Saturday, October 27, 2007

[StemCellInformation] Digest Number 717

Messages In This Digest (4 Messages)

Messages

1.

# 374 Friday, October 12, 2007 - POPE SUPPORTS THERAPEUTIC CLONING??

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

Fri Oct 26, 2007 8:01 pm (PST)


# 374 Friday, October 12, 2007
<file:///C:/My%20Webs/myweb11/Archive%20322%20Monday,%20April%2020,%2020\
07%20-%20FLORIDA%20ONCE%20MORE%20PIVOTAL%20TO%20NATION’S%20FUTURE\
.htm> - POPE SUPPORTS THERAPEUTIC CLONING???

No, this is not a joke headline.

TIME Magazine ran a story this morning every stem cell research
supporter must read.

http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1670820,00.html
<http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1670820,00.html>

Listen to this, quoting from the article “Pope Scolds S. Korea on
Stem Cells”, by AP/Nicole Winfield, Friday, October 12, 2007. The
article begins by criticizing embryonic stem cell research, and
thenâ€"the lightning bolt.

(Pope) “Benedict noted that the Vatican does not
opposeâ€"and in fact encouragesâ€"somatic stem cell
researchâ€"also known as “therapeutic cloning”, which
uses human eggs specifically for research from which stem cells are
harvested.

“The Vatican approves of such research because it doesn’t
involve obtaining a fertilized egg or embryo to harvest the stem cells.
The Vatican holds that life begins at conception.”

The Pope supports therapeutic cloning?

Folks, either TIME Magazine (and the Associated Press) ran a colossal
misstatement, or we just had a gigantic breakthrough.

The Catholic Church, until now, has been the single largest opponent of
SCNT.

In Missouri, for example, bishops thundered from the pulpit denouncing
therapeutic cloning, claiming to see no difference between the cloning
of cells and the cloning of people. Every Catholic in Missouri should be
glad to know the Pope does not want them to support the movement to
overthrow Amendment 2, which allows SCNT.

If this article is accurate, the single largest obstacle to Somatic Cell
Nuclear Transfer has just been removed.

If this is correct, then opponents of SCNT research like Catholic
Senator Sam Brownback are in contradiction with the Pope. Presidential
candidate Brownback is of course famous for his bill, the Human Cloning
Prohibition Act, (supported by President Bush) which would mandate ten
year jail sentences and million dollar fines for anyone connected with
SCNT.

This joyous news must be spread across the land. Please write your local
paper, and your political leadership.

If TIME Magazine is right, and this is a source famous for its accuracy,
the world has just changed.

The facts cited are correct: “therapeutic cloning…
doesn’t involve obtaining a fertilized egg or embryo to harvest
the stem cells.” This is absolutely rightâ€"SCNT involves no
sperm whatsoever, and therefore there is no fertilized egg, and
accordingly no embryo.

Therefore, the Dickey Amendment, until now used to block federal funding
of SCNT, does not apply. The Dickey Amendment prohibits the endangerment
of an embryo.

But read these words again-- “The Vatican approves of such
research because it doesn’t involve obtaining a fertilized egg or
embryo (emphasis addedâ€"DR) to harvest the stem cells.”

The product of SCNT is not an embryo.

We have it from the mouth of the Pope.

Don Reed
www.stemcellbattles.com

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2.

# 377 Tuesday, October 23, 2007 - WHY WE FIGHT: A New Jersey Mother'

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

Fri Oct 26, 2007 8:01 pm (PST)


# 377 Tuesday, October 23, 2007
<file:///C:/My%20Webs/myweb11/Archive%20322%20Monday,%20April%2020,%2020\
07%20-%20FLORIDA%20ONCE%20MORE%20PIVOTAL%20TO%20NATION’S%20FUTURE\
.htm> - WHY WE FIGHT: A New Jersey Mother's Words

As you know, New Jersey is fighting an uphill battle to win funding for
stem cell research. On November 6th, just a few short days from now,
that state will decide if it should spend $45 million a year for ten
years toward that goal. (for more information, go to www.njforhope.org
<http://www.njforhope.org/> .)

According to a just-released study, the Seneca Study from Rutgers
University, the annual financial cost to residents will be a (literally)
a nickel a year per person, about 4.5 cents each.

The financial benefits to an enhanced biomedical industry could be huge,
the study points out, in numbers that make my eyes glaze over.

But that's not why we are fighting.

If you live in New Jersey, you probably already know the Riccio family:
a name that makes one stop, and take a breath, and nod, as when someone
you respect passes by.

Tricia Riccio is the mother of Carl, and she feels about her son the way
Gloria feels about Roman, the way we all feel about our loved ones.

The love a parent feels about their son or daughter is universal-- but
how we each react in a crisis is very individual.

And folks, if you are ever in a fight for your life, you want someone
like Tricia Riccio on your side.

Here she is:

"On February 22, 2003 my son Carl Riccio suffered a severe spinal
cord injury while competing in a high school wrestling match, leaving
him a quadriplegic. I don't think I can put into words the emotions that
a parent goes through when faced with something like this. Carl's
dreams for his future were immediately derailed by this tragic accident.
We found out the only hope for a cure is in stem cell research. Carl
has been strong enough to go on with his life and attends Villanova
University where he lives a life as close as possible as any other
college student. His dreams for the future include the hope that he
will be cured of paralysis, so we must support stem cell research of all
kinds.

