Wednesday, October 10, 2007

[StemCellInformation] Digest Number 712

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Messages

1.

# 373 Tuesday, October 9, 2007 - STEM CELL WARRIORS, STEM CELL FRIEN

Posted by: "Stephen Meyer" meyer74@bellsouth.net   stephen_meyer_stemcells

Tue Oct 9, 2007 6:39 pm (PST)

# 373 Tuesday, October 9, 2007
<file:///C:/My%20Webs/myweb11/Archive%20322%20Monday,%20April%2020,%2020\
07%20-%20FLORIDA%20ONCE%20MORE%20PIVOTAL%20TO%20NATION’S%20FUTURE\
.htm> - STEM CELL WARRIORS, STEM CELL FRIENDS"PART ONE

How pale are words, compared to the blazing reality of a maple leaf in
Autumn -- or a stem cell convention.

The Stem Cell Summit, October 2-3, was organized by Bernie Siegel's
Genetics Policy Institute, Steve Burrill's Life Sciences Media Group,
and, Harvard University, one of the greatest educational institutes in
the world.

It was October 2, 2007. Hynes Convention Center, Boston Massachusetts .
High ceilings, spacious auditoriums, light sources suspended high
above, a soaring atmosphere.

I like to show up early for events, to watch everything come together.
Today, there were folks zipping around everywhere, providing for
attendee comfort, and communication.

"Something's unplugged over here!", came a voice to my right. By the
time I could locate the disturbance, two techno experts were converging
on the problem, homing in on the difficulty like sharks to a blood
trail. Talktalktalk, fixfixfix-- done. The preparation paid to problems
throughout the conference was evidenced by the fact that there did not
seem to be any. Communication and comfort felt easy and natural.

It's hard to pull highlights out of a meeting that was all highlights.

But let's try anyway.

Jammed "more than 600 high-impact executives, entrepreneurs,
scientists, politicians, patients and activists"it occurred to me we
really did not want an earthquake today, or we could have lost a huge
cross-section of the stem cell research leadership of the nation.

Conspicuous by his absence was Bob Klein. Bernie Siegel had of course
invited the leader of Proposition 71 to deliver the keynote speech, but
the chair of the Independent Citizens Oversight Committee had a crucial
ICOC meeting to preside over. Even so, it hardly seemed possible to hold
a stem cell event of this magnitude without the participation of the
leader of Proposition 71-- like discussing the circularity of the world
without focusing on Columbus.

"Fifty years ago, the first blood stem cells were isolated," said David
Scadden of the Harvard Stem Cell Institute, opening the convention.

"Today, the pro-cures movement is a great and gathering wave," said
Bernie Siegel. Bernie, of course, was everywhere, making everyone
welcome, spreading warmth and energy like a friendly floodlight. As any
reader of this column knows, Bernie is a spectacular synergist. To find
him at a convention, look in the halls outside" he will be meeting
new friends, bringing people together.

I took a ton of notes, of course, so many that transposing them from
handwriting (I forgot my laptop, sigh.) took several days. But the power
gathered in that building is something not easy to sum up.

"Last year, America spent two trillion dollars on health care," said
Steve Burrill. "In seven years, this amount is expected to double. Of
this, only about 10% will be spent on drugs" this was expected to be
60%. The importance of drugs will diminish.

"Patients are different, but medicines are not differentiated. It is the
variability among us that causes some to be susceptible to disease and
some not.

"Industry raised $50 billion last year" we will not fail for lack of
funding.

"So the message is simple-- short big pharma, buy biotech!"

The silver-haired CEO is a cheerful, friendly presence, and he runs a
venture capital firm, so is definitely a serious individualâ€"but
what I did not know until the convention that the man has been integral
in biomedicine for almost four decades, with his first commercial
venture in 1968.

So many people we know of, and hardly ever meet.

Like Danny Heumann. I knew this cheerful wheelchair warrior a little
bit, from bumping into him now and again, mostly in print "but what
I did not know is that he is a one-man advocacy bureau for stem cell
advancement in Michigan, one of the most stem cell unfriendly places in
the world. The wolverine state has not yet figured out (in the political
circles) how tremendously important stem cell research is. But Danny's
ready to fight, and the cause is the richer for his strength.

His situation is like what the Texas folks endure, friends like Beckie
McCleery "think for a minute how inhospitable the home state of
George Bush would be for stem cell research "but yet they have not
passed one negative stem cell bill.

Not for lack of trying. The same right-to-life folks who oppose the
research everywhere are very strong in Texas, and every other year they
try to shoot us down.

