> <a> href="http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20041207/news_1m7stem.html">Study
> finds inflammation triggers work by stem cells[/url]
>
Thanks Misfit, that was an interesting article about the chemical SDF-1 alpha. I’ve added it to my collection.

As we age, our stem cells gradually loose their ability to replace damaged or worn out tissue. Even though our stem cells have a certain degree of telomerase activity, over time, these cell’s telomeres are shortened to the point where they cease to function.

Therefore, by regenerating our own stem cell’s telomeres to their original length, as described in the links below, they would become as effective as those found in cord blood.

http://www.pnas.org/cgi/content/full/99/25/15953?maxtoshow=&HITS=10&hits=10&RESULTFORMAT=&fulltext=kool&searchid=1094693684291_8153&stored_search=&FIRSTINDEX=0

http://news-service.stanford.edu/news/2002/november20/nanokool-1120.html

Franz

---

> Oh, boy! More reading! :-D :-O
>
Hi Robert:

Any luck in digging through the information?

Franz

---

>
> > Oh, boy! More reading! :-D :-O
> >
> Hi Robert:
>
> Any luck in digging through the information?
>
> Franz
>
Hi Franz,
I may not be the best discussant on this topic, Franz. The papers led me back to a review of molecular biology. The text I purchased to review shows as fact things about which there was only speculation and indirect evidence when I was doing basic sciences pre-med and medical school and interest reading since then.
I'll get back to you when I'm through the '90s. :-p
Thanks for asking.
Robert

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Stem cell committee at 22; five more to go. Governor nominates his choice to head it.

---

me@rescam.org

The promise of stem cells
Researchers are in the Biology 101 stage of learning the potentials for cures. The study of stem cells is a young scientific field, with great potential for treating disease and injury. But stem cell biology is also replete with unanswered questions...

---

me@rescam.org

What do ethicists say?
As California's stem-cell gold rush begins, so do questions about what's to come. Stem cell research has become the latest holy grail in the world of science. But with the hopes come the questions. Michael Kalichman, whose job is to think about the ethics of medical research, has more than a dozen of these questions. What's acceptable? Who will benefit? Who decides? The list goes on...

---

me@rescam.org

> <a>>What
> do ethicists say?[/b][/url]
> As California's stem-cell gold rush begins, so do questions about what's to
> come. Stem cell research has become the latest holy grail in the world of
> science. But with the hopes come the questions. Michael Kalichman, whose job
> is to think about the ethics of medical research, has more than a dozen of
> these questions. What's acceptable? Who will benefit? Who decides? The list
> goes on...
> <a>
Hi Misfit:

Thanks for the up dates as to what is happening in CA.

When it comes to the use of adult stem cells, I have no ethical and moral issues.

When it comes to the use of embryonic stem cells, the fact that researchers will try to override 3.5 billion years of programming by nature replete with numerous checks to ensure that the egg develops into self sustaining human being literally scares the proverbial crap out of me. Even with all the existing checks nature still manages to miss a few.

From my point of view, ethical and moral issues are about the last thing we should worry about regarding the use of embryonic stem cell.

Franz

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Stem cell panel faces misconceptions

---

me@rescam.org

How Prop. 71 came to life
California Stem Cell Research and Cures Act was work of eclectic group that included film director, finance expert, Republican and researcher...

Movie director Jerry Zucker and wife Janet, at home with their 16-year-old daughter, Katie, were among three families that helped jump-start California's $3 billion stem cell initiative. Each family has a child with juvenile diabetes.

Stem cell agency's public access draws criticism
An increasing number of public watchdogs are concerned that the committee overseeing $3 billion in funding for stem cell research is moving too quickly, trampling the state's open-meetings law and risking violation of the public's trust. When the committee holds its second meeting today, critics want it to establish bylaws and conflict-of-interest policies before proceeding with other business, including hiring a president for the Institute for Regenerative Medicine. Such measures would help assure taxpayers the grant money is funding research that could lead to cures for disease, and not enriching committee members, the critics say...

> Regenerative Medicine. Such measures would help assure taxpayers the grant
> money is funding research that could lead to cures for disease, and not
> enriching committee members, the critics say...
>
Hi Misfit:

Thanks for the update. When large amounts of money are available there are always unscrupulous characters around with hopes of getting rich quick. Therefore, the management of the funds has to remain completely open to scrutiny and managed by people without any conflict of interest.

