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In opening ACHEMA 97 early last month in Frankfurt, Germany, Utz- Hellmuth Felcht stated his conviction that "with this 25th ACHEMA, an era is coming to an end that has provided the foundation for a new future, which in many ways will be very different." Felcht, chairman of DECHEMA, the German society that organizes ACHEMA—the huge exhibition and congress devoted to chemical technology—was referring to one aspect of this year's event. He was commenting on how the application of new multimedia CD-ROM technology was supplementing ACHEMA's traditional concept of discussions around the exhibits with "discussion in front of the virtual object" anywhere in the world at any time. But in talking about the end of one era and the beginning of a new and different future, Felcht might well have been referring to the chemical technology itself. Because certainly at ACHEMA 97, it was difficult to escape the conclusion that chemical technology has in many ...

From the ACS meeting Not many months have passed since computational chemistry software developers took their first tentative steps onto the World Wide Web and started to embrace the technology the web embodies. Now they are racing off in all directions. Computational chemistry and web technology are clearly on their way to a solid relationship. Just how solid can be gauged from a comment by Michael J. Savage, president and chief executive officer of Molecular Simulations Inc. (MSI), San Diego. "I think that the web represents the most important technological shift that I've seen since I've been involved in the business," he says. But however significant for computational chemistry software the technology embodied in the web's browser-based mode of communication may be, it is only one of the driving forces in the field's current technological evolution. Another potent, occasionally overlapping, influence is drug discovery, particularly that part dealing with handling of the biological and ...

211th ACS National Meeting New Orleans Bioinformatics—a field that deals with genomic information—is experiencing explosive growth. And World Wide Web technology—the Internet browser-based mode of ...

Some technological concerns of the chemical process industries remain constant through the decades. Some change with the times. Often they are reflected in the equipment that makes up the physical presence of the industries. That was the case again early this month in New York City when the 46th Chemical Process Industries Exposition— the 95 Chem Show—took to the floor of the Javits Convention Center. For eight decades, the biennial Chem Show has been a traditional setting for showcasing equipment of the chemical process industries in all of its state-ofthe- art variety: from absorbers and blenders to vaporizers and valves. As is also traditional, the 95 Chem Show served as a launch site for a number of new products and developments. And this year, an added tang came from the enhanced presence of several state development agencies—and one representing an area of France—that were exhibiting at the show in an attempt to entice new business ...

The mid-August news of a major merger in the computational chemistry software industry was still quite fresh when the fall exposition took to the floor at the American Chemical Society's national m...

At one time, putting a pretty three-dimensional image of a molecule on a computer screen and maybe tweaking it with a touch of mechanics calculations was reason enough for the existence of molecular modeling software technology. Those days are far in the past. The aesthetics of the images are still pleasing and important. But the expanding range of problems addressable by molecular modeling, as well as the increasing credibility of and new developments in modeling software, are helping to move molecular modeling to a more prominent position in the practice of chemistry. "We typically get hung up on the words molecular modeling," notes Christopher A. Herd, vice president and general manager of the life sciences business unit at Biosym Technologies, San Diego. "Now when I refer to molecular modeling, I refer to basically any computational technique that either calculates properties or analyzes data. So it's a very, very broad set of ...

"Seven dollars a sniff point." That's one estimate of the cost of corne a plying with certain Clean Air Act regulations dealing with fugitive emissions— those emissions of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) escaping from chemical plants at such points as valves and other equipment less than absolutely sealed against such leakage. The cost of dealing with fugitive emissions, along with the necessity of attending to VOCs more generally, is one of the incentives underlying some of the new technology and new designs introduced at the 45th Chemical Process Industries Exposition. Known more familiarly as the Chem Show, the exposition was held earlier this month at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York City. On display, for example, were new developments in membrane technology, cryogenic processing, and activated carbon for recovery of VOCs in air or aqueous streams. And new design approaches aimed at eliminating fugitive emissions are being applied to valves and valve ...

The revolution represented by the application of computers to chemistry is continuing to take hold. From the application side, the techniques are increasingly being used at the benchtop by experimental chemists. From the software and hardware side, vendors are providing experimental and theoretical chemists alike with an expanding array of tools to aid them in their quests. As a showcase for some of the newest developments in the technology for computer-aided molecular design, the exposition at the national meeting of the American Chemical Society, held in Denver late last month, was one demonstration of the impact that the technology is having on the practice of chemistry. Every indication suggests that computer-aided chemistry has moved well along toward changing the way that much of chemistry is done. Recent software-system developments are, for example, making it easier for bench chemists to integrate analytical, informational, and modeling activities into their experimental approaches. For pharmaceut...