"Since that day, I have dedicated myself to three goals: Helping my
family cope with this unthinkable tragedy, raising awareness of the
extraordinary potential of stem cell research to transform lives, and
fighting to ensure that New Jersey invest the funds needed to advance
this cutting edge science from hope to reality. I believe that we must
arm our scientists with the resources they so desperately need in order
to find the cures that we so desperately need.

"I want my son to walk again, and to run. I want him to be able to throw
a ball and to catch it. I want him to become a father and a grandfather.
I want my son to be able to swim in the ocean, and to be independent in
his care. I want him to be able to feel the warmth of someone's hand
holding his. I want my son to have his life back.

"These are my reasons, and if you ask a parent of a child with diabetes
or cancer, they will give you other reasons, probably different than
mine, but really all the same.

"I thank God every day that I have my son. We are fortunate to be living
in

today's times with today's resources. Only a decade ago, there was no
such hope for victims of Spinal Cord Injury. Now, because of stem cell
research and the wonderful scientists who dedicate their lives to
finding cures, there is hope..... REAL HOPE.

Forever hopeful,

Tricia Riccio

Why should New Jersey fund stem cell research?

Carl Riccio is one very good reason; and so is someone you love.

Click on www.njforhope.org <http://www.njforhope.org/> . I just went
there, and donated $25 again, for the third time"I know, a measly
$25 donation is no reason to brag!

But if a retired school teacher can chip in a couple bucks, maybe
somebody somebody you know"maybe you yourself-- could do the same?

Right now, the campaign to pass stem cell research in New Jersey is
struggling. The polls show us LOSING by a hair I don't know what your
politics are, and I don't really care. But I am old enough to remember
losing a couple elections that were so close and I remember the
consequences of those losses"and I don't want to lose HALF A BILLION
DOLLARS FOR STEM CELL RESEARCH for lack of a few lousy campaign fund
bucks.

www.njforhope.org <http://www.njforhope.org/>

Don Reed
www.stemcellbattles.com <http://www.stemcellbattles.com/>

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3.

# 375 Tuesday, October 16, 2007 - MEANWHILE, BACK AT THE STEM CELL S

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

Fri Oct 26, 2007 8:01 pm (PST)


# 375 Tuesday, October 16, 2007
<file:///C:/My%20Webs/myweb11/Archive%20322%20Monday,%20April%2020,%2020\
07%20-%20FLORIDA%20ONCE%20MORE%20PIVOTAL%20TO%20NATION’S%20FUTURE\
.htm> - MEANWHILE, BACK AT THE STEM CELL SUMMIT

But first-- POPE STILL AGAINST SCNT…

Sigh… the hoped for breakthrough did not happenâ€" Pope
Benedict must still be listed with the enemies of embryonic stem cell
research, including Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer (SCNT). Below is the
“correction” from the Associated Press, stifling the happy
moment when it seemed the Pope might have come over to our side…

The original piece said: “(Pope) Benedict noted that the Vatican
does not opposeâ€"and in fact encouragesâ€"somatic stem cell
researchâ€"also known as “therapeutic cloning”, which
uses human eggs specifically for research from which stem cells are
harvested. The Vatican approves of such research because it
doesn’t involve obtaining a fertilized egg or embryo to harvest
the stem cells. The Vatican holds that life begins at
conception.”â€"end quote.

Now, the frantic correction.

“Correction: Pope-S. Korea Stem Cells Story

By The Associated Press

VATICAN CITY (AP) â€" In an Oct. 11 story about papal reaction to
embryonic stem cell research in South Korea, the Associated Press
erroneously described a type of stem-cell research supported by Pope
Benedict XVI. Benedict said he supported and encouraged "somatic
stem-cell research," also known as adult stem-cell research, which
involves stem cells that are not derived from embryos. The pope did not
say he supported somatic cell nuclear transfer, also known as
"therapeutic cloning," which uses human eggs specifically for research
from which stem cells are harvested. The Vatican opposes such
research.”

Meanwhile, back at the Stem Cell Summit… Part Two. (See Archives
at www.stemcellbattles.com for Part One.
<file:///C:/My%20Webs/myweb11/Archive%20373%20Tuesday,%20October%209,%20\
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STEM%20CELL%20WARRIORS,%20STEM%20CELL%20FRIENDSâ€"PART%20ONE.htm>

A richly deserved national grass roots advocacy award went to Donn Rubin
and the Missouri Cures Coalition, 60,000 Missourians and friends of stem
cell research.

As you remember, the “Show Me” state fought through a
state Constitutional change, Amendment 2, which passed in 2006.

Amendment 2 establishes the legality of Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer
(SCNT, sometimes call therapeutic cloning, the kind that is cells,
cells, nothing but cells), and embryonic stem cell research: any
federally approved stem cell research.

This was especially important, because two kind people, cancer survivors
Jim and Virginia Stowers, wanted to build a $200 million medical center
in Missouri, to do regenerative medicineâ€"and modern stem cell
researchers are naturally going to want to do Somatic Cell Nuclear
Transfer research.

