Panel judges science office operation okay A handful of members of a House subcommittee last week laid out the White House Office of Science & Technology Policy for diagnosis. After four hours of poking and jabbing by members and witnesses, OSTP was essentially pronounced good enough, considering. The hearing was held by the Subcommittee on Science, Research & Technology, a unit of the House Science, Space & Technology Committee. Subcommittee chairman Doug Walgren (D.-Pa.) said that one aim of the hearing was to "consider whether further legislative action is needed to strengthen [OSTP's] effectiveness." The word coming out of the subcommittee is that new legislation is probably not needed. OSTP, as reflected by the hearing, is a function of the President's interest in it, and he is going to use it any way he wants. Every science adviser has the tough job of plying the rough waters of White House politics, the witnesses implied, and most deserve sympathy. But witnesses consisting of current Presidential Science Adviser William R. Graham, former science advisers, agency heads, and outside observers said the hearings were timely because, especially in an election year, new thinking is needed on today's unprecedented permutations involving science, technology, economics, and foreign relations. Robert A. Roe (D.-N.J.), full committee chairman, has called for new perceptions about science policy, given the new realities. Graham, a former defense industry physicist, testified that the way OSTP is presently structured, with just about the smallest staff and budget in a decade, is pretty much the way it ought to be. "We always deal with issues at the intersection of science, technology, economics, and international relations," he said, and the White House supports his efforts. Washington observers believe that Graham runs a low-profile OSTP. They say that because of his background, his relations with the sci-
entific community at large are minimal but that his connection within the White House itself is better than most science advisers enjoyed. However, witnesses such as former science advisers Edward E. David Jr., John P. McTague, and Donald F. Hornig all felt that the current science adviser ranked too low. They
said he should have something comparable to Cabinet status. "When I was science adviser," said David, whose job was abolished by President Nixon, "I sat in on many Cabinet and National Security Council meetings. But always in the back chair." Wil Lepkowski, Washington
Soviet scientists detail reforms under perestroika Scientific relations between the U.S. and U.S.S.R., already warming, rose by a few more degrees in Boston last week at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Twelve top-level scientists from the Soviet Academy of Sciences, including the directors of five major research institutes, came to the meeting. In various presentations the scientists described Soviet research in their fields, outlined sweeping reforms now under way in Soviet science as part of perestroika (Soviet economic and political restructuring), and urged increased cooperation with U.S. scientists. Their conduct at the meeting exemplified the new glasnost (openness) policy. Eleven of the 12 scientists spoke in direct, frank English laced with humor. They were easily approachable for further discussion. AAAS executive officer Alvin W. Trivelpiece called it "a unique and unprecedented event," the first time a group of top-ranking Soviet sci-
entists has come to talk about Soviet science at an open scientific meeting in the U.S. It follows signing last month of exchange agreements between the U.S. National Academy of Sciences and Soviet academy, and between the U.S. Institute of Medicine and Soviet Academy of Medical Sciences (C&EN, Feb. 1, page 25). Moreover, the American Society of Mechanical Engineers has just agreed on exchanges and cooperation with the Soviet academy. The Soviets are revamping their science structure from top to bottom, noted Konstantin V. Frolov, a vice president of the Soviet academy and head of the delegation. This includes expanding basic research, fostering more creativity, injecting hew blood by encouraging young scientists and setting retirement ages for older scientists, and electing research institute directors by secret ballot. Research is being decentralized functionally by transferring management from the academy presidium to departments responsible for Sfe 2
Frolov (left) answers questions from audience after speaking at AAAS meeting February 22, 1988 C&EN
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News of the Week individual disciplines, and geographically by creating regional research centers in outlying areas. Labs that have outlived their usefulness will be abolished. And groups will coordinate work at academy institutes, universities, and industrial research institutes, to try to close the gap existing between basic research and industry. The scientists described Soviet work in such fields as ecology, semiconductor optical electronics, lowtemperature solid state physics, space sciences, high-energy physics, mathematical physics, microbe biotechnology, and genetic engin e e r i n g . For instance, Yury A. Buslaev, director of the Institute for Chemical Physics, outlined his institute's work on antioxidants as antitumor compounds. Richard Seltzer, Washington