Texas has an unusual legislative structure, 140 days in session, every
other year. In that short time, 4 and a half months, some 5,200 bills go
through"so everything depends on preparation, and that is what TAMR
(Texans for the Advancement of Medical Research) does best. They put
together a great videoâ€"Ralph Dittman, honored for his advocacy at
this very meeting.

Brock Reeve spoke on how stem cell research will transform medicine in
the 21st century"this is Christopher Reeve's brother! Naturally I
had to run up and make a big fool out myself, trying to tell him what
his magnificent brother meant to me, and to all of us "like I could
do that. I was almost in tears, gushing like an idiot, before I realized
how often he must hear stuff like that. Brock is a force himself, and I
should have restrained myself. But, unfortunately, I always overdo.
Sigh.

John Gerhardt gave a historical overview of our science, human embryonic
stem cell research, which in 1998 made its first public appearance. No
one dreamed then what it could be in terms of drug discovery, cell-based
therapy and basic science. Extent of advance, define pluripotency,.
Molecular signature of cell.

Our goal? To learn how to instruct a cell to become something new, or
to patch our own cells: repair and regenerative mechanisms.

"Doug Melton! The man who made 17 new stem cell lines and shared them
for free with the world deserves to have an exclamation point after his
name Doug's lines are great", Larry Goldstein said later.

Dr. Melton spoke on stem cell disease models, cells as reagents, how
by studying the process in a dish, we can learn to stimulate body to
repair itself.

He said a lot of stuff I did not understand about how blood research had
shown us the way to further advances in regenerative medicine. (Well,
I'm sorry, but the man talks in words like erithropoietic!)

He recommended the use of SCNT disease specific cells as crucial.

In answer to those folks who see adult stem cells as all we need, Dr.
Melton mentioned that there may be no adult stem cells at all in some
body organs, like the kidney.

Larry Goldstein, of the University of California at San Diego and Howard
Hughes laboratory, spoke on how we can accelerate the therapeutic uses
for stem cells by first studying what goes wrong in
diseaseâ€"through SCNT disease specific stem cells, exactly as Doug
Melton recommended.

Dr. Goldstein commented that too often the good cells are the ones that
die, in diseases where the immune system attacks our own bodies. Like in
ALS, Lou Gehrig's disease, the motor neurons are attacked, by the body.

Maybe we can provide glial cells to help the body calm down its own
attack.

"Half of us are going to get it" he said, referring (I think) to
Alzheimer's, and neurological disorders in general in an aging
population. (Please remember, I am a non-scientist struggling to
understand people vastly smarter than me.)

I love to hear Larry Goldstein talk because he is not only a skilled
communicator, but also because he always takes up huge issues, in people
terms.

"We are like auto mechanics," he said, describing scientists, "We need
new tools (SCNT) to do the work."

He also talked about the importance of SAFETY in stem cell research,
pointing out that while drugs leave the body, cellular change is
permanent. We better know what we are doing before we completely alter a
person's cell structure.

"Watch for something unexpected, out of left field," he said, "Remember,
everything we are doing now was once thought impossible."

Leonard Zon spoke on the zebra fish, which (if I heard right) can
deliver 300 babies a week, hugely beneficial to the study of inherited
diseases.

Dr. Zon reminded us all that in 1961 the first organ transplant was done
in a mouse and it was not until 1975 that the first human organ
transplant was successfully accomplished. Fourteen years is a long time,
for we who wait for cure. But we have also had the entire history of the
world without the miracles we now await "we patient advocates will
try to be reasonable" but we will also keep pushing.

He mentioned the greatness possible when SCNT can bring disease-specific
stem cells, and chemicals can be tested on them, to quickly know what
works-- instead of trying it endlessly slowly on an animal or a human.

He also described Doug Melton's stem cell lines as the "gold standard".

I saw Jessica Gerstle, movie maker, in the audience, with her dad beside
her in his wheel chair, asking difficult questions of the scientist.
Jessica's stem cell movie may be accepted at the world famous Sundance
film festival!

And then the curtains parted. Brooke Ellison was there, 28 years old,
completely paralyzed, and her mom, standing beside her. I remembered
Brooke's race for the Senate, and how she graduated from Harvard with a
degree in cognitive neuroscience.

Brooke's story was told in the book, "Miracles Happen", and made into a
movie by Christopher Reeve.

"I had two lives," Brooke said, "Until I was eleven, that was one life.
I was active, dancing, soccer, singing, each night devoted to one
activity.

"On September 4th, 1990, my first life ended. It was to have been the
opening day of the seventh grade. But in an instant, everything
changed.

