Newsmakers

(Every week faculty and staff from across campus are featured or cited in newspapers, magazines, broadcasts and other media from around the country. The listings that follow represent a small selection of the many stories that spotlight UW–Madison and its people. More newsmaker listings)

Crossing a line?
As at least a dozen states race into the potentially lucrative frontier of biotechnology, some faculty are growing concerned that the line between academic independence and commercial ventures is being crossed. Governments in several states, including Wisconsin, are pouring money into high-technology research at their public universities and expecting that the investment will yield new industries in their back yard, reports the Chronicle of Higher Education (Feb. 25). But many in the academic community warn that there is inherent danger when faculty researchers are expected to think too much about the commercialization of their work. “Obviously, there’s a worry when people who are doing research are the people who stand to gain from it,” says Robert Streiffer, a professor of philosophy and medical ethics. To help them stay focused on their missions, many universities are bringing in individuals such as Streiffer, who was recently hired to help deliberate ethical problems brought on by research advancement.

Our analysis: It’s goofy
The rush of non-Republican voters in a Republican primary – an outpouring that lifted John McCain to a surprising primary victory in Michigan – has political observers stunned. “This is the goofiest thing I’ve ever seen in 40 years of watching elections,” Charles Jones, professor emeritus of political science, tells the Detroit Free Press (Feb. 24). “It’s historic. You’ve never had a situation where party identifiers voting in their own primary were the minority, or close to it.” Self-declared Republicans accounted for only 49 percent of the voters in the Feb. 22 primary. McCain was able to rally the support of Democratic and independent voters by positioning himself as less conservative than opponent George W. Bush, Jones says. The strategy has succeeded in legitimizing his campaign with the national press, he notes.

Gene silencer stalks cells
Scientists are responding to an announcement from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology that researchers there have located a gene in mice that appears to control aging. The gene appears to silence a cell’s DNA – or keep it from working to rejuvenate a cell. The finding may help researchers learn why eating a low-calorie diet seems to prevent aging in cells – perhaps by preventing this “aging gene” from silencing the other functions of a cell. “I think this is very interesting work because it provides a link between the energetic state of the cell and its ability to undergo gene silencing,’ says Tomas Prolla, a genetics professor who is studying aging, tells the New York Times (Feb. 22).

Mr. Right under your nose
Where are all the single men? Supposedly there are 1.1 million more single men than women between the ages of 30 and 44, but Chicago Tribune reporter Barbara Brotman poses the question of whether they really exist, given the troubles women report about meeting eligible bachelors. Larry Bumpass, professor of sociology, tells the Chicago Tribune (Feb. 20) that the issue may have something to do with the fact that most women are looking for well-educated men of high social status. “If you’re looking for someone of your status or higher, and older than you, the vast majority will be married,” he says, noting that divorce rates are much lower among the well-educated than among other groups. Bumpass does provide some encouragement, though. “Virtually everyone does get married – something like 90 percent eventually marry, which is truly amazing.”