The Stowers hoped to hire some of the best stem cell researchers in the
world, people like SCNT expert Kevin Eggan, and bring them to Missouri.

The only problem was, as Dr. Eggan noted, “I don’t want to
wake up some morning and discover I just became a felon because the
research I do in my lab.”

And every year for the past four years, the Religious Right has tried to
pass some law to ban stem cell research in Missouri.

Soâ€"the great debate. Amendment 2 went through through the full
electoral process.

On our side were roughly 60 patient advocate groups, and the Stowers.

On the other side? The main groups were:

1. Alliance Defense Fund 2. Focus on the Family 3. Family
Research Council 4. Knights of Columbus 5. Catholic Conference
6. Vision America 7. Eagle Forum 8. Republican National
Committee

Operating out of conservative churches, the opposition tried to make
stem cell research seem like abortion. They ran pictures of babies on
campaign literature, saying researchers wanted to kill “tiny
pre-born human beings”.

And in what must be an all-time low, they even handed out plastic
toy-size fetuses to children at the county fair.

Here are some of their actual words.

“The folks that would prey on our hopes at the cost of our
souls….God hates you.” -Catholic Activist Alan Keyes,
Springfield News-Leader, September 22, 2006

“To kill that human being is an incalculable outrage and a
repudiation of our entire civilization.”--Bill Saunders, Family
Research Council

“Focus on the Family founder James Dobson has equated stem-cell
research with Nazi medical experimentation… Kansas City Star,
September 13, 2006

He [Richard Doerflinger, deputy director of pro-life activities…
U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops] compared embryonic stem cell
research to Nazi-era medical experimentation… National Catholic
Reporter, September 15, 2006

“There are tens of thousands of tiny defenseless pre-born infants
counting on us.”- Rick Scarborough, Founder, Texas-Based Vision
America, Rick Scarborough Report â€" www.visionamerica.org
<http://www.rsreport.org/> , September 20, 2006

But Missouri voted YES on supporting research: YES on Amendment 2.

And that was the happy ending, right? Unfortunately, no.

The opposition immediately started to trying to overturn the election
results.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

“[passage of Amendment 2] shows how deeply rooted the culture of
death is in our society.”

- Archbishop Raymond Burke, Statement Issued 11/8/06, Fox 2 News St.
Louis, November 8, 2006

“The worst news of the year was the narrow passage by Missouri
voters of Amendment 2â€"which legalized human cloning for
biomedical research in what some now refer to as the “Clone Me
State.”. Stem Cell Research, Cloning and Euthanasia, Bioethics
Year in Review, Wesley J. Smith, Lifenews.com, December 11, 2006

These are expert propagandists. They know if they talk about cures and
the millions of suffering people, they lose.

So, the opposition has changed their attack.

Their new strategy is “Dolly, daughters, dollars”â€"

1. cloning scares;

2. building up worries about women being exploited for their eggs;

3. attributing greed to researchers in general and the Stowers in
particular.

As before, their arguments are false.

First, Amendment 2 specifically makes human reproductive cloning a
crime.

Second, the techniques used for egg donation are the same ones used
every day at in vitro fertility clinics everywhere, exactly as has been
done for the past decade.

And greed as a motivating factor?

That is pretty ridiculous, even for the opposition. Fox TV’s Bill
O’Reilly “investigates” Jim and Virginia Stowers on
Fox News, implying they are doing this for the money.

What is the Stowers’ financial situation?

Bill Neeve, chief scientist for the Stowers institute, spoke briefly
about this to the convention.

Jim and Virginia Stowers started their personal business with ten
thousand dollars-- and currently manage assets over $100 billion. They
do not need to make more moneyâ€"they are trying to give it away,
in the manner which will most benefit the worldâ€"through medical
research.

They had already built one medical institute, but they had hoped to
build another.

Now the opposition is back with still another anti-research effort,
attempting to criminalize SCNT, which they call cloning.

So, the Stowers did three things:

1. The new medical institute is delayed until the political climate
improves. 2. $850 million has been transferred to build a
“resource magnet” (I am not sure what that means) in
Delaware. 3. In hopes of building a stem cell research lab in
Missouri someday, 100 acres of land have been bought: ready for when the
roadblocks to research are removed.

The fight goes on, folks. Missouri has a whole lot more to say on this.

And what is it, exactly, that they and we are fighting for?

Dr. George Daley, President of the International Society of Stem Cell
Research had a brilliant line, saying (from my memory, this may not be
exact):

“The 20th century may be regarded as the era of medical drugs;
the focus of the 21st century will be regeneration”.

Imagine what that could mean. Diseases of tissue lossâ€" or organ
failureâ€"might be met with stem cell therapies, growing new
tissues, or new organs.

Dr. Daley spoke of using SCNT to model diseases so we could test new
drugs on cells in a Petri dish: shortening the expensive process of drug
testing, which may cost one billion dollars (literally) per drug.