"All the things I thought were definite were gone. There is no way to
prepare for or understand the unpredictability of life.

"I woke up in the hospital, with IV's in me, and unable to move. The
prognosis was dark, pessimistic.

"Today, we know that paralysis is not an unchangeable condition. We can
spread a message of hope.

"Christopher Reeve never would accept pessimism, and doubt. Neither must
we.

"An isolated opposition is blocking us. We must counter their mistruths,
with truth.

"The battle is so important; none can be complacent. It is not enough to
be aware, we must translate thoughts into action. A moment wasted is an
opportunity lost.

"The goal is in sight, our mission is clear. All must play a part.

"Our mission is clear. We must complete it.

"Now is the time."

And then we were on our feet.

(Part two to follow).

Don Reed
www.stemcellbattles.com

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2.

I am creating artificial life, declares US gene pioneer

Posted by: "Stephen Meyer" meyer74@bellsouth.net   stephen_meyer_stemcells

Tue Oct 9, 2007 6:39 pm (PST)

I am creating artificial life, declares US gene pioneer
· Scientist has made synthetic chromosome
· Breakthrough could combat global warming

* Ed Pilkington in New York * The Guardian
<http://www.guardian.co.uk/theguardian> * Saturday October 6 2007

Craig Venter, the controversial DNA researcher involved in the race to
decipher the human genetic code, has built a synthetic chromosome out of
laboratory chemicals and is poised to announce the creation of the first
new artificial life form on Earth.

The announcement, which is expected within weeks and could come as early
as Monday at the annual meeting of his scientific institute in San
Diego, California, will herald a giant leap forward in the development
of designer genomes. It is certain to provoke heated debate about the
ethics of creating new species and could unlock the door to new energy
sources and techniques to combat global warming.

Mr Venter told the Guardian he thought this landmark would be "a very
important philosophical step in the history of our species. We are going
from reading our genetic code to the ability to write it. That gives us
the hypothetical ability to do things never contemplated before".

The Guardian can reveal that a team of 20 top scientists assembled by Mr
Venter, led by the Nobel laureate Hamilton Smith, has already
constructed a synthetic chromosome, a feat of virtuoso bio-engineering
never previously achieved. Using lab-made chemicals, they have
painstakingly stitched together a chromosome that is 381 genes long and
contains 580,000 base pairs of genetic code.

The DNA sequence is based on the bacterium Mycoplasma genitalium which
the team pared down to the bare essentials needed to support life,
removing a fifth of its genetic make-up. The wholly synthetically
reconstructed chromosome, which the team have christened Mycoplasma
laboratorium, has been watermarked with inks for easy recognition.

It is then transplanted into a living bacterial cell and in the final
stage of the process it is expected to take control of the cell and in
effect become a new life form. The team of scientists has already
successfully transplanted the genome of one type of bacterium into the
cell of another, effectively changing the cell's species. Mr Venter said
he was "100% confident" the same technique would work for the
artificially created chromosome.

The new life form will depend for its ability to replicate itself and
metabolise on the molecular machinery of the cell into which it has been
injected, and in that sense it will not be a wholly synthetic life form.
However, its DNA will be artificial, and it is the DNA that controls the
cell and is credited with being the building block of life.

Mr Venter said he had carried out an ethical review before completing
the experiment. "We feel that this is good science," he said. He has
further heightened the controversy surrounding his potential
breakthrough by applying for a patent for the synthetic bacterium.

Pat Mooney, director of a Canadian bioethics organisation, ETC group,
said the move was an enormous challenge to society to debate the risks
involved. "Governments, and society in general, is way behind the ball.
This is a wake-up call - what does it mean to create new life forms in a
test-tube?"

He said Mr Venter was creating a "chassis on which you could build
almost anything. It could be a contribution to humanity such as new
drugs or a huge threat to humanity such as bio-weapons".

Mr Venter believes designer genomes have enormous positive potential if
properly regulated. In the long-term, he hopes they could lead to
alternative energy sources previously unthinkable. Bacteria could be
created, he speculates, that could help mop up excessive carbon dioxide,
thus contributing to the solution to global warming, or produce fuels
such as butane or propane made entirely from sugar.

"We are not afraid to take on things that are important just because
they stimulate thinking," he said. "We are dealing in big ideas. We are
trying to create a new value system for life. When dealing at this
scale, you can't expect everybody to be happy."

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3.

