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News Archives
- Yale press release about the passing of John Phillip Trinkaus, long time member of the SDB and the first recipient of our Conklin Medal in 1995.
Posted February 21, 2003
- SDB Member wins Nobel Prize
in Physiology or Medicine
H. Robert Horvitz
- Long-time SDB member H.Robert Horvitz
of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology was awarded the 2002 Nobel Prize
in Physiology or Medicine. He shares this honor with Sydney Brenner of The Molecular
Sciences Institute in Berkeley, CA, and John E. Sulston of The Sanger Centre in
Cambridge, UK. They are recognized "for their discoveries concerning genetic regulation
of organ development and programmed cell death." For more details please see:
- http://www.nobel.se/medicine/laureates/2002/press.html
- http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/nr/2002/horvitz-nobel.html
- http://www.nigms.nih.gov/news/releases/nobel_horvitz.html
- posted Monday, October 7, 2002
Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About the IACUC But Were Afraid to Ask
A summary of the Experimental Biology 2002 symposium "Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About the IACUC But Were Afraid to Ask" has been posted to the American Physiological Society website.
This symposium was organized by the American Physiological Society's Animal Care and Experimentation Committee with support from the NIH Office of Laboratory Animal Welfare (OLAW). The session was co-sponsored by the American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics (ASPET), American Society for Nutritional Sciences (ASNS), American Association of Immunologists (AAI), American Association of Anatomists (AAA), and the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB).
Posted 11/1/02
SDB Board Members Accept Editorial Appointments
Marnie Halpern is the Managing Editor for Mechanisms of Development, an Elsevier publication, and the official journal of the International Society of Developmental Biologists; and Gary Schoenwolf is the Editor-In-Chief for Developmental Dynamics, a Wiley publication.
posted July 26, 2002
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Setting the Record Straight about the Science of Stem Cell and Cloning Research
An exclusive on the website of the Albert and Mary Lasker Foundation addresses misunderstandings by policymakers, the public, and even professional scientists in an interview with Dr. Irving L. Weissman, Stanford Professor and chair of The National Academies Panel on Scientific and Medical Aspects of Human Cloning.
posted July 12, 2002
- Report on NIGMS Workshop on the Basic Biology of Mammalian Stem Cells
A report on the June 9-10, 2002 Workshop on the Basic Biology of Mammalian Stem Cells is posted at http://www.nigms.nih.gov/news/reports/stemcellworkshop.html
- SDB Members Elected to the National Academy of Science
- Congratulations to Kathryn Anderson, Morris Goodman and Gail Martin for being elected to the National Academy of Science. Anderson was SDB President 1998-1999. Martin is recipient of the 2002 E.G. Conklin Medal and will deliver the Conklin Lecture at the upcoming SDB 61st Annual Meeting at the University of Wisconsin, Madison.
- More about NAS membership: http://www4.nationalacademies.org/news.nsf/isbn/043002?OpenDocument
- More about:
- - Kathryn Anderson - http://www.mskcc.org/mskcc/html/5379.cfm
- - Morris Goodman - http://www.med.wayne.edu/anatomy/
- - Gail Martin - http://anatomy.ucsf.edu/Pages/martin.html
- Posted May 17, 2002
- FASEB President Endorses Feinstein Human Cloning Prohibition Act
In a letter sent to Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), FASEB President Robert R. Rich endorsed the Human Cloning Prohibition Act of 2001 (S1758), which bans reproductive cloning but allows some use of somatic cell nuclear transfer for therapeutic and scientific purposes.
Full text of the letter is found at http://www.faseb.org/opa/ppp/ltr12x11x1.html.
The text of bill S1758 in PDF is found at http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=107_cong_bills&docid=f:s1758is.txt.pdf
Other bills and US Congress related issues may be found at http://thomas.loc.gov/, posted December 28, 2001
- International Shipment of Human Embryonic Stem Cells
NIH's Office of Extramural Research offers guidance for clearances required for receipt of human embryonic stem cells developed outside the US at: http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-02-013.html.
The NIH Registry is available at http://escr.nih.gov.
