Biotechnology News Archive 01/03 - 12/03
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12/31/03
After a year of struggle, Biotech's feeling better
(Seattle Times) Biotech was in such bad shape eight months ago, Steve Gillis said it was like a patient being hit by waves of chemotherapy. Companies were struggling to survive the longest run of investor fear in two decades. Two months later, Gillis' Seattle-based Corixa cashed in on fresh optimism, raising $105 million. Things are not as dire for the industry as they were a year ago, partly because they couldn't get much worse.

12/22/03
Calif. DNA Plan Draws Ire of Civil Libertarians
(Reuters) California law enforcement officials are backing a proposed ballot measure that would give them authority to operate the largest DNA database in the nation -- one that opponents said on Monday is prohibitively expensive and a potential threat to privacy rights. The measure, championed by a Newport Beach, California, man whose brother and sister-in-law were murdered in 1980, would expand the range of crimes for which felons must submit DNA samples to the state's database to include nonviolent offenders, juveniles and uncharged suspects.

12/21/03
Genentech proves the skeptics wrong Biotech firm reaps rewards by trusting scientific instincts
(San Francisco Chronicle) Shrugging off a long season of thwarted plays, lowered rankings and second-guessing from the sidelines, major league biotechnology veteran Genentech Inc. is on the verge of setting a career record. The South San Francisco firm that founded the biotechnology industry in 1976 is widely expected to score three new drug approvals within a one-year period -- an achievement that's rare for a biotech firm and impressive even among huge pharmaceutical companies.

12/12/03
Comparing Genomes Shows Split Between Chimps and People
(New York Times) By comparing the human genome with that of chimpanzees, people's closest living relative, scientists have identified a partial list of the genes that make people human. They include genes for hearing and speech, genes that wire the developing brain, genes for detecting odors and genes that shape bone structure. The comparison, reported yesterday in Science, was undertaken by Dr. Michele Cargill and colleagues at Celera Diagnostics in Alameda, Calif., who decoded most of the genes in the chimp's genome, and Dr. Andrew G. Clark and colleagues at Cornell, who made the analysis.

11/30/03
Danger of gene-swapping bacterium
(BBC) The strain, which was found in an ulcer on a diabetes patient, caused panic among the US doctors who found it. More than 300 people who had come into contact with the elderly patient were tested to ensure it had not spread. A report in the journal Science revealed that the bug had become dangerous because it had taken a gene from another bacterium in the ulcer.

11/24/03
Gene clues to swelling pain
(BBC) Thousands in the UK suffer from lymphoedema, which happens when excess fluid cannot be drained from the body's extremities. Some cases are thought to be inherited and Finnish scientists have found a body chemical which appears to play a key role. The discovery could eventually help produce effective treatments. The lymph system runs parallel to the bloodstream, and one of its jobs is to transport excess fluid from the body's tissues back into the blood.

11/21/03
Electronic Nose May Replicate Dog's Sniffing Skill
(Reuters) A new device called a "dog on a chip" may combine the benefits of technology and nature by not only detecting dangerous or illicit substances but by providing the electronic equivalent of a dog barking, researchers said on Friday. The device is more accurate and faster than other electronic sensors and drug-sniffing dogs, a team at the Georgia Institute of Technology said. "We took the road less traveled and went in the direction of fusing biotechnology and microelectronics," said William Hunt, a professor of electrical and computer engineering who led the study.

11/21/03
Glowing Fish to Be First Genetically Changed Pet
(Reuters) A little tropical fish that glows fluorescent red will be the first genetically engineered pet, a Texas-based company said on Friday. The zebra fish were originally developed to detect environmental toxins, but Alan Blake and colleagues at Yorktown Technologies, L.P. licensed them to sell as pets. "These fish were bred to help fight environmental pollution," Blake said in a telephone interview. "They were bred to fluoresce in the presence of toxins."

11/14/03
Scientists create a virus that reproduces
(USA Today) It is the stuff of science fiction and bioethical debates: The creation of artificial life. Up until now, it's largely been just that. But an important technical bridge towards the creation of such life was crossed Thursday when genomics pioneer Craig Venter announced that his research group created an artificial virus based on a real one in just two weeks' time. When researchers created a synthetic genome (genetic map) of the virus and implanted it into a cell, the virus became ''biologically active,'' meaning it went to work reproducing itself.

11/14/03
Fast method to build genes found
(Boston Globe) A team of scientists announced yesterday it has found a fast and accurate way to build genes from scratch, a technique that could give scientists the practical tools to create life in a lab. The researchers, at a Maryland lab led by geneticist J. Craig Venter, created a functional virus from basic chemical building blocks in just two weeks -- a feat that had previously taken three years to accomplish.

11/13/03
Scientists use DNA to make virus
(BBC News) US scientists have produced a wholly artificial virus using a method they claim could lead to new lifeforms. These synthetic organisms - on the scale of bacteria - could be engineered to produce clean energy or mop up pollution, the researchers say. It is only the second time a virus has been constructed from scratch in the lab, but the new effort is said to produce substantially quicker results.

11/9/03
3 Genes Help Explain Causes of Psoriasis
(AP) Researchers have discovered a trio of genes that likely help provide the complex origins of psoriasis, the itchy skin disease triggered when the immune system runs amok. The genes, when defective, increase a patient's susceptibility to the incurable disease that afflicts about 2 percent of the population, according to a study appearing Monday in the electronic edition of the journal Nature Genetics.

11/6/03
Glaxo Creates Center for Biotech Drug Discoverys
(Reuters) GlaxoSmithKline Plc said on Thursday it was setting up a new drug-discovery center to focus on biopharmaceuticals, highlighting the growing importance of biotech drugs to big pharmaceutical companies. Europe's largest drugmaker said the unit would begin operations by the end of the year, becoming the seventh Center of Excellence for Drug Discovery (CEDDs) within the group.

11/3/03
Study Points to Genetic Risk for Osteoporosis
(Reuters) A gene involved in bone development may put some women at a higher risk for osteoporosis, researchers in Iceland reported on Monday. They said certain versions of the gene, called BMP2, may compound the known risks which include small bones, a calcium-poor diet and a lack of exercise.

11/3/03
Cambridge completes 2bn-letter dictionary of DNA
(The Guardian News) Fifty years after the discovery of the structure of the genetic code, Cambridge scientists have set a new world record. They have decoded 2bn letters of the alphabet of life, and delivered them freely to researchers of 135 countries. The first of the 2bn was G - it stands for the base chemical guanine - from the DNA double helix of a tiny nematode worm called Caenorhabditis elegans. It was entered into a database set up by what is now the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute on May 4 1991. The two billionth was T, for the base thymine, from a laboratory mouse, and it was placed in the public domain just after 1am on the morning of October 30 2003.

11/3/03
Scientists pinpoint 'obesity gene'
(The Guardian News) Researchers will claim today to have identified an obesity gene by screening 1,200 adults in the world's most food-obsessed nation. The French may be slimmer and therefore healthier - at least when compared with Germans, British and Americans - with help from a gene called GAD2 that stimulates appetite.

10/23/03
Scientists Find a Gene That Is Key to Puberty
(New England Journal of Medicine) Scientists have discovered a gene that is crucial for the onset of puberty, a human developmental process that has long been swathed in mystery. The finding, published today in the New England Journal of Medicine, should deepen scientists' and doctors' understanding of the chemical triggers that cause the body to sexually mature and also shed light on the reasons for puberty arriving abnormally early or late.

10/23/03
Gene Found for Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
(Reuters) U.S. and Japanese researchers said on Thursday they had found a genetic mutation that causes obsessive-compulsive disorder and other mental illnesses and said some patients had a second mutation that made their conditions worse. The rare finding could make it easier to discover good treatments for the disorder, one of the top 10 leading causes of disability worldwide.