California Takes Lead in Stem Cell Research, Scientist Recruitment

Posted by: "Stephen Meyer" meyer74@bellsouth.net   stephen_meyer_stemcells

Tue Oct 9, 2007 6:52 pm (PST)

Originally Aired: October 8, 2007
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[http://www.pbs.org/newshour/images/spacer.gif] California Takes Lead
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SPENCER MICHELS, NewsHour Correspondent: It was a coup when Japanese
stem cell researcher Shinya Yamanaka agreed to work at the Gladstone
Institutes in San Francisco. Yamanaka is considered one of the world's
top scientific pioneers.

He is one of almost 50 stem cell researchers who have been recruited
recently to work in California labs. They're taking part in a new gold
rush, sparked by the passage in 2004 of a $3 billion state bond issue to
finance stem cell research, far more than any place else.

GEORGE W. BUSH, President of the United States: I have made this
decision with great care.

SPENCER MICHELS: The state money was meant to get around President
Bush's 2001 restrictions on federal funding of research that severely
limited the embryonic stem cell lines that could be used.

STEVE WESTLY (D), Former California State Controller: The eyes of the
world are on California today.

SPENCER MICHELS: The state agency set up to disperse the funds was sued,
tying up the money for two years, but it is finally starting to flow.
Even with the lawsuit, the research never stopped, fueled by loans and
donations. But it's even more intense now, says Dr. Irving Weissman, the
head of Stanford's Stem Cell Institute.

DR. IRVING WEISSMAN, Stanford School of Medicine: It's exploding,
because now the best and the brightest young people are starting to
believe they have a chance to be here in the United States and do this
research. So the loan money that came a year ago and started the
training of those young people allowed us to develop the facilities,
allowed people like my lab and other labs to start getting into this
field, because we could do it without the restrictions of the federal
government.

SPENCER MICHELS: Embryonic stem cells are human cells that are capable
of becoming specialized cells, like liver or brain. They hold great
promise of curing disease and of providing insights into how cells work.
Their use is considered by many researchers a revolution in medicine.

But getting cells from discarded human embryos that are only a few days
old and small as a grain of sand has provoked moral objections, since
the embryos die. Yamanaka's breakthrough that made him a hot recruit was
to find a way to program the skin cells of adult mice to act like
embryonic stem cells, or ES cells.

He came to California so he could use embryonic cells to prove his
findings. That's something he couldn't do in Japan. He intends to see if
the results with mice can work with humans.

DR. SHINYA YAMANAKA, Gladstone Institutes: Human cells are different
from mouse cells in many aspects. I would predict that it is more
difficult to make ES cells from human skin cells than from mouse skin
cells, but we don't know yet.
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SPENCER MICHELS: If Yamanaka can eventually apply his technique to
humans and not have to use stem cells taken from human embryos to fight
disease, the ethical debate about embryonic stem cells could dissipate.
Gladstone's Deepak Srivastava says the work itself is groundbreaking.

DR. DEEPAK SRIVASTAVA, Gladstone Institutes: It's an understatement to
say that this work has transformed the landscape of the stem cell field,
and it's already fueling a rush to begin to translate these findings
into future human therapies.

SPENCER MICHELS: Srivastava is a pediatric cardiologist who is using
stem cell research to study common congenital heart abnormalities. He
was recruited to California two years ago from Texas, where legislators
are divided as to whether the state should support such research.

DR. DEEPAK SRIVASTAVA: I think it's safe to say that the future that
we've all been talking about, the future is now. We're just at that
stage now where the field has reached a tipping point.

SPENCER MICHELS: Recruiting is taking place at major institutions
throughout California that are working on a variety of diseases. At
Stanford, Irv Weissman was instrumental in persuading cancer researcher
Michael Clarke to leave his job at the University of Michigan and head
for California. Michigan is one of six states where embryonic stem cell
research is banned.

DR. MICHAEL CLARKE, Stanford Cancer Center: I think Stanford in
particular, and California in general, I think is a much richer
environment for doing science. In California, it's not only did we want
to get things done, but how do we facilitate getting them done? And then
let's do it.

One of the people who came to my lab with me from Michigan is a
pediatrician who's interested in pediatric cancer. And because of legal
restrictions, he couldn't really do the work he needed to do to
understand these early childhood cancers.
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It's expensive to recruit especially the very best stem cell biologists,
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first few years to get them off their feet.
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SPENCER MICHELS: The gold rush has meant good salaries and research
perks for scientists willing to make the move. Neurologist Arnold
Kriegstein has been recruiting for the University of California, San
Francisco's, program in developmental and stem cell biology, which he
directs.

