Science & Technology
Scientific Research Archive
REMOVING BARRIERS TO RESPONSIBLE SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH INVOLVING HUMAN STEM CELLS.
Executive Order, The White House. March 9, 2009.
Full Text: [HTML format]
The
purpose of the order is to remove limitations on scientific inquiry, to
expand National Institute of Health support for the exploration of
human stem cell research, and in so doing to enhance the contribution
of America's scientists to important new discoveries and new therapies
for the benefit of humankind.
[Note: contains copyrighted material]
AA09039
Goetz, Thomas CANCER AND THE NEW SCIENCE OF EARLY DETECTION. Wired, Vol. 17, no. 1, January 2009, pp. 80-89,121-122
Full Text: [HTML format, 13 pages]
Early
detection of cancer, an afterthought by the cancer research community,
is slowly being proven to be a crucial step to save many lives affected
by the disease, writes the author, deputy editor of the WIRED magazine
and health blogger at decisiontree.com. The Canary Foundation, founded
by Don Listwin, is the only organization of its kind in the cancer
research field, with the goal to find by 2015 a series of screening
techniques that can be widely used across the world in detecting cancer
in its early stages, giving patients a 90% chance of survival. The
foundation's realization that "data instead of drugs should be used to
reveal a cancer before a cancer reveals itself" is driving the work of
some of the nation's best medical researchers, who are assigned to
various teams to concentrate on a specific type of cancer. Among the
advances they have made are the use of proteomics and biomarkers, and
creating a systematic screening process for tumors with an ultrasound
versus a CT scan, which can be more harmful than good.
AA09024
Peter B. Kelemen The Origin of the Ocean Floor, Scientific American, February 2009,
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The deep basins under the oceans are carpeted with lava that spewed from submarine volcanoes and solidified. Scientists have solved the mystery of how all that lava reaches the seafloor -- eighty-five percent of Earth's volcanic eruptions occur deep underwater along mid-ocean ridges. Lava ejected from those narrow chains of seafloor volcanoes produce the rocky underpinnings of all oceans. Until recently, no one understood how the molten lava rises up into the ridges. Scientists now think they have deciphered the process, beginning with the formation of microscopic droplets of liquid rock in regions up to 150 kilometers deep.
LAUNCHING THE 21ST CENTURY AMERICAN AEROSPACE WORKFORCE.
Aerospace Industries Association. December 2008.
[PDF format, 44 pages]
The report promotes the need to convince more students to study math and science and makes proposals to senior policy makers to improve those education disciplines. It documents steps the industry is taking to head off a potential workforce crisis and makes nine policy recommendations to government partners..
[Note: contains copyrighted material]
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Zimmer, Carl SEARCHING FOR INTELLIGENCE IN OUR GENES Scientific American , October 2008
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IQ is easy to measure and reflects something real. But scientists hunting among human genes for the factors that shape intelligence are discovering they are more elusive than expected. Researchers have powerful new technologies to probe genes and the brain, looking for the basis of intelligence differences among individuals. Their work is providing a new understanding of what intelligence is, while revealing unanticipated complexity in the interplay between genes and environment. The more scientists learn about the role of genes in intelligence, the more mysterious it becomes, but the quest is still worth pursuing.
THE AGGLOMERATION OF US ETHNIC INVENTORS.
Harvard Business School. William R. Kerr. Web posted August 14, 2008.
Full Text: [PDF format, 41 pages]
The ethnic composition of U.S. inventors is undergoing a significant transformation. The study applies an ethnic name database to individual U.S. patent records to explore these trends with greater detail. The contributions of Chinese and Indian scientists and engineers to US technology formation increase dramatically in the 1990s. At the same time, these ethnic inventors became more spatially concentrated across U.S. cities. The combination of these two factors helps stop and reverse long-term declines in overall inventor agglomeration evident in the 1970s and 1980s.
