Сентябрь 2004 г.

Российская наука и мир (по материалам зарубежной электронной прессы)

CONTENTS / ОГЛАВЛЕНИЕ


• Solar-powered rocket
• Yellow glasses save vision
• La Région Limousin noue un partenariat avec la région russe de Kalouga
• Int'l conf on energy coop of Asian countries opens in Irkutsk
• Russia needs to invest $14 bln in oil exploration in Siberia, Far East
• Mathematical dilemma is solved at last ... perhaps
• Warming a hot topic among Arctic scientists
• China, Russia to build hi-tech parks
• Le Prix Nobel russe Jaurès Alferov contre la privatisation de la recherche
• Programme d'échange entre Leipzig et Nowosibirsk dans le domaine des matériaux
• Biotech firm seeks to tap into Russian biowarfare expertise
• Edible vaccine for HIV AIDS
• Space station may fall into disrepair
• Real' proof of warming: Crabs
• Japanese scientists create heaviest ever element
• Indo-Russian Centre For Biomedical Tech Proposed
• Bioindustry Initiative

Китай и Россия намерены создать технопарки в обеих странах - в северо-восточном Китае и в Новосибирске. Представители Китайской академии наук и СО РАН подписали соглашение о семи совместных проектах.

BEIJING - President of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) Lu Yongxiang said here Thursday that his academy and the Academy of Sciences of Russia (ASR) planned to build high-technology parks both in Northeast China and Russia's Novosibirsk.
Representatives from the CAS Changchun Academy and the ASR Siberia Academy signed a memorandum on seven cooperative projects Thursday morning at the CAS headquarters. Cooperation in science and technology is an important part of the strategic partnership between China and Russia, Lu said.
While carrying out the new form of science and technology cooperation in building the hi-tech parks, Lu acknowledged, the two sides need to select appropriate research projects on the principle of equality and reciprocity. CAS institutes in northeast China are particularly interested in developing a partnership with their counterparts in Novosibirsk, Lu said.
N.L. Dobretsov, vice ASR president who also heads the ASR Siberia Academy, said the hi-tech parks will epitomize increased cooperation between the Russian and Chinese science communities. He said he hopes to create a better partnership between the two sides. Officials from the CAS Changchun Academy and the ASR Siberia Academy convened on Sept. 25 in Changchun, capital of Jilin Province. They discussed frameworks of effective cooperation and substantial steps for building those hi-tech parks.

Нобелевский лауреат Жорес Алферов выступил против приватизации научно-исследовательских институтов, считая, что это нанесет непоправимый вред российской фундаментальной науке.

Le scientifique russe Jaurès Alferov, prix Nobel de physique, s'est dit jeudi préoccupé par des projets de privatisation d'instituts de recherche relevant de l'Académie des Sciences, élaborés selon lui par le gouvernement russe.
Selon M. Alferov, le projet du gouvernement prévoit de ne maintenir à l'horizon 2008 que 100 à 200 instituts de recherche au sein des structures de l'Académie des sciences, au lieu des près de 2.400 existant actuellement, alors que les autres seraient privatisés ou fermés.
"Nous avons pris connaissance par hasard de l'élaboration d'un projet de privatisation des instituts de recherches. Ce projet a été élaboré sans consultation de l'Académie des Sciences", a affirmé l'académicien russe au cours d'une conférence de presse à Saint-Pétersbourg.
Si la privatisation des instituts avait lieu, ce serait "un coup dur pour la science fondamentale russe", a estimé M. Alferov.

Уже три года немецкое космическое агентство DLR финансирует программу научного обмена между Институтом минералогии и кристаллографии при Лейпцигском университете и Институтом катализа в Новосибирске. Цель сотрудничества - создавать новые материалы и исследовать их возможности.

