MRC's cryobiology closure evokes protests
Article Abstract:
The Medical Research Council (MRC) in the United Kingdom has decided not to continue funding a 10-person cryobiology laboratory headed by David Pegg. The decision has evoked protest, both over the decision itself and the manner in which it was handled. The MRC overruled a unanimous decision by a board of reviewers which recommended that the laboratory be kept open; this action has been viewed by some as "a corruption of the peer review system". Although the work of the laboratory was not criticized by the MRC, it was regarded as below the standard necessary for continued funding in the current, highly competitive environment. Critics of the MRC say that it underestimates the enormity of the problems being tackled by the laboratory. The cryobiology unit is trying to devise methods of storing organs and tissues in frozen form. While the potential advantages to medical organ transplantation are enormous, because a supply of organs could be established and maintained, the problems faced are equally enormous. Cells and small tissue fragments can successfully be frozen, stored in liquid nitrogen, and restored to life at a later date. But when larger pieces of tissue and complete organs are frozen, temperature gradients within the tissue result in the formation of ice crystals during the transition to the frozen state. These ice crystals cause severe damage to the tissue containing them. Devising ways to circumvent this problem is regarded as being as difficult a task as understanding the immune reaction which occur during transplant rejection. Despite the protests from scientists and academic physicians who want to keep the lab open, there seems to be little likelihood that the decision of the MRC will be reversed. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)
Publication Name: Nature
Subject: Zoology and wildlife conservation
ISSN: 0028-0836
Year: 1990
User Contributions:
Comment about this article or add new information about this topic:
First UK trial of AIDS vaccine approved
Article Abstract:
For the first time the Medical Research Council in the United Kingdom has approved a trial of a vaccine for AIDS. Phase I trials testing the safety of the product will begin in September 1990 at the Hammersmith Hospital in London. The vaccine, known as p24-VLP, will be given to 20 volunteers who are healthy, and do not have any antibodies in their blood against human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. The vaccine was developed by the biotechnology company British Biotechnology Limited, and consists of a portion of the p24 protein of HIV and a virus-like particle (VLP). The VLPs serve as the vaccine carrier and are not infectious, but contain some of the properties of retroviruses. Most vaccines that have been developed consist of the proteins present on the viral surface envelope, gp160 and gp120. However, the safety of vaccines consisting of these envelope proteins has been questioned, as there is some evidence suggesting that these proteins cause suppression of the immune system. The protein p24 is part of the center of the virus. The protein p24 stimulates helper T lymphocytes, which are involved in the immune response, do not directly interact with T cells, and will not cause suppression. The p24 protein is unlikely to provide immunity by itself, but probably will be used along with other HIV protein fragments as a combined vaccine. The immune response to the vaccine will be monitored for a year before further trials are begun. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)
Publication Name: Nature
Subject: Zoology and wildlife conservation
ISSN: 0028-0836
Year: 1990
User Contributions:
Comment about this article or add new information about this topic:
Budget division disputed
Article Abstract:
A survey by the United States Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) indicates that conflict continues in the medical community over the proportion of the biomedical research budget allotted to AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome). Regardless of their views on that issue, most researchers believe that AIDS research has important consequences for other research fields. Almost half of the 148 respondents to the OTA survey 'agreed' or 'strongly agreed' that too much funding had gone to AIDS research at the expense of other fields, but the other half disagreed. Currently, the National Institutes of Health spends about 10 percent of its $7,100 million budget on AIDS-related research. This is more than is spent for heart disease, and close to the amount spent for cancer, both of which cause more deaths than AIDS. However, most respondents to the survey questions felt federal spending on AIDS was appropriate, or too low. This can be interpreted as a sentiment that spending on biomedical research, overall, is too low. More than half the respondents also believed that AIDS research has led to advances in virology, immunology, and molecular biology, while also promoting the development of diagnostics and new drugs. Flexibility was introduced into the AIDS funding procedure by Congress in 1989; NIH directors are now allowed to reallocate AIDS research monies to other areas when they consider it advantageous. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)
Publication Name: Nature
Subject: Zoology and wildlife conservation
ISSN: 0028-0836
Year: 1990
User Contributions:
Comment about this article or add new information about this topic:
- Abstracts: Company tells researchers to look to profits. Health study sets sights on a million people. Building a biopolis: having established itself as a financial and manufacturing centre, Singapore now wants to become a leading player in advanced biological research
- Abstracts: Mad connection to the nucleus. Synexpression groups in eukaryotes. Solving a sticky problem
- Abstracts: Portugal's science plots its future. Spanish university sued for advertising posts in August. Drug price deal spells windfall for researchers
- Abstracts: Molecular systematics and the conservation of rare species. Cemeteries as repositories of natural and cultural diversity
- Abstracts: PET for dementia drug test. Bias alleged in Japanese university awards. Earthquake prediction 'likely to grow' after new review