Two observations point up what continues to be seen by scientists as a crucial need for major changes in precollege science education in the U.S. Viewing the current science education experience of many students, Johns Hopkins biology professor James D. Ebert says: 'In today's schools, science instruction during the elementary school years is infrequent and inconsistent. During the middle school years, a student's window to the natural world is typically a textbook accompanied by dreary worksheets. As a result, students enter high school thoroughly bored by science and give no thought to the subject beyond the required course, which more often than not affirms their expectations of an unrewarding experience." Not unrelated is the experience that many prospective precollege science teachers have with their college science education, of which Washington State University chemistry professor Glenn A. Crosby notes: "Sitting in large lecture halls, listening to uninspiring lectures, and attending cookbook labor...

As revolutions go, the application of computers to chemistry through computer-aided molecular design has been a slowly building one. But there are signs that that is changing. There is now a general sense among software developers that they have approached a pivotal point in the development trajectory of the technology. For example, the idea of bringing together at the workstation all of the different kinds of information and computational tools needed in research, talked about for years, is now being conceptualized and is starting to take place in a realistic and meaningful way. Moreover, modeling and simulation, techniques fairly well established for fields such as biological chemistry and polymers, now are being extended into new areas of chemistry in materials science. And the appearance of expert systems software for applications in the area of drug discovery has added still another dimension to the already bustling field of computer-aided chemistry. Not least among the new developments ...

If environmental considerations don't currently top the list of factors affecting chemical process equipment design, they are very near the top, judging from the just-ended '91 Chem Show at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York City. But as illustrated by the show— formally, the 44th Chemical Process Industries Exposition—there are other factors influencing equipment as well, one of them the employment of new construction materials that significantly affect design. Environmental considerations were evident in the themes for a large number of the 20 two-hour conference program seminars presented by the Chem Show—themes ranging from the benefits of periodic wastewater audits to postuser plastics recycling. They were also evident in many of the displays on the exhibition floor. One product area feeling the hot breath of environmental regulations is that of heat-transfer fluids. There are new products drawing customer interest—a synthetic hydrocarbon heat transfer fluid introduced in the U.S. at t...

Molecular modeling, computer-aided molecular design, computational chemistry: However one views it, it is a field roiling with activity. In software/ hardware products, in industry structure, in market growth, in application capabilities, it is astir with developments. From the user point of view, it is on the verge of changing the way everyday chemistry is done. Until very recently, says Charles T. Casale, president of Aberdeen Group, a Boston-based management consulting and computer research organization, computational chemistry has been an exotic laboratory tool used by highly trained research chemists to gain insights into difficult chemistry problems. Now it is moving into development labs and is poised for use by the bench chemist. Not surprisingly in such circumstances, the American Chemical Society's exposition last month in New York City at the 4th Chemical Congress of North America provided a momentary focus on this fast-changing field. Computational chemistry now represents a $530 million marke...

"YES! KEEP IT!" is one student's emphatic evaluation of a department of chemistry and biochemistry educational project at the University of California, Los Angeles. The comment is representative of...

Scientifically and technologically, polymer science and engineering in the U.S. shows no sign of diminished vigor. But like many other areas of science and technology, the field is experiencing the impact of various economic, environmental, and educational forces as it adjusts to life in the post-Cold-War era. That's the gist of a new report from the National Research Council, "Polymer Science and Engineering: The Shifting Research Frontiers." The report was prepared by a committee on polymer science and engineering established by NRCs Board on Chemical Sciences & Technology and chaired by University of Massachusetts, Amherst, chemistry professor Richard S. Stein. Stein says that given the changes in the field since an earlier 1981 NRC report, another look at polymer science and engineering was clearly in order. The report, which presents a state-ofthe-art picture of polymer science and engineering, also sounds a bell concerning future U.S. competitiveness in the field. It pictures a field being influence ...

