A grant awarded by the National Institute of Child Health and Development of the National Institutes of Health will enable the University of Utah School of Medicine to conduct a five-year study on the use of genetically modified skin to treat disease.
The $2.6 million project, headed by Project Director Gerald G. Krueger, will help determine the feasibility of treating diseases or correcting inherited disorders in individuals by placing a corrected version of the defective gene in their skin cells.Krueger, a professor of internal medicine, said the study is potentially the most exciting of his lifetime as far as treating disease is concerned.
"With the advances in genetics in modern medicine, we have the chance to cure inherited diseases instead of only treating the symptoms," he said.
Krueger also noted that using skin for gene placement looks easy, but cautioned that numerous developments are necessary before the promise of specific genetic engineering with skin can be used clinically.
The project will consist of genetically modifying human skin, transplanting it to rodents and following it over time to determine whether it continues to reproduce the new genes and how long the modified genes remain functional.
Krueger previously studied skin pharmacology, particularly what happens when drugs taken orally move into the skin.
Firefighters control
blaze at dairy AMALGA, Cache County - Firefighters worked into the night to control a fire that broke out late Friday at the Cache Valley Dairy, the site of a toxic blaze two years ago that caused millions of dollars in damage.
Authorities said the fire started in a shop area of the plant about 10:30 p.m. after lightning struck and shorted some electrical wiring.
Several minor explosions boosted the flames as the fire spread toward a section of the facility where cheese and other products are wrapped, but firefighters were able to control the fire before flames reached it by bringing in their own water.
About 40 employees were in the building when the fire broke out, but no injuries were reported.
Officials evacuated the immediate area because of the presence of toxic materials at the plant.
The hazardous materials, however, were not damaged by the fire.
Doug Lawson of the Western Dairymen's Coop Inc., which owns the dairy, said there was no considerable damage and the dairy, which produces Cache Valley Cheese, will reopen sometime next week.
A fire at the same plant in March 1990 caused extensive damage and involved hazardous materials, including ammonia.
Bush names Cannon
to Holocaust council WASHINGTON - President Bush this week appointed Republican Senate candidate Joe Cannon to serve on the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Council.
The council was established by Congress to design and construct a Holocaust Memorial Museum in tribute to the victims of Nazi atrocities in World War II.
The museum is under construction in Washington, D.C., and is scheduled to open next year. Cannon was one of the largest private financial donors to the project.
"I am deeply honored to serve on the council," Cannon said. "My forefathers moved to Utah, which was then wilderness, because of persecution. This has taught me one of the central messages of the museum - that discrimination against one group is a crime against all people."
Some other council members include 1986 Nobel Peace Laureate Elie Wiesel, former Labor Secretary William E. Brock, former California Gov. George Deukmejian and numerous members of Congress.