L'agence spatiale allemande DLR finance pour trois ans le programme d'échange scientifique du Professeur Bente, de l'institut de minéralogie, cristallographie et matériaux de l'université de Leipzig, et des Professeurs Dr. Tsybulya et Dr. Parmon de l'institut Bereskov de catalyse à Nowosibirsk (centre de l'académie des sciences russe).
L'objectif de la coopération est de créer de nouvelles sortes de matériaux et de tester leur potentiel d'application. Les chercheurs de Nowosibirsk sont specialistes entre autres dans l'analyse des microstructures au moyen de rayonnement synchrotron et complètent de manière idéale les compétences des scientifiques de Leipzig. Le programme débutera au 1er janvier 2005. Les travaux de recherche portent sur la synthèse de nanomatériaux, leur mise en forme, leur caractérisation et l'étude des applications possibles. Il s'agit en particulier de l'étude des liaisons semi-conductrices de cuivre-bismut et plomb-soufre, qui peuvent trouver des applications dans les domaines photovoltaïques et thermoélectriques.
La coopération entre les chercheurs de Leipzig et ceux de Nowosibirsk apporte aussi un soutien à la communauté de travail pluridisciplinaire de recherche sur les semi-conducteurs de Leipzig et au groupe de recherche "Architecture des éléments structurels а l'échelle nano- et micrométrique".

В течение недавней поездки в Россию, Мэри Пат Мойер, главный администратор и главный научный работник Корпорации INCELL, увидела возможности и недостатки реорганизованного Исследовательского центра вирусологии и биотехнологии ("ВЕКТОР").

During a recent trip to Russia, Mary Pat Moyer, CEO and chief science officer of INCELL Corp., saw both the opportunities and the drawbacks of the reorganized biowarfare unit of the former Soviet Union.
After the Cold War, the Soviet scientists who had helped develop some of the world's most lethal biological and chemical weapons of mass destruction were transferred to the new Russian Federation's Ministry of Public Health. The ministry oversees the State Research Center of Virology and Biotechnology, also known as VECTOR.
Today, the building that houses VECTOR is in bad need of repairs and much of the infrastructure at the facility is rundown, Moyer says. The scientists who work there, many of whom have access to and knowledge of biowarfare techniques, are underpaid, she adds. Many of them make no more than the equivalent of $6,000 U.S. dollars per year.
"There is a concern that some of these scientists who are not paid well might make decisions that are not in the best interests of world peace," Moyer says.
By bringing them collaboration deals and business opportunities, U.S. officials hope to redirect some of this talent in a manner that would be less detrimental to U.S. security interests.
INCELL, a biotechnology company based in San Antonio, has been working on an oral smallpox vaccine to take the place of the decades-old, needle-injected vaccination. Moyer was invited to a VECTOR Conference in Novosibirsk, Russia (the capital of Siberia), held from Sept. 8-10, to learn about technology commercialization opportunities. She came back with about a dozen proposals for possible product collaborations.
In addition, Moyer's other company, TEKSA Innovations Corp., is in talks to possibly form a holding company for several Russian-based firms with technologies that could be licensed to INCELL.
TEKSA is a technology business consortium that provides technology transfers, business-development assistance and other resources, such as laboratory space, to small businesses.
"They have a lot of tools that could potentially be very useful," Moyer says. "They had never really thought about commercialization opportunities before."
Opening doors
Professor Lev S. Sandakhchiev, director general of VECTOR, says the recent conference has helped open new doors for the scientists there who have until now only collaborated on military and government-backed ventures.
"This international event has contributed to expanding and strengthening professional and human relationships between Russian scientists and international researchers," he says. "It has also encouraged the development of new frameworks for collaboration and partnerships."
Moyer notes that collaborations with U.S. companies are much more enticing for the Russian scientists because the distribution of royalties tends to be much greater. In Russia, collaborations are strictly limited to 15 percent return for the scientists and 85 percent for the organization. But in the United States, it is more common to have 50-50 deals.
"These scientists who have worked on developing chemical and biological weapons have also worked to develop protections from exposure," Moyer says. "They have a lot of knowledge and skills that could be beneficial."
Moyer adds that she is even looking to hire a Russian scientist with expertise in smallpox vaccinations. VECTOR is the only other place in the world besides the United States known to have live specimens of the smallpox virus.
Another conference
Moyer will be returning to Russia to participate in the First Annual Chemical Science and Commercialization Conference that will be held in Moscow on Sept. 27-29.
She was competitively selected to receive a grant for travel to Moscow under the U.S. Civilian R&D Foundation Enhancing Scientific Connections Program. The U.S. Department of State Bio-Chem Redirect Program is helping to sponsor the conference.
The aim of this conference is to introduce 24 top chemical and biological research institutes from Russia and Eurasia to potential Western industrial partners, investors and collaborators. The conference will focus on technical topics, including organic and inorganic chemistry, polymer chemistry and catalysis, synthetic chemistry, analytical chemistry, chemical production, toxicology testing, occupational risk assessment, and environmental testing.
An official with the U.S. State Department, who requested anonymity, says the government is trying to provide an element of risk mitigation for companies that might be interested in setting up collaborations with Russian scientists.
"This is the first time we have tried to do this, and the response has been overwhelming," the State Department official says. "We've had lots of companies calling us asking to be included."
The official went on to praise Moyer as an excellent example of someone who has made a successful leap from academia to the business world.
"Dr. Moyer can draw valuable parallels from her own experience that these scientists will find especially useful," she says. "Her kind of background is precisely what we are looking for and is particularly helpful in achieving our objectives."
Moyer says she has found that many of the Russian scientists are risk adverse and believe it is too difficult to form a company and commercialize a product.
"If we can just work with them and, in essence, teach them how to fish, I think we can pave the way for many more collaborative opportunities," she says.
Moyer says teaching the scientists how they can bootstrap their own companies and making them realize that not everything requires venture capital to get off the ground is an important first step.
Vaccine update
The oral vaccine that INCELL is working on will use a safer strain of the smallpox virus so that it can be used by people who are not eligible for the current vaccination because of the side effects and safety issues, Moyer notes.
Ultimately, Moyer says, she would like to see the new delivery method used as platform technology for many types of vaccinations besides just smallpox. However, the threat of bioterrorist attacks has made finding a better method of protecting against smallpox the top priority.
The company has recently completed its first round of animal testing for the new oral vaccine and could move to the clinical testing stage by as early as next year.
"We believe that once we can prove safety and efficacy, the oral vaccine could be made available for first responders and emergency personnel as soon as next summer," Moyer says.

