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Science Friday > Archives > 2003 > October
> October 17, 2003:
Hour Two: News Roundup:
Gene Therapy Update / Open Scientific Publication / Science vs Secrecy
First in this hour, we'll find out about a recent study that may
allow actual treatments using gene therapy techniques to move forward.
Researchers have identified a gene that can become corrupted during
one form of gene therapy treatment, resulting in leukemia.
Then, we'll turn to the issue of scientific publication. A new scientific
journal published its first issue this week, taking scientific publishing
into a new arena. The difference between the new journal, dubbed the
'Public Library of Science: Biology' and other scientific publications?
This one is available online for FREE. Join Ira in this hour of Science
Friday as he talks about the journal with its co-founder (and former
NIH director) Harold Varmus.
Plus, Ira and guests will talk about balancing science and security
when it comes to sensitive biological research. A recent report published
by the National Research Council calls for a system to be set up to
screen plans for certain types of biological experiments before they
are conducted. Areas of research that would raise concern under the
review process would include experiments that "demonstrate how
to render human or animal vaccines ineffective; confer resistance
to therapeutically useful antibiotics or antiviral agents for humans,
animals, or crops; enhance the virulence of human, animal, or plant
pathogens, or make nonpathogens virulent; increase the transmissibility
of pathogens; alter the host range of pathogens; enable the evasion
of diagnostic or detection methods; or enable the weaponization of
biological agents or toxins. " We'll talk about the report's
recommendations and what they might mean in practice.
Call in with your questions and comments at 1-800-989-8255 (3-4 Eastern),
and share your opinions online in our Listeners' Lounge (registration required).
Guests:
David Williams, M.D.
Beatrice Lampkin Chair of Hematology/Oncology
Professor, Pediatrics
University of Cincinnati College
of Medicine
Director, Division of Experimental Hematology
Associate Chair, Translational Research
Cincinnati
Children's Hospital Medical Center
Cincinnati, Ohio
Harold Varmus
1989 Nobel
Laureate, Physiology or Medicine
Former Director, National Institutes
of Health
President and Chief Executive Officer
Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center
New York, New York
Gerald Fink
Chair, Committee
on Research Standards and Practices to Prevent the Destructive Application
of Biotechnology
National Research
Council
The National Academy of
Sciences
American Cancer Society Professor of Genetics
Whitehead Institute for
Biomedical Research
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Books/Articles Discussed:
Related Links:
Public
Library of Science
New
Science Mag Spikes Tradition
ScienceDaily
News Release: Public Library Of Science Launches PLoS Biology: New
Open-Access Journal Will Increase Access To Scientific Research
and Speed Scientific Discovery
Traffic
overwhelms new online science journal
Balanced
Approach Needed to Mitigate Threats From Bioterrorism Without Hindering
Progress in Biotechnology
National
Academy proposes scientists self-police
Terror
Risk Screening of Bioresearch Is Urged
CIDRAP
>> To block terrorists, panel calls for more screening of research
This segment produced by Karin Vergoth
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