DuPont, Dow Chemical, and Northwestern University will make up the first team to build and operate research facilities at the Advanced Photon Source (APS) nearing completion at Argonne National Laboratory. When experiments get under way in 1996, the team will have available the world's brightest x-ray source for doing materials research. The three partners making up the Collaborative Access Team (CAT) signed an agreement at Argonne last week under which they will contribute between $7 million and $8 million over the next three years, along with an estimated $1 million per year for maintenance. It is the first formal agreement for APS. Fourteen other research teams from industrial, university, and government laboratories are in various stages of development. DuPont has a 40% share in the CAT partnership, Dow 20%, and Northwestern 40%. "The APS will let us look at materials in ways never before possible," said Fred P. Corson, Dow vice president and director of ...

Cement kiln operators who are making use of hazardous waste as a partial substitute for fossil fuel now have a better engineering foundation for determining what is going on in the kilns and how to optimize their operations. A just-released study by a scientific advisory board of experts commissioned by the Cement Kiln Recycling Coalition (CKRC) in Washington, D.C., has provided an indepth look at such operations and finds the practice to be a "fundamentally sound" technology. Long residence times and high temperatures in cement kilns maximize the combustion efficiency for waste-derived fuels, according to the study report. The scientific advisory board notes that all organic compounds can be destroyed in a kiln at 99.9999% efficiency. Also, the behavior of metals in cement kilns can be readily measured, predicted, and controlled, it says, concluding that cement kilns are extremely efficient in reducing metals emissions. The two-year study was carried out by a work group of ...

With several contracts recently being awarded, the U.S. Advanced Battery Consortium now has it`s development program underway. The program`s long-term goal: to develop batteries that would allow electric vehicles to perform and be cost competitive with current gasoline powered vehicles by the late 1990`s. Research being conducted at Sandia, Argonne and Idaho National Engineering laboratory will complement the new contracting efforts.

Negotiations for cooperative agreements for two projects to be funded in the fourth round of the Department of Energy's clean-coal technology program have been completed. One demonstration project, Self-Scrubbing Coal, is an integrated approach to clean air by Custom Coals International, Stoystown, Pa. The other, demonstration of pulse combustion in an application for steam gasification of coal, is a project of ThermoChem Inc., Gillette, Wyo. The clean-coal technology program was initiated in 1986 by DOE to aid in the commercial demonstration of new environmentally clean coal use technologies. Projects are selected through nationwide competitions, and government funding for the projects is limited to half the total cost of each project. So far, four rounds of competitions have been held, and 41 projects are active. Project proposals for the fifth and final scheduled round are due at DOE by Dec. 7. The $81.7 million (46.5% from DOE) Custom Coals International project will demonstrate production and use ...

A second round is now under way in the grant process for the advanced technology program (ATP) run by the National Institute of Standards & Technology. NIST is seeking proposals for some $20 million in grants for projects, with the aim of helping U.S. industry develop promising generic technologies. ATP was created by the Technology Competitiveness Act of 1988. Administered by NIST, an agency of the Commerce Department's Technology Administration, the program provides support for U.S. companies, either individually or in joint ventures, in their development of what the program terms precompetitive generic technologies, ones with significant commercial promise. The program is not restricted to any particular fields of technology. It is, in fact, broad enough to cover such areas as materials. The first set of ATP awards was announced last March. High-temperature superconductivity as well as electronics and computer software were among the 11 projects targeted for grants. NIST points out that ATP emphasizes ...

The American Society of Mechanical Engineers has completed the first phase of a research program to use risk-based methods for developing inspection requirements and guidelines for systems and components subject to catastrophic failure. Nuclear power plants, fossil-fuel generating plants, and petroleum and chemical processing facilities are among those systems that could benefit. The initial report of an ASME task force, "Risk-based Inspection—Development of Guidelines: Volume 1, General Document," is about to be published. So, too, is a companion document that will apply that methodology to light-water reactor nuclear power plants. Similar documents are planned for other types of facilities, including petroleum and chemical, over the next two years in a second phase of the program. Recent catastrophic structural failures, ASME notes, have highlighted the need for vigorous safety inspection programs. By identifying concerns that may lead to failure, the results of such a program can assist in determining ...

New chemical software from a number of companies debuted in Washington, D.C., last month at the exposition held in connection with the American Chemical Society's national meeting. One new entry involves chemical research information management; others add to or update software in the area of molecular modeling. Molecular Design Ltd., San Leandro, Calif., introduced its substance module. The new software is part of the company's MACCS-II system for managing chemical research information. The MACCS-II system consists of MACCS-II (from molecular access system) and several modules and databases, all of which handle information on the basis of twodimensional molecular structures and three-dimensional models. MACCS-II is designed to store and search proprietary databases, as well as a number of databases available from Molecular Design. The substance module adds a new dimension to the type of chemical research information a firm can handle with an information management system. It goes beyond 2-D structures an...

