The Battalion
rs
Monday • March 2
Science
Briefs
Cells provide early
warning signals
NEWPORT BEACH, Calif. (AP) — A
new test that detects the genetic foot
prints of cancer cells gives an earlier
warning when cancer has spread be
yond the prostate, researchers say.
It could indicate which newly diag
nosed patients should be treated right
away to suppress cancer outside the
prostate, and maybe spare some men
from having unnecessary surgery, said
Dr. Anna Ferrari of the Mount Sinai
School of Medicine in New York.
Prostate cancer is the second lead
ing cancer killer in American men, with
an expected death toil this year of
39,200. Some 184,500 cases are ex
pected to be diagnosed this year.
If it is caught while confined to the
prostate, it can be cured by removing
or irradiating the prostate.
Currently, doctors must look at
nearby lymph nodes under a micro
scope to see if there is any sign that
cancer has spread there. If not, the
cancer is considered to be localized.
The problem is the cancer can es
cape the prostate and come back in
about a third of those cases, appear
ing in such places as the lymph nodes
or bones.
“We’re missing here a great deal of
disease that we cannot see,” Ferrari,
an oncologist, said in an interview be
fore describing the new test Sunday at
a conference presented by the Ameri
can Cancer Society.
Prostate experts said the test could
become a useful guide to treatment, if
it turns out to predict which patients
are vulnerable to relapse.
UT researchers use gene therapy on cam
AUSTIN (AP) — Two University of Texas
microbiology professors think they have a bet
ter way to treat breast cancer tumors than cut
ting, burning or poisoning them with
chemotherapy.
Jaquelin Dudley and Shelly Payne are
banking on an experimental treatment
based on gene therapy and two infectious
organisms: a rare retrovirus that causes
mammary tumors in some mice, and a
common bacterium that causes dysentery
in people.
“It wouldn’t require any injection,” Dudley
said of the treatment.
She and Payne have received a $170,000
state grant to explore their theory in lab ex
periments with mice.
“You would eat it with a litde bit of sugar,”
Dudley told the Austin American-Statesman
for a story in Sunday’s editions.
Gene therapy tries to cure diseases at their
roots by replacing or modifying the abnormal
genes that cause or contribute to cancers and
other conditions.
There are hundreds of gene-therapy trials
under way around the world, but few use bac
teria, if any.
Retroviruses cause illnesses by copying
part of their DNA into the genetic code of
a host cell. People and animals get ill when
the host cell’s DNA prints out multiple
copies of the invading organism.
The theory behind gene therapy is that
once the harmful parts of the retrovirus are
disabled, the healthy genes it delivers to cells
will be copied into the host cell’s genetic code,
curing the disease.
However, there are problems, such as how
to get enough copies of a healthy gene into the
right places in a cell’s DNA to be effective with
out triggering a counterattack of antibodies
from the immune system.
Dudley and Payne say they see hope of at
tacking breast cancer with a retrovirus called
mouse mammary tumor virus, which goes
straight from a female mouse’s stomach to the
cells of its mammary glands.
Besides uncertainty over whether the vims
will carry a healthy gene to a woman’s mam
mary glands, tire researchers also have to find
a way of sneaking it past the digestive chemi
cals in her stomach.
The vims would not survive in the stomach
of even an adult mouse, so nature has
arranged for it to be passed from one genera
tion of mice to another in mother’s milk. Once
in an infant mouse’s immature stomach, the
vims hitches a ride to the mammary glands on
“It (the treatment)
wouldn’t require any
injections.”
Jaquelin Dudley
UT researcher
white blood cells.
Dudley and Payne hope to evade the
chemical roadblock by tucking the gene-car
rying virus inside a shigella bacterium.
Shigella has strong cell walls and other pro
tective mechanisms to help it survive stom
ach chemicals.
The bacterium would get inside intestinal
cells, then die, letting die virus genes take over,
said Payne, former chair of the UT microbiol
ogy department.
The first step, in experimr
take several months tocompk'
if they can get the virus to deli
genes to the mammary glanc
mice. ^
Their first four attemptsfailec
shigella proved unable to sur
adult mouse’s stomach longenc.
virus to get into white blood cell;
strengthening the shigella with
to bolster its cell walls, the reset
cessfully infected a dozen labc.
with the bacterium-virusdelhf
and are waiting to see theresui:
Eventually, they want to try use
virus to make other deliveriestoik
ry glands, such as toxic chemical'
cer tumors or a set of genes tos .!
immune system to do the job.
If the idea proves effectiveintj
ley and Payne plan to take the;
the National Institutes of He:
naiu ing of prelim inary trials to
with breast cancer.