DR. ARNOLD KRIEGSTEIN, University of California, San Francisco: It's
expensive to recruit especially the very best stem cell biologists, so
we need start-up packages which include, of course, money for the first
few years to get them off their feet, to get them up and started. We
need space and laboratory facilities for them to work in. We need to
protect them from too many teaching responsibilities. We have to put
together this recruitment package.

SPENCER MICHELS: UC-San Francisco, or UCSF, has plans for a new $109
million stem cell building. Stanford built this special stem cell
research facility partly as a recruiting tool. The labs, like this one
at UCSF, are particularly expensive because all the equipment has to be
duplicated, one set paid for without any federal money -- and which
therefore can be used to experiment with embryonic stem cells -- and
another to work only with the few lines of cells that were approved by
the federal government.

Kriegstein showed us duplicate high-tech microscopes.

DR. ARNOLD KRIEGSTEIN: They can cost half-a-million dollars or more, and
we have two of them in this room. We have to be very careful that we
don't mingle NIH and non-NIH-sponsored activities.

SPENCER MICHELS: Kriegstein specializes in stem cells for cancer
research. He says his aim is to find the parent or cancer stem cells
that are seeding tumors, the so-called mother cells, so that drugs can
be targeted at those cells.

He was responsible for recruiting researcher Holger Willenbring,
originally from Germany, to San Francisco, partly by promising him
enough mice.

What did they do? Did they ply you with presents, or did they just make
it nice, or how did they recruit?

HOLGER WILLENBRING, University of California, San Francisco: Well, first
of all, they tried to get a sense if you really can provide what they're
looking for, like the lab space, for example, or how many mice you're
going to be able to have and...

SPENCER MICHELS: How many?

HOLGER WILLENBRING: Well, we have quite a bit of mice. And what kind of
start-up funds you will have to buy equipment and things and to hire
people and get started.
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[http://www.pbs.org/newshour/images/spacer.gif] Holger Willenbring
Pediatric Resident [http://www.pbs.org/newshour/images/spacer.gif]
[http://www.pbs.org/newshour/images/spacer.gif]
[http://www.pbs.org/newshour/images/primary/transcript/bg_quote1.gif]
Among the children I took care of, the ones with genetically or inborn
inherited liver diseases really had the poorest outcomes, because the
treatment options were so limited.
[http://www.pbs.org/newshour/images/primary/transcript/bg_quote2.gif]
[http://www.pbs.org/newshour/images/spacer.gif]
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[http://www.pbs.org/newshour/images/spacer.gif]
[http://www.pbs.org/newshour/images/spacer.gif] Treating liver
disease
SPENCER MICHELS: As a pediatric resident, Willenbring had seen children
die of liver disease. And as a result, he went into stem cell research.

HOLGER WILLENBRING: Among the children I took care of, the ones with
genetically or inborn inherited liver diseases really had the poorest
outcomes, because the treatment options were so limited. And, as you
know, donor organs are very sparse, and the alternative therapies are,
unfortunately, not available.

SPENCER MICHELS: Willenbring succeeded in using adult stem cell therapy
to treat mice with liver disease. At UCSF, he now wants to use embryonic
stem cells, which he hopes will transform into new liver cells to
correct disease and prevent death.

Such practical applications could have a big pay-off. UCSF transplant
surgeon Dr. Nancy Ascher says stem cells could be an alternative to some
transplants: 100,000 people a year need organ transplants, but only
7,000 to 8,000 are done.

DR. NANCY ASCHER, University of California, San Francisco: The idea of
repopulating a liver, for example, with new cells, a damaged liver
that's not failed but damaged, is very exciting. The notion of
repopulating a heart that might have damaged cells from a heart attack
is a very exciting possibility.

SPENCER MICHELS: Although UCSF got Willenbring from Oregon and Stanford
got Clarke from Michigan, there is also competition within California.
Christopher Scott directs Stanford's Program on Stem Cells in Society.

CHRISTOPHER SCOTT, Stanford University: Well, for example, the
University of California, San Francisco, is just down the road from us
at Stanford. And we were very lucky to get one of their top embryonic
stem cell researchers to come here to Stanford.

SPENCER MICHELS: Is it a polite competition, or is it getting a little
bit cutthroat?

