THE BATTALION
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 2, 1979
Page 3
-HProf finds gene disease link
is
By RHONDA WATTERS
Battalion Reporter
1 ATexas A&M University scientist
as found a possible enzyme link re-
iting a rare strain of mouse genes
I) those in a group of fatal genetic
iseases.
ue theiroouj j) r James Womack, the genet-
ist who discovered the link, said
Nor ii iat the find could provide new in-
irmation for treatment of diseases
ch as Tay-Sachs Disease, Wol-
ran’s Disease and Hurlers Syn-
■ome.
These diseases, which are de-
jnerative and almost always fatal,
have an enzyme missing that
vork,
'shot.
0 to
on or
is surprisii)
lc f than inn
cs that havei
tests.
to expeci
the
vho
-d workers 1
ducation, i
schoolteacl
hite-collar
Ipen Unive
g their c;
y of its stink
e seeking ti|
r children pi
ome fomd;
^e Open | mses malfunction in the packaging
digestive enzymes. Womack said
lat part of the normal function of
izymes is to move through the cell
Ind become packaged in bodies
called lysosomes. In his laboratory
mice and in the cells of people who
have these diseases, Womack said
that the enzyme responsible for get
ting the digestive enzymes pack
aged is not produced by the
chromosomes as it should be.
As a result, the digestive enzymes
travel through the cell collecting
sugar chains and never get into the
lysosomes. Eventually, the cells be
come overloaded with their own
toxic waste.
“The current theory in getting
these enzymes into the lysosomes is
getting rid of the sugar chains,”
Womack said.
Womack said he and Dr. Michel
Potier of the University of Montreal
have determined that an enzyme
called neuraminidase will slice off
the sugar chains in the mice.
Womack’s theory is that if they
can get neuraminidase into the cells
to eliminate the sugar chains, the
enzymes will pass into the lysosome
and be packaged.
Womack said they will try several
different methods of getting the
neuraminidase into the cells.
First, it will be injected it directly
into the bloodstream, a method that
Womack said will possibly do more
damage than good.
If that fails, Womack said that
with the help of medical biochemist
Dr. Garrett Ihler aand chemist Dr.
Janos Fendler, two experts in
packaging enzymes, he will try to
package the neurainidse before put
ting it into the bloodstream, a pro
cedure known as enzyme replace
ment.
“The excitement of this is that it is
a model to try different kinds of
enzyme replacement therapy,”
Womack said.
Although practical application is
far in the future, Womack said if his
experiments work on the mice, the
method may work in therapy for
people suffering from these enzyme
deficient diseases. Womack, who
teaches developmental genetics at
Texas A&M in addition to his re
search, is working under a $26,000
March of Dimes grant.
onsol OKs bus bid;
conduct code tabled
the Openll
aim,
By ROY BRAGG
Battalion Staff
The A&M Consolidated School
i , , ■ ioard approved the purchase of two
ecade, bi iew sc hool buses totaling $31,605
ional estaki j on day night.
One of the buses, seating 19
andteckh assengers, will be used primarily
mes, tkk ar special education and kindergar-
en students.
The other bus will seat 71
lassengers and will be used for
ither students.
The request for the buses will be
awarded to the Texas Education
cy for approval by the Com-
lisioner of Education, said Assis
tant Superintendent-Finance
)onald Ney. The requisitions then
dll be submitted to the State Board
f Control. The board of control will
[hen acquire the buses for the dis-
rict under state-wide bids.
The new buses should arrive
ivithin four months, Ney said.
| One way to speed up the delivery
irocess, Superintendent Bruce An-
lerson said, is to send two drivers to
he assembly plant and have them
hive the buses to College Station.
This would cut the delivery time in
lalf, he said.
The vote to approve the purchase
as 6-0. Trustee Bill Wasson was
absent from the unusually short
trict was postponed. Board Presi
dent John Reagor said attorney Jack
Woods, also absent for most of the
meeting, had not completed the
final draft of the code.
The board also heard Anderson’s
recommendation concerning the
purchase of an automatic answering
and recording phone set. The sys
tem could be used for announcing
meetings, school lunch menus in
addition to taking messages 24 hours
a day. Each set installed would cost
$22 to install and $16 to maintain,
Anderson said. The set can be re
nted or purchased for $250 to $300,
he added.
See what’s in Focus in
Thursdatis Battalion.
wa
ab
45-minute meeting.
In other action, a vote on a new
onduct code for students in the dis- ^ ^ E? A OTT ,
Donations replace
stolen money
By EILEEN WALL
Battalion Reporter
Corps members who lost money
to thieves at the beginning of the
semester have had their money par
tially reimbursed, thanks to dona
tions by fellow students.
Following thefts that occurred
during Freshman Orientation Week
and the second week of school, word
was sent down the Corps chain of
command that a collection would be
taken up, Dillard Stone, deputy
Corps commander, said.
Each cadet person was urged to
donate at least 25 cents. More than
$670, 86 per cent of the $800 stolen,
was collected. Stone said.
Everyone who had money stolen,
Stone said, received back 86 per
cent of what he lost.
He added that the collection was
not limited to Corps members. For
example, he said, a $5 donation was
received from a civilian girl.
The first of the thefts occurred
Tuesday, Aug. 28, during the Corps
Freshman Orientation Week. More
than $700 was taken from unlocked
rooms during a midnight yell prac
tice.
Two weeks later, thieves struck
again, this time taking $82 from
band members’ rooms while the
band was at drill, making the total
amount stolen total about $800.
Universtiy Police Chief Russ
McDonald said there were no sus
pects in the thefts, and urged
students keep their rqo.ms locked.
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