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ACTIP Bulletin 24 January 2001 |
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In this issue:
Biotechnology beneficial
to 250 million Positive impact structural
genomics Parliament approves
revision 90/220 Council support for
European Research Area Europe gearing up
for innovation
From the ESACT Newsletter of December 2000
we learned of the death of Prof. Florian Horaud (Horodniceanu)
on July 26, 2000. Prof. Horaud was a founding member of ESACT,
and a founding father of Texcell at the Institute Pasteur in
1987. Florian was well known in the field of animal cell technology
and played a major role in the fields of public health and the
biological safety of biotech derived products for human use.
He will be remembered fondly by many in the animal cell technology
community. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A decade ago, the future looked healthy
for both agricultural as well as health-related biotechnology.
However, today the word 'GMO' has become a liability in the agricultural
biotechnology sector, and billions of dollars in profit and share
value has been lost. Is such a reversal of fortune possible in
health care biotechnology and what might be done about it? Frankendrug risk
for preventative drugs and vaccines Falling out of favour will not seem likely
for life saving drugs such as recombinant insulin or recombinant
human growth factor. However, for many drugs that are principally
preventative (as will be likely for many developed through genomics),
people may eschew statistical benefits because of perceived risks,
as is the case with genetically engineered foods. A similar attitude
may also develop for vaccines; recently, an oral polio vaccine
was recalled from the market, despite an incalculable small risk
for BSE. So, which lessons can we in health care
biotechnology learn from agriculture in order to avoid the emergence
of Frankendrugs? Below we summarize recommendations how to avoid
a backlash against biopharmaceuticals: (1) research
and development need to take a global view (i.e.
designer tomatoes do not generate the same level of public support
as does rice enriched with provitamin A or iron). Similarly,
post-genomic wrinkle creams may face a tough time, but a focus
on malaria drugs would certainly generate strong public support.
While many companies do not have specific 'global drug'development
programmes, they may consider drug donation programs. An alternative
is contribution to the proposed vaccine purchase fund, which
assures manufacturers a market if they develop vaccines for tuberculosis,
malaria or AIDS. (2) take
the public's perception of risk seriously.
Protests against GMOs demonstrate the divide between expert and
lay perceptions of risk and uncertainty. Public perception about
risk is as much influenced by social relations and feelings of
power and powerlessnes as by objective knowledge about the likelihood
of large-scale accidents or individual harm. (3) attention
to social and ethical issues. It will,
for example, be necessary to make it practicable to license intellectual
property where that is justified both commercially and ethically. (4) acceptance
of a role for international organizations and foundations to establish forums, networks and other platforms
where stakeholders can come together. WHO has begun the process
by drafting guiding principles for the future of medical genetics
and biotechnology. Source: Nature Biotechnology Vol 18,
Dec 2000, pp 1225 Biotechnology
beneficial to 250 million A study by the US Biotechnology Industry
Organisation (BIO) has revealed that worldwide more than 250
million people benefit from medicines and vaccines developed
on the basis of biotechnology. The first biotech product dates
from 20 years back. The number of people benefitting will increase
substantially the coming years, with more than 350 biotech-drugs
in the development pipeline. Positive
impact structural genomics Left and right we are bombarded with catch
phrases about the potential positive impacts of structural genomics
on about every aspect of our life in the third millennium. But
rarely do we read about concrete examples, other than 'numerous
opportunities once protein structures will have been unraveled'.
Recently, Wim Hol of Washington University wrote an interesting
article about the potential impact of structural genomics on
biology, industry and medicine. Impact on structural
and cell biology Structural genomics centers will create
a substantial number of unsolvable X-ray data sets and NMR spectra.