CHRISTOPHER SCOTT: So far it's been polite. We'll see. I think, when you
have as much money as California does, it's going to be really
interesting to see how the top labs are arm-wrestling over the young
scientists.
[http://www.pbs.org/newshour/images/spacer.gif]
[http://www.pbs.org/newshour/images/spacer.gif]
[http://www.pbs.org/newshour/images/spacer.gif]
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[http://www.pbs.org/newshour/images/spacer.gif]
[http://www.pbs.org/newshour/images/spacer.gif] [Laura Elias]
[http://www.pbs.org/newshour/images/spacer.gif]
[http://www.pbs.org/newshour/images/spacer.gif]
[http://www.pbs.org/newshour/images/spacer.gif] Laura Elias
Graduate Student [http://www.pbs.org/newshour/images/spacer.gif]
[http://www.pbs.org/newshour/images/spacer.gif]
[http://www.pbs.org/newshour/images/primary/transcript/bg_quote1.gif]
When you discover something new, there's nothing quite like that kind of
excitement, where you really think you're seeing something that nobody
has seen before and nobody has described before.
[http://www.pbs.org/newshour/images/primary/transcript/bg_quote2.gif]
[http://www.pbs.org/newshour/images/spacer.gif]
[http://www.pbs.org/newshour/images/spacer.gif]
[http://www.pbs.org/newshour/images/spacer.gif]
[http://www.pbs.org/newshour/images/spacer.gif] Recruiting top
graduates
SPENCER MICHELS: Some of those young scientists are just out of college.
Laura Elias was recruited as a graduate student by the UCSF lab.

LAURA ELIAS, Graduate Student: When you discover something new, there's
nothing quite like that kind of excitement, where you really think
you're seeing something that nobody has seen before and nobody has
described before. And that can be very exciting.

SPENCER MICHELS: Elias was the lead author of a study on the migration
of brain cells that recently made the cover of the prestigious journal
Nature. If researchers can identify what molecule is allowing brain
cells to migrate, they may be able to stop the migration of brain
cancers.

For all the money being poured into research and the enthusiasm, there
are also cautionary notes.

DR. IRVING WEISSMAN: I think we're on the edge of the next revolution in
biomedical science, but we need to make sure that we're not over-hyping
it and we're not fooling ourselves. So far, in the animal models of
these studies, it's working, and it's working great. We have to approach
American medicine though and say, "Here's a whole new way of thinking
about it. Are you ready for it?"

SPENCER MICHELS: Besides California, a half-dozen other states currently
fund embryonic stem cell research, but California scientists expect to
maintain the large lead they've built up, even if a new president lifts
the federal restrictions on funding such work.

JUDY WOODRUFF: You can send your own questions about stem cells to
researcher Irving Weissman by going to our Web site at PBS.org.

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4.

PASS IT ON TO ALL YOU KNOW THAT NEED TO KNOW

Posted by: "Stephen Meyer" meyer74@bellsouth.net   stephen_meyer_stemcells

Tue Oct 9, 2007 6:52 pm (PST)


Submitted by NickPOliva on Mon, 10/08/2007 - 21:54.

PASS IT ON TO ALL YOU KNOW THAT NEED TO KNOW

Yvonne Perry is a fellow writer and friend and after having read her
book I am forwarding this information to all that I know in the hopes
that they read and understand that we here in the United States are
being mislead as to what researchers want to use for stem cells that are
not human embryos as has been misstated over and over by groups that do
not want to educate themselves.
I have diabetes, without this research I will die prematurely no matter
what steps I can take now. My mother died at age 67, my brothers have it
and millions of others in this country need a cure, NOW! Yvonne explains
that the clump of cells called blastocysts are not living human
entities. If you have family, friends, or loved ones that have life
threatening diseases you need to read how close we are to curing this
problems if our government would stop being pressured by special
interest groups that have it all wrong. There is a forward by Rev. Dan
Bloodworth a strong supporter of Yvonne's, with a Biblical Perspective
on stem cell research.
Anything you can or are willing to do to help people understand the
importance of federal funding for all types of stem cell research is
much appreciatedâ€"especially by those who currently suffer with an
illness or condition that might be helped by the derived technology and
treatments.

My review after reading this book.

A LIFE OR DEATH ISSUE, October 8, 2007
By Nick Oliva -Yvonne Perry has taken a courageous stand by tackling and
dissecting these issues without predjudicial preconceived emotion. The
biggest obstacle to this research is the inclusion of religious aspects
in the determination that a blastocyst or a pile of benign cells
constitutes human life, a grave error of thought. After all, is there a
ceremony or last rites given to these cells? They are not inside a
woman's uterus, they have not been given DNA to substantiate they are
human and can take the form of whatever host they are merged into. I am
a diabetic. I will die along with millions of others prematurely. With
one injection of stem cells, in the near future my pancreas could grow
back and I would be able to stop shooting insulin and going into insulin
shock wearing my organs down and live a normal life. All I need is the
ability of these dedicated researchers to be allowed to use funding to
further the research to make it all happen for millions of us. Read the
book before you go off about the "point that life begins" and begin to
understand how much damage is being done because of a lack of
understanding of that very question.