Ian Wilmut was there, the bearded friendly “father” of
Dolly the first cloned sheep, now working at a Center for the Study of
Regenerative Medicine in Edinburg, Scotland. He is NOT interested in
cloning people; but he is very interested in SCNT as a way to study
ALS, Lou Gehrig’s disease. which he calls motor neuron
disease,â€" a disease resulting from CORRUPTED PROTEINS. I put that
in capitals because a lot of the scientists kept talking about the
importance of proteins.

For instance: Dr. Rudy Jaenisch, another world authority on SCNT, said:
“WE MUST REPLACE VECTOR-MEDIATED GENE TRANSDUCTION WITH PROTEIN
TRANSDUCTION.”

Is that a way to get the cells to the problem area? I don’t know.
Maybe someone could explain that to me?

One thing I did understand is the problem of getting eggs for stem cell
research.

As you know, SCNT (Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer) means taking a somatic
cell (like a skin cell) and putting it inside a human egg like a woman
loses every month.

Later, we probably will not need eggs at all. But for right now, we do.

I always felt California’s Prop 71 made a mistake by not allowing
women to be paid for their donation of eggs. I understand the reasoning:
no one should be exploited, and the opposition uses that fear (fear is
their main weapon) as a way to try and shoot down the research. So, Prop
71 took away the financial incentive to donate. This gained us
nothingâ€"the opposition is still attacking us as hard as they
can-- and denying the right of compensation in a free society may have
cost us a great deal.

For instance: Dr. Kevin Eggan’s lab spent $100,000 in
advertising, asking women to donate eggs.

And the result? Zero. Many women came forward, but when they found out
the hassle involved and that they could not be paid, not one woman would
donate.

Two possibilities:

1. Someone mentioned a rather personal subjectâ€"having a
hysterectomyâ€"at first I cringed like I might if someone asked me
about my vasectomy. But this was important, because if there are
hysterectomiesâ€" and there are many-- what happens to the eggs?
Maybe they could be donated, instead of being uselessly thrown away.

2. I raised my hand at one point (well, okay, I raised my hand at
several points, being at an age when everything reminds me of something
else) and asked:

Could women going through IVF (to have a child) be given the procedure
for free, or at a cheaper rate, in exchange for donating their leftover
eggs?

This was not an original idea from me. I stole it from somebody smarter.
If memory serves, England is considering this.

So much was going on at the Stem Cell Summitâ€"so many good people!

Like Susan Carlson of WiCell, spokesperson for the Wisconsin stem cell
folks, vivacious and charmingâ€"and understandable! She can talk
about Intellectual Property (which subject glazes my eyes over) in a way
that brings the different sides closer.

Somebody mentioned the WARNOCK COMMITTEEâ€" years ago, in England,
a systematic effort was made to bring all the different viewpoints of
stem cell research together so people could study them objectively.

Oh, and do you know AMY COMSTOCK-RICK, Executive Director of the
Parkinson’s Action Network? She had a great line, a sentences we
should tattoo on our hands so we could carry it around:

“Advocacy brings control back into your life”.

That is so true. When incurable illness or injury strikes, you feel in a
whirlwind; everything you thought you could count on seems gone.
Advocacy gives you a way to fightâ€"instead of passively suffering
“the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune” as
Shakespeare put it, advocacy lets us “take arms against a sea of
troubles, and by opposing, end them.”

Ms. Comstock-Rick told how Australia’s leadership took a 6 month
learning period to educate themselves on Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer
(SCNT), so they could vote carefully on the issue. (After studying it,
Australia approved it.) How very different from the way legislation to
criminalize SCNT was shoved through the House of Representatives,
passing the Republican-controlled House without a single public hearing
in 2001, before being stopped by CAMR (the Coalition for the Advancement
of Medical Research, led by people like Dan Perry, Tricia Brooks, Sean
Tipton, and Michael Manganiello, all present and accounted for here at
the convention) in the Senate.

Some one talked about CRITICAL PATH at the National Institutes for
Health. I believe it has something to do with
“fast-tracking” research, but once again, sigh…
could somebody explain it to me, slowly, in small words, please?

I liked the breakout panels, (like the disease
“Spotlights” at the ICOC meetings):

science is tough, and things make more sense if I can connect it to real
people.

For instance, at the neurological disorders breakout panelâ€"we had
Shane Smith, Geoffrey Macklis, Steve Burrill, Ole Isaacson (a scientist
who had published more than 200 papers!) and an advocate named Loren
Eng.

Moderator Steve Burrill shared a fascinating short conversation he had
with Bob Klein.

“So, before Prop 71, I said to Bob Kleinâ€"Bob, let me see
if I understand this. In a state in which 35% of the citizens do not
speak English as their first language, you are going to offer a
complicated medical science proposition; when the Governor said there
should be no more bonds, you are suggesting a $3 billion bond
issueâ€"to a state in the middle of an economic recession?”

“And Bob smiled and said ‘Yes!”

Steve paused. “Now that’s optimism-- and that plus hard
work is what it takes to make things happen.”

Then he introduced Loren Eng, a patient advocate with similar idealism,
and the courage to follow through for positive change.

Ms. Eng’s daughter, at 18 months, was smiling, talking, laughing,
walkingâ€"and then she was diagnosed with Spinal Muscular
Atrophyâ€"and all those abilities were gradually lost.