10/23/03
Dad's Genes May Be to Blame in Cancer, Study Finds
(Reuters) A father's genes, already known to urge a developing embryo to grow faster and bigger, may be to blame in some cancers, researchers reported on Tuesday. They found three different genes can help tumor cells grow if a basic early genetic process called imprinting goes awry. The findings, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (news - web sites), could help explain at least some cases of the out-of-control cell growth that marks cancer.

10/20/03
Sexual Identity Hard-Wired by Genetics, Study Says
(Reuters) Sexual identity is wired into the genes, which discounts the concept that homosexuality and transgender sexuality are a choice, California researchers reported on Monday. "Our findings may help answer an important question -- why do we feel male or female?" Dr. Eric Vilain, a genetics professor at the University of California, Los Angeles School of Medicine, said in a statement. "Sexual identity is rooted in every person's biology before birth and springs from a variation in our individual genome." His team has identified 54 genes in mice that may explain why male and female brains look and function differently.

10/17/03
USDA Reports 115 Infractions of Biotech Rules
(Reuters) U.S. biotech companies and research universities have violated strict federal regulations on planting experimental genetically modified crops more than a hundred times in the last decade, the Agriculture Department said on Friday. The USDA said none of the 115 infractions since 1990 resulted in any harm to U.S. agriculture, the food supply or the environment. The department published for the first time the number of violations the biotech industry has committed when planting GM corn, soybeans, wheat and other crops not yet ready for commercialization.

10/3/03
Volcanic blast recorded in DNA
(BBC News) The animals have comparatively little genetic diversity compared with other tortoise groups on the archipelago. This suggests a dramatic reduction in their numbers occurred in the past. The scientists say their DNA studies time this near-extinction event to 100,000 years ago - exactly the time that Alcedo is known to have blown its top.

10/1/03
Gene Difference May Explain SARS Epidemic - Study
(Reuters) A genetic susceptibility may explain why SARS raged last year in southeast Asia and nowhere else in the world outside of Toronto, Taiwanese researchers reported this week. They found a certain variant in an immune system gene called human leukocyte antigen, or HLA, made patients in Taiwan much more likely to develop life-threatening symptoms of SARS. The gene variant is common in people of southern Chinese descent, the team at Mackay Memorial Hospital in Taipei reported.

9/25/03
'Walkies' through dog genome
(BBC News) It is not a complete guide to canine genetics - that will come later - but the study has thrown up some interesting facts that will prove useful pointers for researchers looking into human and animal disease. One such nugget is the realisation that 75% of the genes we think are in humans also appear to be in dogs.

9/22/03
Gene Linked to Stroke Risk Is Identified
(AP) Researchers in Iceland have identified a gene associated with increased risk for stroke, the third leading cause of death in developed countries that kills 160,000 people each year in the United States alone. Those who have the stroke-susceptibility gene have a three to five times greater risk of ischemic stroke, researchers at Reykjavik-based deCODE Genetics said. In ischemic strokes, the flow of blood to the brain is choked, causing cerebral tissue to die.

9/12/03
Billionaire provides $100M to help map brain genes Treating Alzheimer's disease a primary goal
(USA Today) Billionaire Paul Allen, who along with boyhood friend Bill Gates created Microsoft, launches a $100 million scientific effort today to map the genes that drive the brain. The donation is seed money for brain research and the creation of the Allen Institute for Brain Science in Seattle. The goal: To identify every gene's role in the human brain so medical researchers can find new drugs and treatments for disorders such as Alzheimer's and schizophrenia.

9/12/03
Scientists turn to biotechnology for biowarfare antidotes
(CBC News) Some Canadian and U.S. researchers say they've found the key to creating antidotes for biological weapons. Plasma from genetically modified cows produces a human antibody that could protect people from dangerous viruses. Dr. James Robl of Hematech in Sioux Falls, South Dakota says the antibodies could protect against botulism toxins, anthrax and smallpox.

9/8/03
Gene find could halt bug peril
(BBC) Some strains of E.coli - present in the guts of cattle - can cause dangerous food poisoning in humans. Researchers at the UK Institute of Animal Health have found 60 E.coli genes which they think may stop the animals getting rid of the bug. They hope that the finding could help cut the number of contaminated cattle. Their findings, to be presented at the Society for General Microbiology Conference in Manchester on Monday, centre on the 0157 strain of E.coli.

9/7/03
Scientists Set Goal of $1,000 Genome
(AP) WOBURN, Mass. - It's been three years since scientists completed a rough draft of the human genetic code, but nobody's rushing out yet for a personal DNA analysis. That's because the first draft took 12 years and cost billions of dollars. Today, the cost has fallen, but only to around $50 million. The target price is orders of magnitude away: $1,000 for an individual's DNA sequence. That's the price considered essential for giving scientists the thousands of sequenced samples they need to understand how genes work, and giving patients access to a personalized DNA snapshot at the doctor's office that could show the diseases they are at risk of developing.

9/4/03
Net threat to biotech firms
(The Guardian) Investors in the biotech industry ought to be given better protection from animal rights activists including having their private addresses kept confidential, backbench MPs suggested yesterday. The Commons select committee on trade and industry called for a review of company law to see whether legislation passed to keep biotech directors' homes secret, passed after the Huntingdon Life Sciences controversy a few years ago, should be extended to shareholders. The recommendation follows the bioindustry's anxieties that the internet is revealing investors' names and addresses through the electoral roll published online, deterring investment in the £2.9bn-a-year industry.

8/29/03
Biotech Firm Rocked by Blasts
(Los Angeles Times) EMERYVILLE, Calif. — Law enforcement officials believe animal rights activists may have been responsible for two homemade bombs that exploded early Thursday morning at the headquarters of biotech giant Chiron Corp. The explosions, one at 2:55 a.m. and the other at 4:10 a.m., caused no injuries and minimal damage, including a few broken windows. At 7 a.m., a third blast was heard as authorities blew up a 5-gallon bucket on the opposite side of the grounds. The bucket was later determined to have contained sand or paint, company officials say. Alameda County sheriff's officials said the "crude pipe bombs" had been detonated with egg timers. The devices appeared to have been left at ground level outside Chiron's international headquarters, just across the bay from downtown San Francisco.

8/26/03
Dyslexia 'caused by faulty gene'
(BBC) Researchers in Finland say their finding may explain why the condition seems to run in families. Dyslexia affects about one in 10 people. It is the most common learning disorder in children. Many find it difficult to recognise and read words. Writing in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, scientists said a flaw in a gene called DYXC1 may cause the condition.

8/19/03
Creative Search For Naked Truth
(Washington Post) In a creative use of insect genetics to solve an enduring mystery of human evolution, scientists studying the DNA of lice have concluded that early humans may have started wearing clothes just a few tens of thousands of years ago, more recently than many had presumed. The new work -- based on subtle genetic differences between human body lice, which depend on clothing for their survival, and human head lice, which do not -- suggests that early humans may have lived in Europe for tens of thousands of years after leaving Africa before availing themselves of clothes.

8/13/03
DNA detective uncovers violence of bronze age ice mummy's last hours
(The Guardian) The world's oldest ice mummy has been hiding a violent and bloody secret that was only teased out of him by detective work on evidence 5,300 years old. Before dying, Oetzi - the bronze age man found 12 years ago in the mountains between Italy and Austria - had killed or injured at least four other people. An analysis of blood traces found on his clothes and weapons, carried out by an Australian molecular biologist, Thomas Loy of the university of Queensland, has revealed four different DNA patterns, none of them Oetzi's.