Ученые из Новосибирска заняты разработкой необыкновенной вакцины, недорогой в производстве, безопасной и безболезненной в употреблении, к тому же - съедобной.

Scientists from Novosibirsk are engaged in the development of an unusual vaccine which, apart from being less expensive to produce, safe and painless to administer, is also edible.
The research is being accomplished in the framework of the ISTC Partner Project #2176, which is funded by the Agricultural Research Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and so far the project team has managed to introduce a HIV antigen protein gene into tomatoes.
Usually, vaccines are injected, but some - like the polio vaccine - can be ingested or eaten. Thus, a number of years ago plant genetic engineers started producing vaccine proteins in plants to test their effectiveness, which started a whole new area of plant derived edible vaccines. This approach has already been used to test vaccines for hepatitis viruses and some bacterial pathogens, but Dr. Sergey Shchelkunov at SRC of Virology and Biotechnology "Vector" wondered if an edible vaccine for HIV AIDS could be produced.
Dr. Shchelkunov's laboratory teamed up with other Russian scientists from both the Novosibirsk Institute of Biological Chemistry and Basic Medicine, and the Siberian Institute of Plant Physiology and Biochemistry in Irkutsk, Russia. A functional vaccine from their work is still to be tested, but as a result of project 2176 the researchers were able to insert into the chromosome of tomato plants a gene from HIV. Furthermore, they were able to show that the corresponding protein product from the HIV gene was expressed in different parts of the transgenic tomato plant including ripe fruit. And, because this is a vaccine based on a single protein from HIV, there is no risk of acquiring an HIV infection from eating the tomato fruit. The choice of tomatoes for these experiments was well planned, because previous researchers have done similar work in tobacco and potato plants. But, of course tobacco cannot be eaten and potatoes must be cooked before consumption, which in most cases destroys the medicinal properties of the vaccine. Edible vaccines have also been produced in bananas, which can be eaten fresh, but bananas can only be grown under tropical conditions. Thus tomatoes were a wise choice because they can grow in many different climate zones and conditions, and their fruit can be eaten fresh.
To introduce the HIV gene into tomatoes, the Russian scientists took advantage of a naturally occurring bacteria which has been harnessed by plant genetic engineers to introduce foreign pieces of DNA into many different plant genomes including tomatoes. All of this was done in tissue culture in the laboratory, but when whole plants were regenerated in test tubes they were moved to special greenhouses where the transgenic tomato plants grew like usual tomato plants. Scientists then applied PCR (polymerase chain reaction) technology to confirm the presence of the HIV gene in the transgenic plants. Other techniques were also used to confirm that the correct HIV protein was being made in different parts of the transgenic plants including and most importantly the ripe fruit of the tomato plants.
However, this was only the beginning of the scientist's work. For example, the researchers had to check whether the HIV gene was inherited by subsequent generations of plants. To do this they took seeds from transgenic tomatoes, let them germinate and grew a second generation of transgenic tomatoes, which also proved to contain the HIV gene and antigen protein just as the their parent plants had.
Of course, there remains many avenues of research to explore regarding edible HIV vaccines (e.g., efficacy, mechanisms of action, etc.), but in the words of the Russian scientists "The resultant transgenic tomatoes present significant interest as a basis for the creation of edible vaccines against HIV/AIDS and hepatitis B." Thus, although a useable edible vaccine against AIDS may be years away, the results from ISTC project #2176, the potential convenience, safety and low cost of edible vaccines and the hope that AIDS and other deadly diseases may someday be controlled makes the efforts worthwhile.