This could be a great opportunity for method oriented structural
biologists who will be able to pick research targets from structural
genomics web sites, download relevant structure factors and spectra,
and sharpen their tools. These data will be a new driving force
in method development, in both the structural genomics centers
and the larger academic arena. Structural genomics will also provide a
tremendous boost to biochemists and molecular and cellular biologists
by generating thousands of clones and expression systems. The
available genes and expression constructs will become a treasure
trove for specific in-depth biochemical studies in academic laboratories. Most, if not all, initial structures emerging
from high-throughput structural genomics may spawn a large number
of follow up studies by academic or industrial groups that will
benefit to a significant degree from the expression systems and
crystallization conditions discovered already. Many robotics systems developed by structural
genomics initiative should be enthousiastically welcomed. Unraveling in full detail the catalytic
mechanisms of enzymes will surely follow from structural genomic
data. The first generation structural genomics
centres will largely focus on single domain, monomeric proteins
and homomultimeric assemblies. A second generation of centers
will most likely also tackle heterodimers, protein-DNA and protein-RNA
complexes, and maybe simple RNA molecules. This leaves for structural
biologists a rewarding but challenging playing field of higher
order systems, including multienzyme complexes and multimacromolecular
assemblies. Structural genomics will increase the number
of simple protein structures rapidly. In particular the knowledge-based
fold prediction methods are likely to benefit from the new structures. Impact on industry Structural genomics is likely to facilitate
greatly the engineering of industrial enzymes by providing large
numbers of structures of thermostable proteins. Structural genomics is expected to have
its biggest impact on medicine. Projects focused on the structural
genomics of various pathogenic organisms will provide unprecedented
opportunities for structure-based drug design and provide expression
systems for proteins to be used in high throughput screening
and combinatorial chemistry approaches. Far on the horizon is
structure-based computational toxicology to check in silico if
a small molecule will have any adverse effect on any human protein,
nucleic acid or membrane. This application could be as far as
a century away, though. As many human protein structures as possible
should be unraveled because: (1) many wild type human proteins
are drug targets in themselves; (2) numerous mutants of human
proteins are responsible for a wide range of cancers and genetic
diseases, many of which are due to a lack of protein stability;
(3) interactions with human proteins must be avoided by inhibitors
of proteins from pathogens. Source: Wim Hol, Nature Structural Biology, Structural Genomics Supplement, November 2000, pp 964-966 Request of NLG
500 million for genomics Dutch scientists from academia and industry
have asked Dutch government to allocate 500 million Dutch guilders
(approx 210 million EURO) for a concerted effort in genomics,
the Strategic Action Plan. A decision is expected in the summer
of 2001. The Strategic Action Plan has identified three areas:
reinforcement of fundamental and innovative research, emphasis
on career opportunities and training of students, and the establishment
of a central genomics institute. ACTIP chairman Hans van den
Berg is the coordinator of the biomedical sector of the Dutch
Genomics initiative. Fifteen
Genotyping Assay Systems Despite the plethora of new information
which will derive from the human and other genome projects, we
are already able to correlate genetic information with pharmacological
outcomes. As the number of validated targets increases, so there
will be more opportunities for rational drug design and for making
improvements in drug efficiency and efficacy. Key to the success
of current techniques is gene polymorphism. Gene polymorphism
analysis also has the potential to 'revive'drugs that may have
failed the clinical trial process for what could often be explainable
genetic reasons. Perhaps the most common general polymorphism
in DNA is the single nucleotide polymorphism or SNP. For population
level genotyping the initial goal is to develop high throughput,
high quality genotyping systems for individual diseases associated
SNPs. The important factors are unit costs, the number of steps
employed, the accuracy of the result and the complexity of the
assay. At present, 15 genotyping Assay Systems are available,
including RFLP-PCR, oligonucleotide ligation assay, microarray
technology, wave technology, MALDI-SNP etc etc. For a full listing
and a review of these and in particular the newest genotyping
systems, please consult the full article, which is available
from the ACTIP secretariat, or contact the author at mailto:neil.sullivan@complementgenomics.co.uk
neil.sullivan@complementgenomics.co.uk Source: A new era of high throughput
genotyping systems. Louise Allcroft & Neil Sullivan. European
Biopharmaceutical Review, Sept 2000, pp 110-114 Parliament
approves revision 90/220 On February 14 last, the European Parliament
approved, in its third reading, the revised directive 90/220
on the deliberate release into the environment of genetically
modified organisms. The revision foresees stricter rules for
the safety evaluation of GMOs, labelling and liability. The revised
directive was approved by 338 MEPs; 52 were against and 85 abstained
from voting. Council
support for European Research Area On November 16, 2000, the Research and
Development Council met. Ministers discussed two key proposals
tabled by the Commission: the European Research Area and a new
strategy for space policy. Participants reiterated their support
for Commissioner's Busquin's Research Area plan and called on
him to finalise outstanding details of the proposal, including
strengtheninhg of links between his institution and other organisations
such as the European Science Foundation. Commissioner Busquin
also briefed ministers on his plans to draw up guidelines for
the upcoming 6th R&D Framework Programme (2002-2006). The
chair called on the Commission to set up a scientific group to
examine research in the area of human variants of mad cow diseases.