SMA kills by respiration failure and muscle weakness. Children who have
type one SMA often die before the age of 3 years old.

A little friend of mine, Pranav, has SMA. We have never met, but we have
talked on the phone, and this is the boy whose Mom Kavitha took him to
see Elmo, and we ran pictures of him earlier, remember? Pranav is four
now, and every time he gets a cold, his mother sits up all night with
him, trying to keep him alive.

There is no cureâ€"and yet this disease has been called the
“most scientifically tractable” by the NIH.

Apparently, SMA is caused by the absence of a single gene.

The SMA Foundation, led by Ms. Eng, is the largest single SMA foundation
in worldâ€"40 drugs were tested in one animal facility
aloneâ€"and the group has funded $40 million worth of research.

They developed an animal model â€" a $3 million ratâ€"and now
they are having a “rat race” hundreds of SMA rats, trying
to see which one lives, and which ones do not, and thereby they may
save the lives of little children who currently have almost no hope.

The overall objective?

Synergy. Different groups of scientists and activists can work together:
share strength, knowledge, both successes and failuresâ€"knowing
what does NOT work is vital, so others will not waste time, going down a
useless road.

Dr. Shane Smith, formerly Science Director for California’s Prop
71, now works with the Children’s Neurological Solutions group.
It started, he said, as “a group of moms who didn’t think
it was okay that their kids were not getting better.”

Shane mentioned four important goals for neuroscience:

1. delivery of therapeutic molecule 2. repair of support
structure (don’t ask me, I don’t know!) 3. stimulation
of new neurological connections 4. learning how to replace/repair
damaged portion of brain

Shane spoke about how stem cells can somehow find their way to the
injury site, as noted by Stanford’s legendary Dr. Irv Weissman.

He talked about Dr. Hans Keirstead’s work developing high purity
nerve fibers, and

Dr. Evan Snyder’s endless contributions to the field.

When it was ALS specialist Dr. Robert Brown’s turn to speak, he
said a lot in a few words:

1. An elderly gentleman asked, “How important is that we donate
our brains to science?” The man appeared very old; he was asking,
perhaps, so he might change his own will.

Dr. Bob answered:

“It is just thunderingly important. We need a library of brains,
thousands of them, so we can study and figure how to save
livesâ€"that’s a vital questionâ€"thank you for raising
it.”

2. He said the NIH gets $29 billion a year, to take on every
diseaseâ€"and the Iraq war is costing us hundreds of billions of
dollars.

3. On a note of optimism, he stressed that nobody has all the answers,
and that we as advocates must “never take no for an
answer”.

So much, so much! Tantalizing hints, sparkles of interestâ€"there
was something called the CAMPAIGN FOR MEDICAL RESEARCHâ€"Steve
Burrill is part of it. I need to find out about that.

Peter Kiernan was there. I heard a story about him.

Dana Reeve had called for Peter to come to the hospital to talk with
her. And the widow of Christopher Reeve asked him to carry the work
forward, to lead the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation.

He said he would do what he could, and she said thank youâ€"and the
next day, she died.

Here he was, keeping his word.

Conferences are valuable in so many ways: like allowing friends to meet
and hug and shake hands again, people like ace stem cell scientist Dr.
Jeanne Loring, who just became director of Scripps regenerative medicine
programâ€"I felt absurdly proud of her accomplishment, as if I had
done it myselfâ€"pretty soon, I told her, I will need an
appointment just to say hello!

Dr. John McDonald of Kennedy Krieger spoke about the vital importance of
exercise for the paralyzed. “We must maximize the physical health
of the body-- or there will be no recovery,” he said. Major rehab
is needed, not just an hour here or there.

To the obvious question, who is going to pay for this, he pointed out
what everybody in America knowsâ€"the current system is not enough.
Long term health care is needed. Medical insurance needs to be better
funded.

He spoke about pragmatic goals, finding cures piece by piece rather than
a silver bullet approach: for instance, he said, sensation would be
easier to recover than motion control.

And if we could regenerate even part of a damaged spine of a paralyzed
person, 20% of the nerves across the injury area, partially connecting
brain and bodyâ€"might be enough.

We need to be aware, he said, that “medicine is riddled with
obsolete assumptions.” I took that to mean, keep fighting for
cure and don’t be discouraged, because no one can tell how or
when cure will come.

Dr. John Kessler spoke about the inner world of the spine, the
environment, the niche of the nerve. That is huge because if you put a
person in a room full of poison gas, they tend to dieâ€"and putting
new nerves in a spinal system which attacks them does no good. There are
things called “inhibitors” which cause problems, blocking
the injured spine from healingâ€"apparently we must inhibit the
inhibitors!

Alan Jakarno organized a poster sessionâ€"not on the scientific
experiments, but on the bioethical issues involved.

Venture capitalist Beth Kleiner Perkins explained how venture capital
helped create industry, crucial to “turning stem cells into
cures” like California’s CIRM motto, (which my son Roman
suggested, in case you did not know!); how it works (if I understand
correctly) is that if a venture capitalist raises one hundred dollars
for new business, they keep twenty for themselves. They make a profit,
and a new company is born.

Does it work?