8/11/03
Gene map of cough killer
(BBC News) The genome of Bordetella pertussis - the complete sequence of all the DNA in the organism - is likely to speed up the search for better vaccines and treatments. The bacterium causes the infectious disease whooping cough. Scientists in Cambridge, UK, in collaboration with academics in the US and Germany, have taken years to decipher the DNA and describe the 3,800 genes written in the biological "code".

8/4/03
Genetic scientists eye high-suicide families
(Boston Globe) Allen Boyd Jr. watched suicide burn its way through his family. First was his mother, with a .38 caliber handgun in a hotel room; then his brother, with a shotgun in the basement; then his second brother, poisoned in a boarding house; then his pretty sister, dead in her master bedroom. Then, three years ago, his father turned a gun on himself, leaving Allen Boyd Jr. alone with a dark history. Boyd has never loaded a gun, never stuck one in his mouth. At 45, the North Carolina man thinks about meeting a ''really jolly woman'' and starting a family. But he knows, too, that he is a Boyd: For a while after his father's death, the thoughts crept into his head every five minutes, repeating themselves, disrupting his sleep.

7/31/03
Fear May Be in the Genes
(Health Day) THURSDAY, July 31 (HealthDayNews) -- A study of twins suggests genes have a significant influence on how people learn to experience fear. "Genes seem to account for about half of the individual variation in people's response to this fear conditioning," says Dr. John M. Hettema, an assistant professor of psychiatry at the Virginia Institute for Psychiatric and Behavioral Genetics at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond. He is part of a team reporting the findings in the July issue of the Archives of General Psychiatry.

7/27/03
New clues to identity of first genetic molecule
(New Scientist) You have heard of DNA and RNA, but what about TNA? It resembles its more famous cousins in almost every respect, except that it is based on a sugar called threose instead of the deoxyribose found in DNA and the ribose in RNA. Researchers have speculated that because threose is a simpler sugar than ribose, TNA could be a long-lost precursor to RNA.

7/18/03
Variation in One Gene Linked to Depression
(Washington Post) People with a genetic vulnerability to stress are more than twice as likely to develop depression after a traumatic event, such as divorce, as those with a version of the same gene that appears to confer protection, scientists have found. Leaders in the field said the work marks the first time that scientists have traced the roots of a complex mental disorder to a specific interaction of genes and the environment: In effect, they said, traumatic experiences are like falling off a bicycle, but genes determine whether the person is wearing a helmet.

7/9/03
Mixed-gender embryos created
(Atlantic Journal-Constitution) Scientists in Chicago have for the first time made human embryos that are part male and part female, raising novel ethics questions. The experiments, described at a meeting of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology in Madrid, Spain, aimed to answer basic questions about human embryo development and develop therapies for congenital diseases. The hybrid embryos were destroyed after six days, when they had grown to a few hundred cells organized into a microscopic mixed-gender ball, according to a written synopsis of the work submitted by the research leader, Norbert Gleicher of the Foundation for Reproductive Medicine.

7/9/03
Research finds gene with mental illness risk
(The Age) Researchers have discovered a gene that puts people at a high risk of developing schizophrenia. Nobel laureate Susumu Tonegawa, who created a genetically modified mouse with schizophrenia, said the find would lead to the first drugs to target the illness's underlying genetic causes.

7/6/03
Heart defect gene uncovered
(BBC News) Aside from infections, heart defects are the most common cause of death in newborn babies. Although surgeons can now operate to correct many different types, often just a few days after birth, such operations carry a high degree of risk to the baby. The researchers, from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, believe they have found a gene which plays a key role in the development of the foetal heart.

6/27/03
Heart defect gene uncovered
(BBC News) Aside from infections, heart defects are the most common cause of death in newborn babies. Although surgeons can now operate to correct many different types, often just a few days after birth, such operations carry a high degree of risk to the baby. The researchers, from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, believe they have found a gene which plays a key role in the development of the foetal heart.

6/27/03
GM fish glows in the bowl
(BBC News) The Taikong Corporation took DNA from a jellyfish and inserted it into a zebra fish to make it shine a yellow-green colour. GM animals are frequently used in labs and flocks of GM sheep make valuable proteins in their milk, but the "Night Pearl" zebra fish is the first gene-altered pet to go on sale to the public. For some, the animal will be a fascinating novelty; for others, it will raise fears of a trend for bio-engineered "Frankenstein pets".

6/25/03
Organic food for thought
(Sacramento Bee) As showdowns go, it hardly was historic. It didn't make the evening news or the front page; neither party was wearing a carrot costume or full riot gear. But a low-key exchange on the trade show floor might have summed up one of the key controversies at the international agriculture expo that ends today in Sacramento. Zea Sonnabend, a stalwart of California's organic farming movement, told of a woman from the biotech food camp who visited the colorful and overflowing organic food booth.

6/19/03
Y chromosomes rewrite British history
(Nature) A new survey of Y chromosomes in the British Isles suggests that the Anglo-Saxons failed to leave as much of a genetic stamp on the UK as history books imply. Romans, Anglo-Saxons, Danes, Vikings and Normans invaded Britain repeatedly between 50 BC and AD 1050. Many historians ascribe much of the British ancestry to the Anglo-Saxons because their written legacy overshadows that of the Celts.

6/18/03
Masculinity guardian revealed
(BBC News) Scientists in the US have published the results of their detailed scrutiny of the genetic sequence of the human Y chromosome. This DNA bundle - one of 24 distinct chromosomes found in human cells - holds the crucial information to make the male of our species. The work is part of the enormous job of following up the data that came out of the international Human Genome Project (HGP).

6/18/03
Colour vision made pheromones redundant for humans: study
(CBC News) Humans and Old World primates are clueless when it comes to pheromones from the opposite sex because we can see colours, according to a new genetic study. Pheromones are powerful scent molecules that many animals use as a "come to me" signal for potential mates. Humans and other primates appear to have little ability to detect the chemicals.

6/17/03
Taking steps to clone world's oldest known tree
(San Francisco Chronicle) An intrepid horticulturist has delivered to the U.S. Botanic Garden the babies of a 4,768-year-old bristlecone pine -- the first step toward cloning the world's oldest known living tree. Jared Milarch, 23, dropped off the two 3 1/2-inch bristly green offspring of the California tree known as Methuselah three days ago at a nursery in Mount Vernon, Va.

6/17/03
Genes 'hold clue to cancer lifestyles'
(BBC News) Gene tests may one day help target healthy living advice to those people most likely to succumb to risky lifestyles, claim scientists. However, others claim that the real reasons people drink heavily, smoke and take drugs are far more complex than simply their genetic makeup.

6/16/03
Late nights in the genes
(Telegraph.co.uk) The reason that some people like to burn the midnight oil could be due to their short genes, scientists reported yesterday. Although most people know instinctively if they are owls or larks - or an "evening" or "morning" person - scientists have now found a genetic explanation.

6/15/03
Gene for manic depression
(BBC News) US scientists have identified a gene mutation that causes manic depression in as many as one in 10 patients. The gene, GRK3, plays an important role in regulating the way the brain responds to chemicals such as dopamine which are known to control mood. The mutation, discovered by a team from the University of California, San Diego, occurs in the gene's on-off switch.

6/03/03
Gene science targets sleeping sickness
(BBC News) Genetic research in Africa could help solve one of the continent's biggest agricultural problems: sleeping sickness in cattle. African cattle: Millions fall prey to parasites every year. Researchers in Kenya say they have identified a number of genes which make cattle resistant to the disease, and believe they can now develop breeds which are both resistant and productive. They report their findings in the US journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

5/30/03
Stem Cell 'Master Gene' Found
(Washington Post) Scientists yesterday said they have discovered a long-sought "master gene" in embryonic stem cells that is largely responsible for giving those cells their unique regenerative and therapeutic potential.