Busquin said the experts would present their initial findings
at the June 2001 meeting of Research ministers. Source: European Voice, 29 November
2000 Europe
gearing up for innovation Under the Portuguese chairmanship, the
EU endorsed the European Commisson's Communication 'Towards a
European Research Area' and called attention to the recommendation
to enhance the efficiency and innovative imnpact of Europe's
research effort. So how is progress in the EU with respect to
stimulation of innovation? In a new Commission communication ('Innovation
in a knowledge-driven economy'), five priority objectives are
proposed to encourage an effective pan-European innovation system: (1) coherence of innovation policies: the
EU should capitalise on measures and schemes at regional and
national levels through coordination for the benchmarking of
national policies and for spreading good practice; Some key innovation
figures: Money Availability of seed/start-up/other early
stage venture capital and availability of expansion venture capital
(2000): Most start-up capital is
available in: Capital for expansion is
best available in: Percentage of innovative
firms having cooperation agreements with universities (1994-1996): Percentage of innovative firms having coopperation
agreements with government research institutes: Benchmarking
innovation When the innovation indicators for all
EU countries are summarized, the most innovative countries in
the EU are Sweden, Finland, Denmark and Germany. Germany is particularly
strong in knowledge creation. Innovation indicators include,
for example, % of the workforce with a tertiary grade, high tech
patents/population, % sales of new to market products, % SMEs
cooperation etc. For a full listing of the innovation indicators,
see the Commission Communication or request a copy of the ACTIP
Secretariat. Source: Commission Communication: Innovation
in a knowledge driven economy. Special edition Innovation &
Technology Transfer, November 2000. Published by Enterprise DG,
Innovation Directorate, Communication & Awareness Unit. EUFO
2290, L-2920 Luxembourg. Fax + 352 4301 32084; web: Neural stem cells
as tumour killers Recently, scientists at Harvard University
and Layton Bioscience have found that neural stem cells can migrate
throughout the brain and preferentially juxtapose themselves
to metastasizing tumor cells. Experiments in rats with experimentally
induced glioma's and engineered stems cells demonstrated that
these stem cells can be used to deliver therapeutic molecules
(the stem cells express cytosine deaminase which converts a prodrug
into an active chemotherapeutic agent) to target tumour cells
with impressive accuracy (in contrast to other approaches, where
treatments have the tendency to migrate widely through the brain).