A new feature has been added to the World Wide Web page of a group at the National Institutes of Health: a master listing of all reported mutations of G-protein-coupled receptors. Purinoceptors—G-protein-coupled receptors and ligandgated channels for adenosine, adenosine triphosphate (ATP), and other nucleotides—are the main focus of the Molecular Recognition Section of the Laboratory of Bioorganic Chemistry of the National Institute of Diabetes, Digestive & Kidney Diseases. The section, headed by Kenneth A. Jacobson, works on applying knowledge-based drug design and discovery, and it is concerned with pharmacology, molecular biology, and medicinal and computational chemistry. The Molecular Recognition Section's home page (http://mgddkl.niddk.nih.gov:8000/), created by postdoctoral fellow A. Michiel van Rhee, offers a hyperlink to "G-protein-coupled receptors" (GPCRs), a page that provides alignments of receptor sequences, among other things. From this page a hyperlink for "a database of mutations in GPCR...

Laser spark spectroscopy, demonstrated in a lab setup (right), is the technique underlying a new approach for monitoring toxic metals in emissions from manufacturing plants, incinerators, or power plants. The lab arrangement—in which a pulsed laser beam is shown vaporizing metal-containing particles—was used by researchers at Sandia National Laboratories' Livermore, Calif., facility to develop a prototype continuous emissions monitor (CEM). That unit successfully underwent testing last fall and is now the basis of ongoing work toward an improved second-generation design. Laser spark spectroscopy, which has the potential for measuring emissions directly in a smokestack, employs a focused, pulsed laser beam to energize the metal atoms present to provide spectral data that give an indication of the concentrations. The prototype detects and measures target species, including the 11 metals regulated under the Clean Air Act to ensure compliance. In the test, a Sandia team worked with researchers in South Caroli...

Oxford Molecular Group has agreed to acquire CAChe Scientific in a move with potential for reshaping the computational chemistry landscape. The computer-aided molecular design software firms complement each other in both products and markets. Oxford Molecular, based in Oxford, England, has an array of software products for use in pharmaceutical research, especially drug discovery, and a strong market position in Europe. CAChe Scientific of Beaverton, Ore.—which has focused on the research chemist—has market strengths in the U.S. and Japan. "We have a very clear vision emerging of a company which can provide the total software requirements of research, biotechnology, and pharmaceuticals," A. F. (Tony) Marchington, Oxford Molecular's chief executive officer, tells C&EN. "We are some way from that at the moment, but that's definitely where we're headed. And CAChe for us represents another very important part of that jigsaw." Last September, Oxford Molecular acquired IntelliGenetics of Mountain View, Calif., ...

A new form of glass fiber based on fusion of two different components has been developed by Owens-Corning Fiberglas Corp., Toledo, Ohio. The first product to use the fiber, called Miraflex, is a home attic insulation that will be introduced this month in selected North American markets. The material is "the most exciting technology breakthrough and new material development in the history of Owens-Corning since the discovery of fiberglass," says company chairman and chief executive officer Glen H. Hiner. The fiber resulting from the new bi-component technology is composed of two different forms of glass fused together in a single filament. When the fiber cools, interaction of the two different glass compositions gives the fiber a random, irregular twist. It's the twist that provides the fiber with properties significantly different from those of traditional fiberglass. Most important for many applications is the fiber's inherent resilience. The fiber is volume-filling, expanding to occupy unconstrained spa...

A new science competition for precollege students was launched last week in Washington, D.C., by the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) and Japan's Toshiba Corp. Emphasizing technology and future innovations, the contest will be open to students from kindergarten through the 12th grade. In particular, the sponsors stress, it will be aimed at all students, not just those especially oriented toward science. Called the Toshiba/NSTA Explora Vision Awards, the program adds a touch of spice to current efforts by national science organizations and others to reach precollege students with "science for all" (C&EN, Sept. 21, page 27). Says NSTA executive director Bill G. Aldridge, "We must encourage all students to understand and appreciate science to ensure the technological growth of our society." Tadao Taguchi, chairman and chief executive officer of Toshiba America adds, "As an employer of more than 7000 people in the U.S., Toshiba is actively aware of the importance of improving ...

