viruses-including those that harbor the agents that cause such diverse ailments as AIDS, the common...

Mutation Causes Fibromatosis.
April 1, 2002... A Brazilian/American collaboration has found a gene mutation that is responsible for the rare disease, hereditary gingival fibromatosis, in which the gums grow over the teeth. The results, published in the April issue of American Journal of...

GENE THERAPY: Helping Rats with Parkinson's Disease.
April 1, 2002... A Swedish and American research team has demonstrated that the injection of two corrective genes into a specific brain region generated significant restoration of normal limb movement in rats with a chemical-induced form of Parkinson's disease....

CELL THERAPY: Engineered Cell "Pharmacy" Opens.
April 1, 2002... Last month, Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke's Medical Center (1650 Harrison St., Chicago, IL 61612; Tel: 312/942-5000; Website: www.rush.edu) in Chicago opened a new laboratory facility that will produce and dispense engineered cellular products...

T-Cells to Fight Prostate Cancer.
April 1, 2002... Xcyte Therapies, Inc. (1124 Columbia St., Suite 130, Seattle, WA 98104; Tel: 206/262-6200, Fax: 206/262-0900) has initiated a Phase I/II clinical trial evaluating the use of its Xcellerated T Cells in patients with hormone refractory prostate...

VACCINES: Acid Phosphatase and Prostate Tumors.
April 1, 2002... Study results from Dendreon Corp. (291 North Bernardo Ave., Mountain View, CA; Tel: 415/964-6744, Fax: 415/964-7023; Website: www.dendreon.com), presented at the 93rd Annual Meeting of the American Association of Cancer Research, confirm that...

AG-BIO: Rice Draft Genomic Sequences Published.
April 1, 2002... Two groups, one from China, one from California, have reported draft sequences for two subspecies of the rice genome in the April 5 issue of Science. Scientists from the Syngenta's Torrey Mesa Research Institute (TMRI, 3115 Merryfield Row,...

Consortium Mapping Bovine Genome.
April 1, 2002... An international consortium of U.S., Canadian, and French scientists has begun work on $2.5 million project that will enable the rapid and efficient sequencing of the entire cattle genome. Coordinating the project are Harris Lewin, a...

Patents Awarded for Gene Markers.
April 1, 2002... Sygen International, plc (2929 7th St., Suite 130, Berkeley, CA 94710; Tel: 510/848-8266, Fax: 510/848-0324; Website: www.pic.com) announced the approval of three new patents related to genetic markers, further expanding the company's PICmarq...

How Plants Perceive Pathogens.
April 1, 2002... Researchers from the University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill (Chapel Hill, NC 27599; Tel: 919/962-2211; Website: www.unc.edu) have identified a plant protein, called RIN4, which interacts with invading pathogen molecules and with a...

Biotech Aids Shrimp Breeders.
April 1, 2002... Sygen International, plc (2929 7th St., Suite 130, Berkeley, CA 94710; Tel: 510/848-8266, Fax: 510/848-0324; Website: www.pic.com) has recruited four scientists to support the company's Shrimp Research & Development effort. The scientists will...

"Medical Foods" Under Development.
April 1, 2002... Wake Forest University School of Medicine (Medical Center Blvd., Winston-Salem, NC 27157; Tel: 800/446-2255; Website: www.wfubmc.edu/school) has licensed three soy-related technologies to Physicians Laboratories (1031 E. Mountain St., Bldg....

INDUSTRY NEWS: Cancer Research Center Established.
April 1, 2002... The National Foundation for Cancer Research (Bethesda, MD) and Pennsylvania State University (Highacres, Hazleton, PA; Tel: 570/450-3000; Website: www.psu.edu) have announced formation of a the Center for Metastatic Cancer Research to be based...

Grants Available from Technology Testbed.
April 1, 2002... The National Medical Technology Testbed, Inc. (NMTB) at Loma Linda University Medical Center (11234 Anderson St., Loma Linda, CA 92354; Tel: 909/558-5000; Website: www.llu.edu/llumc) is looking for companies to apply for awards to fund research...

CALENDAR.
April 1, 2002... April 30, 2002. BIO-Defense and Homeland Security Conference and Expo, Arlington, VA. Contact: Biotechnology Industry Organization; Website: www.bio.org May 1-5, 2002. Oncogenomics 2002: Dissecting Cancer Through Genome Research, Dublin,...