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Cross fire
trends in analytical
chemistv,
vol. 15, no. 5, 1996
DNA sequence of yeast The recent announcement that the complete genetic instructions for making a cell of yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, have been deciphered marks the sequencing of the largest genome to date - more than 12 million base pairs. In the 1950s Dr Robert K. Mortimer at the University of California-Berkeley began to genetically map all of the genes on the organism’s 16 chromosomes. In the early 198Os, Dr Maynard V. Olson, then at Washington University School of Medicine, created a physical map of the yeast genome by cloning overlapping DNA fragments. The sequencing began in 1989 under the direction of André Goffeau, Ph.D., a biochemist at the Catholic University of Louvain-LaNeuve in Belgium who coordinated a network of more than 70 laboratories in the European Union, where 72% of the genome was sequenced. An additional 22 percent was sequenced in the USA, 4 percent in Canada and 2 percent in Japan. The yeast chromosomes were sequenced from tip to tip with no gaps, and both strands of the double helix were analyzed, resulting in an accuracy rate of more than 99.99 percent. More than half of the 6,000 genes uncovered during the sequencing were unknown, despite decades of intense scrutiny by yeast geneticists. Preliminary studies suggest that a large proportion of yeast genes code for nuclear proteins, such as transcription factors. Genes for membrane proteins are also well represented. The next challenge will be to characterize the precise functions of all of the genes. The European Union has launched a systematic effort by giving each lab a set of genes to mutate. The research will look at the effect of each missing gene on the organism’s activities. News and views on recent events, activities, award winners, etc. should be sent to theTrAC Editorial Office. :.-_
v
Fisons sell out A management buy out team has purchased the high-performance mass spectrometry businesses of Fisons Instruments. The new company, Micromass UK Ltd., has acquired the principal operations and intellectual property of VG Organic (VG Biotech, VG Analytical and VG Isotech) and in addition the Plasma Trace high-resolution ICP-MS product line, originally supplied by VG Elemental. The remaining Fison’s Instruments businesses, including VG Masslab and the residual business of VG Elemental, were sold to Therm0 Instrument Systems Inc. at the same time. Schroder Ventures has agreed to provide continuing financial support which will enable Micromass to realise the full potential of its broad portfolio of Organic, Isotope Ratio and ICP-MS technologies. To keep informed of new developments within the company log-on to the Micromass home page on the Web at http://ww.micromass.co.uk
European air emissions Want information on pollution emissions in Europe? European Environment Agency data for 1994 can be found on the Web at http:llwww.aeat.co.uWproducts/cent res/netcen/corinair/corinair.html These pages give information from the CORINAIR 90/B study of atmospheric emissions in Europe, initiated by the European Environment Agency Task Force. The study has attempted to produce a complete, consistent and transparent emission inventory for eight pollutants - SO2, NOx, VOCs, CH4, CO, CO2 N20, NH3 - information about which are derived from 31 countries/regions. Perhaps surprisingly, the major polluter as measured in emissions per capita is the former FRG which was highest on CO2, NOx, VOCs and CO, and second on CH4 and NH3.
CrossFire Beilstein Information Systems and Digital Equipment Corporation have announced a partnership that will develop and market solutions to address the needs of the research chemist and chemical information specialist. The first development to come out of the new partnership will be Beilstein’s CrossFirerM, running across the Digital AlphaServerTM product family on Digital’s OpenVMS and Digital UNIX platforms. The Alpha CrossFire Server, which will be available in the Summer of 1996, will deliver a new avenue for access to the Beilstein Database, the world’s largest collection of information on organic chemical compounds. CrossFire’s highly regarded search engine will take advantage of the computational power inherent in Digital’s AlphaServer products. This will result in providing chemists with near instaneous access to 215 years of critically evaluated organic chemistry information. It is anticipated that a production version of the CrossFire AlphaServer solution will be shown at the next ACS Fall meeting in Orlando in August of 1996. Beilstein’s CrossFire employs RISC technology, a new structure indexing system, and a revolutionary search engine to bring over 7,000,OOO organic compounds, more than S,OOO,OOO reactions and millions more associated properties in-house.