5/28/03
Howard U. Plans Genetics Database
(Washington Post) Howard University officials yesterday announced plans to create the first large-scale collection of genetic profiles of African Americans, an endeavor they described as a bid for a "place at the table in genetic research" and a pathway to improved medical care for blacks.

5/27/03
Gene study gives hope to victims of Parkinson?s diseases
(Independent.co.uk) The prospect of treating inherited diseases by switching off defective genes, leaving healthy genes unharmed, has come a step closer, a study showed yesterday. Incurable illnesses such as Huntington's disease and other disorders of the brain and nervous system could eventually be treated by the technique, the scientists involved in the research say.

5/22/03
Male fertility gene found
(BBC News) Scientists have discovered a gene which is crucial to male fertility. Researchers made the discovery by chance, while looking into the genetic causes of heart disease. They genetically engineered mice so they did not have the Fkbp6 gene.

5/22/03
Humans may have caused fast evolution in wild mice
(CBC News) A study of a common wild mouse in the Chicago area suggests evolution can occur surprisingly fast, in about 150 years. Because the evolutionary change coincides with the urbanization of the Chicago area, the researchers said humans may have changed the local environment, spurring the high-speed evolution.

5/20/03
Finding could lead to smallpox treatment
(UPI) Scientists said Monday they have discovered how smallpox exerts its virulence, a finding that could lead to medications to fight off the deadly virus as well as treat side effects of the vaccine. Currently, there is no treatment for smallpox, which can be fatal in about a third of those infected by it, and the only way to prevent infection is with the vaccine that can cause severe reactions in some people, including death. Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology found evidence indicating the lethality of the smallpox virus depends on a protein that binds to a rare form of DNA known as Z-DNA. A compound that inhibits or blocks this protein could in turn prevent the virus from causing infection and death.

5/16/03
US expert says human embryo cloned
(AFP) A US cloning advocate said he has obtained a human embryo through cloning which will be implanted in a woman's uterus in the coming weeks. Panos Zavos, a fertility specialist based in Lexington, Kentucky, said Monday the cells had been taken from a 45-year-old American woman. He told AFP on Monday that the clone was created in a secret laboratory outside the United States, in a country he would not name. The frozen embryo would be subjected to genetic tests before implantation, he said. "Its frozen right now but it might not be for too long." "We are not that desperate to transfer embryos without knowing the complete story about its genetic stability and its biological status and its ability to give rise to a healthy child," Zavos said. "We're going to make every attempt to scrutinize this embryo and be able to make a medical, scientific decision to say that its embryo is worth transferring." Zavos said independent scientists were carrying out tests, but did not give their names or other details.

5/15/03
Cancer-linked protein can make hair grow
(UPI) A protein linked to cancer also has been found to grow new hair in mice, scientists reported Wednesday. Although researchers doubt remedies for baldness are likely to emerge from these findings, by learning how hair can regenerate, they think they can use the finding to learn how the gut, breasts and other organs grow, which could improve understanding of cancers in those areas. "Any insights we have into how this pathway operates in skin may shed some light on how it works in other organ systems as well," researcher Andrzej Dlugosz, a cancer and skin biologist at the University of Michigan, told United Press International.

5/14/03
New Molecule Helps Bones Heal Themselves
(UPI) New synthetic molecules could helprepair bones without surgery by harnessing the body's naturalhealing mechanisms, an international team of scientists has reported. "You could have here a new medical application that would heal an otherwise unhealable bone," researcher David Thompson, a biologist at Pfizer Global Research and Development in Groton, Conn., toldUnited Press International. The human skeleton can heal itself after injury, but in roughly one out of 10 cases fractured bones either heal more slowly or fail to heal at all.

5/13/03
RNA Treatment Shows Promise Against Hepatitis B
(HealthScoutNews) A genetic technique that interferes with the RNA of the hepatitis B virus may one day offer a new way to treat the disease, BBC News Online reports. American scientists found that the technique was effective in mice infected with hepatitis B. The mice were injected with a special biochemical that binds with the RNA of the hepatitis B virus and neutralizes it. With its RNA silenced, the virus has difficulty replicating itself and spreading the infection. It's unclear whether this treatment, called RNA interference, would work in humans. The research appears in the journal Nature Biotechnology. Hepatitis B kills up to one million people a year worldwide and is the most common serious liver infection.

5/7/03
U.K. Researchers Identify Colon Cancer Gene
(HealthScoutNews) British scientists say they've discovered a gene that's a primary contributor to colorectal cancer but whose destruction wouldn't harm healthy cells, reports BBC News Online. Researchers at Edinburgh and Cardiff universities identified the connection between the disease and the gene, MBD2, after a five-year study on mice. They say the finding could lead to treatments that attack cancer cells without destroying healthy tissue. Existing methods of fighting the aggressive cells that form tumors wind up destroying essential blood and skin cells. Such a treatment to destroy or counteract the gene without harming healthy cells could be at least 10 years away, they caution. Each year, about 155,000 Americans are diagnosed with colorectal cancer and 50,000 die. Behind lung cancer, it's the second-leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the United States.

5/2/03
Mouse egg cells made from stem cells
(UPI) Mouse stem cells for the first time have been coaxed to develop into mouse egg cells in the lab, scientists reported Thursday. Prior experiments have revealed any cell can be cloned by plugging its nucleus into an emptied egg. The ability to develop eggs from stem cells therefore offers a new way to artificially clone heart, bone and other vital cells from humans while sidestepping the ethical concerns of harvesting eggs from women donors. "We could basically have an endless source for eggs that could then be used for therapeutic cloning," lead researcher Hans Scholer, a molecular biologist at the University of Pennsylvania at Kennett Square, told United Press International.

5/1/03
U.S. Company Tests Antidote for Anthrax
(Reuters) A San Diego-based company said on Wednesday it had engineered a human antibody that neutralizes anthrax toxin in rats and could protect people exposed to the sometimes deadly bacteria. "The potency this antibody exhibits is extremely high," Dr. Phillip Morrow, a researcher at Avanir Pharmaceuticals, said in a statement. "We are very encouraged by this data, and plan to develop this antibody for use as a prophylactic and therapeutic drug to prevent and treat anthrax infections." Avanir said its antibody, called VP-8C1, acted against the molecule that anthrax toxins use to get into cells. The company presented its findings at a vaccine meeting in Maryland and said it planned to test the antibody on guinea pigs next. Other groups are trying to design antitoxins that could be used as an antidote. Anthrax is caused by the Bacillus anthracis bacteria and can be treated by antibiotics if a patient is diagnosed immediately.

4/30/03
Gene Therapy Holds Promise for Impotency
(HealthScoutNews) Researchers think they may have found a way to help men avoid impotence caused by nerve damage, a risk faced by diabetics and those who have their prostate removed. While they haven't tried their approach on humans yet, the researchers say tests on rats suggest that a type of gene therapy may bring back the ability to have an erection. The treatment could make prostate removal more tolerable, says study co-author Dr. Michael Chancellor, a professor of urology at the University of Pittsburgh. "Many men are afraid of even screening for prostate cancer. They're afraid of finding it, and they're afraid of the treatment." The research was reported April 28 at the annual conference of the American Urological Association in Chicago.

