‘We feel more alert after our first cup of tea or coffee because it is
reversing the withdrawal symptoms that we are beginning to experience after
a night of caffeine abstinence, says Rogers. He says that although many
people drink coffee to sharpen their minds, they are only bringing their
performance back to normal.

Rogers gave volunteers two or more cups of coffee or tea each day, but
instructed them to abstain from the evening onwards. In the morning, half
the volunteers were given drinks containing caffeine and half decaffeinated
drinks. When asked to rate their feelings of energy and clear-headedness,
those drinking coffee were the most alert. People disliked the decaffeinated
drinks because they did nothing to alleviate the symptoms of withdrawal.

Rogers thinks this may help to explain why people need their morning ‘fix’,
but it throws no light on how or why people acquire a liking for such
bitter-tasting drinks. Previous studies have suggested that peer pressure
and the example set by parents may start people off.

Roland Griffiths of Johns Hopkins University in Maryland says: ‘It is very
clear that caffeine does produce dependency in chronic use.’

The EPO has received 14 formal objections to the patent, EP 169 672 B, which
it granted in 11 countries. The patent, filed in June 1985 for ‘a method of
producing transgenic animals’, gives Harvard a potentially lucrative
monopoly on animals that are guaranteed to develop cancer and so are useful
to researchers testing anticancer drugs. Its first product was the
onco-mouse, which was granted a US patent in 1988.

The European patent, the first on an animal, was granted in May 1992. The
EPO had initially rejected it, but its appeal board reversed the decision
and allowed the patent in October 1990. This threw the issue open to public
debate, because European law gives a grace period of nine months during
which any interested party can oppose the granting of the patent.

The British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection has joined forces with
Compassion in World Farming to oppose the patent. ‘Animal patents will
provide a massive financial incentive to experiment in the exploitation and
genetic engineering of animals in laboratory and factory farms,’ says
Malcolm Eames of the BUAV, which is backed by 25 animal welfare groups in 12
European states, as well as the International Fund for Animal Welfare. The
coalition is challenging the potential usefulness of the onco-mouse and
warns that because the patent extends to other mammals, ‘onco-dogs’ or
‘onco-monkeys’ could be next in line.

In the WaveLAN system, a card is slotted into the back of the PC. A single
cable runs from the card to an antenna, which is about the size of a
slightly flattened cigarette packet. The antennae pick up data from other
computers on the network. NCR says that the average operating radius is 180
metres.

The signal is low in power but spread over a wide band of radio frequencies.
Each message is repeated 10 times to ensure it is not affected by
interference.

NCR says that the system is secure, and that hackers will not be able to
tune in to confidential information because of a dual safeguard. The first
is built into the WaveLAN card. This has its own identification code which
is unique to the company, and only computers using this code can communicate
with each other. In addition, the radio signal is encrypted, and only
computers on the network can decode the signals.

The company says that the system can be added to existing cable networks as
well as being used on its own.