Newsbriefs Medical News ---------------------------- Gene therapy may help doctors fix ailing hearts ---------------------------- Hopkins cardiologists have used an engineered gene to alter the beat of rat heart muscle cells in the laboratory. This is a preliminary step, researchers said, toward an effective gene therapy for heart failure and irregular heartbeats. The study results appear in the July 28 issue of the Journal of Clinical Investigation. In the experiments, Eduardo Marban, professor of medicine and physiology, and John Lawrence, assistant professor of medicine, worked with a fruit fly gene that creates ion channels- -special openings in the outer walls of cells that admit electrically charged particles that, among other effects, stimulate cell contraction. Marban and Lawrence changed the fruit fly's gene so it produced ion channels that stayed open longer. They then spliced the new gene into an adenovirus--a common cold virus--and exposed rat heart cells in the lab dish to the virus. Carried into the cells by the virus, the new gene produced altered ion channels that allowed more charged particles to enter the cells. "We've shown that gene therapy doesn't only have a future for very rare genetic disorders, but also may one day be a treatment for very common disorders, such as arrhythmias and heart disease," Marban said. Other News --------------------------- International journalism prize announced by SAIS --------------------------- The Nitze School for Advanced International Studies and the Ciba-Geigy pharmaceutical company have established the SAIS-Ciba Prize for Excellence in International Journalism. The prize was created to recognize and honor distinguished achievements in international journalism, to draw public attention to SAIS and its appreciation for top-flight international reporting, and to provide a powerful symbol of the pharmaceutical company's commitment to corporate responsibility and public spiritedness. The prize--$20,000 and a medallion--is not a lifetime achievement award; instead, it will be awarded to the journalist or journalists whose reporting during the previous year has had the greatest impact in bringing to public attention a specific international issue of major importance. Particular attention will be given to reporting that transcends traditional barriers, for example, by interpreting one culture to another. The prize can be won by journalists of any nationality working in any medium and in any language. It will be awarded at a daylong conference organized by the host institution. The first award, in April 1996, will be made at SAIS. The Hopkins-Nanjing Center will host the awards in 1997, and the Bologna Center will be the 1998 host. -------------------------- Homewood House offers way to beat summer heat -------------------------- "Escape the Heat" tours are being offered at the Homewood House Museum through Aug. 31. The tours focus on the lifestyles and housekeeping changes the Carroll family undertook as relief from Baltimore summers in the early 19th century. The good news for contemporary visitors is that the museum is air-conditioned, and lemonade will be served. Tours are given hourly, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., Tuesdays through Saturdays and noon to 3 p.m. on Sundays. For more information, call (410) 516-5589.