Go to
http://www.amazon.com/RIGHT-RECOVER-Political-Religious-Research/dp/1933\
...
<http://www.amazon.com/RIGHT-RECOVER-Political-Religious-Research/dp/193\
3449411/ref=dp_return_1/105-0413912-0579647?ie=UTF8&n=283155&s=books>
and do yourself and millions of others a big favor!

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5.

Health panel set to reverse Romney-backed stem cell regulations

Posted by: "Stephen Meyer" meyer74@bellsouth.net   stephen_meyer_stemcells

Tue Oct 9, 2007 7:11 pm (PST)

Health panel set to reverse Romney-backed stem cell regulations

Associated Press - October 8, 2007 5:04 PM ET

BOSTON (AP) - A state health panel appointed by Governor Patrick is
poised to undo stem cell regulations created under former Governor Mitt
Romney.

Scientists have said the restrictions put a chill on their work and
undermined a 2005 law intended to encourage the controversial research.

But critics say tougher regulations are needed to bar against the
exploitation of women and the creation of human embryos specifically for
research.

Kris Mineau, president of the Massachusetts Family Institute, says
removing the regulations put in place under Romney would open up a
"Pandora's box" of creating human embryos on a wide-scale production.

Patrick has made the cutting edge research a major goal of his
administration, proposing a 10-year, $1 billion life sciences initiative
designed in part to create the world's largest repository of new stem
cells lines.

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6.

BOC opposes 'anti-research' amendment

Posted by: "Stephen Meyer" meyer74@bellsouth.net   stephen_meyer_stemcells

Tue Oct 9, 2007 7:17 pm (PST)

BOC opposes 'anti-research' amendment Thomas Helton
<http://mwebmail.bellsouth.net/user/index.cfm?event=displayAuthorProfile\
&authorid=2629462> Issue date: 10/8/07 The St Louis Current
[University of Missouri Interim President Gordon Lamb.] University of
Missouri Interim President Gordon Lamb.
[Newly apoointed General Counsel Stephen K. Owens.] Media Credit:
www.umsystem.edu Newly apoointed General Counsel Stephen K. Owens.
At the University of Missouri Board of Curators meeting last Friday, the
curators engaged in a debate and faced a vote on what some considered a
politically divisive issue.

A proposed supplement to the stem cell research initiative passed in
2006 by a political organization named Cures Without Cloning would limit
the state in allocating money for the purpose of stem cell research.
Interim UM President Gordon Lamb took a strong stance against the
amendment in a press release.

The amendment reads, "No taxpayer dollars should be used to research or
experiment using a human organism or any part of a human organism
derived from cloning or attempting to clone a human being."

In a statement made public on Sept. 7, Lamb stated the political
organization's attempt to place an amendment to the bill for stem cell
research on the November 2008 ballot would strongly hinder academic
research.

"And they are doing so in a way that could permanently destroy the
future of research in the state and in its universities," Lamb said in
his statement regarding the Cures without Cloning initiative.

"Research must have the same protection, a protection from the few who,
seeking to reinforce their own personal biases, would shut down research
done by highly competent and dedicated scientists." Lamb said.

UM-St. Louis Chancellor Thomas George also spoke against the issue in
his State of the University Address on Sept. 18 echoing Lamb's
declaration.

On Friday, at UM-Columbia, the Board of Curators took the next step in
the UM system's push against the possible amendment. In a 6-1 vote, the
curators passed a resolution brought forward by Curator Judith Haggard
that encouraged the board to protect the University's rights to further
scientific research in the field of somatic stem cells.

Curators David Wasinger and John Carnahan abstained from voting on the
resolution. Wasinger and Russell voiced concerns that the board was
throwing itself into a political battle that in the future could hinder
the board's bias towards other situations.

Allegedly, the board was notified of Lamb's statement only after the
media was informed. However, Lamb alleges that he issued copies of the
statement to the curators before it was released to the public.

UM-St. Louis SGA Vice President Cadence Rippeto said the issue was
abrupt, and that the meeting was going along without heated discussion
until Haggard introduced the resolution.

"It seemed that all of a sudden there was a heated debate with Curator
Wasinger being most outspoken about the issue," Rippeto said.

SGA President Bryan Goers said a couple of the curators were upset that
the vote had been brought up unannounced.

"Russell and Wasinger really objected to the fact that it wasn't in the
board materials that get sent out ahead of time," he said.

Goers said it was difficult to tell if the curators were simply backing
Lamb and the system chancellors, or if they were taking a stance on stem
cell research as a political issue.