They could also chase down migrating tumour cells elsewhere in
the brain. One of the authors asserts that this type of treatment
might be one of the first applications of neural stem cells for
a true disease, and that clinical trials could be as close as
two years away. Source: Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci USA 97,
12846-12851, 2000 DNA shuffling
for useful new viral phenotypes The broad application of gene therapy methods
to correct human disease will require the design of vectors that
can survive the rigours of production and the onslaught of host
defenses, while still being able to make their way specifically
and efficiently to the intended cells in the body to deliver
their therapeutic genes. One approach is in vitro recombination
or 'DNA-shuffling' to produce mix and match combinations of retroviral
envelop fragments derived from several (three to five) different
parent MLV virus strains. The collection of chimeric recombinant
envelop molecules was introduced into an MLV retroviral backbone
and then used to transfect packaging cell lines to produce a
library of infectious viruses containing many different recombinant
envelop genes, thereby producing envelop proteins with new physical
properties. The isolated recombinant viruses could be concentrated
to reasonably high titers (106-107 infectious units/ml) by ultracentrifugation. Source: Nature Biotechnology Vol 18,
December 2000, pp 1244-1245 and pps 1279-1286 Cloning for wildlife
conservation The creation of a functional chimeric fetus
via nuclear transfer between two different species has been demonstrated
for the first time. The technique has significant implications
for wildlife conbservation. Previous in vitro studies had shown
the feasibility of nuclear transfer between sheep, pigs, monkeys
or rats and enucleated bovine oocytes. In a new report, academic
and industrial scientists succeeded in cloning an endangered
wild Asian ox (Bos gaurus) by electrofusing fibroblasts from
the animal's skin with enucleated bovine oocytes. Several oocytes
developed into blastocysts and fetuses. Analyses confirmed that
the genome of the cloned animal was gaurus in origin, whereas
the mitochondrial DNA was bovine. One pregnancy is still ongoing.
The same method will probably also be used to clone an extinct
bucardo mountain goat from preserved cells using present-day
goats as host mothers. Source: Cloning 2, 79-90, 2000 DNA vaccines
deliver antibody genes A recent report demonstrates that a DNA
vaccine encoding a neutralizing recombinant single-chain antibody
fragment protected fish against viral pathogens (fish viral haemorrhagic
septicemia virus). This is another step forward in developing
more efficacious animal vaccines. If immunoprophylaxis by DNA
vaccines delivering antibody genes can be extended beyond aquaculture
to mammals, it may provide a valuable tool in situations where
conventional vaccination is ineffective or impractical. Source: Nature Biotechnology Vol 18,
December 2000, pp 1177-1180 Bifunctional
TetOff systems for mammalian cells The tetracycline repressible (TetOff) system
has found widespread applications in protein pharmaceutical production
and gene therapy research as an efficient and non-toxic means
of controlling transgene expression in mammalian cells. One limitation,
however, is the lack of a satisfactory way of independently controlling
expression of a second transgene. Recently, Fusenegger et al.
developed a versatile and complementary system regulated by the
streptogramin family of human oral antibiotics. They combined
a bacterial promoter element (P-PTR) and a pristinamycin repressor,
the Pip-protein, with various promoters and viral transactivation
domains. This way they created both streptogramin-repressible
and inducible systems that can work in combination with TetOff
in a variety of human cell lines. Source: Nature Biotechnology Vol 18,
2000, pp 1203-1208 Heart muscle
gene therapy The Teaching Hospital Groningen in the
Netherlands has developed gene therapy for cardiovascular diseases.
A gene is delivered into the heart muscle via a catheter. The
gene stimulates regrowth of coronary blood vessels. A clinical
study with 10 patients is underway. Large scale population
DNA bank in UK The United Kingdom will start the large
scale acquisition of DNA of at least 500,000 people suffering
from a variety of diseases. The British Medical Research Council
has allocated 8.4 million pound for the construction of 11 new
DNA banks and for expansion of 4 existing ones. In London, the
breast cancer project will start, and in Scotland all persons
with colon cancer will donate DNA. The DNA samples will be compared
to DNA of healthy persons. In addition, the researchers will
make an inventory of lifestyle factors, such as smoking and diet. Bacterial histone-like
protein as gene transfer agents Most available gene delivery systems have
serious drawbacks, such as safety hazards (some of the viral
systems), inefficiency under in vivo conditions (i.e. ultrapure
DNA), or high production costs (i.e. eukaryotic histones, synthetic
peptides, peptide nucleic acids). Recently, a technical report appeared in
which a biotechnologically feasible and economical approach for
gene delivery is demonstrated using the histone-like protein
from the hyperthermostable eubacterium Thermotoga maritima as
an efficient gene transfer agent. The protein can easily be isolated
from a recombinant Escherichia coli, is extraordinarily stable,
and protects cDNA from thermal denaturation. The protein is an
efficient carrier of heterologous DNA into various eukaryotic
cells and an enhancer of another transfection method (lipofection).