ICPs new film expands data storage capacity "Digital paper" was the term coined last week by ICI Electronics of the U.K. for its novel and inexpensive optical data storage medium. Considerably larger amounts of information can be stored on it than is now possible with existing optical disks and magnetic tapes. Michael Strelitz, marketing manager at ICI Electronics, told attendees at the Optical Memory Applications conference in London that he foresees wide acceptance of digital paper not only in the computer industry but in the audio and video recording fields. The material can be offered as tape or in a cassette, or may come as a cylinder, or cut into strips and tags. The cost of the material for storing a megabyte of data is less than a cent. This is not only substantially below that of other forms of electronic data storage media, but lower than the cost for paper and most microforms, Strelitz points out. "Capacities achievable with this medium are enormous," he claims. "A 2400-foot reel of half-inch tape, the same proportions as conventional 10.5 inch-diameter reels of magnetic tape, is capable of storing 600 gigabytes—600,000 megabytes—of 6
February 22, 1988 C&EN
data. [This contrasts with the 320 megabyte maximum for magnetic tape.] Only the resolution of the laser writing devices that are currently available prevents even higher volumes of data being stored. Future developments in laser technology are expected to boost these figures." Digital paper consists of a polyester substrate film, Melinex, about 25 microns thick, on top of which is a layer of polymeric dye protected by an overlay. ICI makes the film commercially and developed the
laser-sensitive dye. A solid-state laser beam of the same kind now used in drives designed for use with rigid optical storage disks confers data to the dye. ICI Electronics is collaborating with a number of companies to develop disk and tape drives for use with its digital paper. For example, a joint development program is under way with Bernoulli Optical Systems in Boulder, Colo., to design disk drives. And Vancouver-based Creo Co. is working on tape drives. Dermot O'Sullivan, London
Test monitors spread of gene-altered bacteria A crucial bugaboo facing genetic engineers has been the lack of an accurate way of monitoring altered organisms in the environment to follow their distribution and to critically evaluate their performance. Now researchers have successfully tested a tracking system developed by Monsanto that works by inserting genes into a soil bacterium, allowing it to be distinguished from naturally occurring microbes. Eventually, other genes that control beneficial traits will be inserted along with the marker genes. The field test was performed at Clemson University's Edisto research station in Blackville, S.C. It is the first live release of genetically altered bacteria to be approved by the Environmental Protection Agency under the Toxic Substances Control Act. Clemson profes.sor of microbiology Ellis L. Kline told a symposium at last week's annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science that the tracking system shows the engineered bacteria are behaving in the field in the way greenhouse tests had predicted. The marking system consists of two genes from Escherichia coli inserted into Pseudomonas fluorescens, a naturally occurring soil bacterium that fluoresces under ultraviolet light. The transferred genes direct the Pseudomonas to produce /3-galactosidase. That enzyme allows the altered bacteria to grow on laboratory dishes that contain only lactose as a carbon source, which they normally cannot do.
For visualizing the altered bacteria, a lactose analog is added to the culture dishes. Bacteria with the /3-galactosidase enzyme split off an indigolike chromophore from the analog and turn bright blue. Because only the engineered microbes can both use lactose and fluoresce, they can be distinguished from other blue colonies by placing the culture dish under UV light. For the field test, the Clemson researchers applied the microbes to seeds of winter wheat that they planted in November. They have been digging up plants every two weeks, bringing them into the lab, and extracting the bacteria. They also are checking adjacent untreated wheat and bare land nearby. In the 10 weeks' worth of data they have examined so far, the researchers have seen very limited movement of the marked bacteria away from the plants—either horizontally or vertically, Kline says. Despite several heavy rains, the altered bacteria were not found in any puddles or in a pond near the planting site. The scientists think the engineered bacteria—this species anyway—can't compete successfully with the native microbes and for the most part are staying at the actual site where they were introduced. Once the wheat experiment is completed in March, the researchers plan additional experiments to see whether the original dose of bacteria remains in the soil to colonize the subsequent plantings. Pamela Zurer, Washington