[Note: contains copyrighted material]
AA08169
HOOKED FROM THE FIRST CIGARETTE
Difranza, Joseph R. Scientific American, Vol. 298, No. 5, May 2008, pp. 82-87
Available from the publishers
New research has overturned the traditional assumption that cigarette addiction takes years to develop. Studies of adolescent smokers show that symptoms of addiction, such as withdrawal, craving for cigarettes and failed attempts at quitting, can appear within the first weeks of smoking. To account for these findings, the author and his colleagues developed a new theory that the brain quickly develops adaptations that counter the effects of nicotine. The adaptations lead to withdrawal symptoms when the effects of nicotine wear off. The results highlight the importance of boosting funding for antismoking campaigns, particularly those aimed at youngsters.
U.S. COMPETITIVENESS IN SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
By Titus Galama, James Hosek, RAND Corporation, June 12, 2008
Full text [pdf format, 189 pages]
An inflow of foreign students in the sciences -- as well as scientists and engineers from overseas -- has helped the United States build and maintain its worldwide lead, even as many other nations increase their spending on research and development. Continuing this flow of foreign-born talent is critical to helping the United States maintain its lead, according to the study.
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FORGET JAWS, NOW IT’S... BRAINS!
Raffaele, Paul; Bensen, Amanda. Smithsonian, vol. 39, no. 3, June 2008, pp. 36-43
Available online
The image of the great white shark as a mindless killing and eating machine may have been a great box office draw for the 1975 film JAWS, but it was bad science, report the authors. His story focuses largely on the Shark Research Centre of the Iziko South African Museum, where scientists are finding that the creatures are socially sophisticated, curious, and smart. Contrary to the image that the shark is a lone predator, centre researchers have observed forms of social behavior which demonstrate cooperation and intelligence. While swimmer reports of shark attacks may paralyze beach-goers, the researchers consider the number of actual attacks quite low. They also say that some reports are not actual attacks, which the would-be victims would not have survived, but expressions of curiosity on the part of the shark. The irony is that the Shark Research Centre’s director was a consultant to the 1975 Spielberg film; Leonard Compagno reflects now that he did not anticipate the degree to which the film would frighten audiences and create the impression that the great white is a human hunter.
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Adler, Jerry THINKING LIKE A MONKEY Smithsonian, vol. 38, no. 10, January 2008, pp. 58-62
Full Text: [Available from publisher's website]
Yale University psychologist Laurie Santos is conducting research among a population of monkeys on a small island off the coast of Puerto Rico, to determine their capabilities for complex and abstract thought, by conducting a variety of experiments involving food. Adler describes one experiment, in which Santos tries to ascertain the monkeys' capability to recognize that another individual may be mistaken. Her observations are not conclusive as the experiment is described in these pages, but Santos' work is bringing her closer to understanding the vastness of the gap between the thought processes of humans and monkeys despite their shared status as primates. "The more you hang out with the monkeys," she tells Adler, "the more you realize just how special people really are."
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Groopman, Jerome BUYING A CURE New Yorker, vol. 83, no. 45, January 28, 2008, pp. 38-43
Full text available from your nearest American Library
In 1998, when Kathy Giusti created the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation, a charitable organization dedicated to the lethal blood cancer, she realized that in order to accelerate the development of new myeloma drugs, she needed to foster greater collaboration between researchers at different academic institutions. In 2002, she decided to assemble a consortium of scientists who would be required to submit their research proposals to a steering committee for approval, and to publish their results jointly. In exchange, the scientists would receive access to a tissue bank of myeloma blood cells and bone marrow, as well as administrative and organizational support for lab tests and clinical trials. The consortium now has thirteen members, and at least two more institutions are expected to join this year. Most medical charities have traditionally focused on increasing public awareness and on raising money to distribute to researchers, in the hope that some of the work will lead to a new drug or a cure. The author notes that, since Giusti established her foundation, medical philanthropies that apply business principles to their work have become increasingly common.
