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Aug. 8, 2000 -- Some of this
week's stories:
APS X-rays tapped for protein, drug studies
Argonne wins R&D 100 awards
High school interns do research at Argonne
Runners
don their best scarlet finery for 'Red Dress Run'
Blood
donors wanted at ANL-West
Retirees |
A new research facility at Argonne's Advanced Photon Source will be built around the first commercially owned and operated beamline in the world devoted to high-throughput X-ray crystallography.
Funded by San Diego-based Structural GenomiX (SGX), the facility will use the X-rays focused by the beamline to determine the structures of proteins and potential pharmaceutical drugs with atomic-level precision. When completed in 2001, the facility will be the most advanced of its kind.
"The next step in going from human genome sequence to new drugs is to understand the function of the encoded proteins. The ability to determine the structure of these proteins is a critical component of that process," said George Poste, chairman of Structural GenomiX.
"It will not be possible without state-of-the-art beamlines." Argonne's Advanced Photon Source is the most brilliant source of X-rays for research in the United States.
"In this field, which holds such huge promise for benefits to mankind, it is a real challenge to move from genome sequencing to accurate high-throughput, three-dimensional protein structures," said David Moncton, Argonne's Associate Laboratory Director for the Advanced Photon Source. "Cooperation, rather than competition, between key public resources like the APS and private resources, represented by SGX, will enable structures to be solved with unprecedented speed."
"Today's agreement is recognition that the Department of Energy's world-class facilities are essential to advancing the next phase of genomics research," said Secretary of Energy Bill Richardson, who visited Argonne-East July 26 for the agreement's signing. "By making the Energy Department's Advanced Photon Source available to the private sector we are helping to speed the development of new pharmaceuticals to benefit the entire nation."
Located in San Diego, SGX is a high-throughput protein-structure-determination company, solving structures of interest to pharmaceutical, biotechnology, agriculture and industrial enzyme companies. Access to these structures is available through strategic partnerships and subscription to an annotated database. SGX currently employs 45 people and occupies 35,000 square feet of laboratory and office space.
Three Argonne technologies have won R&D 100 Awards, given annually byR&D magazine to the "100 most significant technical products of the year."
The three inventions include a process to recover and clean flexible polyurethane foam from automobile shredder residue, a large-area charge coupled device (CCD) X-ray detector and a hard X-ray scanning microprobe.
Argonne's process to recover and clean flexible polyurethane foam can keep about 300 million pounds of automobile scrap from landfills and save about 12 trillion BTUs of energy annually in the United States -- the amount of energy that would be used to manufacture new flexible polyurethane foam. It was developed by Bassam Jody, Edward Daniels and Joseph Libera (all ES).
The process cleans the foam so it can be reused for carpet pads, furniture cushions and automobile soundproofing material.
The second Argonne innovation, the large-area CCD X-ray detector, improves the way scientists study and determine protein structures. It was developed by Istvan Naday (ECT), Edwin M. Westbrook (BIO) and Mike Strauss (ECT-retired). By knowing the 3-D structure of a protein, scientists can understand the protein's function in the body and how to repair it when something goes wrong.
Argonne's large-area CCD X-ray detector allows researchers to study proteins and DNA molecules 100 times faster, in a larger detection area and at higher resolutions. The large-area CCD X-ray detector also captures data on toxins, receptors, enzymes, viruses, metabolic and genetic regulators and other molecular components. This information will help scientists develop new drugs and understand biological processes.
The third Argonne innovation, the hard X-ray scanning microprobe, is a noninvasive tool that provides spatial resolution previously unavailable in X-rays, thereby expanding the potential of traditional X-ray techniques. It was developed by Barry Lai, Zhonghou Cai (XFD), Jörg Maser, Dan Legnini and Peter Ilinski (all XFD). Wenbing Yun of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory contributed to the technology.