"Ii wi mid just be so simple ifitw .j
Dudley said.
I
Robots to provide doctors helping hand on battle!
BETHESDA, Md. (AP) — It looks like a giant
bionic fly that has found work as a tailor.
It looms over a small table, moving its black
metal arms and silver pincers quickly and
silently. Elbows spread wide and camera-lens
eyes unblinking, it deftly sews two rubber hoses
together.
About 12 feet away. Army Lt. Col. Christoph
Kaufmann leans forward in his chair, peering
down into a large black box. Below, he holds
scissorlike handles at the end of two mechani
cal ar ms. He too makes sewing motions.
In fact, every move of his hands is mimicked
instantly by the bionic fly.
It’s a little like that scene in “The Wizard of
Oz” when Toto pulls back the curtain to reveal
the real wizard. And the reality here sounds just
as fantastic: The device Kaufmann is demon
strating may one day let surgeons behind the
battle lines operate on soldiers at the front.
The bionic fly is calledTeSS, for Telepresence
Surgery System. The Pentagon has spent about
$3 million for its development, and now it’s go
ing to find out what TeSS can do.
Within the next few months, Kaufmann and
his military colleagues at the Uniformed Ser
vices University of the Health Sciences will start
putting it to tire test, operating on dummies, ca
davers and anesthetized animals. And in two or
three years, they will have a better idea how
useful it could be on the battlefield.
The idea is to do surgery at the front without
putting surgeons in the line of fire. Still, it is clear
that TeSS will not replace standard surgical care
behind the lines, said Kaufmann, a trauma sur
geon who sewed up soldiers in Operation
Desert Storm. u
Soldiers with simple wounds; j
be evacuated. If an explosion T: u
a leg, a medic will still apply a . vt
get the soldier to human surge: n
But on some future battlec
whose lung has collapsed mighi: aj
an armored vehicle, where as®t
robot slips a tube into his l<
whose face is so badly damap y
breathe, might inhaleagainafttri*
a hole in his throat.
:r
Traditions Council
Presents:
“How the Past creates the present,
opening up the Archives of
Texas A&M University”.
Featuring Dr. David Chapman
Thursday March 26, 1998 at 7:00 p.m.
in Rudder Theatre
Free Admission
Join us in learning the fascinating
history of Texas A&M from one of the
leading experts on A&M history.
Visit us at www.rtis.com/traditions-council.
The Memorial Student Center
♦ ELS^
Executive Lecture Series
Political T omm
Memorial Student Center
Executive Lecture Series
&
Political Forum
Present
Women in Government
A Panel Discussion
Tuesday, March 24, 1998
7:00 p.m.
Forysth Gallery
The views expressed are not necessarily those held by MSC Political
Forum, the Memorial Student Center or Texas A&M University.
Please indicate if any accommodations are required for individuals with disabilides.
For further information call 845-1515.
I DREAM A WORLD
Portraits of Black Women Who Clmfi
An Evening with Sonia Sanchez
Presented by MSC Black Awareness C
Professor and activist.
Temple University
Wednesday, March 25, 1998
Rudder Theater at 7 p m.
$3 pre-sale
$5 day of program
1
it
Continuing the Traditions of Excellence and I
An Afternoon with Gloria R. Scott
President, Bennett College
Thursday, March 26, 1998
Lecture and Booksigning
J. Wayne Stark Galleries at 2 p.m.
Free of charge
Visit us online at http://bac.tamu.edu
For more information call the MSC Black
Awareness Committee at (409) 845-1515.
4v.
I DREAM A WORM) is an n
images ami portraits of Black women' -j;
strides and has made a significant imfa' V
people in America. 1 he exhibit hon
most esteemed and profound Blade
non. I he MSC Black AwarenesCflirU
to invite two of those women femimi 't.
Sonia Sarwltez and Gloria RmA \
Santhez is an activist and a Profow jj.
temple University. She lus writtensoOm
literary works such .i-
and lie been a VCbrnan: NewardSdm^
C Xir other guest, C iloria Randle Saxo l
at Bennett College and the fust Hack * yy
as the national president of the Gill &
Gloria R. Scott has held several other
administrative positions at blackcolepis*'•
three degrees. Don’t miss dieoppotwd^
prolific and distinguished Black worn® It
Persons with disabilities please call #45-1515 to inform us of your special needs. Wo reqii'
days prior to the event to enable us to assist you to tjjc best of our abilities.
Nubian Festival
African-American Achievement Awards
Nominate the individual who exemplifies outstanding
academic^ service, and leadership skills.