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Fink, Sheri THE SCIENCE OF DOING GOOD (Scientific American, Vol. 297, No. 5, November 2007, pp. 98-106)
Full text available from your nearest American Library
The author, a medical doctor who has worked on humanitarian aid missions in several countries, explores the application of new technologies to such missions. She examines using computer databases, global satellite mapping, DNA-analysis, wireless communication and other techniques to better define the scope of disasters and organize relief efforts. Systematic survey methods document more fully refugee and civilian casualties of violent conflicts, while epidemiological surveys led to the practice of vaccinating children in refugee camps against measles, because the disease spreads rapidly and is often fatal among displaced people. Fast-evolving refugee crises challenge the effective use of these tools, while relief organizations continue to develop ways to assess the performance of their programs. The author notes that scientific tools and information from them will continue to improve aid missions, although addressing the needs of vulnerable populations before disasters strike should be the most importantobjective.
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Serafini, Marilyn RAPIDLY SPREADING THREATS National Journal, Vol. 39, no. 27, July 7, 2007, p. 22-26
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Dangerous diseases such as dengue fever and malaria are spreading beyond their traditional territories and into higher elevations. Some scientists list global warming as an important factor and predict that the situation could get worse in the coming decades. As climate change expands the reach of such "tropical" illnesses, the author says, some pharmaceutical companies and government agencies are starting to pay attention.
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Serafini, Marilyn RAPIDLY SPREADING THREATS National Journal, Vol. 39, no. 27, July 7, 2007, p. 22-26
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Dangerous diseases such as dengue fever and malaria are spreading beyond their traditional territories and into higher elevations. Some scientists list global warming as an important factor and predict that the situation could get worse in the coming decades. As climate change expands the reach of such "tropical" illnesses, the author says, some pharmaceutical companies and government agencies are starting to pay attention.
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Gawande, Atul THE WAY WE AGE NOW. The New Yorker, April 30, 2007, pp. 50 - 59
Full text
"Why we age is the subject of vigorous debate." So writes Atul Gawande in this insightful look at the science and health care of aging today. One leading researcher believes "that human beings fail like all complex systems fail: randomly and gradually." And like complicated machinery, human beings are built with backup systems and intentional redundancies. But over time the backup systems fail too, and, as a leading geriatrician puts it, "we just fall apart." The article outlines how longevity in the United States has increased rapidly over the past decades, but argues that "Americans haven't come to grips with the new demography." The medical profession, focused on curing a given disease or using a new technology, doesn't know how to help old people stay healthy and continue to lead independent lives. An elderly person's greatest health risk might not be a given medical problem such as cancer or back pain, but simply falling down and breaking a hip. The article concludes with a new strategy called Guided Care that teaches nurses to recognize health issues to the elderly that include depression, malnutrition, isolation, and the danger of falling, and how to help families plan ways to prevent or remedy these simple but life-threatening risks of aging.
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Bains, Sunny. MIXED FEELINGS
(Wired, April 2007, pp. 152-55, 172)
Full text available from your nearest American Library
Scientists are working to better understand the interrelationship between what the human senses perceive and how the brain processes that data so that an individual might see with the tongue or navigate with the skin. They are exploring the concept of neuroplasticity, the brain's apparent ability to form new synapses and remap itself when one sensory input is closed or damaged. The writer describes her experience with an experimental gadget that helps explore the theory. She dons goggles which blind her, but are equipped with a camera to serve as her eyes. The camera is wired to a sensor that goes in her mouth and conveys electrical impulses of the images the camera is collecting in the room. She writes, "Using nothing but the mouthpiece on my tongue, I could walk all around the office, dodging walls and desks." The technology has obvious potential to assist the disabled, but one near-term capability could help prevent air crashes. Pilot disorientation, loss of the sense of up and down, is a frequent cause of crashes, especially at night. One researcher in this field has produced a vest which conveys electrical impulses to the body in sync with the plane's movement. A bank to the right will send a vibration up the right wrist, engaging more and more of the arm and shoulder as the bank steepens, and abating as the plane levels off.
