Bio/Technology/Diversity Week, Volume 3, Number 6 (February 16, 1994)

Bio/Technology/Diversity Week Produced by the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy Volume 3, Number 6 February 16, 1994 Code: NL94010 Size of Files: Text: 16K Graphics: No Associated Graphics Files CONTENTS * CALGENE RECEIVES GO-AHEAD FOR COTTON The Davis, CA-based Calgene company recently received the go- ahead from the USDA to begin commercial sale of its bromoxynil- resistant cotton.... * DOCTOR CITES POTENTIAL LINKS BETWEEN rBGH AND BREAST CANCER TO FDA In a recent letter to FDA Commissioner David Kessler, Dr. Samuel Epstein, a professor at the University of Chicago's School of Public Health, expressed his concerns about the potential links between the consumption of milk derived from synthetic bovine growth hormone (rBGH), also known as bovine somatotropin (BST), and breast cancer.... * U.S. RETAINS FIRST-TO-INVENT PATENT LAWS Despite the move toward international harmonization of patent laws around the principle of first-to-file, Commerce Secretary Ron Brown announced last month that the U.S. would retain its first-to-invent law.... * NIH WON'T PURSUE GENE FRAGMENT PATENTS Dr. Harold Varmus, current director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) said his agency will not appeal rejected patent claims by the PTO on over 2,000 gene fragments.... * BIOTECH BEER The Japanese beer company Kirin Brewery is using a biotechnology method developed in the U.S. to grow microtubers used in its beer production.... * ISU STUDYING GENE THERAPY FOR LIVESTOCK Iowa State University researchers are reportedly looking for ways to use gene therapy on livestock.... * ZOOS SEE THEMSELVES AS SPECIES CONSERVATIONISTS While many associate the public zoo with captive animals living in squalid conditions, zoos around the world are seeking to change their image.... * PFIZER, BOTANICAL GARDENS DOING DRUG RESEARCH TOGETHER The Connecticut-based Pfizer pharmaceutical company is sponsoring a project in cooperation with the New York Botanical Gardens to examine the plants vital to the development of new pharmaceutical products...