4/29/03
Mouse mutation fights off cancer
(UPI) Scientists said Monday they have developed a strain of genetically altered mice able to successfully fight off virulent cancers, a development they hope will lead to new ways of staving off the disease in humans. Researchers discovered by accident a mouse that had a genetic mutation that enabled it to remain cancer-free even after injections of a cancer cell that normally causes rapid and widespread tumors in mice, Dr. Mark Willingham, a pathologist at Wake Forest University and a co-author of the study, told United Press International. Willingham's team used the mutant mouse to create a colony of about 700 mice that share the cancer-fighting mutation, which may help investigators develop treatments for the disease in humans, he said. The mutation -- which appears to be in a single, as yet unidentified gene -- causes a massive reaction of the mice's white blood cells to cancer cells. The white blood cells, a component of the mice's immune system which helps fight off infections, destroy the cancer cells but leave normal cells alone.

4/21/03
Gene therapy 'cured' diabetes in mice
(UPI) A new gene therapy has been found to temporarily cure mice of diabetes by triggering cells in the liver to produce insulin and other hormones, according to a new study released Sunday. Researchers led by Dr. Lawrence Chan, a professor of medicine and molecular and cellular biology and also the chief of the division of diabetes, endocrinology and metabolism at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Tex. said this new treatment offers a great deal of promise in managing a chronic illness that afflicts millions worldwide and is one of the most common diseases in the United States. "We have broken the barrier of the concept that you can turn one type of cells into another type of cells in the body," Chan told United Press International. "I think that's a pretty important proof of principle.

4/18/03
Ancient DNA May Unlock Life's Secrets
(AP) Ancient plant and animal DNA found in undisturbed soil sediment can be used to unlock secrets about life hundreds of thousands of years ago, researchers say. Scientists analyzing soil from Siberian permafrost and from caves in New Zealand said they found evidence of DNA from animals that died out thousands of years ago and from plants that lived about 400,000 years ago. Eske Willerslev of the University of Copenhagen, a co-author of the study appearing in the journal Science, said the study found that soil fragments the size of a sugar cube can contain large amounts of DNA from those ancient life forms. "You can obtain a lot of information about that extinct biota from just two grams of material," Willerslev said. Permafrost is excellent at preserving the ancient DNA, the researchers said, because it is constantly cold. The scientists identified DNA from 19 categories of plants and from eight kinds of animals, including the extinct mammoth and steppe bison. The animal DNA was thought to be up to about 30,000 years old.

4/17/03
Scientists Complete Human Genome Sequence
(UPI) Scientists on both side of the Atlantic reported Wednesday they have discovered the gene that causes Hutchinson-Gilford Progeria, a rare, fatal disorder that accelerates aging in children five to ten times faster than normal. The finding could have significant implications for more common age-related disorders, such as stroke and heart disease, because many Progeria victims die of cardiovascular illness during their teens. "The cause of Progeria has been found," Dr. Leslie Gordon, co-founder and medical director of the Progeria Research Foundation and the mother of a son with the disease, announced at a news conference in Washington. "This is an exciting and groundbreaking finding," she said. Finding the gene, Gordon said, "was like trying to find a needle in a haystack."

4/14/03
Scientists Complete Human Genome Sequence
(Reuters) Scientists have completed the finished sequence of the human genome, or genetic blueprint of life, which holds the keys to transforming medicine and understanding disease. Less than three years after finishing the working draft of the three billion letters that make up human DNA and two years earlier than expected, an international consortium of scientists said on Monday the set of instructions on how humans develop and function is done. "We put out the draft sequence as a way of getting it out to scientists as quickly as we could. It gives them something to work with and get going, but the aim was always to generate a reference sequence for the human genome," Dr Jane Rogers, head of sequencing at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, said.

4/11/03
Japan Closer to Bringing Cloned Meat to Market
(Reuters) The Japanese government says meat and milk products made from cloned cattle are safe for human consumption, moving the nation one step closer to becoming the world's first to allow such goods on the market. Japan's Health Ministry said in a report obtained by Reuters on Friday that no abnormalities had been found in meat or milk derived from cloning technology. But the report, based on a three-year study, also called for the creation of a system to deal with any problems that might crop up in future.

4/10/03
Scientists Euthanize Cloned Baby Banteng
(Reuters) One of a pair of cloned bantengs, a rare species of Asian cattle, has been euthanized because it was abnormally large, its creators said on Wednesday. The banteng calf was born twice the normal size, a common cause of death in cloned animals, said Dr. Robert Lanza of Massachusetts-based Advanced Cell Technologies. "The second animal we euthanized yesterday," Lanza said in a telephone interview. "A banteng should only be 40 pounds (20 kg). The first calf weighed 40 pounds (20 kg) but the second was 80 pounds (36 kg), almost twice what is normal." Despite this, the larger calf looked healthy at first. "It was snuggling and then it took a nosedive. The vets at the zoo decided for humane reasons that it should be euthanized," he said.

4/09/03
Cloned Sheep Dolly, Now Stuffed, Goes on Display
(Reuters) She was created by biotechnicians, debated by theologians and finally put to sleep by veterinarians. Now Dolly the sheep has been stuffed by taxidermists and put on display before the public. The stuffed remains of Dolly -- the first cloned adult mammal -- were unveiled on Wednesday at the Edinburgh International Science Festival. "She's looking great," said a spokeswoman for Edinburgh's Royal Museum where she now stands. "She's on all fours and her head is slightly tilted to one side." "She used to get a lot of human visitors," she added. "And that's the expression she always used to great them." Dolly's birth in July 1996 was kept secret for months while her creators checked her lineage, but the eventual announcement, in February 1997, sent shockwaves around the world. Now cloning of farm animals has become almost routine.

4/08/03
Collaborative Effort Yields Endangered Species Clone
(PR Newswire) Two banteng clones were born to Angus cows on April 1 and 3, 2003 as a result of a cross-continental collaboration involving the Zoological Society of San Diego, a Massachusetts laboratory and an Iowa embryo technology firm. The banteng is a wild bovine species from the forests of Southeast Asia and is closely related to the domesticated cow. The calves in Iowa are derived from cells of a male banteng who died at the San Diego Wild Animal Park in 1980 without producing offspring. The birth of these two youngsters represents an important scientific step towards developing techniques that increase the genetic population of endangered species.

3/26/03
Brain Tumour Research Gives Hope To Patients
(World Entertainment News Network) A team of researchers in Australia are one step closer to improving the treatment of brain tumours. For the past two years researchers have been developing a gene treatment to make tumours more sensitive to radiation therapy. Chief investigator Dr Teong Chuah says finding a cure is still a long way away, but this new research could give brain tumour patients a longer life expectancy. "Essentially when you're diagnosed with this tumour you have less than one year to live on average," he said. "By giving this new therapy, which is gene therapy, we can potentially prolong that time for more than one year. Even give a few more years to this patient's life, of which is otherwise very dismal."

3/20/03
Most Americans Favor Therapeutic Cloning
(United Press International) Nearly 70 percent of Americans favor allowing therapeutic cloning or the production of cells that might have the potential to treat disease and more than half want to ban reproductive cloning, a new survey released Wednesday reveals. The survey results came as the cloning debate heated up in the Senate, with the Judiciary Committee conducting a hearing to examine the difference between therapeutic and reproductive cloning. The Senate has yet to vote on the cloning issue but members of the House voted in February to ban both types of the procedure. Most scientists think therapeutic cloning can lead to treatments for various diseases, such as Parkinson's and diabetes, but it remains controversial because it requires the destruction of a human embryo -- a small ball of cells tinier than a grain of sand.

3/7/03
Key trigger of inflammation uncovered
(United Press International) Scientists said Thursday they discovered blocking a molecule thought to play a role in cancer could prevent inflammation from occurring in mice, a finding that could lead to treatments for tumors, arthritis and other autoimmune disorders. The researchers found knocking out the gene for a substance called HIP-1 -- which plays a role in activating the immune system -- stopped inflammation in its tracks, Randall Johnson, a molecular biologist at the University of California, San Diego, who headed the study, told United Press International. "If we do things to the animals to induce inflammation ... nothing happens," Johnson said. "They don't get arthritis, they don't get inflammation."