Если не удастся исправить поломку кислородного блока, Международная космическая станция может опустеть.

Failure to fix oxygen unit could leave orbiting lab crewless.
The International Space Station will be effectively condemned if crew members cannot repair its faulty oxygen generator by the end of next month, a British space scientist has warned.
The current crew is scheduled to be replaced at the end of October. If the generator is not reliably repaired by then, space officials may decide against sending up a fresh crew because there would be no guarantee of enough oxygen to last their stay. Such a decision could send the US$100-billion station spiralling into decay.
"It would be a major setback," comments André Balogh, a space expert at Imperial College London, who helped to plan the European Space Agency's activities aboard the station. "If it is left uncrewed and unsupplied, things are going to get very difficult."
Needing a fix
The Russian-built oxygen generator, called Elektron, mysteriously shut down on 8 September. The current crew, American Mike Fincke and Russian Gennady Padalka, have been unable to get it going again for more than a few hours at a time, despite numerous salvage attempts. NASA stresses that Fincke and Padalka are not in immediate danger. They have back-up oxygen, in the form of spare canisters and oxygen-releasing "candles", to last another 140 days, which is long beyond their scheduled return.
But the Elektron unit's failure opens up the possibility that the next crew in line, US astronaut Leroy Chiao and Russia's Salizhan Sharipov, will not get the chance to replace the current team. If that happens, the space station may never be fit to live on again, Balogh says.
"If it is not continuously inhabited, its habitability is seriously damaged," he told news@nature.com. The longer they leave it without crew, the harder it will be to send people back."
Abandoned ship
If the station was left uninhabited, space scientists could be left with their research plans in ruins. The space station was conceived as an orbiting lab that would play host to a range of scientific experiments. But because of setbacks, not least the Columbia shuttle disaster in February 2003, the station is staffed by a skeleton crew who can do little more than day-to-day maintenance.
Denied its primary transport vehicle since the crash, the space station currently relies on Russia's Soyuz capsules to ferry crew and on Progress vessels to deliver cargo. Neither has the carrying capacity of the shuttle. The European Space Agency's Columbus lab module, for example, is still awaiting launch and is now in danger of never making it into space at all.
But the aftermath of the shuttle disaster is not the only reason for the station's difficulties, says Balogh. He says the United States may be turning its back on the space station, even if it overcomes its current problems. President George W. Bush has famously announced that he wants to see an American on Mars, a plan that would not involve the space station.
"The plan seems to be to phase out the space station by 2010 or thereabouts," Balogh says. If the United States wants to get to Mars, he adds, it will need to start by developing a fresh programme to go to the Moon, bypassing the stranded station on the way.
If the United States does give the space station the cold shoulder, its collaborators including Russia, Japan and Europe will not be impressed. They have all spent vast sums on the project, and would not appreciate being left in the lurch. "It's called the International Space Station for a reason," Balogh says.

Американо-российская команда биологов выловила в Чукотском море краба, обитающего обычно в теплых водах, что служит еще одним доказательством глобального потепления.