"How the resolution was worded and brought up, it seemed to be
supporting the president," he said. "I interpreted it as the curators
supporting the previous statements."

Board documents are normally sent out ahead of the curators meeting and
posted online the week of the meeting.

The curators also appointed a replacement for retiring General Counsel
Marvin "Bunky" Wright who will vacate his position as of Dec. 31, 2007,
according to a press release by the curators.

Stephen K. Owens will be his replacement. Owens is a partner at Stindson
Morrison Hecker, LLP in Kansas City, which has 360 lawyers between eight
offices. Owens' base salary was announced by the University to be
$290,000 plus benefits and incentives.

Owens is a graduate of UM-Columbia, and he received his law degree from
Wake Forest University in 1980. Wright has been General Counsel for the
university since 1998.

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7.

Blinding Us With 'Science'

Posted by: "Stephen Meyer" meyer74@bellsouth.net   stephen_meyer_stemcells

Tue Oct 9, 2007 7:21 pm (PST)

EDITORIALS &
OPINION

Blinding Us With 'Science'
INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILY

Posted 10/8/2007

Politics: Hillary Clinton says she'll end the Bush administration's
"assault on science." But causes she supports and methods she embraces
are anything but scientific.

"The Bush administration has declared war on science — the record is
breathtaking" Sen. Clinton told supporters gathered at the Carnegie
Institution of Washington last Friday. "When I am president, I will end
this assault on science. America will once again be the innovation
nation." But it is Clinton and her supporters who have declared war on
science and innovation.

There's no better example than her approach to energy, where she would
end incentives, which she calls "subsidies," for oil exploration to fund
research on alternatives. This is an industry that has redefined
innovation, finding new ways to recover oil and gas, whether from
formerly "dead" fields or miles beneath the ocean surface or oil shale
and tar sands. But she would leave untapped vast reserves of oil and
natural gas in Alaska and the Outer Continental Shelf.

Clinton, who voted nine times to block drilling in a tiny, frozen part
of ANWR, and whose husband first blocked ANWR development in 1995, would
establish a $50 billion Strategic Energy Fund. It would siphon off of
oil companies' "excessive" profits to promote alternative energy
development. Sounds like the windfall profits tax and Jimmy Carter's
long defunct SynFuels Corp.

On global warming, Hillary charged that President Bush of "muzzling"
scientists who warned of impending doom and said she would "no longer
place ideology ahead of science." If there are any scientists being
muzzled, it is those who have shredded the mythical "consensus" she and
Al Gore tout.

Some scientists, such as Timothy Ball, who has a Ph.D. in climatology
from the University of London and taught at the University of Winnipeg
for 28 years, have even received death threats. Ball says the belief
that disastrous climate change is imminent and humans are the cause is
the "greatest deception in the history of science."

After appearing in "The Great Global Warming Swindle," a documentary
broadcast in Britain, he got at least five death threats by e-mail,
including one that warned that if he continued to speak out, he would
not live long enough to see the prophecy of global warmers come to pass.

Richard Lindzen, professor of atmospheric science at Massachusetts
Institute of Technology, also appeared in the "Great Global Warming
Swindle." "Scientists who dissent from the alarmism," he said, "have
seen their funds disappear, their work derided and themselves labeled as
industry stooges." Who's muzzling whom?

Clinton got her warmest applause at Friday's gathering when she promised
to lift the federal ban on federal funding of embryonic stem cell
research (ESCR). Except there is no such ban on federal funding or ESCR
research. And it is here that she is ignoring the science and the
innovation in the field in favor of ideology.

She forgets that Bush is the first and only president to fund ESCR at
all, albeit on existing stem cell lines. Her husband Bill spent zero.
There are no limits to private research or private funding, and maybe
Hillary can get George Soros and her Hollyweird friends to fork over a
few bucks.

It is in the area of adult stem cell research — a subject Democrats
ignore — that new discoveries are being made every day. Fact is,
today there are hundreds of conditions and diseases actually being
treated using adult stem cells drawn from umbilical cord blood and other
non-embryonic sources.

A team of Brazilian and American scientists have successfully weaned
patients off insulin injections using stem cells from their own blood. A
British research team has grown heart-valve tissue using adult stem
cells drawn from bone narrow.

If there's one thing we've learned, it's that government doesn't do very
well at picking winners or losers. In fact, government is to innovation
what the post office is to productivity. It is Hillary and the Democrats
who have their ideological blinders on, ignoring the scientific facts,
approaching the issues more like an Elmer Gantry than an Albert
Einstein.

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