European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - June 24, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Researchers turn to sea for medical help sponges algae and other Ocean creatures Are yielding new substances that hold Promise As medicines against cancer psoriasis parasites and infectious diseases such As aids scientists say. The search for drugs from the sea focuses on organisms that Lack physical defences and therefore must produce chemicals to protect themselves against predators. A they done to have spines. They done to have shells. They can to run. They re just a Blob on the reef and they look like food but they re not eaten a said John Faulkner Marine chemist at the Scripps institution of oceanography in la Jolla Calif. A when we see something like that we say a aha. This must be chemically  a Manoulides a a class of anti inflammatory drugs derived from sponges that live near Palau in the North Pacific a Are now being tested on humans with psoriasis an unsightly thickening of the skin that causes painful cracks and blistering. Manoulides could be on the Market in three or four years and a few other drugs derived from Marine creatures Are expected within 10 years said biochemist David Attaway director of Marine biotechnology for the National sea Grant College program in Silver Spring my. Sea sponges Are drawing new attention. A amps Faulkner and Attaway were among 35 scientists at a recent California workshop on drugs from the sea. Participants reported they have identified Marine derived drugs while doing research with funds from the sea Grant program. Attaway said the fund has spent $700,000 to $800,000 per year on such research since 1977. Two of the most significant projects involve extracting compounds from sponges near Fiji and Vanuatu in the South Pacific. In test tube experiments the substances appeared effective in combating tape Worms and other parasites including some that plague cattle and sheep. The chemicals also show some ability to fight viral diseases and one of them can inhibit the activity of an enzyme that lets the aids virus reproduce itself Faulkner said the government is also investigating one substance derived from Blue Green algae As a possible anti aids Medicine. Other scientists Are looking into How Marine bacteria can serve As antibiotics How Calcium in red algae can help understand and treat diseases such As arthritis and Lupus How algae can be used to produce tumor fighting substances and How sea plants can be used in drugs to fight fungal infections. A about 50 percent of the drugs in use at the moment Are from natural sources a mostly terrestrial Faulkner said. A and a Large number of the ones that Are synthetic started out As a compound that was from a natural source but then was modified and  drugs developed from living organisms include Many used for cancer chemotherapy As Well As antibiotics derived from bacteria or fungi that were genetically altered he said. Attaway said that compared with land organisms sea plants and animals yield a High a number of novel substances that prove to have some effect on a biochemical or physiological process in another organism. Those Are the processes you need to control to cure or control  in perhaps 20 years scientists should be Able to take cells from drug producing sea organisms culture the cells in the Laboratory and then manipulate the cells genes to make them efficient drug factories Attaway said. But like Many scientists he complained that Progress has been slowed by limits on funds due to inflation and Federal budget restrictions. Drug companies have been slow to take up such research but their interest is increasing As Many Marine scientists trained with sea Grant funds go to work in Industry Attaway said. A a that a going to be the key to making this work really meaningful a he said. Associated press at a glance France size 220,668 Square Miles about 80% the size of Texas population 55,813,000 1989 estimate main language French currency franc $1-5.64 travel restrictions no visa required for american tourists. Overview France the largest country in Western Europe is contained within natural boundaries the Atlantic Ocean to the West pyrenees mountains to the South and the French Alps Jura mountains and Rhine River on the East. Most of the Interior is fairly Low and crossed by Many Rivers although the country is the Home of mount Blanc the highest Point in Europe. The capital Paris is known for both its Beauty and cultural contributions and is one of the most popular tourist attractions in the world. Is a fact French is the official language of Many countries throughout the world and rivals English As a second language in most National education systems. Any questions q How do pilots know How fast air planes Are travelling a a a hollow tube called a Pitot tube is mounted on the surface of the nose. Passengers As they Board can often see these tubes on the nose toward the Bottom of the plane. The tube is parallel to the air that comes Over the plane and measures what is called the total pressure of the air. This increases As the plane moves faster. Meanwhile another measurement is taken of what is called Static pressure the local thermodynamic pressure of the air which varies in pressure along with the temperature. From these two readings what is called the local air Speed is determined. As air flows Over the nose and then Over the rest of the plane the pressure changes so different figures for each area of the air plane Are used to determine the ratio of local velocity to the actual Speed of the plane. Q Why done to dogs get hoarse when they bark for hours a a unfortunately for the neighbors such Barking puts no More Strain on dogs than Normal conversation does on people said David Miller an animal behaviour expert at the University of Connecticut at Storrs. A we tend to think of the bark As so atonal that it sounds like the equivalent of a human scream a he said. A we tend to anthropomorphic be a bit and if we made such a sound we would be hoarse in five  but the dog has a different vocal Structure he said that is especially designed for Barking. He added that every noisy species has a characteristic Means of Normal sound production and that abnormal sound production is not the same for All of them. New York times sunday june 24,1990