Biotech has contributed over $90 Billion to the economy, and created
275,000 jobs.

“Harvard,” said Ms. Perkins, “We are being smart
with your money!” She laughed, but she meant it. Apparently,
Harvard lives off investments, and her company helps it decide where to
put their bucks.

Joe Riggs, the founder of Students for Stem Cell Research, gave out
awards to outstanding student leadersâ€"like Laurel Barchas from
the Berkeley, California chapter (Laura is always doing something good:
in addition to helping develop a stem cell education program with
different levels, Junior High through college, she organized a
Christopher Reeve memorial vigil I spoke at recently)â€"and Laura
C. Meyers, student leader who had a funny story to tell.

It seems students at one college science lab wanted to call the White
House about the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Actâ€"but they could
not use the lab’s phones, because it is illegal to use anything
connected with a Federal dollar to advance non-Presidentially-approved
stem cell research-- so they used their cell phones.

However, being inside the lab, the reception was bad. They could not get
through, so the students hung out of the windows making phone calls to
the White House on their cells.

Ralph Dittman won an individual Outstanding Advocacy awardâ€"a
worthy recipient from Texasâ€"Tommy Lee Jones’ football
teammate, and a great team player for our endeavor. Among Ralph’s
many contributions is an outstanding DVD primer on stem cell research
advocacy.

The National Advocacy award to Michael J Fox, whose new group Cures and
Hope USA, begins with the belief that “our leaders must not play
politics with cure research”. Michael spoke from the video
screen.

It is hard for me to remember, sometimes, that patient advocates like
Mr. Fox are still patients themselves. Every action he gives is at a
tremendous personal cost.

John Hlinko, veteran political activist who began StemPac
<http://www.stempac.com/> , shared a lot with our table, including an
addressâ€"www.stemcellcandidates.com
<http://www.stemcellcandidates.com/> â€" but what I mainly remember
about John’s presentation, beside his bubbly personality, was
something that may not sound like much, at first. John is always--
there. Woody Allen once said that 90% of success consists in showing
up, being there. And where the smoke of battle is thickest, John Hinko
will be there.

The national student advocacy award went to wheelchair warrior Jeff
McCaffery of Missouri, who made an impassioned plea for the civil
liberties of cure research.

“Our freedom is at stake,” he said, “as victims of
disease, we are enslavedâ€"prisoners of our bodies. Our freedom is
compromised, but our freedom will be defended. Never will we accept the
tyranny of diseaseâ€"freedom is never free, but it is always worth
the fight.”

And then the Governor of the state of Massachusetts walked into the
room, side by side with Bernie Siegel.

Deval Patrick is African-American, built like a pro-football player,
good-looking, verbal, friendly-- and the first thing he did in office
was to push for one billion dollars in stem cell research!

“This is not a photo-op,” he said, when invited to the
microphone, “This is a request for help. That billion dollars is
not a done dealâ€"we need the help and cooperation of every person
in the room.”

Afterward, I went up and infringed on his space a little bit, just long
enough to shake his hand, and tell him the patient advocates would be
there when it counted.

And I know I did not lie.

We will work together. As Christopher said, “We will move
forward.”

And we will prevail.

P.S. I almost forgot! New Jersey has only 21 days left before they vote
on a

$450 million stem cell research bill!

Here is some information about itâ€"it is, of course, being slammed
by the opposition.

The only poll I know about showed 49% in favor, and 39% opposed. We need
to get 51% for the bill to become law, so every little bit counts.

Please consider chipping in $21 to the address belowâ€"it is $21
bucks because there is only 21 days leftâ€"I did the same, of
course.

$21 for 21 Days

In Just 21 Days, New Jersey Voters Can

VOTE YES for Hope

Please Support Our Campaign for Life-Saving Treatments and Cures by

Contributing $21 TODAY

CLICK HERE <http://www.njforhope.org/> TO VISIT OUR WEBSITE

AND MAKE AN ONLINE CONTRIBUTION:

<http://www.njforhope.org/id5.html>

About NJ for Hope:

The New Jersey for Hope political committee is a group of citizen
activists, medical professionals, and elected officials who have come
together for the purpose of advocating the passage of the public
question that will appear on the November 6, 2007 ballot statewide
asking New Jersey residents to keep New Jersey the leader in the nation
in finding treatments and cures to diseases that affect us all. If
passed, New Jersey will invest $45 million a year for the next ten years
towards stem cell research grants.

Campaign Updates:

This weekend, the Bergen Record ran an Op-Ed authored by Carl Riccio, a
longtime stem cell research advocate. In it, Carl makes a compelling
argument for Voting YES on November 6th and what is at stake for Carl
and all of us.

Click Here to Read Carl’s Op-Ed
<http://www.northjersey.com/page.php?qstr=eXJpcnk3ZjcxN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXkxNC\
ZmZ2JlbDdmN3ZxZWVFRXl5NzIwNjk3Mg==>

The Opposition:

Anti-Cure groups are doing what we expected them to do â€" lie,
distort, and fear-monger. Their utter disregard for the Carl
Riccio’s of the world is truly shameful, amoral, and anti-family.
They are currently running radio ads to spread their misinformation.