The system should be feasible for applications that do not require
targeting to a defined cellular population, because the uptake
of the protein itself seems to be independent of cell type. Source: Nature Biotechnology Vol 18,
December 2000, pp 1211-1212
SuperMACs have entered the biotechnology
realm. Recently, mammalian artificial chromosomes (MACs) have
been developed for stable introduction of large segments of genomic
DNA into cells or animals. However, there has been no report
showing the cloning of greater than megabase-sized genomic DNA
into MACs. Equally, other artificial chromosomes, such as BACs
(bacterial), PACs (phage-derived) and YACs (yeast derived) suffer
from the same drawback. Recently, a group of Japanse scientists
described a system to clone defined human chromosomal regions
into a stable human minichromosome vector (human artificial chromosome
or HAC) in DT40 cells. The HAC carrying a 10 Mb-sized human chromosomal
insert was functional in vitro and in vivo (mice). Source: Nature Biotechnology Vol 18,
October 2000, pp 1086-1090 H. pylori proteome
map The first ever protein-protein interaction
map of a prokaryotic organism (H. pylori) has recently been published
in Nature. The researchers validated the map as a tool for revealing
biological pathways and predicting protein function by searching
their database with known annotated E. coli orthologs and establishing
similar biochemical functions from the resulting H. pylori proteins. Source: Nature 409; pp 211-215, 2000 In silico prediction
of cellular metabolism Several approaches exist for the mathematical
modelling of cellular metabolism and its regulation, but most
of them require detailed kinetic and concentration information
about enzymes and various cofactors, that is difficult to obtain.
Taking a different approach, Palsson and colleagues constructed
an E. coli metabolic network using a stoichiometric rather than
a kinetic approach. The method relies on the application of known
constraints on the integrated fucntion of reconstructed networks
and does not lead to a single solution but instead provides a
domain of posible solutions that represent allowable functions
of the network. The authors successfully validated the in silico's
approach's ability to interpret and predict cellular function. Source: Nature Biotechnology vol 19,
February 2001, pp 111-112 and 125-130 Not missing protein
misfolding Protein misfolding is associated with several
human diseases, as we also heard in Paris recently. Wigley et
al. presented a method for assessing the solubility and folding
of expressed proteins in vivo. The assay is based on the generation
of functional beta-galactosidase in E. coli by complementation
of two fragments of the enzyme. The assay should be applicable
to screening for drugs that promote the folding or inhibit the
aggregation of disease-related proteins. Source: Nature Biotechnology vol 19,
February 2001, pp 112-113 and 131-136 Rice genome unraveled To some it seems as if announcements of
unraveled genomes occur daily now. But predictions are certainly
swept away. Take the case of the rice genome. Some months ago,
academics predicted that its unraveling could last another 2-3
years. On January 27, 2001, however, companies Syngenta and Myriad
Genetics announced that they had sequenced the entire rice genome.
