The SCIENCE-NEWS List
A Weekly Digest of Science News
May 8, 1997
---------------------------------------------
"We may or may not be majestic as a species,
but if one considers an astronomer sitting alone
on a cold night at a telescope on a mountain top,
one must conclude we are certainly obsessed with
knowing what and where we are."
---------------------------------------------
Reported in This Issue:
WHO Cites Worldwide Increase in Human Longevity
Russian Death Rate Rising While Births Decline
Company Obtains Patent for Skin Cancer Melanoma Gene
Synthesis of a New Polymer That Lowers Blood Cholesterol
Chemist Cites Crisis in Distribution of Scientific Information
National Academy Member Revisits NAS Rejection of Carl Sagan
Novel Patterns of Cancer in AIDS Patients
New Calculation of Hubble Constant Appears to Resolve Paradox
Viral Sabotage Confuses the Human Immune System
Clock Genes: Link Between Responses to Light and Circadian Rhythms
---------------------------------------------
WHO CITES WORLDWIDE INCREASE IN HUMAN LONGEVITY
The United Nations World Health Organization reports that
average life expectancy is now 64 years in developing countries
and 80 years in some industrialized nations, with the overall
population of people older than 65 likely to grow by 82 per cent
in the next 25 years, compared with 46 per cent in the working
age population, and only 3 per cent in newborns. The WHO 1997
report also details the increased incidence in developing
countries of diseases usually associated with the industrialized
nations: heart disease, stroke, and cancer.
(Chicago Tribune 5 May)
RUSSIAN DEATH RATE RISING WHILE BIRTHS DECLINE
Recent studies indicate Russia is facing a demographic crisis
due to a rising death rate and falling birth rate. It appears
that Russian demographic indicators have dropped from those of a
developed country to those of so-called Third World countries.
Deaths in 1995 increased to 2.2 million from 1.4 million in
1989, while births in 1995 declined to 1.4 million from 2.2
million in 1989. A recent report of an advisory board to Boris
Yeltsin states that in 1995 Russia's death rate was higher than
in any European or North or South American country, and higher
than in most Asian and African states, while in 1989 death rates
were at the average European level. (Chicago Tribune 5 May)
COMPANY OBTAINS PATENT FOR SKIN CANCER MELANOMA GENE
Under present U.S. and European patent law it is possible to
obtain a patent on a human gene in the same manner as one
obtains a patent on a chemical compound. Myriad Genetics, the
Salt Lake City company that has two patents pending for breast
cancer genes (BRC-1 and BRCA-2), has now received a patent for
the gene it claims causes melanoma (Multiple Tumor Suppressor 1
or MTS1), and for the method of testing for the presence of that
gene in humans. Lisa Cannon-Albright, a University of Utah
geneticist, Mark Skolnik, a Myriad geneticist, and Alexander
Kamb, a Myriad molecular biologist are listed as the inventors.
(New York Times 5 May)
SYNTHESIS OF A NEW POLYMER THAT LOWERS BLOOD CHOLESTEROL
Ordinary cholesterol-lowering drugs either interfere directly
with cholesterol metabolism or introduce changes in the
sequestration of cholesterol in the blood. A Massachussetts
company, Geltex Pharmaceuticals Inc., has now patented a polymer
compound it claims can be taken orally to draw cholesterol out
of the bloodstream. The polymer, which is not absorbed into the
bloodstream, sequesters cholesterol in the gastrointestinal
tract, preventing exogenous or endogenous cholesterol from being
absorbed. In high-blood-cholesterol patients, the liver is thus
induced to use more available cholesterol to make bile acids
with a resultant lowering in blood cholesterol. The bile acids
are sent to the intestine, where their cholesterol is
sequestered by the polymer and prevented from returning to the
bloodstream. Three Geltex scientists, W. Harry Mandeville, S.
Randall Holmes-Farley, and John S. Petersen received the patent.
(New York Times 5 May)
CHEMIST CITES CRISIS IN DISTRIBUTION OF SCIENTIFIC INFORMATION
Alexandru T. Balaban, Professor of Organic Chemistry at the
University of Bucharest, argues that current methods of
distributing scientific information have caused critical
hardship to research workers in most countries of the world. In
Romania, for example, the only complete collection of *Chemical
Abstracts* exists in the capital city, Bucharest, although
universities and chemical research institutes are located in
five other cities. Balaban cites the paradox: Quality scientific
information is being produced, but only a tiny fraction of the
potential users can afford to buy and use this information. For
example, the Houben-Weyl *Methoden der organischen Chemie*,
important for any research in chemical synthesis, has more than
50 volumes with each volume priced at approxiamtely $2000.
