Word: nih
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...obscure corner of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), molecular biologist Norton Zinder strode to a 30-ft.-long oval conference table, sat down and rapped his gavel for order. A hush settled over the Human Genome Advisory Committee, an unlikely assemblage of computer experts, biologists, ethicists, industry scientists and engineers. "Today we begin," chairman Zinder declared. "We are initiating an unending study of human biology. Whatever it's going to be, it will be an adventure, a priceless endeavor. And when it's done, someone else will sit down and say, 'It's time to begin...
...doctors intend to inject cells containing a gene from the bacterium E. coli into cancer patients at NIH. The gene itself will have no therapeutic power, but it will help the researchers monitor the effectiveness of an antitumor treatment. More important, the transplantation techniques being developed for the experiment could someday be used to cure several genetic ills, possibly including Huntington's disease, sickle-cell anemia and some types of muscular dystrophy. Says NIH director James Wyngaarden: "We have reached an important milestone in medical history...
...work combines the efforts of three top NIH scientists: Steven Rosenberg, an expert in cancer therapy, and W. French Anderson and R. Michael Blaese, two master gene manipulators. For several years Rosenberg has been developing a novel cancer treatment using a type of cancer-fighting cell called TILs (tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes). He removes TILs from cancer patients and clones large quantities of the cells in the laboratory. When this army of cells is reinjected into the patients, their tumors can shrink significantly. In one experiment with metastatic melanoma patients, 60% of them benefited from the therapy. But Rosenberg still needs...
This limited test is only the beginning. The NIH researchers and others elsewhere are planning to transplant genes that could actually help people fight cancer and other diseases. For example, scientists hope to give patients genes that will enable their bodies to mass-produce such anticancer agents as interleukin-2 and tumor necrosis factor. Anderson believes the day is not far off when it will be possible to transplant a gene containing instructions for the manufacture of CD4, a substance that combats the AIDS virus. Ultimately, researchers think they may be able to conquer some hereditary diseases by replacing defective...
...youngsters -- mostly boys -- may suffer from the baffling syndrome. Doctors disagree about what causes hyperactivity, or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), as it is now known. Everything from brain damage to stress, food allergies or radiation from TV sets has been suggested. The NIH says the problem is probably a combination of as yet elusive genetic, environmental, neurological or biochemical factors. Diagnosis is difficult, since there is no laboratory test for the disorder, and the symptoms are vague and confusing. "Hyperactivity is in the eyes of the beholder," notes James Kavanagh, an NIH behavioral scientist...