Frequently Asked Questions are at http://grants.nih.gov/grants/stem_cell_faqs.htm, posted December 7, 2001
- Embryonic Stem Cell Guidance
The Office for Human Research Protections of the Department of Health and Human Services published the Guidance for Investigators and Institutional Review Boards (IRBs) Regarding Research Involving Human Embryonic Stem Cells, Germ Cells and Cell-derived Test Articles at http://ohrp.osophs.dhhs.gov/references/HESCGuidance.pdf, posted December 7, 2001
- President's Council on Bioethics
An Executive Order establishing the President's Council on Bioethics was issued November 28, 2001. This Council's mission is to advise the President on bioethical issues that may emerge as a consequence of advances in biomedical science and technology. The Council may study ethical issues connected with specific technological activities such as embryo and stem cell research, assisted reproduction, cloning, and other broader ethical and social issues not tied to a specific technology. Full text of the executive order is found at:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2001/11/20011128-13.html
Posted December 7, 2001
- NIH Human Embryonic Cell Registry
The National Institutes of Health have now posted the list of human embryonic stem cell lines that meet the eligibility criteria for federal funding at: http://escr.nih.gov/, where links to the providers and cell line characterizations are found. Additional guidance for proposals on research with human embryonic stem cells is found at: http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-02-006.html. Applications for the use of human embryonic stem cells will be considered as late as November 27, 2001 for this one round (October 1 receipt date for new, competing applications or Nov. 1 for competing renewals and competing supplements) only. Posted November 16, 2001
- Call for Nominations-2002 Albert Lasker Medical Research Awards
The Lasker Foundation is currently accepting nominations for awards in the following three categories:
* Basic Medical Research
* Clinical Medical Research
* Special Achievement in Medical Science
Deadline for nominations is February 1, 2002.
Additional information and printable nomination forms are available at http://www.laskerfoundation.org/awards/nominate.html
email: [email protected]
Posted November 16, 2001
- Special tribute to Anne McLaren and to the heritage of Spemann-Mangold organizer
A special issue about Dame Anne McLaren, the 2001 recipient of SDB Lifetime Achievement Award, and her contributions to embryology and ethics was published (http://www.ijdb.ehu.es/0104contents.htm) by The International Journal of Developmental Biology.
The journal also published another special issue, celebrating the 75 years of publication of Hans Spemann and Hilde Mangold's seminal paper on the discovery of the organizer (http://www.ijdb.ehu.es/0102contents.htm).
PDF order forms: McLarenSpecial.pdf, SpemannSpecial.pdf
Posted November 2, 2001
- SDB Trustee Eric Olson elected a member of the Institute of Medicine
Eric Olson, the Editor-in-Chief of Developmental Biology (published by Academic Press under the auspices of SDB) and a Trustee of the SDB Board of Trustees, was one of this year's sixty newly-elected members of the Institute of Medicine, one of The National Academies. Press releases are found at The National Academies (http://www4.nationalacademies.org/news.nsf/isbn/101501?OpenDocument)and at UT Southwestern (http://irweb.swmed.edu/newspub/newsdetl.asp?story_id=344). More on Eric Olson's research may be found at his lab website (http://hamon.swmed.edu/~olsonlab/).
Posted November 2, 2001
- SDB Trustees share the first Harland Winfield Mossman Developmental Biologist Award
SDB Trustees Lee A. Niswander and Didier Stainier, respectively Northeast and West Coast representatives, share the first American Association of Anatomists' Harland Winfield Mossman Developmental Biologist Award. They will each give a lecture at the AAA Annual Meeting at Experimental Biology 2002 (April 20-24, New Orleans). More details on this award are found at: http://www.anatomy.org/public/pages/index.cfm?pageid=148
Posted November 2, 2001
- 2001 Lasker Award to SDB Member Mario Capecchi
SDB Member Mario R. Capecchi, of the University of Utah received the 2001 Lasker Award for Basic Medical Research "for the development of a powerful technology for manipulating the mouse genome with exquisite precision, which allows the creation of animal models of human disease," according to the Albert and Mary Lasker Foundation. He shared the award with Oliver Smithies of the University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill and with Martin Evans of Cardiff University in Wales.
For more information: http://www.nigms.nih.gov/news/features/lasker.html and http://www.laskerfoundation.com/awards/library/2001b_cit.shtml.
- Human Embryonic Stem Cell Research
- Due to the importance of President Bush's August 9 decision on allowing federal funding for human embryonic stem cell research on a limited basis, we want to bring to the attention of our members and other interested parties the following official online postings:
- We also want to pass along the information that the "NIH Guidelines for Research Using Human Pluripotent Stem Cells" are no longer valid. Instead, the criteria set forth by President Bush will apply:
- informed consent for the donation of the embryo for research purposes,
- the embryo was not created for research purposes,
- there was no monetary or other inducements for the donation of the embryo, and
- the embryo was in excess of clinical need.