In the Chukchi Sea near Alaska's northwestern coast, two marine biologists from the Russian Academy of Sciences' Zoological Institute pulled up a small crab that could be proof the Arctic is growing warmer. Mr Boris Sirenko and Mr Sergei Gagayev spent much time dredging the sea floor for crabs. The so-called graceful decorator crab, or Oregonia gracilis, had never been found anywhere near these cold northern waters.
"It's real evidence of warming - maybe," Mr. Sirenko said in his cabin aboard the research vessel. The duo were part of a rare joint US-Russian expedition through the western Arctic to study the impact of global warming in the only region where the two nations share a border. But it could be years before the biological, physical and chemical data are pieced together to form an accurate picture.
ONLY GATEWAY
The narrow Bering Strait between Russia and Alaska is the only gateway where Pacific Ocean waters flow into the Arctic. Scientists are worried about a dramatic loss of the ice cover in the last quarter century and suspect changing climate and atmospheric pressure as well as warm ocean currents moving further north are to blame. Research has shown that Arctic sea ice, which lasts through the northern hemisphere summer, is shrinking by 9 per cent a decade.
This has major implications for the rest of the world as sea levels rise with the melting of glaciers on land and coastlines erode. In the Arctic, some stocks of fish and other marine life have diminished, possibly due to the changes.
Twenty Russian scientists and 15 from the US sampled zooplankton, fish and crustaceans at various depths across a huge area of the Bering Strait and Chukchi Sea. Researchers also ran high-tech pressure, temperature and organic content tests of the sea in the first of what is hoped will be a series of studies.

Японские ученые заявили о создании самого тяжелого элемента. Но еще в феврале 2004 г. российские ученые сообщили, что ими созданы элементы 113 и 115.

Japanese scientists said Tuesday they have created a new element that is heavier than any known element, the most significant in the field since the heaviest known element was discovered in Germany in 1996.
If confirmed, the new element, whose atomic number is 113, will be the first manmade element created by Japanese, according to Kosuke Morita and his team at Japan's physical and chemical research institute.
The team would have the right to name the super heavy element in the periodic table, and "japonium" is a candidate name, Morita said.
The heaviest element existing in nature is uranium whose atomic number is 92. All heavier elements have been produced artificially by scientists and numbered according to how many protons are in their nuclei. From 1940 to 1996, elements numbered up to 112 were created.
Russian scientists said in February they had created elements 113 and 115, but the discovery remains to be confirmed internationally. The Japanese team has long tried to create element 113 by using a cyclotron to bombard the atoms of bismuth, numbered 83, with those of zinc, numbered 30.
On July 23 after the cyclotron bombarded a bismuth atom target with 2.5 trillion zinc atoms per second for 80 days, the scientist said, the team found the new element, which disintegrated in only 0.3 millisecond.
The element's atomic mass number is 278, meaning its nucleus has 113 protons and 165 neutrons, he added.

Индийское правительство планирует создание индийско-российского центра биомедицинских технологий.

NEW DELHI:  The government is planning to establish an Indo-Russian Centre for Biomedical Technology for indigenous development of biomedical equipment. The proposed centre will be set up at Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute of Biomedical Technology at Thiruvanantapuram with a satellite centre of non-invasive imaging at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi
The centre will be set up under the integrated long term programme of cooperation in science and technology between India and Russia, popularly known as ILTP. This is one of the flagship programmes of department of science and technology (DST) for international scientific collaboration, DST secretary Prof VS Ramamurthy said. It will be a centre of excellence on the lines of existing centres on polio vaccine production, advanced computing, biotechnology, gas hydrates, ayurveda research and seismology, under the ILTP programme of DST, he said.
Collaboration between Russian and Indian R&D institutions engaged in biomedical technology development will bring the required synergy to provide impetus to this activity, Prof Ramamurthy said. Russians have developed infra-red thermograph, radio frequency imaging, oximeter, etc, which could be used in our hospitals, he added.
According to DST officials, there is a huge market for biomedical equipment in India and abroad. "Presently, most of the biomedical equipment, devices and materials are imported, which make the healthcare segment expensive and hence unaffordable and unaccessible to rural population. There is an urgent need to augment the indigenous development of biomedical equipment and devices."
Giving details about the ILTP programme, Prof Ramamurthy said, "This is an ideal example of bilateral collaboration between India and Russia. It has provided an excellent forum for Indian and Russian scientists to interact and undertake collaborative research and development in the areas of biotechnology and immunology, materials science, laser science, computers and electronics, oceanology and oceanic resources, among others. The programme has resulted in the establishment of seven joint centres of excellence. About 300 joint projects have been successfully implemented under the ILTP programme and 140 projects are presently under implementation."