This is a breakthrough, since this is the first known sequence
of a commercial crop, and a monocotyledon at that. Source: New York Times IBMs Blue Gene
Project for Protein Structure Modeling Recently, IBM announced a five year, 100
million USD initiative to build a supercomputer 500 times more
powerful than the fastest computers available today. The new
computer, nicknamed Blue Gene, is designed to perform more than
one quadrillion operations per second using more than one million
processors, each equivalent to a desktop PC. Source: http://www.research.ibm.com/news/detail/bluegene.html Recombinant-factor
VIII deficit questioned There is a serious worldwide shortage of
recombinant factor VIII. Although recombinant factor VIII has
been on the market since 1993, manufacturing capacity is falling
short of demand, which is soaring because of prophylactic use
of factor VIII to prevent bleeds. At the present rate of demand,
companies say they cannot keep up and many have stopped accepting
new customers. In the US, only three companies account for all
recombinant factor VIII made: Baxter (recently the company doubled
capacity and is constructing a third production site); Genetics
Institute has postponed product launch until 2001 due to production
problems; Bayer is awaiting FDA approval for a new 200 litre
fermenter at the Berkeley facility. Manufacturers claim that recombinant factor
VIII, an enormous 265 kDa protein, is exceptionally hard to make
compared to other recombinant proteins with respect to folding,
processing and glycosylation. Source: Nature Biotechnology, Vol 18,
December 2000, pp 1133 BSE fears: polio
vaccine recalled The UK Medicines Control Agency (MCA) has
recently recalled a single brand of oral polio vaccine in the
UK amid fears that it may be contaminated with BSE. The affected
vaccine, which was manufactured between 1991 and September 2000
by Medeva, was found to breach European guidelines stating that
oral medicinal products should not be manufactured using bovine
material from any countries where there have been known cases
of BSE. In the case of Medeva's polio vaccine, a batch of one
viral strain contained in the vaccine was manufactured using
a growth medium containing bovine material of UK origin. Physicians
in the UK are being supplied with a replacement vaccine made
by SmithKline Beecham. BSE testing on
a large scale Last year, the EU dictated that all bovines
older than 30 months need to be tested for BSE. As a result,
reports of BSE-infected cattle are surfacing in all European
countries. For detailed information on these tests,
BSE in general and BSE testing, see:
..... and five
new tests and standards Scientists at the Joint Research Centre's
Institute for Reference Materials and Measurements (IRMM) and
the European Commisson's Health and Consumer Protection DG are
evaluating 5 new tests for BSE and other TSEs. They are also
evaluating a sixth test to identify the differences between BSE
and scrapie. The IRRM was previously involved in approving the
three BSE tests currently in use. Work should be completed in
late spring 2001 for the 5 tests, but the BSE/scrapie tests will
take longer and is also more complex. The IRMM is also preparing reference standards
and will perform a ring trial of all laboratories in the EU using
rapid tests for BSE. This is designed to evaluate the technical
performance of the various laboratories carrying out surveillance
tests in line with EU legislation. It will be carried out in
late spring 2001. http://www.europa.eu.int/comm/dgs/health_consumer/index_en.htm
Newly formed Dutch Biotech company Crucell
has made its human cell line PER.C6 available to researchers
of US NIH. These used the cell line to develop a vaccine which
can prevent an infection with the Ebola virus in monkeys. The
protective action comes from an isolated ebola-protein expressed
in the monkeys using adenoviruses. The next phase will be testing
on humans. When successfull, Crucell will produce the vaccine,
since it is the only company in the world with a sufficiently
high safety status to make such a vaccine. Source: Bionieuws, Dec 9, 2000 Anti Alzheimer's
vaccine? A vaccine developed by Elan Pharmaceuticals
and American Home Products has been shown to reverse pathological
changes in a mouse model of Alzheimer's disease: the vaccine
prevented formation of amyloid plaques and even cleared those
already formed. In a second study, the vaccine reversed learning
and memory impairments in another mouse model of Alzheimer's
disease. The human version of the vaccine, Betabloc, is currently
in phase I clinical trials. Should it prove effective in humans,
it would be the first disease-modifying therapy on this market. Source: Nature 408; 2000: pp 979, pp
982 Nautilus successful
with venture capital Nautilus Biotech is a French start-up company
specialized in the development and delivery of innovative biotech
products in the field of human therapeutics related to gene transfer
vectors, antibodies, vaccines or therapeutic proteins using a
combination of directed evolution, viruses, robotics, high throughput
and advanced mathematical modelling. The company was founded
by Manuel Vega in the frame of Genopole, Evry (France). Manuel
Vega was previously director of Development for Genethon. Recently,
Nautilus received a substantial equity investment from two major
French venture capital firms. For more information, contact Manuel
Vega at + 33 687 69 56 38 ECACC and OET
for baculovirus expression systems Recently, ECACC has developed a working
relationship with Oxford Expression Technologies (OET), where
OET's expertise with the baculovirus expression system is complimented
by ECACC's ability to develop the downstream cell culture process
for scaled up production of the expression product. Recently, OET has developed an innovative
technology for making a recombinant virus that can dramatically
improve the secretion or membrane targeting of expression products.