3/5/03
NIH Plans To Sequence Cow Genome
(United Press International) The National Institutes of Health revealed Tuesday it plans to begin sequencing the genome or the layout of the genes of the cow as early as September, a project officials said could lead to a better understanding of the genetic basis for human health and disease. "By comparing the human genome with the genomes of different organisms, we can better understand the structure and function of human genes and thereby develop new strategies in the battle against human disease," National Human Genome Research Institute Director Dr. Francis S. Collins said in a written statement. "The more genomes we have, the more powerful this tool becomes," Collins said.

3/4/03
Rabbit protein fights herpes in cells
(United Press International) A study released Monday reveals a germ-fighting protein made by rabbit immune cells can prevent genital herpes infections nearly 100 percent of the time in human and monkey cells. Researchers said they hope human versions of the anti-viral and anti-bacterial compound, known as a defensin, could help fight sexually transmitted infections such as HIV safely and effectively via gels that could be applied to the skin. "There's a lot of work before they're ready for clinical steps, but defensins as a group are very exciting because they're natural," researcher Betsy Herold, a virologist at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York, told United Press International.

2/26/03
Scientists identify blood stem cell
(United Press International) Scientists said Monday that they have for the first time discovered adult stem cells originating in the blood, a finding that could lead to an easily accessible source of cells to treat diseases. Adult stem cells have the ability to become other cells and tissue types in the body and thus have the potential to replace cells damaged by disease. Such stem cells also are found in the bone marrow but they can be difficult to obtain and some studies suggest they might not have the ability to turn into other tissue types. Scientists at the Biochip Technology Center at Argonne National Laboratory set out to find another source of these cells and made the surprising discovery that certain components of the blood had these properties, Eliezer Huberman, a cell biologist and principal author of the study, told United Press International.

2/24/03
Eli Lilly, 3M suspend trials of genital herpes treatment
(AFX News Limited) Eli Lilly and Co and Minnesota Mining & Manufacturing Co (3M) said they have suspended trials of their genital herpes treatment resiquimod on the grounds that the dosing used in the studies is not sufficiently effective. The preliminary data, from Phase III clinical trials, did not indicate any safety concerns with the drug, they said. The companies added they are assessing the results to determine whether to conduct additional studies of resiquimod, which would delay the planned regulatory submission from the original target of 2004. 3M said in a separate statement it will continue to support Lilly.

2/20/03
Genes linked to pain control
(UPI) A change to one simple "letter" of DNA in a brain-related gene can transform one's capability to control pain dramatically, neuroscientists reported Thursday. Such discoveries of the genetic underpinnings of the sensation called pain could help scientists develop better treatments for chronic conditions and stress-linked ailments such as depression and anxiety. "The whole idea behind this is as we (learn) the chemical systems behind regulating pain, we can do a better job of controlling pain more effectively," researcher Jon-Kar Zubieta, a neuroscientist at the University of Michigan, told United Press International. Zubieta and colleagues focused on pain-killing mechanisms in the brain rooted in the so-called mu-opioid system. "This is the system on which morphine and other opiates work," he explained. The mu-opioid system also is what the body targets with its own natural pain relievers, such as endorphins. The gene they analyzed encodes for an enzyme with the jaw-breaking name of catechol-O-methyl transferase, or COMT for short. The protein helps break down brain compounds such as dopamine, linked to stimuli such as pain, and noradrenaline, associated with alertness and responses to stress. The brain's ability to activate the mu-opiod system, as well as control pain and possibly other forms of stress, drops when dopamine is chronically overactive. In findings appearing in the Feb. 21 issue of the journal Science, Zubieta and his team reveal tiny genetic differences can alter significantly COMT's effectiveness at mopping up dopamine.

2/12/03
Global Warming Forces Red Squirrel To Change
(UPI) The red squirrel has changed its genetic make-up to cope with global warming, says University of Alberta researcher Stan Boutin. Organisms have shown flexibility to adapt to surroundings but Boutin says this is the first time it has been proven a species has responded genetically to cope with environmental forces. Boutin has been studying the North American red squirrel population in Canada's southwest Yukon for almost 15 years. Global warming has increased spring temperatures and food supply so the squirrels have moved up the timing of breeding by 18 days over the past 10 years, six days for each generation. Boutin and his colleagues used quantitative genetics -- common in agriculture but never before applied to a wild species -- to sort out how much of the squirrels' adaptation is due to individual response and how much is due to genetics.

2/10/03
Scientists Replace Stem Cell Genes
(The Washington Post) Scientists working with human embryonic stem cells have for the first time successfully spliced out individual genes from the medically promising but politically contentious cells and substituted different genes in their place. The work is a step toward the biomedical goal of being able to rebuild or regenerate parts of the human body by transplanting either stem cells or tissues grown from stem cells into patients, scientists said. Precise genetic changes in those formative human cells might enhance their therapeutic potential or make them more compatible with patients' immune systems. Some scientists suggested the success might someday make it unnecessary to pursue "therapeutic cloning," in which cloned embryos would be created as a source of therapeutic tissues that match the genetic signature of the patient.

2/5/03
Fruity Idea For A Cancer Cure
(World Entertainment News Network) Pineapple is the basis of a new cancer cure announced by Cambridge, England, scientists. City company Medical Marketing International says its laboratory tests using proteins extracted from pineapple have resulted in human cancer cells being killed. The possibility that pineapple could bear fruit in the fight against cancer was first reported in November 2002. Now that the tests have been completed in the lab, the pineapple drug will be tested on patients. Dr Janette Thomas says, "This independent validation of the anticancer activity of pineapple extracts is a clear endorsement of all the hard work put in by the team over the last year." MMI reported that its initial target for the pineapple drug would be ovarian cancer, but that it expected the drug to be effective against a range of solid tumours. At the time, David Best, MMI boss, said he did not want to raise hopes of a miracle cure being on the market "next week" and that there was a long way to go. This morning he said the drug could be generally available in three to five years. There are currently more than 12 million people in the western world suffering from cancer.

2/4/03
New discovery to help switch off diseases
(United Press International) In a landmark discovery, a team of Australian scientists said Monday they have created a three-dimensional map of a protein that seems to be involved in the development of several serious diseases such as cancer, osteoporosis and rheumatoid arthritis. The discovery, the scientists said, could lead to new drugs to help "switch off" these and other diseases, bringing relief to millions of sufferers worldwide. The research was led by Australia's Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization and the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research in Melbourne. "This is the first step in developing new ways to stop a disease in its tracks," the CSIRO's senior researcher, Kim Branson, told United Press International.

1/30/03
Witness Says Alleged Cloned Baby in Israel
(United Press International) The president of the unincorporated Raelian firm Clonaid said Wednesday the first baby ever cloned -- according to her -- was in Israel. A Fort Lauderdale, Fla., judge then ruled he had no jurisdiction in the case and that it would be up to Israeli authorities to make sure the baby, if it exists, is properly cared for. "I can tell you that this little girl is not in the United States, has never been in the United States. This baby was not born in the United States. This baby is in Israel," said Brigitte Boissilier under persistent questioning from Circuit Judge John Frusciante.