- NIH is setting up the registry of the eligible cell lines and we encourage scientists with sound proposals to submit them when the call is made. The challenge is on the scientific community now. Please check NIH Website (http://www.nih.gov) for updates and details, also see NIH's brief news release on human embryonic stem cells at http://grants.nih.gov/grants/news.htm.
- Prepared by Ida Chow, SDB Executive Officer, posted August 10, 2001
- New Resource NIH Funding: Developmental Defects Mutant Mouse Facility at Baylor College of Medicine
- Facility for Mouse Mutagenesis and Phenotyping: Developmental Defects
- The Facility for Mouse Mutagenesis for Developmental Defects at Baylor College of Medicine is supported by the NIH to produce and phenotype mutant mouse strains with defects in embryonic and postembryonic development. The mutant strains are available to the scientific community. Their Website includes information on available mutants categorized according to phenotype. Additionally, the Website provides an e-mail alert service that will notify you when mutants with particular phenotypes are identified.
- Current mutant categories include:
- Embryonic lethal
- Eye
- Growth
- Hematological
- Metabolism
- Neurological
- Skeletal
- Skin and Coat
- Urogenital
- Undefined
- For more information please visit: http://www.mouse-genome.bcm.tmc.edu/ENU/MutagenesisProj.asp
- Developmental Biology Research in Space: Anticipating the International Space Station
- Recommendations from the Developmental Biology Workshop sponsored by the International Space Life Sciences Working Group in Woods Hole, MA, September, 1999
- Over the past decade, the Space Studies Board of the National Research Council, National Academy of Science (USA) has evaluated space biology research to guide future research endeavors. Four major goals were enunciated in 1987 that are still pertinent: a) to describe and understand human adaptation to the space environment; b) to use that knowledge to improve the health and safety of astronauts; c) to understand the role that gravity plays in biological processes of plants and animals; and d) to determine if any biological phenomenon that arises in an organism is better studied in space than on Earth. It was considered particularly important to determine whether the space environment would interfere with human and/or animal reproduction and whether there are developmental phenomena that can be better studied in microgravity than on Earth. Although a number of developmental studies in space have begun to address some of these goals, a comprehensive approach to life-cycle issues has not been possible because of the special requirements of developing biological systems, the significant restrictions on experimental design due to hardware and flight time availability, the influence of lift-off forces and the reliance on space flight to attain periods of microgravity that span a significant portion of development. A new facility, however, may alleviate many of these difficulties. The first elements of the International Space Station (ISS) have been assembled and full research capability of the ISS is expected within the decade. It will be equipped with hardware to support several different kinds of developing animals, will provide long-term exposure to microgravity and will include centrifuges to provide control environments. It is expected that the ISS will facilitate well-designed, well-controlled studies that will be of interest to the developmental biology research community.
- In order to focus research efforts over the next decade while the ISS is being built an international workshop was convened. The Developmental Biology Workshop was sponsored by the International Space Life Sciences Working Group, and organized by Dr. Sally A. Moody, George Washington University and Dr. Catherine Golden, NASA. The purpose of the Developmental Biology Workshop was to evaluate the evidence for whether the space environment interferes with animal reproduction and/or developmental processes, whether certain developmental phenomena can be better studied in microgravity than on Earth, and what current techniques and approaches used to answer fundamental questions in developmental biology should be utilized in related space life-science research. The participants, prominent members of the developmental biology research community, space biology research community and seven international space agencies, addressed issues in gametogenesis and fertilization, maternal-fetal/neonatal interactions, pattern formation, organogenesis and the development of the vestibular system. A detailed report of this meeting and the recommendations of the participants may be found at http://www.fundamentalbiology.arc.nasa.gov/ISLSWG_index.html. A review is in Developmental Biology.
Developmental Imaging Workshop
We have a complete account of a Developmental Imaging Workshop held September
18 and 19, 1997, including the Agenda, Abstracts, Speaker List, and links to Project Web Pages.
Moratorium On Cloning Of Human Beings
(September, 1997) SDB Members declare voluntary moratorium on cloning of human beings. About 25% of the members responded to the referendum and of these 93% said YES to the voluntary moratorium, 6% said NO and 0.2% abstained. We thank all members who took the time to send in their position and comments on this important issue. Please note that many of your comments have been incorporated into the background statement text.
The Federation of American Societies of Experimental Biology (FASEB) subsequently adopted, unanimously, the resolution at the Public Affairs Executive Committee meeting and released a statement.
January 1997, Message from the SDB President
Development and Evolution E-mail List
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