The heart of the microprobe is the "phase zone plate," an optical device that focuses the X-rays to less than a micron, a scale 1,000 times smaller than traditional X-rays. It has higher resolution, increased sensitivity for mapping trace elements in cells and the ability to measure structural phases and strains in materials and microelectronic devices. The microprobe is a powerful tool for studying infectious diseases, drug effectiveness and contaminated environments, and for developing smaller, more reliable integrated circuits and safer, stronger materials.
-- Yolanda Lukaszewski
This summer, 37 high school students from the Chicago area are experiencing what it's like to work in a national laboratory.
Argonne hosts the students through the Pre-College and Chicago Public Schools programs. The students assist with research or office work in one of 15 divisions, including Decision and Information Sciences, High Energy Physics, Chemical Technology and Environmental Assessment.
The students were chosen from 250 applicants for their high SAT scores, interest in science and an essay on what they would like to do at Argonne. The applications were circulated among the divisions and scientists selected the students with whom they wanted to work.
"A lot of these students want to be scientists and this is a great way to recruit them," said Harold Myron, director of the Division of Educational Programs. "It's also a way for the good science that we do here to reach the community."
The program benefits the students as well.
"I didn't expect to get a job in science this soon," said Wes McClain (ET), a graduate of Plainfield High School. "I thought I would have to wait until college to get research experience." McClain, who will study electrical engineering at the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana this fall, is helping Hual-Te Chien (ET) study how sound waves behave as they pass through various materials.
Carmen McReynolds (BIO), a senior at Harlan Community Academy, wants to be a doctor someday. She works for Gayle Woloschak (BIO), updating the Biology Division's Web page. "I get to learn about DNA, RNA, proteins and other things about biology that I didn't know," she said.
Rachel Gabor (PHY), who works for John Greene (PHY), said, "What I'm doing is really being used, not like in high school." She uses a computer program to calculate the temperature of the ATLAS accelerator target to better understand the effects of the rotation. Gabor, a graduate of Naperville Central High School, will be studying physics this fall at Harvey Mudd College.
-- Yolanda Lukaszewski
Argonne's Running Club hosted its third annual Red Dress Run at Argonne-East June 21.
Runners of both sexes wore their best red dresses and either ran three miles or walked two miles.
Because it is more of a social event than a race, the Red Dress Run does not recognize the first runners to cross the finish line. Instead, an award is given to the best-dressed male and female. The award this year went to Richard Page (RE) and Laurie Culbert (IPD-MED).
Betty Iwan (HR), Julie Gotchie (HR), Jack Picciolo (ET) and Robert Erck (ET) won gift certificates in the raffle.
More photos from the run are posted on the Argonne Running Club Web page .
The laboratory's retirement vendors will visit the Argonne-East site during August to meet individually with employees and answer questions about retirement plans and retirement plan assets.
To schedule an appointment with these representatives, call the number listed. Prudential appointments are for one-half hour each.
Prudential: Wednesday, Aug. 16 and 23. Call Cheryl,
(847)619-3519
Fidelity: Tuesday, Aug. 8 and 15. Call the appointment desk,
(800) 642-7131
TIAA-CREF: Thursday, Aug. 24, and Friday Aug. 25. Call (800)
842-2005.
The Argonne-West Red Cross Blood Drive will be held Wednesday, Aug. 9, in the fire station.
Donation hours are from 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Call ext. 3-7341 to make an appointment.
William A. Buehring (DIS), retired July 21 with 26 years of service.
Nellesen Donald (RPS), retired June 30 with 28 years of service.
Joanne Fink, (RE) retired July 7 with 26 years of service.
Richard Kasper (ESH), retired July 14 with 36 years of service.
David Raske (ET), retired July 31 with 23 years of service.
Charles Harvey Sowers (MSD), retired in March with 41 years of service.
Barbara Sullivan (ES), retired July 18 with 24 years of service.
Elon Lee Wood (ED), retired June 16 with 32 years of service.