1/29/03
Proteins Appear to be Body's Own Antibiotics
(Nature Immunology) Body proteins once thought to aid the growth of blood vessels actually appear to be powerful antibiotics designed to repel harmful germs but leave helpful bacteria alone, report researchers at Washington University in St. Louis. In today's issue of the journal Nature Immunology, the researchers say these proteins are called into action by normal intestinal bacteria. The discovery could lead to a new class of synthetically made germ fighters that only work against harmful bacteria, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports. The intestinal bacteria, nicknamed B. theta, were fed to mice that previously had no intestinal bacteria. This led the mice to produce the germ-killing protein -- up to 11 times as much of the antibiotic was found in the mice as before they were fed the B. theta bacteria. As many as 1,000 different types of bacteria -- many of them beneficial to the digestive process -- are thought to live in the intestines, the researchers tell the Post-Dispatch. A common side effect of traditional antibiotics is that the medications kill the beneficial strains of bacteria, in addition to the harmful ones.

1/28/03
Parasites have billion-year-old plant DNA
(United Press International) An international team of scientists said Monday they have discovered parasites scourging the developing world bear plant-like genes acquired from algae. The new findings suggest herbicides could kill parasites infecting "people suffering from sleeping sickness in Africa, Chagas disease in South America and leishmaniasis in most tropical areas of the world," researcher Fred Opperdoes, a biochemist at the Christian de Duve Institute of Cellular Pathology, told United Press International.

1/24/03
Clonaid says new clone from dead baby
(USA TODAY) The group that says it produced the world's first cloned children says a third baby born Wednesday in Japan is a clone of a Japanese couple's 2-year-old son who died 18 months ago. None of the three alleged clonings has been independently verified. In a telephone interview from Toronto, Clonaid Director Brigitte Boisselier said the boy born Wednesday was carried by a surrogate because the real mother was 41 and there was concern that a miscarriage would be more likely because of her age. When the boy died, Clonaid took cells from his body, cultured them and used them to create the baby, Boisselier said. She did not say what the 2-year-old died from.

1/23/03
Tissue engineers create new heart stents
(United Press International) Scientists said Wednesday they have created tiny metal coils that can prevent common heart procedure complications such as those requiring Vice President Dick Cheney's hospitalization in 2001. The stainless steel coils, called stents, are coated with a layer of antibodies that attract a type of stem cells. The stem cells attach themselves to the stents and mature rapidly to become the smooth muscle cells that line the inside of blood vessels. The new lining promotes blood flow instead of impeding it, which often is a side effect of heart surgeries. "This is a pretty exciting new technique that holds promise for treatment of patients undergoing all kinds of heart procedures," said Dr. Barry Katzen, medical director of the Miami Cardiac and Vascular Institute and chairman of the International Symposium on Endovascular Therapy, where the new devices were discussed.

1/22/03
Gene therapy germ holds off amputations
(United Press International) Researchers said Tuesday they have created an artificial bacterium that allows gene therapy to speed healing in patients facing leg amputation due to festering wounds. The synthetic germ can penetrate normal cells, which then are infected with a gene that encourages the growth of blood vessels in patients whose circulation largely has been cut off due to various diseases. "When more blood gets to the wound, healing can occur more quickly," Dr. Anthony Comerota, director of the Jobst Vascular Center in Toledo, Ohio, told United Press International.

1/22/03
Enzyme may cause hardening of arteries
(United Press International) An enzyme found in the liver and intestines appears to play a critical role in the development of hardening of the arteries and could be a viable target for drugs to prevent it, researchers said Monday. Acyl CoA: cholesterol acyltransferease 2 or ACAT2 modifies cholesterol so it can circulate in the blood and be stored in the body. This also allows cholesterol to accumulate in the arteries, however, which can lead to hardening of the arteries or atherosclerosis -- a key risk factor for heart disease and heart attacks. The researchers knocked out the gene for ACAT2 in mice and found this "pretty much prevented hardening of the arteries," Lawrence Rudel, a study author and professor of pathology at Wake Forest University, told United Press International.

1/22/03
Breakthrough In Cancer Research
(World Entertainment News Network) Cancer scientists have made an important breakthrough in understanding how the disease spreads. Researchers at the University of Glasgow have discovered how a particular cancer molecule speeds up the growth of the disease. A report describes how the molecule, called Myc, accelerates the growth of dividing cancer cells. Cells have to grow to a certain size before they can split in two and they achieve this by producing protein. The researchers found that Myc boosted the work rate of RNA polymerase III, one of the cell's protein-producing molecules that fuels rapid cell division, also know as factory molecules.

1/21/03
U.S. Supreme Court Considering State Drug Discounts
(Associated Press) Passed in 2000, the law was originally designed for 300,000 state residents -- most without any insurance coverage. If prices didn't drop in three years, the state could impose price controls, reports the Associated Press. But a drug industry challenge has prevented the law from taking effect. The industry argues that the law violates provisions of the federal/state Medicaid program. According to the Center for Policy Alternatives in Washington, 28 states support Maine's bid to negotiate bulk drug rates, and a dozen states are poised to enact similar laws if the Maine legislation is upheld by the high court.

1/21/03
Glaxo wants to keep cheap drugs out of USA
(USA Today) Major drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline has given Canadian pharmacists until today to heed an ultimatum: Stop selling to Americans, or we'll stop selling to you. At issue is a mushrooming international trade in pharmaceuticals, as an increasing number of Americans buy products from countries where prices can be 20% to 80% lower than in the USA. Whether Glaxo follows through on the warning it sent early this month is being watched closely. Monday, Glaxo said talks are ongoing.

1/20/03
CDC anthrax study violated privacy regs
(United Press International) The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention violated federal regulations when it failed to notify postal workers potentially exposed to anthrax in the 2001 attacks that their confidential medical information would be included in a study, medical privacy experts and postal employees told United Press International. The CDC collected the personal information for a study on the side effects of the extensive course of antibiotics given to postal workers in Washington, Connecticut, New York and New Jersey to prevent anthrax infection. However, the postal workers told UPI they were never informed the information was being collected for a study. The CDC's failure to notify the workers is a serious infraction of federal regulations set up to protect medical research participants, experts on research protections told UPI. Due to the sensitive nature of medical information, researchers are required to inform subjects why the information is being collected and how their privacy will be protected.

1/17/03
New Cheese Lowers Cholesterol
(World Entertainment News Network) British supermarket Tesco have launched an alternative cheese that actually lowers cholesterol levels. The product looks, tastes and smells like normal cheddar but has a natural ingredient that prevents cholesterol from getting into the body. A study carried out in Scotland showed that eating just a small amount of the cheese every second day can cause cholesterol levels to fall by 20 per cent. "This seems to be the answer for people who love hard cheese but need to keep an eye on their cholesterol levels," said Tesco cheese expert Michael Seymour.

1/16/03
Scientists identify 400 fat genes
(United Press International) In the unabating battle of the bulge, geneticists using a cutting-edge genetic screening technique said Wednesday they have gotten the skinny on hundreds of fat regulators in an animal model for human obesity. The genetic weight watchers came to light in the first comprehensive survey to sift through an organism's entire set of genes in search of all those involved in determining the body's fat content. The identification of more than 400 suspects in the tiny roundworm Caenorhabditis elegans, which shares a substantial number of genes with humans and other mammals, has important implications for understanding -- and treating -- obesity, a potentially life-threatening condition affecting more than 300 million people worldwide, scientists said.

1/16/03
Tiny worm could help obesity research
(United Press International) Researchers said Tuesday they have discovered a genetic link between tiny worms and humans that could help solve the growing obesity problem. Jonathan Graff, lead author of the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center study that found the link, said the nematode worm will provide a much faster and more affordable model than mice or other larger organisms to study diabetes and obesity. "You can grow hundreds of thousands of the worms on a little plate," Graff told United Press International. Plus, they are easy to manipulate and reproduce quickly, he said.