Миссия BioIndustry Initiative's (BII) должна противопоставить угрозе биотерроризма целевое преобразование исследований и производства биологического оружия в бывшем Советском Союзе. Задачи BII: перепрофилирование бывших советских производственных мощностей по производству биологического оружия для мирного использования; привлечение разработчиков биологического оружия к сотрудничеству в проектах R&D (научные исследования и разработки), направленных на ускорение разработок лекарств и вакцины для особо опасных инфекций.

WASHINGTON, DC - The BioIndustry Initiative's mission is to counter the threat of bioterrorism through targeted transformation of former Soviet biological weapons research and production capacities.  
The U.S. Department of State BioIndustry Initiative (BII) is a nonproliferation program authorized in the Defense and Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act for FY 2002 (Public Law 107-117). BII focuses on two objectives:  
- The reconfiguration of former Soviet biological weapons (BW) production facilities, their technology and expertise for peaceful uses.
- The engagement of Soviet Biological and Chemical Weapons scientists in collaborative R&D (research and development) projects to accelerate drug and vaccine development for highly infectious diseases.  
STRATEGY
BII focuses on peaceful, transparent and ultimately self-sustainable redirection of biological research and production facilities in the former Soviet Union. BII facilitates partnerships between U.S. pharmaceutical companies and their Russian counterparts; utilizes consultation of both western and Russian marketing, business and engineering experts to assess and characterize core capabilities and strategic planning for the institutes; and develops skills and infrastructure required for a viable biotech sector in Eurasia. BII is a unique U.S. Government program providing patenting, commercialization, training, and business and market development for both the research institutes and large-scale production facilitates in the former Soviet Union.  
TARGETED TRANSFORMATION OF BW CAPACITIES   By fostering new partnerships and diversifying funding sources, BII hopes to achieve its long-term goal of transforming former BW facilities into viable research and production institutions. BII engages specific institutes, assesses their core capabilities as well as the appropriate domestic and international market, then pairs Russian laboratories with American researchers in both academic and industrial sectors. BII may also fund projects in support of U.S. and Russian partnerships where promising technologies offer alternative routes to research and development. BII brings intensive partnering and facilitation through marketing, legal and business expertise to both the institute and the individual scientist. This strategy allows the institute to decrease the reliance on nonproliferation funding sources while increasing transparency on a defined pathway toward greater self-sustainability.
BII FUNDING   
The BioIndustry Initiative's initial funding was authorized in the Department of Defense and Emergency supplemental appropriations for Recovery from and Response to Terrorist Attacks on the United States Act, 2002 (P.L. 107-117), Division B - Fiscal Year 2002 supplemental appropriations, Chapter 3. This appropriation transferred $30,000,000 to the Department of State, Nonproliferation, Anti-terrorism, Demining, and Related Programs "for the purpose of supporting expansion of the Biological Weapons Redirect and International Science and Technology Centers programs, to prevent former Soviet biological weapons experts from emigrating to proliferant states and to reconfigure former Soviet biological weapons production facilities for peaceful uses."
BII also receives annual funding through the U.S. Department of State's Office of Proliferation Threat Reduction, which supports both the Science Centers and Bio-Redirect nonproliferation programs working in Eurasia. BII works as part of a coordinated effort with the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), Department of Agriculture (USDA), and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
IMPLEMENTATION NETWORK includes:
- The Center for Innovative Medicine and Integrated Technology (CIMIT);
- The Civilian Research and Development Foundation (CRDF); and
- The International Science and Technology Center (ISTC).
ACCELERATING VACCINE DEVELOPMENT
In close cooperation with the Biotechnology Engagement Program (BTEP) of the U.S. DHHS [Department of Health and Human Services], BII identified a novel vaccine platform technology, currently being validated through a BTEP sponsored project at the State Research Center of Virology and Biotechnology VECTOR (Koltsovo, Novosibirsk region).   BII organized an independent technical validation of the HIV-1 vaccine in collaboration with Dr. Jeffrey Gelfand of Massachusetts General Hospital/CIMIT, Dr. Barton Haynes of Duke University Medical Center's Human Vaccine Institute, and Dr. Richard Markham of Johns Hopkins University. Initial in vitro testing supports Vector's data, indicating broad reactivity to HIV-1. In addition to these initial results, BII has organized contact between the inventor and Wyeth Vaccines as well as Aventis Pasteur, both leading the race to develop a vaccine against the AIDS virus. Based upon positive technical and market feedback, BII has supported a strategic patent filing to extend Vector's proprietary approach beyond applications for HIV to include infectious diseases such as Hepatitis C and Influenza.  