Recent volumes are practically unavailable, and many libraries
have stopped subscribing to the well-known Gmelin and Beilstein
series as well. Balaban concludes that a completely new approach
to the dissemination of scientific information is badly needed,
perhaps an approach utilizing the current interconnections
available via the Internet. (American Scientist June 1997)
NATIONAL ACADEMY MEMBER REVISITS NAS REJECTION OF CARL SAGAN
Jared Diamond, a member of the U.S. National Academy of
Sciences, an elected honorary society and advisory group to the
U.S. Government, discusses the hostility of most scientists to
colleagues who popularize science, an apparent paradox, since
most scientists recognize the need to keep the public informed
about science. Diamond considers in detail the problem of the
rejection of recently deceased Carl Sagan by the Academy several
years ago. Although Sagan's research was considered important
enough so that he was nominated in the first place, his
nomination was challenged on the floor, and the two-thirds
majority required following such a challenge could not be
obtained. Diamond states his belief that Sagan was rejected
because of his efforts to popularize science, and that young
scientists have been therefore warned they risk ruining their
careers if they spend time communicating science to the general
public. (Discover May 1997)
NOVEL PATTERNS OF CANCER IN AIDS PATIENTS
It is perhaps to be expected that any disease or therapy that
interferes with the operation of the human immune system will
produce new spectra of associated diseases. At a recent
international meeting devoted to AIDS and cancer, held in
Bethesda MD, and sponsored by the U.S. National Cancer
Institute, studies were reported that show an increasing
incidence of various types of cancers in people infected with
the HIV virus that causes AIDS. The classic cancers associated
with AIDS are Kaposi's Sarcoma (skin and internal organs),
non-Hodgkins lymphoma (lymph system), squamous cell of the
conjunctiva of the eye, and in situ carcinomas of the cervix and
and anus. Now three other cancers are appearing in AIDS
patients: Hodgkin's disease (lymph system), plasmocytoma (blood
system), and leiomyosarcoma (muscle), and studies have also
suggested increases in the incidence of lung, lip, testicular,
and other cancers. One critical question is whether the
increased incidence of these HIV-associated cancers is due to
the effects of HIV on the immune system or to the affects of the
chemotherapeutic regimes on the immune system and/or other
systems. That question remains to be settled. Another puzzle is
that the new cancers associated with AIDS apparently differ in
different geographical regions, some cancers appearing in the
U.S. and Europe and not in Africa, and vice versa. The important
consideration is that studies of AIDS, cancer, and immunology
are fast coalescing into a unitary research entity.
(New York Times 6 May)
NEW CALCULATION OF HUBBLE CONSTANT APPEARS TO RESOLVE PARADOX
There has been a recent puzzle concerning the apparent age of
the universe and the apparent age of the oldest stars. Recent
data have suggested the universe is younger than the oldest
stars by a few billion years, which of course produces a
paradox. Now Simon Goodwin and John Gribbin at Sussex, working
with Martin Hendry in Glasgow, have devised and applied a new
method for estimating the age of the universe that apparently
resolves the paradox. The key to establishing the age of the
universe is the numerical value of the Hubble Constant (H). What
Goodwin, Gribbin, and Hendry have done is to deduce the value of
the Hubble Constant that must obtain if the average sizes of a
number of galaxies are to be statistically in harmony with the
average known sizes of other nearby galaxies whose distances are
now measurable with the Hubble Space Telescope. Once its distance is
known, the size of a galaxy can be measured by red shift analysis. The
new deduced result for the Hubble Constant puts the age of the
universe at 13 billion years, and since the latest data for the oldest
stars indicates their age at 12 billion years, the stellar
chronological paradox is apparently resolved. (Communicated by
jgribbin@biols.susx.ac.uk 7 May)
VIRAL SABOTAGE CONFUSES THE HUMAN IMMUNE SYSTEM
Elucidation of the methods of combat in the ongoing war between
viruses and cells is one of the more fascinating areas of
biological research. Certain viruses have been shown to harpoon
cells with proteins to facilitate translocation of the virus
into the cell interior. Now there is evidence that once inside
the cell, viruses can take control of the protein synthetic
machinery responsible for putting out protein marker posts on
the cell surface that tell immune system cells whether the cell
has been invaded. By sabotaging the marker post production, the
invading virus controls the type of marker posts produced and
fools the immune system into believing the cell intact and
without pathogen visitors. The immune system does not destroy
such cells, and the virus is allowed to continue its
intracellular replication. (New York Times 6 May)
CLOCK GENES: LINK BETWEEN RESPONSES TO LIGHT AND CIRCADIAN RHYTHMS
Many organisms exhibit daily (circadian) rhythms, cyclical variations
in various bodily functions, metabolisms, etc., even in constant light
or constant darkness. Such biological clocks are most easily studied
in simple organisms. Now Susan K. Crosthwaite, et al, of the
Department of Biochemistry, Dartmouth Medical School, Hanover NH, have
shown that certain clock genes in the fungus Neurospora are also
involved in the production of proteins necessary for the organism's
response to light, suggesting that circadian oscillators in more
complex organisms evolved from light-regulated pathways in simpler
organisms. (Science 2 May)
---------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------
NOTICES
---------------------------------------------
Announcement: SIS Cambridge Conference July 11 - 13, 1997
NATURAL CATASTROPHES DURING BRONZE AGE CIVILISATIONS:
ARCHAEOLOGICAL, GEOLOGICAL, ASTRONOMICAL AND CULTURAL PERSPECTIVES
Fitzwilliam College. Cambridge University, UK contact:
B.J.Peiser@livjm.ac.uk ---------------------------------------------
Science http://www.sciencemag.org
--------------------------------------------- Endnote Bibliography
Software http://www.niles.com
--------------------------------------------- Genentech Inc.
http://www.gene.com ---------------------------------------------
Scientific American http://www.sciam.com
--------------------------------------------- U.S. National Institutes
of Health http://www.nih.gov
--------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------
All queries to Claire Haller <prismx@earthlink.net>
We welcome comments and criticisms. We also welcome brief
reports of new research, or of any new developments in science,
or of future conferences that might be of interest to the
subscribers to this list.
Composed by the staff of Prism Express
prismx@earthlink.net
Copyright (c) 1997 Prism Express
All Rights Reserved
---------------------------------------------
To subscribe to the SCIENCE-NEWS List, send Email to
prismx@earthlink.net with the following in the
BODY of the message: SUB SCIENCE-NEWS
---------------------------------------------
To be removed from the SCIENCE-NEWS List, send Email to
prismx@earthlink.net with the following in the
BODY of the message: REMOVE SCIENCE-NEWS
---------------------------------------------