werner@aecom.YU.EDU (Craig Werner) (05/30/87)
What follows is an idiosyncratic table of contents for the 22 May
1987 issue of Science. It is not complete, but it is commented.
1. Antibodies have many specificities determined by the variable region.
However, they can switch between classes of the constant region, and
different constant regions have different biological effects. See
Snapper and *Paul*, IFN-gamma and BSF-1 reciprocally regulate Ig isotype
production, p. 944
2. There are known possible complications with certain anaesthetics
that can cause complications in even simple surgery. Some of these
have a genetic predisposition. For instance, halothane can cause a
type of hepatitis. Sendensky and Meneely use a nematode model system
to study the genetics, "Genetic Analysis of Halothane Sensitivity in
C. elegans.", p. 952
3. For genetic engineering ever to be used in gene therapy, it must
be neccessary to introduce the gene with high efficiency and get it
expressed. One such attempt is described by Cone, Reilly, *Eisen*
and Mulligan, "Tissue-Specific Expression of Functionally Rearranged
lambda-1 Ig Gene Thorough a Retrovirus Vector", p. 954.
4. Each ml of human semen contains billions of sperm. The DNA content
of each sperm is such that if stretched out, it would be over a meter
long. The compression ratio boggles the mind. How this occurs
is touched on by Gatewood, Cook, Balhorn, Bradbury, and Schmid, in
"Sequence-specific packaging of DNA in Human Sperm Chromatin", p. 962.
5. Carbon Tetrachloride toxicity results in a fatty liver. The
mechanism of how this happens has been unclear. In "Carbon Tetrachloride
at Hepatotoxic Levels Blocks Reversibly Gap Junctions Between Rat
Hepatocytes" by Saez, Bennett, and Spray, p. 967, some answers are
proposed. I should also note that these researchers are at Einstein
and in fact, my previous roommate worked in David Spray's lab.
--
Craig Werner (MD/PhD '91)
!philabs!aecom!werner
(1935-14E Eastchester Rd., Bronx NY 10461, 212-931-2517)
"It's hard to argue with someone who knows what he's talking about."