We must be able to respond to their baseless arguments. Please
contribute today so we can get the truth out to New Jersey voters
between now and November 6th. <http://www.njforhope.org/id5.html>

Questions: do you have a friend in New Jersey?

Do you belong to any organizations which support stem cell research?

Consider giving them a call. ASK THEM TO WRITE A LETTER TO A NEW JERSEY
PAPERâ€"support from local folks means so muchâ€"and dollars
from everywhere, too!

We only have three weeks to raise stem cell research consciousness in
and New Jersey-- and half a billion dollars hangs in the balance.

Here is their headquarters: take a look, please.

www.NJforHope.org <http://www.njforhope.org/>

Don Reed
www.stemcellbattles.com

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4.

# 378 Wednesday, October 24, 2007 - MY FAVORITE PLACE: Or, How Erin

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

Fri Oct 26, 2007 8:01 pm (PST)

# 378 Wednesday, October 24, 2007
<file:///C:/My%20Webs/myweb11/Archive%20322%20Monday,%20April%2020,%2020\
07%20-%20FLORIDA%20ONCE%20MORE%20PIVOTAL%20TO%20NATION’S%20FUTURE\
.htm> - MY FAVORITE PLACE: Or, How Erin Robbins is Fighting Diabetes
this Sunday

If you walked down the winding hallway at the old Marine World, in
Redwood City, in the mid 1970's when I was young, there would be one
magical spot with dolphins behind you and sharks straight ahead.

Right there, between the two tanks at a certain time in the morning, the
sunrays would beam through the water, and make a small but perfect
rainbow on the black wood of the deeply-recessed window.

My own pet rainbow... and, if there was time, I would sometimes just
sit in the window for a while, with the glory of the sea all around me.

It was my favorite place.

Until now.

During the battle for Prop 71, my favorite place became 550 California
Avenue, in Palo Alto, California. On the third floor, Bob Klein let us
use seven office rooms as a campaign headquarters for the California
Stem Cells for Research and Cures Act.

I remember one meeting there, when the discussion turned to the need for
a woman speaker to address a club"not sure which one it
wasâ€"but it had to be a woman speaker.

I jumped my hand up, and Amy Du Ross called on me. Du Ross is one of the
legendary three Amy's, Amy Daly, Amy Lewis and herself"they went by
last names during the campaign" It has to be a woman, Don,"she said to
me.

“I know, I know, but it is so obvious-- it has to be Daly,"I
said, cheerfully volunteering somebody else to do the work.

There was a pause.

"She's dedicated, personable, can talk to anyone on any level-- and if
you (DuRoss) can't make it, who knows Prop 71 better" I said. Amy Du
Ross was the person Bob Klein turned to, if he couldn’t remember
something about the law he helped write.

There was no argument.

So, a bunch of us went to the event, and (there is a point to this, bear
with me) putting on brand new Prop 71 T-shirts, fresh out of the box.

These were beautiful items, these T-shirts. Raised velvet
letteringâ€"I mean, the real deal.

Daly spoke with her usual down-to-earth cheerfulness, making friends for
the effort--while Erin Robbins, Amy Lewis, Matt Jordan and five or six
others tabled, taking signatures to get Prop 71 on the ballot, and
passing out information.

Afterwards, there was one T-shirt left over.

And I said, "Wow, I'll take it!"

But Erin Robbins said no.

"That should go to somebody who does not already have a Prop 71
T-shirt," she said.

She was absolutely right, of course.

And I was completely embarrassed.

Before that moment, I knew Erin as a quiet young woman"it is not
politically correct to say girl, but she just looks so incredibly
young"who worked steadily in the fundraising department.

Now fundraising is not fun. You know those people who call you up at
night and harass you for donations for the homeless goldfish fund?
Imagine if you had to do that, getting told NONONONO over and
over"and you are not allowed to become discouraged, because if you
don't succeed, whatever campaign you are working on, just stops.

And imagine doing that for something life and death important.

The New Jersey campaign right now is battling for its life because it
does not have enough fundraisers.

But this was Prop 71, and if you went into Erin's and Amy Lewis's
office, you would see a huge cardboard thermometer on the wall. It was
about money.

The level of the thermometer was very, very low.

So Lewis and Erin would hit the phones, fighting for dollars to keep the
campaign going. There were other folks involved at both ends of the
state, Bob Klein first and foremost, but Erin and Lewis were the folks I
saw doing that chore, and they did it every single day.

Now the campaign is over.

But the battle still goes on.

And Erin is still involved. The same stubborn streak that let her say no
to a certain greedy t-shirt-nabber, still motivates her.

At a birthday party recently, she mentioned she was helping raise funds
for JDRF, the Juvenile Diabetes Research Fund"and there was a
fundraiser WALK coming up" then came a significant pause.

She looked at me. I knew (and she knew I knew) what an astonishingly
wonderful job JDRF had done in the 30 plus years of their existence, and
surely I realized that diabetes was the number one cause of adult
blindness and amputation (read the book NEEDLES by Andie Dominick, if
you want a horror story about the reality of diabetes).

And, of course, she knew how many favors I asked from everybody else.

I remember idly wondering how fundraisers do their incredibly difficult
job.

