Applied Genetics News articles from May 2002

Applied Genetics News archives from May 2002

CLONING: Therapeutic Cloning Bill Introduced.
May 1, 2002... Republican Senator Arlen Specter and Democratic Senators Tom Harkin, Ted Kennedy, and Diane Feinstein have introduced a bill that would allow therapeutic cloning but ban reproductive cloning of human beings. An opposing bill, S. 1899, the...

GENOMICS: Mater Gene Needed for Fertility.
May 1, 2002... Researchers at the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) (Bethesda, MD), led by Zhi-Bin Tong and Lawrence Nelson, have discovered a gene present in the human egg that may be essential for early embryo development. The...

Pour Me Another Drink.
May 1, 2002... Enquiring minds want to know: Why are some mice heavy drinkers, but not others? Variations in a stress-response gene, CRH1, may be at least one reason, suggests a German study. The scientists report their findings in the May 2 issue of Science....

Tumor Suppressors on Chromosome 3.
May 1, 2002... Researchers at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center and The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas have identified three lung-cancer tumor suppressor genes on chromosome 3 that dramatically reduced human lung...

We're More Like a Fly than a Worm.
May 1, 2002... The human species is more closely related to the fruit fly than to the nematode. This is the conclusion of S. Blair Hedges an evolutionary biologist at Penn State University (Highacres, Hazleton, PA; Tel: 570/450-3000; Website: psu.edu). ...

Gene Affects Foraging Behavior.
May 1, 2002... A gene expressed in the brain of honeybees may have played a role in the evolution of food-gathering behaviors in many creatures, according to researchers led by Gene Robinson, professor of entomology at the University of Illinois. When...

CELL THERAPY: NIH Supports Embryonic Stem Cell Research.
May 1, 2002... The National Institutes of Health has announced the granting of four resource infrastructure enhancement awards for human embryonic stem cell (hESC) research. These awards will stimulate the use of hESC in basic research by providing funds for...

Rare T-Cell Involved in Wound Repair.
May 1, 2002... Researchers at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) (10550 N. Torrey Pines Rd., La Jolla, CA; Tel: 858/784-1000) led by Wendy Havran have identified a major role in promoting wound repair played by the little-known gamma-delta T cell that...

Can Cord Blood Cells Cure Brain Diseases?
May 1, 2002... University of South Florida (USF) (4202 E. Fowler Ave., Tampa, FL 33620; Tel: 813/974-2011; Website: usf.edu) neuroscientist Tanja Zigova has been awarded a $1.3-million grant to study whether stem cells from human umbilical cord blood (HUCB)...

VACCINES: Small-Pox Vaccine to Be Tested.
May 1, 2002... DynPort Vaccine Company LLC (DVC), a joint venture between DynCorp (11710 Plaza America Dr., Reston, VA 20190; Tel: 703/261-5000; Website: dyncorp.com), and Porton International, Inc. (7114 Sprtngbrwk Terr., #200, Spotsylvania, VA 22553; Tel:...

PHARMACOGENOMICS: Asthma Outcomes Subject to Genetics.
May 1, 2002... Orchid BioSciences, Inc. (303 College Rd. E., Princeton, NJ 08540; Tel: 609/750-2200, Fax: 609/750-2250; Website: orchid.com), has initiated a pharmacogenomics collaboration between its Orchid GeneShield strategic business unit and Merck-Medco,...

ANTIBODIES: Antibody Conjugate Technology Licensed.
May 1, 2002... Genentech, Inc. (One DNA Way, South San Francisco; Tel: 650/225- 1000), Fax: 650/225-6000; Website: genentech.com) has licensed Seattle Genetics' (21823 30th Dr. S.E., Bothell, WA; Tel: 425/527- 4000, Fax: 425/527-4001; Website:...