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Willoughby, Rodney E., Jr. A CURE FOR RABIES?
(Scientific American, Vol. 296, No. 4, April 2007, pp. 88-95)
Full text available from your nearest American Library
Rabies infection from animal bites causes about 55,000 deaths worldwide each year according to the World Health Organization. Without prompt treatment with vaccines and antibodies shortly after exposure to the virus, rabies symptoms appear within a few months and death occurs soon thereafter. The author, a physician, describes the unique treatment he developed in 2004, the Milwaukee protocol, to save the life of a teenager who did not seek medical treatment for almost a month after being bitten by a rabid bat. Putting the patient into a week-long coma, he used drugs to prevent the virus from attacking brain cells and causing other vital organs such as the heart or lungs to fail, while her immune system produced antibodies against the virus. Although paralyzed after the coma, the patient recovered after several months of rehabilitation and returned to a normal life, becoming the first known unimmunized survivor of rabies. Other physicians have not had success using the protocol, so Willoughby suggests that studies applying the protocol to rabid animals would help determine its effectiveness. Ultimately, it could become a practical treatment in developing countries where rabies occurs most.
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SPICE HEALER Stix, Gary Scientific American, vol. 296, no. 2, February 2007, pp. 66-69
Full text available from your nearest American Library
Turmeric, a spice from an Asian plant, has been used for thousands of years in the Ayurvedic system of medicine for wound healing, blood cleansing and stomach ailments. The biologically active components of turmeric -- curcumin and curcuminoids -- have antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antiviral, antibacterial and antifungal properties and are being investigated for activity against cancer, diabetes, arthritis, Alzheimer's disease and other chronic illnesses. Some investigators suggest the compounds, which offer many possible benefits with apparent low toxicity, could be used as effective treatments and low-cost preventive medications. Studies on cancerous or damaged cells have produced conflicting results, however; in some, curcumin interfered with the cell's defensive mechanism and allowed the cells to continue growing. Most studies involving other diseases are in test-tube or small-animal trials. Well-controlled, large-scale clinical trials are still needed to determine curcumin's effectiveness against these illnesses.
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CANCER CLUES FROM PET DOGS Waters, David J.; Wildasin, Kathleen Scientific American, vol. 295, no. 6, December 2006, pp. 94-101
Full text available from your nearest American Library
Dogs often develop bone, prostrate or breast cancer which spreads to other parts of their bodies in ways similar to the progression of cancer in humans. Thus, pet dogs can serve as models for human cancer, and comparative oncologists are using dogs with naturally occurring cancers to study detection, prevention and treatment, including surgery and drug therapy. Treatments developed using dogs have significantly improved the cure rate of teenagers suffering from the bone cancer osteosarcoma. Pet dogs can raise awareness of cancer-causing chemicals in homes and yards if they develop cancers from such exposure years before the disease might develop in people, allowing time for remediation of the risk and monitoring for disease development. Dogs over 10 years of age have reduced mortality from cancer, which may offer clues to the genetic basis for cancer resistance in people over 100 years of age. Walters is professor of comparative oncology at Purdue University; Wildasin is a medical and science writer.
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Pink, Daniel H. WHAT KIND OF GENIUS ARE YOU? (Wired, July 2006, pp. 148-153)
Full text available from your nearest IRC
University of Chicago Economics Professor David Galenson has developed a new theory that reveals the source code of the creative mind. He has spent decades in this research, and in so doing, providing living evidence of his own theory. Galenson has studied the lives and output of scores of great creative minds in many fields and found that genius comes in two forms -- conceptualism and experimentalism. Conceptualists make bold, dramatic leaps in their disciplines, and most do their breakthrough when they are young. Herman Melville and Orson Welles are examples. The experimental innovators proceed by a lifetime of trial and error and do much of their important work in their later years. Artists like Alfred Hitchcock and Mark Twain personify this creative style. The contrasting careers of painters Picasso and Cezanne also demonstrate the theory. Picasso worked well into his 90s, but the paintings he produced before he was 30 are those most widely recognized. Cezanne worked for decades to perfect his technique and the paintings he produced in the last years before his death at 67 are those most valued by the art world today.