A strategic partnership in the area of scientific computing and molecular modeling will team Molecular Simulations Inc. with Digital Equipment Corp. Under the arrangement, the companies will work together to provide three-dimensional molecular modeling applications software for Digital's new Alpha workstations and servers, including massive parallel computers. They will jointly market the combined software and hardware to commercial and academic laboratories. The Alpha program is an effort being applied by Digital across all product areas to create a generation of systems based on the company's totally new, open, 64-bit RISC (reduced instruction set computer) computing architecture. Current workstations are based on 32-bit microprocessors. The first Alpha systems, including workstations, will likely be introduced this fall. Eventually, the plan is for the architecture to be applied across the board, from palmtop to supercomputers. According to Molecular Simulations, the new Alpha architecture provides ext...

With activity at Boston College's Eugene F. Merkert Chemistry Center officially in full swing following the facility's recent dedication, the faculty is able to start assessing what has been created. The center, says chemistry professor and department head David McFadden, "represents Boston College's commitment to science at the undergraduate and graduate levels. It also represents a commitment to build BC into a nationally recognized research university." The $31 million center more than doubles BC's space for chemistry research and increases space for teaching by 20%. It is named for a philanthropist who built a multimillion-dollar food service business from scratch. The philosophy underlying its design is to draw students deeper into chemistry and spark their interest in pursuing advanced degrees. Among the center's features is its thorough computerization. "We're absolutely in the forefront," says McFadden. "I don't know of any other department that ...

Materials researchers who have had to travel to Europe to gain access to an instrumental capability needed in their work can start casting an eye toward Gaithersburg, Md. Instruments are beginning to phase in there at the National Institute of Standards & Technology's new Cold Neutron Research Facility (CNRF). With the inauguration earlier this month of a 30-meter small-angle neutron scattering spectrometer (SANS), CNRF has passed a significant milestone on the way to full implementation by 1993. When fully implemented, the facility will have 15 experimental stations available to qualified researchers from industry and the academic community. Funding for construction of five of the stations is being provided by outside groups called Participating Research Teams, or PRTs, which get exclusive use of three fourths of the available research time. Of these PRT stations, the $1.5 million SANS is the first to start up. It was designed and built by a joint venture of NIST, Exxon ...

Applicants are being sought by the Department of Energy for summer research appointments it will offer to some 200 mathematics and science teachers. To be eligible for the appointments, made annually, teachers must be teaching in grades seven through 12 and have the teaching of math or science as their primary responsibility. The research takes place at 21 DOE national laboratories located throughout the U.S. A stipend of $550 per week for eight weeks, a housing allowance of up to $1000, and a travel allowance are available. For the 1992 Teacher Research Associates (TRAC) program, applications must be received no later than the fourth Friday in October. Application materials are available from DOE TRAC, Associated Western Universities, 4190 South Highland Dr., Suite 211, Salt Lake City, Utah 84124. Information is available from John Ortman at (202) 586-1634 or Linda Crain at (202) 586-8949. ...

If ever a new instrument company appeared to be off to an auspicious start, TopoMetrix Corp., of Sunnyvale, Calif., would seem to be it. Visitors to the Pittsburgh Conference & Exposition on Analytical Chemistry & Applied Spectroscopy in Chicago early this month had a chance to view the company and its first product, a scanning probe microscope system. First the management. Founded last October to design, manufacture, and market scanning probe microscopes worldwide, the company was started by Jack M. Gill, now chairman of TopoMetrix, a former director of research and engineering at Varian Aerograph, a senior executive at Spectra Physics, and founder of a leading venture capital firm; Paul E. West, now a vice president of TopoMetrix and chief technical officer, who built one of the world's first scanning tunneling microscopes during postdoctoral work under California Institute of Technology chemistry professor John D. Baldeschwieler; and David J. Ray, now TopoMetrix's vice president of engineering, ...

A new foundation—the only grantmaking foundation devoted solely to energy issues—has been formed. Called the Energy Foundation, its aim is to promote energy efficiency and the development of renewable energy supplies in the U.S. Planning for the new foundation has been under way for a year by the John D. and Catherine T. Mac- Arthur Foundation, the Pew Charitable Trusts, and the Rockefeller Foundation. The three organizations have made an initial three-year commitment of $20 million to the new organization. "The goal of this foundation is to promote the transition to a sustainable energy future," according to Hal Harvey, executive director of the Energy Foundation. "Such a transition," says Harvey, an energy engineer with a background in energy research and policy analysis, "is imperative if the U.S. is to strengthen its economy, improve its environment, and reduce its dependence on foreign oil sources." The Energy Foundation is based in San Francisco. It is operating temporarily ...