Crohn's Disease Agreement Signed.
May 1, 2002... Celltech Group, plc (208 Bath Rd., Slough, Berkshire, SL13WE U.K.; Tel: +44 (0) 1753 534655, Fax: +44 (0) 1753 546632; Website: celltechgroup.com), and Biogen, Inc. (14 Cambridge Center, Cambridge, MA 02142; Tel: 617/679-2000, Fax:...

PDGF D Monoclonals Developed.
May 1, 2002... CuraGen (555 Long Wharf Dr., 11th Floor, New Haven, CT 06511; Tel: 203/401-3330, Fax: 203/401-3331; Website: curagen.com) and Abgenix (7601 Dumbarton Cir. Fremont, CA 94555; Tel: 510/608-6500, Fax: 510/608-6511) scientists have developed fully...

HORMONES AND CYTOKINES: Inhaleable Insulin Performs in Clinicals.
May 1, 2002... Inhale Therapeutic Systems, Inc. (150 Industrial Rd., San Carlos, CA 04070; Tel: 650/3100, Fax: 650/641-3150), has reported on new data released from Phase III studies conducted by Pfizer, Inc. (235 East 42nd St., New York, NY 10017; Tel:...

Fusion Product Stops Immune Reactions.
May 1, 2002... Scientists at UCLA and the University of New Mexico have devised a new experimental approach to treating allergic diseases. The scientists, led by Andrew Saxon of UCLA, used a genetically engineered molecule to connect two receptors on immune...

AG-BIO: Diagnostic Test for Mad-Cow Disease.
May 1, 2002... Prionics AG (Wagistrasse 27a, CH-8952 Schlieren, Switzerland; Tel: +41 44 2002000, Fax: +41 44 2002010; Website: prionics.ch) and PrioSense, a recent spin-off company of Hadasit at the Hadassah University Medical Centre in Jerusalem, have...

Modified Eggplants Produce More Fruit.
May 1, 2002... Research published in the online journal BMC Biotechnology shows how Italian researchers have used genetically modified eggplants made by the introduction of a gene that increases the level of the plant hormone indole acetic acid (IAA) to...

Agriculture to the Rescue.
May 1, 2002... Can soil carbon sequestration reduce the buildup of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere while improving America's farmland in the process? The federal government is supporting that possibility area with a $15-million grant, recently announced by...

INDUSTRY NEWS: Venter Starts Three Foundations.
May 1, 2002... J. Craig Venter, founder and former CEO of Celera Genomics (761 Main Ave., Norwalk, CT 06859; Tel: 203/762-1000, Fax: 203/762- 6000), is making the transition from entrepreneur to philanthropist. He has announced today the formation of three...

Roche PCR Patents Upheld.
May 1, 2002... The Technical Board of Appeals of the European Patent Office (EPO) has informed Roche (Grenzacherstrasse 124, Postfach Ch-4070, Basel, Switzerland; Tel: +41-61-688-1111, Fax: +41-61-691-9391; Website: roche.com) that it intends to maintain...

Genomics Techniques Cross-Licensed.
May 1, 2002... Epigenomics AG (Kleine Prasidentenstrasse 1, D-10178, Berlin, Germany, +49-30-24 34 5-0; Fax: +49-30-24 34 55 55; Website: epigenomics.com,) and Biopsytec Holding AG (Kastanienallee 24, 10435 Berlin, Germany; Tel: +49 (30) 4 43 19 90, +49 (30)...

BioWreck Continues on Wall Street.
May 1, 2002... "Wall Street has not seen lows like this since last September," remarks G. Steven Burrill, CEO of Burrill & Company (120 Montgomery St., San Francisco, CA; Tel: 415/399-4360), a life sciences merchant bank. "The general malaise pervading Wall...

CALENDAR.
May 1, 2002... May 30-31, Chemical Genomics: Strategies Toward Concurrent Target Validation & Lead Discovery Optimization, Philadelphia, PA. Contact: IBC Life Sciences; Tel: 508/616-5550, Fax: 508/616-5533 June 17-19, Anti-Cancer Drug Discovery &...