Used Scientific Instruments Scientific Equipment Exchange new WWW site at: http://www.sci-equip-ex.com
has a
If you are considering a purchase, or have equipment for sale, try this site first.
chemistv,
vol. 15, no. 5, 1996
DNA sequence of yeast The recent announcement that the complete genetic instructions for making a cell of yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, have been deciphered marks the sequencing of the largest genome to date - more than 12 million base pairs. In the 1950s Dr Robert K. Mortimer at the University of California-Berkeley began to genetically map all of the genes on the organism’s 16 chromosomes. In the early 198Os, Dr Maynard V. Olson, then at Washington University School of Medicine, created a physical map of the yeast genome by cloning overlapping DNA fragments. The sequencing began in 1989 under the direction of André Goffeau, Ph.D., a biochemist at the Catholic University of Louvain-LaNeuve in Belgium who coordinated a network of more than 70 laboratories in the European Union, where 72% of the genome was sequenced. An additional 22 percent was sequenced in the USA, 4 percent in Canada and 2 percent in Japan. The yeast chromosomes were sequenced from tip to tip with no gaps, and both strands of the double helix were analyzed, resulting in an accuracy rate of more than 99.99 percent. More than half of the 6,000 genes uncovered during the sequencing were unknown, despite decades of intense scrutiny by yeast geneticists. Preliminary studies suggest that a large proportion of yeast genes code for nuclear proteins, such as transcription factors. Genes for membrane proteins are also well represented. The next challenge will be to characterize the precise functions of all of the genes. The European Union has launched a systematic effort by giving each lab a set of genes to mutate. The research will look at the effect of each missing gene on the organism’s activities. News and views on recent events, activities, award winners, etc. should be sent to theTrAC Editorial Office. :.-_
v
Fisons sell out A management buy out team has purchased the high-performance mass spectrometry businesses of Fisons Instruments. The new company, Micromass UK Ltd., has acquired the principal operations and intellectual property of VG Organic (VG Biotech, VG Analytical and VG Isotech) and in addition the Plasma Trace high-resolution ICP-MS product line, originally supplied by VG Elemental. The remaining Fison’s Instruments businesses, including VG Masslab and the residual business of VG Elemental, were sold to Therm0 Instrument Systems Inc. at the same time. Schroder Ventures has agreed to provide continuing financial support which will enable Micromass to realise the full potential of its broad portfolio of Organic, Isotope Ratio and ICP-MS technologies. To keep informed of new developments within the company log-on to the Micromass home page on the Web at http://ww.micromass.co.uk
European air emissions Want information on pollution emissions in Europe? European Environment Agency data for 1994 can be found on the Web at http:llwww.aeat.co.uWproducts/cent res/netcen/corinair/corinair.html These pages give information from the CORINAIR 90/B study of atmospheric emissions in Europe, initiated by the European Environment Agency Task Force. The study has attempted to produce a complete, consistent and transparent emission inventory for eight pollutants - SO2, NOx, VOCs, CH4, CO, CO2 N20, NH3 - information about which are derived from 31 countries/regions. Perhaps surprisingly, the major polluter as measured in emissions per capita is the former FRG which was highest on CO2, NOx, VOCs and CO, and second on CH4 and NH3.
CrossFire Beilstein Information Systems and Digital Equipment Corporation have announced a partnership that will develop and market solutions to address the needs of the research chemist and chemical information specialist. The first development to come out of the new partnership will be Beilstein’s CrossFirerM, running across the Digital AlphaServerTM product family on Digital’s OpenVMS and Digital UNIX platforms. The Alpha CrossFire Server, which will be available in the Summer of 1996, will deliver a new avenue for access to the Beilstein Database, the world’s largest collection of information on organic chemical compounds. CrossFire’s highly regarded search engine will take advantage of the computational power inherent in Digital’s AlphaServer products. This will result in providing chemists with near instaneous access to 215 years of critically evaluated organic chemistry information. It is anticipated that a production version of the CrossFire AlphaServer solution will be shown at the next ACS Fall meeting in Orlando in August of 1996. Beilstein’s CrossFire employs RISC technology, a new structure indexing system, and a revolutionary search engine to bring over 7,000,OOO organic compounds, more than S,OOO,OOO reactions and millions more associated properties in-house.
Used Scientific Instruments Scientific Equipment Exchange new WWW site at: http://www.sci-equip-ex.com
has a
If you are considering a purchase, or have equipment for sale, try this site first.