Applied Genetics News articles from March 2001

Applied Genetics News archives from March 2001

BASIC SCIENCE: Mouse Model of Rett Syndrome.
March 1, 2001... Researchers led by Rudolf Jaenisch from the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research (9 Cambridge Center Cambridge, MA 02142- 1479; Tel: 617/258-5000) have created a transgenic mouse model for Rett syndrome, one of the most common causes of...

Gene Transfer Between Unrelated Bacteria.
March 1, 2001... Oral biologists at the University at Buffalo (UB) School of Dental Medicine (Buffalo, NY) have found that oral bacteria can exchange genes, raising the possibility that organisms in the oral cavity can be transformed from harmless to...

GENOMICS: 500 Million cDNA Clones Constructed.
March 1, 2001... AlphaGene, Inc. (260 West Cummings Park, Woburn, MA; Tel: 781/933- 4446, Fax: 781/933-5424, Website: alphagene.com) has constructed 500 million human cDNA clones, which the company estimates represent a high percentage of the human genome. The...

Protein Encoded on Both DNA Strands.
March 1, 2001... Researchers at the Johns Hopkins University's Kreiger School of Arts and Sciences have identified a fruit fly protein whose instructions follow one strand of the DNA molecule, but also include a segment that follows the opposite strand, which...

Functions of Disease Genes.
March 1, 2001... In the Feb. 15 issue of Nature (the human genome issue), David Valle, Geraldo Jimenez-Sanchez, and Barton Childs, of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, have categorized 923 genes involved in inherited diseases. "Most of us who...

Deep Green Traces Plant Evolution.
March 1, 2001... At the American Association for the Advancement of Science conference held in San Francisco, researchers from the Deep Green project reported on a new "tree of life" they have constructed for the earth's green plants. The scientists found that...

Streptomyces Strain Sequenced.
March 1, 2001... Diversa Corp. (10665 Sorrento Valley Rd, San Diego, CA 92121; Tel: 858/453-7020, Fax: 858/453-7032) and Celera Genomics (45 West Gude Dr., Rockville, MD 20850; Tel: 240/453 3000, Fax: 240/453 3900, Website: celera.com) have completed the entire...

Making Worms Live Longer.
March 1, 2001... In the March 8 issue of Nature, Massachusetts Institute of Technology biology professor Leonard P. Guarente and his colleagues report studies in which roundworms were genetically engineered to live 50% longer. He had previously shown that...

Celera to Sequence Rat Genome.
March 1, 2001... Celera Genomics (45 West Gude Dr., Rockville, MD 20850; Tel: 240/453 3000, Fax: 240/453 3900, Website: celera.com) has been awarded a grant from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute and the National Human Genome Research Institute to...

Linked Zinc Fingers As Genomics Tools.
March 1, 2001... Two papers, authored by Michael Moore and Yen Choo, of Gendaq, Ltd. (1-3 Burtonhole Land, London, NW7 1AD, U.K.; Tel: (+44) 020 8982 6738, Fax: (+44) 020 8982 6748, Website: gendaq.com), and Sir Aaron Klug of the Medical Research Council...

GENE THERAPY: Bcl-2 Licensed for Tissue Injury.
March 1, 2001... Selective Genetics (11035 Roselle St., San Diego, CA 92121; Tel: 858/625-0100, Fax: 858-625-0050, Website: selectivegenetics.com) has licensed Idun Pharmaceuticals' (640 Memorial Dr., Cambridge, MA 02139; Tel: 617/679-7000, Fax: 617/374-9379,...

Oral Therapy for Stomach Cancer.
March 1, 2001... Researchers, led by Carlo Croce, professor and chair of microbiology and immunology at Jefferson Medical College of Thomas Jefferson University (Philadelphia, PA) and director of Jefferson's Kimmel Cancer Center, and Kay Huebner, professor of...

Therapy Reverses Heart Damage.
March 1, 2001... Duke University Medical Center researchers have used gene therapy to reverse the damage already done to the rabbits' heart tissue. The Duke team, led by Walter Koch, associate professor of experimental surgery, has published the study in the...

CLONING: Cloning of Humans Planned.
March 1, 2001... Panayiotis Zavos, a reproductive scientist, formerly from the University of Kentucky, Italian physician Severino Antinori, and an Israeli, Ali Ben Abraham, have announced plans to clone a human being to help infertile couples have babies....

Europe to Ban Human Cloning.
March 1, 2001... The first international treaty banning human cloning went into force on March 1. Twenty-four out of the 41 members of the Council signed the Additional Protocol to the Council of Europe Convention on Human Rights and Biomedicine. Five member...