THE AWARDS
Excellence in Academics
Reginald Broadus Award
Outstanding Student Athlete
Outstanding Student Involvement
Effective Leadership
Outstanding Community Service
Outstanding Corps Member
Salute to Faculty or Staff Member
^ m
For more information please call 845-1515.
Presented by the
MSC Black Awareness Committee
Pick up nomination forms in the MSC Student Programs Office Room
216T or submit nominations online at http://bac.tamu.edu
Texas A&M Umve^ItTl^
SiweH± fem’cu'rli Klm f
March 23-28, 1998
Support student research!
More than 100 students will be giving oral
and poster presentations showcasing
their research efforts.
Other events include:
Wednesday, March 25 Opening presentation
Thursday, March 26 Poster and oral competition
Sigma Xi Workshop
Friday, March 27 Chemistry Symposium
Saturday, March 28 Society of Mexican-American
Engineers and Scientists (MAES) Science Symposium
For further details call Amy Montgomery at 845-8585
or Clifton Griffin at 845-8827
or visit the Student Research Week website at http://www.tamu.edu/
researchandgradstudies/Research/RESWEEK/resweek.html
Th
I p
.rm
Tiffany Inbody,
Helen Clancy, Copy Chief
Brad Graeber, Visual Arts Editor
Robert Smith, City Editor
Jeremy Furtick, Sports Editor
Jeff Webb, Sports Editor
James Francis, Aggielife Editor
Editor in Chief
Mandy Cater, Opinion Ed®
Ryan Rogers, Photo Editff
Chris Huffines, Radio Prot
Sarah Goldston, Radio Pr®
Dusty Moer, Web Editor
Aaron Meier, Night NewsE
Staff Members
City- Amanda Smith, Stacey Becks, Susan
Atchison, Kelly Hackworth, Lyndsay Nantz, Suzanne
Riggs, Jennifer Wilson & Katy Llneberger.
Science - Jill Reed.
Sports - Assistant Editor: Jeff Schmidt; Michael
Ferguson, Chris Ferrell, Travis Harsch, Robert
Hollier, Al Lazarus, Colby Martin, Aaron Meier, Katie
Mish, Philip Peter & Michael Taglienti.
Aggielife - Marium Mohiuddin, Rhonda Reinhart,
Chris Martin, Leah Templeton, Travis Hopper, April
Towery, Travis Irby & Stephen Wells.
Opinion - Len Calloway, Adam Collett, John Lemons,
Donny Ferguson, Caleb McDaniel, Beverly Mireles,
Manisha Parekh, Stewart Patton, Mickey Saloma,
Joe Schumacher, Michelle Voss, Frank Stanford &
Jennifer Jones.
Night News - Joyce Bauer, Jaclynn!
Shane Elkins & Aaron Meier.
Photo - Assistant Editor: Brandon Bi
McKay, Greg McReynolds, Mike Fue
Francis & Jake Schrickling.
Graphics - James Palmer, Chad MalW|
Faulkner & J.P. Beato.
Cartoonists - Ed Goodwin, John Len#J
Hoffman, Gabriel Ruenes, Victor VansU
Nordfelt and Quatro Oakley.
Copy. Editors - Leslie Stebbins, Jeni#
David Johnston, Martha Gidney, Pati®!
Veronica Serrano.
Radio - Andrew Baley, Jody Rae Sartin 1 ]
& Karina Trevino.
Web - Anita Tong & Jeremy Brown
News: The Battalion news department is managed by students at Texas A&M University in the Division of Student PutW 5 ’
Department of Journalism. News offices are in 013 Reed McDonald Building. Newsroom phone: 845-3313; Far ^
batt@unix.tamu.edu; Website: http://battalion.tamu.edu
Advertising: Publication of advertising does not imply sponsorship or endorsement by The Battalion. For campus, local, and a# I
Using, call 845-2696. For classified advertising, call 845-0569. Advertising offices are in 015 Reed McDonald, and office I*’ 5 ’ |
Monday through Friday. Fax: 845-2678.
Subscriptions: A part of the Student Services Fee entitles each Texas A&M student to pick up a single copy of The Battaliorf’ |
$60 per school year, $30 for the fall or spring semester and $17.50 for the summer. To charge by credit card, call 845-2611
The Battauon (ISSN #1055-4726) is published daily, Monday through Friday during the fall spring semesters and Monday W/ ^
the summer session (except University holidays and exam periods) at Texas A&M University. Second class postage paid al
Postmaster: Send address changes to The Battalion,015 Reed McDonald Building, Texas A&M University, College Station,IK
fie