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Rotman, David THE FOUNTAIN OF HEALTH (Technology Review, vol. 1089, no. 1, March/April 2006, pg. 72-75)
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Antiaging researchers aren't likely to find ways to extend life anytime soon. But their work could provide a powerful approach to treating the many diseases of old age. There is evidence, for example, that calorie restriction -- which extends the lifespans of rodents -- affects the molecular and genetic events that govern aging and the diseases of aging. And researchers are already using insights gained from studies of aging and the effects of calorie restriction to search for new drugs to treat such diseases as cardiovascular disease, Alzheimer's, type 2 diabetes, and cancer, all of which rise exponentially with age. Some biologists are working to develop a drug that mimics the molecular effects of calorie restriction -- a regime that's too demanding for many people to follow. At least two companies -- Elixir Pharmaceuticals and Sirtris, both in Massachusetts -- have been founded to discover drugs for age-related diseases using core technologies built around antiaging genes.
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Halpern, Sue. THE GENE HUNTERS. (New Yorker, December 12, 2005, pp. 84-91)
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As the population ages, the incidence of Alzheimer's disease is expected to double in 25 years. Although research has identified some of the disease risk factors, the reasons why normal protein becomes toxic to nerve cells remain elusive. The article describes the efforts of a multinational team based at Columbia University to compile the world's most comprehensive genetic library of families with the disease. Representing the disciplines of neurology, particle physics, epidemiology, and computer modeling, the team collects, analyzes, and stores genetic data they have gathered from family groups affected by Alzheimer's. Through their ongoing research and by making the information accessible to other researchers, the team hopes to find solutions to this genetic puzzle.
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Davis, Don C. FAITH FOR THE FUTURE: UPDATING RELIGIOUS PARAGIDMS FOR THE INFOTECH AGE (Futurist, vol. 39, no. 5, September-October 2005, pp. 51-54)
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Science and technology have allowed us to discover many mysteries about why things are as they are in our world, in contrast to ancient peoples who explain the inexplicable with tales of conflict and struggle amongst their gods. The author, a United Methodist minister, argues that the our ancestors' image of God is no longer appropriate. "It is hard to believe in a God with humanlike characteristics and headquarters somewhere in heaven, from which he runs this incredible micro and macro phenomenon of existence." Davis suggests "paradigm shifts" in our thinking of God, to become a way of talking about the phenomenon of existence, and the ongoing dynamic of creation. Revising the notion of God, he writes, allows humanity to use science, technology and religion "to direct the future toward fulfilling our potential for a noble humanity."
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FORTHCOMING SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY TITLES, 2005 (Choice, vol. 42, no. 9, May 2005, pp. 1523-1539)
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This feature contains a comprehensive list of books on science and technology scheduled for publication beginning in January 2005, with a focus on titles that support undergraduate-level academic curricula. The fields represented include agriculture, astronomy, biology, botany, zoology, chemistry, earth sciences, engineering, environment, health, information technology, mathematics, physics, sports and psychology.
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Johnson, Steven YOUR BRAIN ON VIDEO GAMES: COULD THEY ACTUALLY BE GOOD FOR YOU? (Discover, Vol. 26, No. 7, July 2005, pp. 38-43)
Full text available from your nearest IRC
The author cites James Gee, a professor of learning science who recalls being "humbled" when he found it difficult to play a video game that he'd purchased for his preschooler; Gee began to study the effects of video games on cognitive skills. The stereotype of gamers is as attention-deficit junkies, easily distracted by flashy graphics and on-screen carnage. However, he and others studying video-game playing were surprised to find cognitive benefits: pattern recognition, systemic thinking, even patience. The studies suggest that "gaming can exercise the mind the way physical activity exercises the body: It may be addictive because it's challenging."
