Answer. The initial review of the Center for Vocal Motor Control (CVMC) research proposal was conducted by a study section of the Division of Research Grants (DRG), NIH. The principal investigator was dissatisfied with the outcome of that initial review and took advantage of a process available to all applicants and submitted a letter of rebuttal, which requested reconsideration of the application. The letter was reviewed by staff and the NIDCD Council along with the grant application. Following this review, the NIDCD Council concurred with the recommendations of the initial review group.

Question. What is your institute doing to support research of the type currently underway at the Center for Vocal Motor Control? Are you currently funding any research projects in the area of basic brain research?

Answer. Current support in stuttering includes two Academic Research Enhancement Awards, two individual research projects and portions of several individual and program project grants. Program staff continue to actively solicit and encourage research applications focused on stuttering. A recently issued Program Announcement has resulted in an increased number of applications focused on this topic. If these fare well upon review, increased dollar support for stuttering research could result. Within the Intramural portion of NIDCD, major efforts are underway to understand the pathophysiology of spasmodic dysphonia, and to employ new treatment approaches for this debilitating voice disorder. The Institute is funding numerous projects in basic brain research, which also relate to speech and voice disorders.

NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF GENERAL MEDICAL SCIENCES

STATEMENT OF DR. RUTH L. KIRSCHSTEIN, DIRECTOR

SUMMARY STATEMENT

Senator HARKIN. Dr. Kirschstein, welcome to the committee. Your Institute of General Medical Sciences conducts important underlying research, assisting all the other Institutes in their work. Of course, one of my special interests is the human genome project and I want to ask you some questions about that. Now let us see, your request is for $745.49 million, or a 4.7-percent increase. Welcome again and please proceed.

Dr. KIRSCHSTEIN. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. This year it is a particular pleasure for me to tell you about the accomplishments of the basic biomedical research programs of the National Institute of General Medical Sciences. As so often before, our Institute has been awarded two of the world's most prestigious biomedical research prizes.

The 1989 Nobel Prize in chemistry was awarded to Drs. Thomas Cech of the University of Colorado at Boulder and Sidney Altman of Yale University. I might tell you, Mr. Chairman, that Dr. Cech is a graduate of Grinnell College, Iowa.

The second award, the Lasker Award in basic medical research was shared with three others by Dr. Alfred Gilman of the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center.

The discoveries of Drs. Cech, Altman and Gilman signify the coming together of the fundamental research endeavors in chemistry and biology that are the hallmarks of NIGMS-supported studies, and are of great importance to improving, not only the wellbeing of the people of the United States, but also the economic well-being and the competitive status of this country in world markets.

RNA

The revolutionary discovery by Drs. Cech and Altman that ribonucleic acid, RNA, long thought only to carry genetic messages, can also act as a biochemical catalyst, has led, in the space of 8 years, to the possibility of very important practical applications.

For example, attempts are underway to develop this technique as a means of blocking the activity of the human immunodeficiency or AIDS virus.

But, in continuing these basic biomedical research endeavors, we must prepare for the future, and the United States must be cognizant of the economic and demographic imperative, namely, that by the year 2000, one-third of the new entrants into the work force, including biomedical researchers, will be minorities.

The NIGMS now has a unique opportunity to help ensure that there will be a group of well-prepared minority biomedical researchers, since in fiscal year 1990, both the minority access to research careers [MARC] and the minority biomedical research support [MBRS] programs will be residing in this Institute and we will be able to coordinate those efforts.

But NIGMS also has a critical role in research training generally, particularly through its highly successful Medical Scientist Training Program, the combined M.D.-Ph.D. degree granting program.

Furthermore, the rapidly growing biotechnology industry in the future will continue to rely on the work of well-trained scientists, and our recently begun NIGMS biotechnology research training program can be expected to play an increasingly vital role in the continued commercialization of important scientific discoveries.

PREPARED STATEMENT

On the basis of these activities and the continued training of new, young scientists to do research, I am confident that the quality of NIGMS-supported basic research in the future will be even better than the superb scientific achievements that I have talked about today.

The budget request for fiscal year 1991 is $745,494,000, and I would be pleased to answer any questions you may have.

[The statement follows:]

STATEMENT OF DR. RUTH L. KIRSCHSTEIN

It is an honor for me to appear again before this committee, to present the outstanding programs and accomplishments of the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS). This year, it is a particular pleasure to tell you that, as so often in past years, two of the most prestigious biomedical research prizes have been awarded to NIGMS grantees. The 1989 Nobel Prize in chemistry was awarded to Drs. Thomas Cech of the University of Colorado at Boulder and Sidney Altman of Yale University and the 1989 Lasker Award for Basic Medical Research was shared, with three others, by Dr. Alfred Gilman of the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center.

The discovery, by Drs. Cech and Altman, that ribonucleic acid (RNA), long thought only to carry genetic messages, can also act as a biochemical catalyst, or enzyme, came as a complete surprise. This revolutionary finding has led to the coining of a new term in biology, "ribozyme" or RNA enzyme. Ribozymes are not just curiosities of nature. In just eight years since their discovery, scientists are already thinking of some very important practical applications. Indeed, a number of university laboratories and biotechnology companies now are making what are being called "designer ribozymes," RNA enzymes tailored to catalyze very specific reactions. For example, attempts are underway to develop a ribozyme designed to block the activity of the human immunodeficiency or AIDS

virus.

Dr. Alfred Gilman of the Department of Pharmacology, University of Texas, Southwestern Medical Center, the recipient of the Lasker Award, discovered a family of proteins known as the G proteins. G proteins have been recognized to be integral to the transmission of signals into and within cells. If there is disruption of G protein activity, cells malfunction and several specific diseases may result. For example, the toxin produced by the bacteria that cause pertussis is known to act by disrupting the binding of one of the G proteins to the cells of the lungs, thereby causing the symptoms we all recognize as whooping cough. A different toxin, produced by the cholera bacteria, results in the persistent, abnormal activation of another G protein in the cells lining the intestinal tract, causing the tremendous loss of fluid in that disease, a loss