Apparently, just saying nothing is part of the package.

Because she just looked at me.

Those huge bluegreen eyes held no blame, no insult, just the sure and
certain knowledge that I was going to do the right thing, and pledge to
supportâ€"

"Umm, how can I help?" I asked.

She was gracious enough to pretend surprise.

And she just happened to have her laptop computer with her, and it
somehow became convenient to follow her to the kitchen table and sit
down and click-click-click, tap-tap-tapâ€"I was volunteering to
walk for diabetes research, October 28th, 2007.

"And you don't even have to actually walk" she said, (oh, good, off the
hook, I thought) "--all you have to do is raise the money."

Oh.

And maybe somebody mentioned he might write a column on the event, but
surely that was said off the cuff, and it would not be right away.

I didn't really forget, not actually, it was just the swirl of events,
and I can't be expected to remember ev--

Whereby the following.

Hi Don,

Erin wanted to know if you have written your Walk piece?

Amy

So what we have here is an email from not only Erin, formidable enough
in her own right, but also Amy Daly, who holds my note for several
thousand stem cell favors.

But to give you an idea of how Daly works"she doesn't just remind me
of a promise I made, and leave me alone with the chore"she also
takes the time and trouble to offer actual copy, doing the vast majority
of the work herself, like the following:

"You might want to include the devastating complications of diabetes, or
maybe a story about someone who has suffered those complications
"there was a young man, recently, whose diabetes was so brittle that
he set his alarm every night in the middle of the night to check himself
and make sure that he wasn't going low, went to his parents home for a
week. He felt safe there and decided that he could make it through the
night. He was wrong. He died during the night when his sugars went so
low that his brain and body stopped functioning."

The following is all Daly, but I did contribute one word" see if you
can guess which word"

WALK to Cure Diabetes!

Hi Folks,

Many of you have participated in walks to raise money for one cause or
another. I am pleased to announce that I am registered to walk to cure
diabetes on October 28, 2007, 11:00 in Walnut Creek, California. It is
important for all of us to work together for cures. At some point in the
future, we should have a walk for stem cell research. But that is then,
this is now.

Now is Walk season for JDRF. Here are a few facts about these walks:

· The Walk To Cure Diabetes is JDRF’s leading
fundraising event, held in more than 200 Walk sites around the world

· The Walk has seen tremendous growth since its inception in
1993 â€" it raised $3 million nationwide in 1993 and we are this
year they are expecting to raise $100 million.

· The Walk in the East Bay is scheduled for October 28th, 11am
at Heather Farm Park in Walnut Creek with an aggressive goal of raising
$1.12 Million. This is the largest Walk in terms of participation and
dollars raised in the Bay Area.

Another fact that you may not know is that I can do my part in this
without having to actually walk in Walnut Creek! The amazing digital age
in which we live allows me to fundraise and give the money to JDRF
without giving up my Sunday with the missus. (Sundays with the missus
are also very important!)

Facts about JDRF:

· The Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation was founded in 1970
by parents of children with juvenile diabetes -- a disease which strikes
children suddenly, making them insulin dependent for life, and carries
the constant threat of devastating complications.

· JDRF's mission is to find a cure for diabetes and
its complications through the support of research.

· JDRF is the world's leading nonprofit,
nongovernmental funder of diabetes research

· Since its founding in 1970 by parents of children
with type 1 diabetes, JDRF has awarded more than $1 billion to diabetes
research, including more than $122 million in FY2006. More than 80
percent of JDRF's expenditures directly support research and
research-related education. In FY2006, the Foundation funded more than
500 centers, grants, and fellowships in 20 countries.

Here is one fact about JDRF that they don't put on their brochures, but
which gives them a special place in my heart: They put their money where
their mouths are and contributed financially to Proposition 71. And they
did this big time " giving $1 million to Prop 71 at a time when we
desperately needed it.

I'm sure that my walk won't repay them fully for that generous act, but
I do know that if each of us does our part, we can wipe out this
devastating disease. To help, please visit my walk page by clicking here
<http://www.walk.jdrf.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=extranet.personalpage&con\
firmid=86757277> . Once there you can donate to help me meet my goal or
you can register for the walk and create your own fundraising goal."

The above was from Amy"but I did contribute part of it-- notice the
last paragraph, and the underlined word, "here". If you click on it,
you can see how close I got to reaching my fundraising goal which Erin
so kindly helped me set"

Now as for the actual walk, that is on October 28th, and I am really
very busy, and my Mrs. probably won't let me--

Gloria, Amy, Karen, Erin-- I am getting ganged up on by women on every
side!

It is not fair, I want a lawyer, where is my lawyer? Oh, that's right,
my daughter Desiree is my lawyer"sigh. Never mind.

Don Reed
www.stemcellbattles.com <http://www.stemcellbattles.com/>

P.S. If you want to find out more about JDRF, the organization that
funds research like a large country, click on:
http://www.jdrf.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=home.viewPage&page_id=1F187E2C-\
DA00-4F53-ABEB32B77DC12313
<http://www.jdrf.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=home.viewPage&page_id=1F187E2C\
-DA00-4F53-ABEB32B77DC12313> .

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