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Duncan, David E WIRED TO EAT (Technology Review, Vol. 108, No. 7, July 2005, pp. 52-59)
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Jeffrey Friedman is an obesity researcher and leader of a team from Rockefeller University in New York that is studying 7,600 residents on the island of Kosrae, 4,670 kilometers south of Hawaii. Since 1994, the team has been studying the eighty percent of Kosrae adults who are overweight or obese, to test the hypothesis that genes rather than willpower control the impulse to eat. Until the United States took control of Kosrae and the rest of Micronesia after World War II and began shipping in canned and processed foods, the people were predominantly lean. Twelve percent of the islanders have diabetes, compared with 8 percent in the United States. The researchers are using gene chips to scan the islanders' genomes for genetic variations called single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) to see if these can be associated with differences in susceptibility to diseases such as obesity or diabetes. Friedman believes a dominant factor in controlling weight is a circuit in the hypothalamus at the base of the brain, where two types of brain cells -- NPY, which stimulates hunger, and POMC, which inhibits hunger -- seem to be the chief regulators of appetite. According to Friedman, people have a "set point" of hunger and satiation inherited from their ancestors and are driven to eat until they reach it. "We have some control over eating from our reasoning centers of our brain," Friedman says, "but this seldom overrides our basic instinct to eat when we're hungry."
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Grewal, Daisy; Salovey, Peter FEELING SMART: THE SCIENCE OF EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE (American Scientist, Vol. 93, No. 4, July-August 2005, pp. 330-339)
Full text available from yournearest IRC
The relatively new concept of emotional intelligence has been controversial, partly because the popular and scientific definitions have differed sharply and because it has been hard to measure. Today, the authors say, research has produced new ways to assess emotional intelligence and to understand the relation between thought and emotions. One definition is "the ability to monitor one's own and other's feelings, to discriminate among them, and to use this information to guide one's thinking and action." Specifically, the four-branch model emphasizes four kinds of related skills: the ability to perceive emotions accurately; the ability to use emotions to facilitate thinking and reasoning; the ability to understand emotions, especially the language of emotions; and the ability to manage emotions in oneself and others. The authors believe future research on emotional intelligence will be especially valuable if focused on individual differences in emotional processes.
STEM CELL RESEARCH. [RL31015]
Judith A. Johnson and Erin Williams.
Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service. Updated August 13, 2004.
Download the document [pdf format, 32 pages]
Embryonic stem cells have the ability to develop into virtually any cell in the body, and may have the potential to treat medical conditions such as diabetes and Parkinson's disease. In August 2001, President Bush announced that for the first time federal funds would be used to support research on human embryonic stem cells, but funding would be limited to "existing stem cell lines." The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has established the Human Embryonic Stem Cell Registry which lists stem cell lines that are eligible for use in federally funded research. Although 78 cell lines are listed, 21 embryonic stem cell lines are currently available. Scientists are concerned about the quality, longevity, and availability of the eligible stem cell lines. For a variety of reasons, many believe research advancement requires new embryonic stem cell lines, and for certain applications, stem cells derived from cloned embryos may offer the best hope for progress in understanding and treating disease. A significant cohort of pro-life advocates supports stem cell research; those opposed are concerned that the isolation of stem cells requires the destruction of embryos.
