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SEPTEMBER 27, 2004
Edited by Catherine Arnst SOLAR ENERGY From Berkeley To Bavaria, A Blue-Ribbon Panel Next month, the world's biggest solar-cell operation -- Bavarian Solarpark, near Munich -- will start cranking out juice. By yearend, it will be pumping 10 megawatts into the local grid. PowerLight in Berkeley, Calif., is supplying the park's 57,600 solar panels, and Siemens (SI ) is handling grid connections. CEO Thomas Dinwoodie says PowerLight won the lion's share of the $60 million project because of its PowerTracker panels. Unlike most solar cells, they swivel to follow the sun. "That increases energy production in the morning and late afternoon," boosting daily flow by as much as 30%, Dinwoodie says. Thanks to a far-sighted state program to stimulate solar power, Germany is the world's No.2 market for photovoltaic technology, topped only by Japan. By Otis Port OPHTHALMOLOGY Three Blind Mice -- Before Stem Cells Stem cells, the precursors to all the body's tissue, may be able to halt certain types of blindness. Dr. Martin Friedlander of the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, Calif., says his team saved the vision of mice suffering from retinitis pigmentosa, a disease that destroys the retina, by injecting adult stem cells derived from bone marrow into the back of their eyes. Working on mice genetically engineered to develop the disease, the team found that the stem cells, injected a few weeks after birth, kept the retina from degenerating. The results were reported in The Journal of Clinical Investigation. Retinitis pigmentosa, which causes blindness in one in every 3,500 people, has no cure. Triggered by gene mutations, it prevents proper formation of the retina at birth. Friedlander theorizes that the therapy may be effective since stem cells are loaded with heat shock proteins, used by the body to protect cells from premature death. He hopes to test the technique in humans in three or four years.   CANCER WATCH Giving A Sugar Shock To Cancer Cells All cells need oxygen and glucose. But cancer cells need a lot more glucose to grow rapidly. Threshold Pharmaceuticals in South San Francisco has come up with a drug that exploits cancer cells' sugar jones to make chemotherapy more effective. The drug, glufosfamide, consists of a traditional chemotherapy treatment, ifosfamide, with a glucose molecule attached. Normal cells take in little of the drug, but cancer cells, greedy for glucose, suck in large amounts and die. In Phase 2 studies of glufosfamide used against advanced pancreatic cancer, patients survived a median of 5.6 months, two months longer than the average for late-stage disease. Threshold President George Tidmarsh says 9% of patients in the trial are still alive after two years. Glufosfamide's side effects included nausea, vomiting, and kidney impairment, which are common to chemotherapy. It may also prove useful for lymphomas and breast and colon cancer, Tidmarsh says. Threshold is recruiting pancreatic-cancer patients for a Phase 3 trial, and results are expected in a year. By Amy Tsao INNOVATIONS Cargo Catamarans And SARS Drug -- A high-speed cargo catamaran could go a long way toward reducing truck congestion on Europe's roads. Under development by a consortium of 14 European partners, including British naval architects IMAA, the vessel is part of a European Union program to research environmentally friendly transport. It's slated to carry the equivalent of 45 truckloads of goods. Thanks to air cushions like the ones found on hovercraft, the vessel will be able to cruise on rivers and seas at 25 mph -- twice the speed of current freighters. The craft is scheduled to be afloat on the Danube by 2006. -- Belgian researchers may have found a treatment for SARS that is both inexpensive and widely available. Virologists from the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven found that the common antimalarial drug chloroquine fights the infection in cell cultures. The research team is now prepared to begin testing on animals. "We are also looking to see if any derivations of chloroquine are more effective than the drug itself," says Marc Van Ranst, a professor at the university. Currently no satisfactory treatment for SARS exists. By Rachel Tiplady
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