|
|
Scripps
Conference in
Palm Beach
Outlines Advances on Major Diseases
By Josh
Hafenbrack, Sun-Sentinel.com
November 14, 2005
Within a dozen years, drugs to treat diseases that target the elderly, such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's, will be publicly available, Scripps scientists predicted Sunday at the kickoff of a first-ever international biotech conference.
More than 400 people registered to attend the Scripps-Oxford International Biotechnology Conference, and the three-day summit at The Breakers resort began with a luncheon and panel discussions fitting for retiree-popular Florida.
Research done by Scripps scientists is providing a new horizon for treating widespread diseases such as Alzheimer's, said Jeffery Kelly, Scripps' vice president of academic affairs. During the next decade, he said, options to treat and prevent those diseases will be available that aren't today.
Kelly was among 13 panelists Sunday discussing neuron-wasting diseases, from their public health dimensions to their complex biological origins.
Most scientists at the conference were from Scripps' labs in California or Palm Beach County, but there also were researchers from abroad and representatives from pharmaceutical and biotech companies.
"Good attendance," said Scripps President Dr. Richard Lerner. "Huge attendance."
The conference is a big boost in Florida's effort to gain a foothold in the burgeoning field of biomedicine, said Raymond Dwek, Oxford University's chemistry department director.
Florida and Palm Beach County are spending $800 million to develop a Scripps-anchored science village west of Palm Beach Gardens.
"The Scripps model of having an applied aspect to all their science, and helping fight human disease, is a fantastic model," Dwek said. "I think it's right for Florida. It's a chance to diversify from tourism, to a make a major impact on health care as well as industry."
Scripps and Oxford have teamed up to provide a joint program for a doctorate in chemistry, but this is the first time the two have held a conference.
"I think this is a great message to the state of Florida," Dwek said. "Scripps is here. This is putting Florida really right at the heart of an international collaboration."
Sunday's conference also brought out protesters, from animal rights activists to local environmentalists who oppose Scripps. Holding colorful signs and banging rhythmic beats on drums, about 45 people stood outside The Breakers chanting, "Read our lips, no more Scripps!"
Holly Bowman, captive exotic animals specialist with the Animal Rights Foundation of Florida, said her organization wants Scripps to designate an animal welfare advocate within its Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee.
"We think at the very least they should listen and respond to our demands," said Bowman, of Fort Lauderdale.
Environmental activists were pleased to unite with animal rights advocates for Sunday's protest against Scripps.
"It's going to take it to a whole new level," said attorney Barry Silver of the Palm Beach County Environmental Coalition.
Inside the resort, scientists mulled issues associated with aging over a lunch of plantain-crusted Florida grouper and banana caramel chocolate pie.
Alzheimer's disease affects 50 percent of people older than 85, Kelly said. Yet the average amount spent to combat the disease is only $170,000 per patient, most of which goes to nursing home care, he said.
"This is a reflection of how little we can do for these patients," he said.
The solution: antibodies that act like smart bombs, targeting specific misshapen proteins that cause disease.
This promises to lead to preventive drugs, early diagnosis and acute-phase treatment, he said, giving sufferers a "spectrum of therapeutic agents" not available today.
Also providing clues is work on the human genome, said Claes Wahlestedt, Scripps Florida's biomedical sciences director.
He showed a cartoon of the humane genome depicted as a giant puzzle, with a scientist saying, "I think I found a corner piece."
Even after the human genome was mapped in 2000, scientists are still filling in pieces at Scripps' temporary labs in Jupiter and in California, he said.
Wahlestedt called the human genome an "instruction manual" that allows scientists to pinpoint differences that make some people more likely to get diseases.
"We're trying to find the needle in the haystack that gives people a risk," he said.
This kind of knowledge allows doctors to move from treating symptoms to preventing disease altogether, he said.
"That's the new era of medicine, the future of medicine," Wahlestedt said.
Staff Writer Nancy L. Othón contributed to this report.
|
|