When National Manufacturing Week takes to the floor at McCormick Place in Chicago next April 8-11, the environment will be part and parcel of the group of manufacturing industry trade shows brought together under that name. Joining seven other shows will be a new Environmental Technology Exposition & Conference (ETE). ETE has a number of unusual aspects. It is designed to have a broad base, bringing together technologies that range across the issues of air and water pollution, solid waste management, recycling, and hazardous waste management. According to ETE '91 show manager Jill Vanderlin, the exposition—65% booked at this point, with some 300 exhibitors expected— will be augmented with a conference package of papers, short courses, and workshops. ETE is being produced by Cahners Exposition Group, a member of Reed Exposition Companies. Among the other shows making up the National Manufacturing Week event are the National Plant Engineering & Maintenance Show & Conference and the ...

New products or services were introduced recently by several companies at the exposition held in conjunction with the national meeting of the American Chemical Society in Boston: new molecular modeling software from BioDesign Inc., a new educational service from Tripos Associates, and a new minilab pilot plant from Herzog-Hart Corp. BioDesign announced the commercial availability of Version 2.1 of its Polygraf software that makes it possible to model amorphous as well as crystalline polymers. The Pasadena, Calif., company notes most industrial polymers are semicrystalline— a typical polyethylene, for example, might be 40% crystalline and 60% amorphous. Designed to provide reasonable representations of the amorphous portion of a polymer and the amorphous/crystalline interface, Polygraf 2.1 also calculates electrostatic charges based on the conformation of the molecule and polarization effects by neighboring atoms. Dynamic charge equilibration, the company says, provides a more accurate representation of th...

The 1st Pacific Polymer Conference, the initial technical meeting of the relatively new Pacific Polymer Federation, has been termed a success by federation officials. According to federation president Otto Vogl, Herman F. Mark Professor of Polymer Science at Polytechnic University, New York City, the meeting drew more than 400 participants and their spouses and guests from 21 countries. It was held on Maui in Hawaii in December during the week preceding the 1989 International Chemical Congress of Pacific Basin Societies in Honolulu. The focus of the conference was on its technical sessions, which ranged from polymer synthesis and polymer characterization to theory of polymer structures and biorelated polymers. But business was attended to as well, and at a meeting of the council of the Pacific Polymer Federation, the Polymer Society of Singapore and the Division of High Polymers of the American Physical Society were admitted to federation membership. The Pacific Polymer Federation came into being ...

"The 'new chemistry' will undoubtedly be the key science of the 21st century and the key action will be long-range basic research focused on satisfying human needs." That's the perspective of Yoshikazu Ito, chairman of Japan's Toray Industries and a former president of the Chemical Society of Japan (CSJ), speaking at a symposium at the recently concluded 1989 International Chemical Congress of Pacific Basin Societies. CSJ was the host society at the conference, the second in a series sponsored jointly by CSJ, the Chemical Institute of Canada, and the American Chemical Society. ACS hosted the first conference five years ago. The 1989 edition drew more than 7300 registrants—including some 300 involved only with the congress exhibit—to Honolulu the week before Christmas. In Ito's view, society in the future will enter an ideal humanoriented civilization. "It is my opinion," he says, "that there will be a fusion of Western civilization and Oriental culture. In this neo-society, ...

Agricultural biotechnology today is characterized by a mix of caution and optimism—caution not to expect too much too soon; and optimism that much will be accomplished, even in the short term. Both attitudes ran through several recent events, during which plant biotechnology experts reflected on areas of current promise, as well as limitations currently faced. Indeed, the events themselves symbolize the optimism in the mix. DNA Plant Technology Corp. (DNAP), a company focused on use of agricultural biotechnology to develop new valueadded, plant-based products for industrial use, held a symposium last month in Philadelphia marking its second scientific advisory board meeting. A week later, a symposium at Du Pont in Wilmington, Del., was part of a three-day celebration dedicating that company's new life sciences facilities (C&EN, Sept. 24, page 6). And earlier still, during the Philadelphia national meeting of the American Chemical Society, plant biotechnology research was recognized by the U.S. Department ...