ANTISENSE: Forming Oligos to Modify Function.
March 1, 2001... CytoGenix, Inc. (9881 South Wilcrest, Houston TX 77099; Tel: 281/988-6118, Fax: 281/988-6727, Website: cytogenix.com) has executed sponsored research agreements with Yale University School of Medicine and Columbia University with regard to the...

CELL THERAPY: Changing Cell Identities.
March 1, 2001... Aside from making soap, what can be done with all the tons of human fat removed by liposuction? Researchers from Duke University, led by Farshid Guilak, director of orthopedic research, have found a way to turn fat into cartilage. Meanwhile,...

Liver Stems Give Rise to Pancreas.
March 1, 2001... Research conducted at Fox Chase Cancer Center (Philadelphia, PA, Website: fccc.edu) by Kenneth S. Zaret's group shows that cells that develop into the liver can also give rise to part of the pancreas. The finding counters the assumption that...

Cell Implant for Incontinence.
March 1, 2001... Patients with stress urinary incontinence experienced significant improvement after receiving treatment with a cell transplant product under development by Curis, Inc. (45 Moulton St., Cambridge, MA; Tel: 617/876-0086, Fax: 617/876-0866,...

ANTIBODIES: Alzheimer's Plaques Cleared from Mice.
March 1, 2001... Lab mice bred to develop the plaques of Alzheimer's disease had a majority of their plaques disappear three to eight days after treatment with anti-plaque antibodies. Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) researchers, working with scientists at...

Inverse Genomics Selects Targets.
March 1, 2001... Medarex, Inc. (1545 Rte. 22 East, Annandale, NJ 08801-0953; Tel: 908/713-6001, Fax: 908/713-6002, Website: medarex.com) and Immusol, Inc., (10790 Roselle St., San Diego, CA 92121; Tel: 858/824-1100, Fax: 858/823-1112, Website: immusol.com) have...

VACCINES: GM-CSF as a Melanoma Vaccine Target.
March 1, 2001... The Immune Response Corp. (5935 Darwin Court, Carlsbad, CA 92008; Tel: 760/431-7080, Fax: 760/431-8636, Website: imnr.com) has revealed that its novel membrane bound granulocyte macrophage- colony stimulating factor (mbGM-CSF) vaccine appears...

Maxygen in HIV Vaccine Pact.
March 1, 2001... Maxygen, Inc. (515 Galveston Dr., Redwood City, CA; Tel: 650/298- 5300, Fax: 650/364-2715, Website: maxygen.com) and the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI) and DBLV, LLC, an entity established and funded by the Rockefeller Foundation,...

Multiprotein AIDS Vaccine Works.
March 1, 2001... Researchers at Yerkes Regional Primate Research Center at Emory University and the Emory Vaccine Research Center have developed a multiprotein AIDS vaccine that has prevented the development of AIDS in monkeys infected with a highly virulent...

AG-BIO: Amber Waves of Plastic.
March 1, 2001... Clint Chapple, professor of biochemistry at Purdue University and Knut Meyer of DuPont and Co. (1007 Market St., Wilmington, DE 19898; Tel: 302/774-1000, Fax: 302/773-2631) have cloned a gene from the common laboratory plant Arabadopsis. The...

Foot and Mouth Disease Everywhere.
March 1, 2001... On February 21, Britain discovered its first case of foot and mouth disease (FMD) in 20 years among pigs at an abattoir near Brentwood Essex. The disease has now been discovered at over 150 sites within the U.K., including farmland owned by...

INDUSTRY NEWS: Zebrafish Technology Is Licensed.
March 1, 2001... Zygogen, LLC (520 Kell Hall, 24 Peach Tree Center Ave., Atlanta, GA 30303; Tel: 404/523-7309, Fax: 404/523-5974, Website: zygogen.com, Email: info@zygogen.com) will provide Curis, Inc. (45 Moulton St., Cambridge, MA; Tel: 617/876-0086, Fax:...

HGS Buys Invitrogen Facility.
March 1, 2001... Human Genome Sciences, Inc. (9410 Key West Ave., Rockville, MD 20850; Tel: 301/309-8504, Fax: 301/309-8512) has entered into an agreement to purchase a state of the art research and manufacturing facility in Rockville, Maryland, for $55...

Bio-Tech General Acquires Myelos.
March 1, 2001... Bio-Technology General Corp. (70 Wood Ave. South, Iselin, NJ 08830; Tel: 732/632-8800, Fax: 732/632-8844) has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Myelos Corp., a privately-held biopharmaceutical company that focuses on therapies for...

CALENDAR.
March 1, 2001... March 31-April 3, 2001, Experimental Biology, Orlando, FL. Contact: Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB); Tel: 301/530-7010, Fax: 301/ 530-7014, Email: eb@faseb.org , Website: faseb.org/meetings/eb2001 April...