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CONCENTRATES
RESEARCH Some insight into the role of brain glycoproteins in memory and learning has been gained by a Boston University biochemist. Dr. Samuel Bogoch, who is also director of the Foundation for Research on the Nervous System, told the 124th Annual Meeting of the American Psychiatric Association that he has identified three key glycoproteins in memory experiments with carrier pigeons. Two of these proteins may have something to do with laying down short-term memory traces, he believes. The third is needed for lasting memory. Dr. Bogoch says similar, and perhaps identical, glycoproteins are found in man and he theorizes that the capacity to learn is related to the capacity to synthesize these molecules. Synthesis of the calcium-regulating hormone calcitonin has been achieved by Lederle Laboratories, Pearl River, N.Y., and at Ciba in Basel, Switzerland. The synthesis climaxes about six years of work on the hormone since it first came to light in work in Canada in 1962. Both the Lederle and Ciba groups, the latter in cooperation with the Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich, prefaced synthesis of the substance by unraveling its structure of 32 amino acids. Calcitonin's role in inhibiting calcium withdrawal from bones gives it promise for eventual treatment of bone diseases. Research on artificial kidneys is concentrating on membranes for improved hemodialysis. Much effort is also going toward developing membranes which might make ultrafiltration practical enough to permit design of an artificial kidney small enough for a patient to wear. A disposable membrane unit is under development by a group at the Cleveland Clinic with the objective of lowering costs, Dr. David C. Weber of the Cleveland Clinic Foundation told a joint meeting of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers and the Instituto de Ingenieros Quimicos de Puerto Rico last week in Tampa, Fla. In one of three main areas of the work at the Cleveland Clinic, prepackaging sheets of cuprophane (a form of regenerated cellulose) in a water-soluble envelope may provide ease of handling and sterilization with desirable performance. Argon, krypton, and neon tube systems are utilized in four laser units introduced by RCA. A continuous-wave argon laser and a pulsed argon laser which emit light in the visible spectrum are intended for hologram readout and information recording. Price: $3500 and $610, respectively. The visible beam of the krypton laser makes possible full-color printing and readout, especially in the three-dimensional world of holography and in military command rooms and advertising displays. Neon tubes emitting ultraviolet radiation will provide researchers with lasers for photochemistry, computer memories, "daylight" printing, and photochemical processing, according to RCA. The 400-mw. continuous-wave krypton system and 50-mw. neon system are both priced at $19,500. Wyeth Laboratories has received FDA clearance for its new oral contraceptive containing norgestrel, a totally synthetic progestogen. Norgestrel, although structurally similar to norethisterone and other steroid hormones, differs in having an angular ethyl substituent rather than the usual methyl group at C-13. This feature enhances its potency, the Philadelphia-based company says. Wyeth first announced the commercial feasibility of totally synthetic steroids four years ago. The new product, Ovral, contains 0.5 mg. norgestrel and 0.05 mg. ethinyl estradiol, an estrogenic agent. MAY 27, 1968 C&EN 45