On February 27, 2003, the House passed H.R. 534 (Dave Weldon), which would ban the process of human cloning and the importation of any product derived from an embryo created via cloning. Cloning could not be used for reproductive purposes or for research on therapeutic purposes, which has implications for stem cell research. The House defeated a substitute amendment, H.Amdt. 5, that would have banned only human reproductive cloning; the ban would have expired after 10 years. H.R. 801 (Greenwood) is similar to H.Amdt 5. S. 245 (Brownback) would ban reproductive cloning and research on therapeutic cloning; S. 303 (Hatch) would ban only reproductive cloning. Supporters of H.R. 534 argue that a partial ban on human cloning, such as S. 303 and H.R. 801, would be impossible to enforce. Critics argue that H.R. 534 would curtail medical research and prevent Americans from receiving life-saving treatments created overseas. President Bush has stated his support for the Weldon bill, but 40 Nobel Laureates, who are in favor of nuclear transplantation technology for research and therapeutic purposes, are strongly opposed to the legislation. H.R. 3960 (Millender- McDonald) and H.R. 4682 (Castle) would fund research on embryonic stem cell lines derived after the August 9, 2001, policy established by the Bush Administration.
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Weinberger, Norman M. MUSIC AND THE BRAIN (Scientific American, Vol. 291, No. 5, November 2004, pp. 88-95)
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Music has a profound emotional and physical effect on the human brain, but scientists are just beginning to learn how the brain processes music to inspire and move the listener. Weinberger, a clinical psychologist working in neurobiologist, discusses some of the latest work in the field. They've found that music reaches humans not just through the ears, but all the way to the cellular level, that cells will respond to sound, and that the cells will "re-tune" themselves to respond to significant sounds. Researchers have also found that music can activate some of the same reward systems that are stimulated by food, sex and addictive drugs.
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Goho, Alexandra DIATOM MENAGERIE (Science News, Vol. 166, No. 3, July 17, 2004, pp. 42-44)
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Diatoms -- photosynthetic algae -- have had various applications in science; now there is new interest in these tiny organisms because of the emerging interest in nano-technology. Diatoms build their shells of glass, or silicon dioxide, the primary ingredient in glass, and each of the thousands of species of diatom has a unique shell shape. Scientists are looking at possible nano-tech applications of existing shapes since some look like gears; others resemble lenses, strainers, and so on. Other scientists are looking at techniques by which the silica base of the shells could be replaced by other manufactured materials such as magnesium or titanium. Finally, genetic researchers are seeking to understand the genetic processes that determine the shape of the individual shells with the hope that at some time in the future they might be able to induce the production of custom shapes for applications that are only now being imagined.
VITAL ASSETS: FEDERAL INVESTMENT IN RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT AT THE NATION'S UNIVERSITIES AND COLLEGES.
Donna Fossum, Lawrence S. Painter, Elisa Eiseman, Emile Ettedgui, and David M. Adamson.
RAND. Web-posted April 20, 2004.
Full Report [pdf format, 189 pages]
Summary [pdf format, 5 pages]
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) provided 67 percent - or two-thirds - of all federal funding that went to higher education institutions for research and development projects in FY 2002. That includes medical school and non-medical school research and development. HHS has received sizeable funding increases in recent years, particularly for the National Institutes of Health. Even when HHS funding to medical schools was removed from the mix, the agency continued to be the major provider of research and development funds to higher education institutions, providing 40.6 percent of the total.
The other five agencies that accounted for the vast majority of federal funding for research and development funds provided to universities and colleges are: the National Science Foundation (11 percent); Department of Defense (7 percent); NASA (5 percent); Department of Energy (4 percent); and Department of Agriculture (3 percent).
The RAND analysis also found that federal funding is concentrated in a fairly small number of higher education institutions. The top 80 institutions received 71 percent of the total federal funds awarded for university and college research and development. A dozen institutions consistently ranked in the top 20 recipients of research and development funding, whether or not awards to medical schools are included. Those schools are, in alphabetical order: Columbia University; Harvard University; Johns Hopkins University; Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Stanford University; University of California, Los Angeles; University of California, San Diego; University of Michigan, Ann Arbor; University of Minnesota, Twin Cities; University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill; University of Washington, Seattle; and University of Wisconsin, Madison.