ECACC and OET are planning to work together in a complimentary
fashion to offer a complete service to customers wishing to exploit
the baculovirus expression system. Source: ECACC Newsletter January 2001.
Once more, here are the deadlines for proposals
under FP 5 for the year 2001: Key action 2, Infectious diseases: Key Action 3, the Cell Factory: Key Action 6, Ageing Population: All areas, October 18, 2001 RTD activities of a generic nature: Areas 7.2, 7.3, 8.3, 8.4, 9.3, 9.4, 10,
11, 12, 13: October 18, 2001 Key action 8.5, Genomics and Human Health: Expression of Interest, February 9; Deadline
for proposals, October 18, 2001 Support for Research Infrastructures: February 9, October 18 Marie Curie individual Fellowships: Marie Curie Host Fellowships: February 1, 2001 EC contact: alessio.vassarotti@cec.eu.int
On September 28-29, 2000, researchers from
54 EU funded research projects on TSE diseases met to teview
the results of the European Action plan which had mobilised 50
million EURO to understand, detect and ciombat TSEs such as nvCJD
in man, BSE in cows or scrapie in sheep. The meeting also helped
to identify future directions for research and emphasised the
need for funding. Encouraging results were presented on new detection
systems, European-wide surveillance systems for disease in both
humans and animals, the nature of the infectious agents and the
reduction of risks in the food chain. A compendium can be requested from: http://europa.eu.int/comm/research/quality-of-life.html TSEs A catalogue containing a description of
the 54 TSE research projects (129 pages) can be requested from: RTD results A compilation of science and technology
results from FP-4 Life Sciences programmes (BIOMED, BIOTECH and
FAIR) is available in print and in pdf format: Plan your conferences
in 2001 With one of our Nature subscriptions the
ACTIP Secretariat received a copy of the brochure called 'Scientific
Events Directory 2001'. Chockfull of events in the life sciences,
with special sections on the NATO Science Programme, EMBO workshops
and courses, EURESCO conferences, the conferences Jacques Monod
and INSERM events, and much much more. Get your own copy from
Nature (www.nature.com) or ask the ACTIP secretariat for a copy. Industry news A single, useful industry filing cabinet
for the storage and retrieval of public information such as clinical
trials, strategic partnerships, contacts in various companies,
employment opportunities, and an online magazine for news and
analysis. Some information requires payment, but most is free.
Visit: Another site with a lot of business news,
trade-magazine style news, review artricles on technology development,
event listings etc: Biological Weapons If you need background access to papers
pertaining to the protocol being negotiated to enhance the Biological
Weapons Convention, do visit: All about biotechnology A massive compendium of links to other
biotechnology sites that should be of interest to investigators,
educators and the general public. Well developed listings of
software, research tools, biosafety, patent law, career planning
etc etc. Very impressive: Science Park
Crealys Information on Science Park Crealys, in
the province of Namur, Belgium, a location with easy access to
universities and major companies like SmithKline Beecham Biologicals,
IBM, Solvay etc close by:
Most of you will be familiar with the European
Federation of Biotechnology. But did you know that it supports
sections which are open to all European biotechnologists? Currently,
there are 4 sections: Biochemical Engineering Science, Microbial
Physiology, Applied Genome Research and Agri-Biotechnology. Under
formation is a Section on Medical Biotechnology. Current chairman
is our good friend Pierre Crooy. In addition there are numerous
Working Parties on specialised topics. Visit: |
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