1/13/03
Company Ordered to Produce 'Cloned' Baby
(Associated Press) The company that claimed last month to have produced the world's first cloned baby was ordered Saturday to disclose where the baby and her mother are. The Associated Press reports that Clonaid's vice president, Thomas Kaenig, was issued a subpoena just as he was about to address an audience in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. The subpoena came at the request of an attorney who has sued in an attempt to get a state guardian for the child, if she exists. The subpoena forces Clonaid to state the wherabouts of the family by Jan. 22, when a court hearing will be held, according to the AP. The company could be held in contempt of court if it fails to do so. Clonaid has ties to a religious sect that believes that aliens created life on Earth. On Dec. 27, it announced that it produced a girl cloned from her 31-year-old American mother. The company has never named the family or said where they are, and has since said the family refuses to take part in any tests out of fears of government intrusion.

1/9/03
Wyeth says US FDA approves postmenopausal hormone therapy products
(AFX News Limited) Wyeth Pharmaceuticals said it has received approval from the Food and Drug Administration for its post-menopausal hormone therapy products Prempro, Premphase, and Premarin. Wyeth said the approved labeling contains a boxed warning saying: "Estrogens with or without progestins should not be used for the prevention of cardiovascular disease." The prescribing information states that when prescribing solely for the prevention of post-menopausal osteoporosis, therapy should only be considered for women at significant risk and non-estrogen medications should be carefully considered.

1/9/03
Toxins pose grave threat in battle
(USA TODAY) In the most detailed look yet at the deadly biological weapons Iraq could unleash against an invasion by U.S. troops, a top Army scientist warned Wednesday that U.S. forces have little or no defense against some of Iraq's most lethal toxins. Col. Erik Henchal, chief of diagnostic systems at the Army's Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases at Fort Detrick, Md., said the most serious threat to U.S. forces would be an attack with botulinum toxin. The toxin, which Iraq experimented with after the 1991 Persian Gulf War, is the most deadly substance on Earth, according to the Journal of the American Medical Association. It kills by paralyzing its victims and rendering them unable to breathe.

1/8/03
AnGes MG gains approval for US clinical tests of gene drug
(AFX News Limited) AnGes MG Inc has received the US Food and Drug Administration's approval to conduct clinical tests on a gene therapy medicine through its US subsidiary, the Nihon Keizai Shimbun reported, without citing sources. The medical start-up specializing in developing gene-based drugs plans to begin second-phase clinical trials on a limited number of patients this spring, aiming to develop commercially viable products by 2007, it said. This is the first clinical testing of a gene therapy drug by a Japanese company in the US, it said.

1/8/03
Scientists find biological clock protein
(United Press International) The biological clock that keeps time for almost every activity within living creatures turns out to be a single protein, Purdue University researchers have reported. The finding likely will surprise scientists, Purdue Chemistry Professor James Morre said, because current opinion is the biological clock -- also known as the "circadian rhythm" -- results from a complicated network of biochemical interactions. "Probably 99 percent of the scientific community had given up on ever finding a single protein," Morre told United Press International. The research, by Morre, his wife Dorothy and colleagues, is reported in a recent issue of the journal Biochemistry, published by the American Chemical Society.

1/7/03
Safety of Transgenic Animals Doubted
(United Press International) Genetically engineered animals -- which could be in food markets by next year -- could pose hazards to human health and the environment, experts told United Press International Monday. The comments came as a panel of scientists convened by the government kicked off a three-day meeting to discuss the health risks of genetically modified plants and animals. "We don't know as much as we'd like to about potential unexpected changes that can occur in animals with genetic engineering," said Douglas Gurian-Sherman, science director for the biotechnology project at the Center for Science in the Public Interest in Washington.

1/7/03
Hormone Replacement Can Curb Diabetes
(United Press International) Hormone replacement therapy reduces the onset of type 2 diabetes in postmenopausal women with coronary disease, new research released Monday suggests. The research was part of the Heart and Estrogen/Progestin Replacement Study, a four-year effort involving 2,763 postmenopausal coronary disease patients who were tested at 20 facilities across the United States. As reported in the Jan. 6 issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine, of the women in the study, 160 developed diabetes over the four years, 98 who received placebo but only 62 who had received hormone therapy -- a 35-percent difference.

1/6/03
FDA Also OKs Asthma Drug for Hay Fever
(USDA) The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved the Merck asthma drug Singulair to treat seasonal hay fever, medically known as allergic rhinitis. The approval of the once-daily medication extends to children as young as two years of age. Unlike most anti-allergy medications that block a chemical called histamine, Singulair blocks leukotrienes, compounds that influence lung inflammation and allergic reactions. Singulair, which Merck says is now the most widely prescribed asthma controller among allergists and pediatricians in the United States, has been on the market since 1998. Some 26.1 million Americans suffer from hay fever and 14.6 million Americans have asthma, the American Lung Association says. Other estimates put the number of U.S. hay fever sufferers as high as 50 million. In clinical trials, Singulair was effective in treating hay fever symptoms, including nasal congestion, itchy nose and eyes, and sneezing. While it was not associated with sleepiness -- a common result of many antihistamines -- Singulair's most frequent side effects included headache, ear infection, sore throat and upper respiratory infection, Merck says.

1/6/03
Company Claims to Have Cloned Second Baby
(Associated Press) The company that stunned the world last week by claiming to have produced the first cloned baby says it has created a second human clone. But Clonaid, the company created by a one-time French journalist who leads a sect that believes visitors from outer space created life on earth, provided only sketchy details about the second alleged clone, the Associated Press reported. The parents are said to be a lesbian couple from the Netherlands, and the baby was supposedly born Friday night, a Clonaid spokeswoman said. The clone was created from DNA from one of the women, the spokeswoman said, but she declined to offer few additional details, including the baby's gender and name, the AP said. Scientists are skeptical of Clonaid's claims that its scientists have produced cloned humans. Brigitte Boisselier, chief executive of Clonaid, said the first clone was born to a 31-year-old American woman and was named "Eve." Boisselier initially said the woman and her husband had agreed to genetic testing to prove the infant had been cloned from her mother.

1/3/03
Sex and scents closely linked in brain
(United Press International) An international team of scientists reported Thursday that romance and scent could be more closely linked in the brain than previously thought. New research shows mice having sex, conceiving their young and giving birth experience hormonal surges that can double the number of new cells in the brain region devoted to smell. "We're not suggesting that any sort of mating behavior is going to augment brain power," neuroscientist Sam Weiss of the University of Calgary told United Press International. However, he added, investigators plan to experiment with the naturally occurring hormone prolactin as a possible therapy to increase or augment brain cell regeneration "to improve recovery after stroke."

1/2/03
Chromosome 14 sequence completed
(United Press International) French researchers said Wednesday they have completed the sequencing of human chromosome 14, which contains genes that are thought to be critical to the immune system as well as several important diseases. In all, the researchers identified about 1,050 genes and gene fragments within chromosome 14, more than 60 of which other studies have found are responsible for such conditions as early onset Alzheimer's disease, a severe form of Usher's syndrome and cardiovascular disease. Of the genes associated with immune system, one encodes a type of T-cell receptor, a protein that activates immune system cells in response to a threat such as from a virus. Another encodes the immunoglobulin heavy chain, a portion of the protein that forms antibodies, which help the immune system fight off disease.

1/2/03
Breast density boosted by hormones
(United Press International) Combining hormones used in hormone-replacement therapy can increase the density of a woman's breast tissue, which can make detecting tumors more difficult, a study released Tuesday suggests. Researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles, School of Medicine came to that conclusion after studying mammograms of 571 women enrolled in the Postmenopausal Estrogen/Progestin Interventions Trial, a randomized clinical trial investigating the effects of various hormone replacement treatments. Some of the women took only estrogen therapy, some took a combination of estrogen and progestin and some took only a placebo.

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