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CASE STUDIES OF EXISTING HUMAN TISSUE REPOSITORIES: "BEST PRACTICES" FOR A BIOSPECIMEN RESOURCE FOR THE GENOMIC AND PROTEOMIC ERA. [Prepared for the National Cancer Institute, National Dialogue on Cancer]
Elisa Eiseman, Gabrielle Bloom, Jennifer Brower, Noreen Clancy, and Stuart S. Olmsted.
RAND. December 2003.
Full Report [pdf format, 243 pages]
Summary [pdf format, 15 pages]
The National Dialogue on Cancer (NDC) is a forum that brings together the nation's key cancer leaders from the private sector, academia, non-profit organizations, and the government to accelerate progress against cancer. Members of the NDC have developed a blueprint for a National Biospecimen Network (NBN), a nationally coordinated, standardized, high quality tissue resource and data bank to facilitate genomics- and proteomics-based cancer research. To assist in the Design Team's examination of existing tissue resources, RAND evaluated twelve repositories in the United States that represent a broad spectrum of repository types. Interviews with key individuals at each repository focused on the design and operation of the repositories and the identification of "best practices," including strategies, systems, processes, and methodologies pertaining to repository design, bioinformatics infrastructure, and policies on informed consent and intellectual property.
The findings in this report will be of interest to policy makers in nations that are maintaining or developing their own tissue repositories, and to those researchers in all countries that do cooperative research with U.S. tissue repositories.
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Selle, Robert R. THE WOMAN WHO CREATED KEVLAR (The World & I, vol. 19, no. 3, March 2004, pp. 44-47)
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Stephanie Kwolek, an 80-year-old scientist recently inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame, originally planned to be a doctor. In 1946 she joined DuPont to fund her education, but found her work there so fascinating that it resulted in a lifelong postponement of her medical career. "I became so interested in the research I was doing at DuPont, solving problems and constantly learning," she says. After 18 years, her research at DuPont led to the development of Kevlar, a high strength organic fiber that is currently used in items such as ballistic vests, radial tires, firefighter's suits, and spacecraft parts. Ironically, Kevlar may have saved many more lives than if Kwolek had become a doctor, says Selle. Kevlar vests alone are credited with saving the lives of over 3,000 law enforcement officers.
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Cash, David W. INNOVATIVE NATURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT: NEBRASKA'S MODEL FOR LINKING SCIENCE AND DECISION MAKING (Environment Magazine, Vol. 45, No. 10, December 2003, pp. 8-19)
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Since the 1800s, the Great Plains have been the "breadbasket" of America. Over the decades, however, poor land and water management have taken their toll, and the author discusses efforts to bring scientific research into plans for improving land and water use, in a region where drought is a natural occurrence. Since the 1970s, this has been done by establishing Natural Resources Districts (NRDs), a novel form of government that crosses state lines to "harness science and technology to achieve economic as well as environmental goals" and serves "as a model for...sustainable development."
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SIGNIFICANT EUROPEAN SCHOLARLY TITLES, 2002 (Choice, vol. 41 no. 4, December 2003, pp. 673-678)
These annotated lists of significant European nonliterary titles emphasize works that "break new ground, review the state of scholarship in a field, or examine a particular facet of learning in a new light." Italian, French, German and Spanish language titles are most common. Few of these are translated into English, and those "may be late appearing or published shorn of their scholarly apparatus." A list of vendors with their Web addresses is included.
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TECH LEADERS OF 2003: THE SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN 50 (Scientific American, December 2003, Vol. 289, No. 6, pp. 55-75)
For the second year, Scientific American highlights 50 notable technological advancements in the realms of science, engineering, commerce and public policy. Each of the 50 short profiles identifies the individuals, teams or companies behind a development as well as its implication for society. The work of international figures is recognized. For example, the former secretary general of the World Health Organization, Gro Harlem Brundtland, was featured as Policy Leader of 2003 for her work related to the SARS outbreak. Most of the 2003 trends focus on U.S. researchers and the network of institutions working in the fields of renewable or clean energy, nanotechnology, and health research.