This work represents a model activity for BII's accelerated drug and vaccine program. BII continues to support a variety of such activities, including a extensive program on multi-drug resistant tuberculosis in Russia.  
RABIITT  
A major challenge to Russian institutes attracting an international, commercial clientele for contract research and testing services is meeting internationally recognized standards of Good Laboratory Practice (GLP). The goal of the Russian - American BioIndustry Initiative, Integrated Toxicology Testing (RABIITT) program is to ensure sustainability of the Russian research institutions by: a) developing an international client base for certified toxicology testing services, b) building institutional pre-clinical toxicology capacities, and c) validating data to U.S. Government regulatory agencies. BII staff performed initial assessments of five target institutes in July 2003. Currently, BII is selecting vendors to provide GLP validation and auditing services to these institutes. Based upon the audit results, specific upgrades, training and other remedial actions will be undertaken in cooperation with participating institutes to make them compliant with GLP and other international standards.
"GRADUATION" FOR RCMDT  
The Research Center of Molecular Diagnostics & Therapy (RCMDT) is a multidisciplinary research institution specializing in molecular medicine. It is the first institute to be engaged by the BioIndustry Initiative with the specific goal of graduating into transparent, sustainable research through a mixture of academic and commercial partnerships.  
Applied research: With BII support, RCMDT is undertaking a drug discovery program to identify and develop new methods of treatment of drug resistant tuberculosis based upon drug-loaded polymeric nanoparticles. RCMDT is working in collaboration with the Moscow Medical Academy to improve the treatment of MDR TB and also potentially extend this technology to other drug resistant infections.
U.S. Industry Partners: RCMDT has established a relationship with a U.S. biotech company to develop new drug delivery systems for the treatment and prevention of tuberculosis and cancers.
Academic Funding: RCMDT was recently included in an NIH grant to receive funding for a collaborative research project on the development of novel approaches to disease research.  
BII AT VOSTOK
Joint Stock Company (JSC) Vostok was first established as a biologics manufacturing facility utilizing large-scale fermentation under the auspices of Biopreparat. It recently became a joint venture between private investors and Biopreparat. Currently, Vostok's major activities include production and sale of medical infusions, pharmaceuticals, and industrial enzymes. BII learned that Vostok is underutilizing its fermentation manufacturing capacity due to insufficient downstream manufacturing capabilities. To achieve long-term sustainability of this facility, BII and Vostok began a joint effort to analyze the marketing environment to determine how to best utilize its manufacturing capabilities and resources. Collaboration with Vostok began in March 2003 with a market assessment of the fermentation products industry in Eurasia. In late April 2003, BII and Vostok began planning a workshop to conduct a market analysis for the microbiological business of the plant, to include a thorough assessment of the fermentation products market opportunities in Russia and Europe. Vostok is currently working towards a production line upgrade to address the results of the market study.
BII continues to support Vostok's redirection to commercial, transparent and ultimately profitable activities
RUSSIAN BIOTECH PRESENCE AT BIO 2003
BII sponsored over a dozen Russian researchers from former BW institutes and supported the Russian booth at the Biotechnology Industry Organization's (BIO) 2003 trade show. Visitors to the BII booth often noted that they did not realize that there was a world-class biotech capability in Russia. An important outcome of the BioIndustry Initiative's presence at BIO 2003 was the establishment of a partnership with the Global Alliance for TB Drug Development, which will visit Russia in September 2003 to leverage the Initiative's access to TB drug and vaccine developers in Russia.  
BIO 2003 represents a model activity for BII in that it fosters both new partnerships as well as new exposure of world-class Russian research and production.  

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