Franz

PS: Is that really you. :-)

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Stem cell committee urged to slow down. Ethics rules, transparency discussed at 2nd meeting.
LOS ANGELES – The committee that will dole out $3 billion in state grants for stem cell research heard yesterday from critics and some of its own members who said the group should slow down in its race to get money to scientists. As the committee met for the second time, one of the overriding messages from the public and some of the committee members was to start by establishing standards for complicated and weighty issues such as how to reimburse taxpayers for their investment...

*bumped* for sanity's clause :-)

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BOINC Wiki . . .

Science Status Page . . .

Meeting on stem cell initiative draws 60
What standards should determine who receives grants from the $3 billion that California plans to spend on stem cell research? How closely will the use of the grants be monitored? And is it possible for new stem cell therapies to be rushed to market?

Study details contamination of stem cell lines in research
Matter valuable in lab, but not for transplant
All human embryonic stem cells approved for federal research grants almost certainly will be rejected by the body if they ever are transplanted into human patients, a new study shows. Scientists long have suspected that the stem cell colonies cleared for federal funding under President Bush's 2001 order are contaminated by non-human viruses and other pathogens. The latest study, by scientists at University of California San Diego and The Salk Institute in La Jolla, describes one way these cells are compromised...

Time to reconsider
President should lift stem cell restrictions

January 25, 2005

Citing fears of "crossing a fundamental moral line," President Bush decided in 2001 to restrict federal funding for embryonic stem cell research and confine it to what he said were 60 cell lines already in existence. Only about 20 lines actually proved useful, and now researchers at UCSD and the Salk Institute for Biological Studies say these lines may be contaminated and likely would be rejected if transplanted into humans.

In a study published in the online edition of Nature Medicine, the scientists said the government-approved stem cells could still be used for research. But scientists will have to come up with alternatives once research involves human subjects.

It is hoped that one day stem cells will be implanted into human beings to produce cells to cure degenerative conditions such as juvenile diabetes, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, spinal cord injuries and severe burns. Embryonic stem cells are said to show the most promise because they can evolve into almost any cell in the body. Adult stem cell research also has shown promise, but those cells do not evolve into as wide a range of tissues and organs.

The fight over embryonic stem cell research and the president's restrictions revolve around the fact that scientists must destroy embryos when they are about 100 hours old. Some say that amounts to murder. Federally approved stem cell lines were donated by couples undergoing in-vitro fertilization who no longer needed them. To expand the lines, researchers want to use cells that are to be discarded by fertility clinics.

A majority of senators and more than 200 House members, including Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham, R-Escondido, have urged President Bush to reconsider his 2001 decision. The White House has been steadfast. Our hope is that the new findings of researchers, led by Drs. Ajit Varki of UCSD and Fred Gage of Salk, will cause the administration to reconsider.

Moved in part by the president's ban, Californians overwhelmingly passed Proposition 71 in November, setting up the California Institute of Regenerative Medicine. It will spend $300 million per year – more than what the federal government spends – funding stem cell research in California, and the White House restrictions will not apply to strictly state-funded projects.

Researchers interviewed after the study showing contamination in the federally approved lines say that is one reason why Proposition 71 is so important.

Even though this page has expressed concerns about oversight of the new governing board, there is no doubt that Proposition 71 is speeding the process in California. This week, separate institute subcommittees are conferring about selecting a chief executive and a site for the headquarters building. San Diego and San Francisco are said to be the only sites under serious consideration. The headquarters building will house about 50 people administering the institute.

But Washington should not leave it up to California or other nations to move ahead on stem cell research. Far too many people one day could benefit from it.

UNION-TRIBUNE EDITORIAL

> <a> href="http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20050125/news_lz1ed25top.html">Time
> to reconsider[/url]
> President should lift stem cell restrictions
>
> January 25, 2005

Hi Misfit:

Thanks for the continuing up dates as to what is happening in CA. In regard to the contamination of the embryonic stem cells this also applies to adult stem cells. Laboratories that specialize in adult stem cells now give you the option as to which growth medium should be used.

I'm still running into a brick wall trying to get a biotech lab to produce a small batch of nanocircles. Its like trying to convince the Church in the 14th century that the world is round and not flat.

Hopefully, I will make some head way in a week or two.

Franz

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Study shows timing crucial for stem cells

January 31, 2005

SAN FRANCISCO – Researchers at the University of Wisconsin Madison reported yesterday that they've whipped up an exciting – but intricate – new recipe that could someday treat spinal cord injuries or provide a cure for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, better known as Lou Gehrig's disease.

Take human embryonic stem cells, add pinches of chemicals, dashes of other biological ingredients implicated in brain growth at just the right moment, and presto! You get brain cells called motor neurons that control every body movement.

The conclusion, reported online in the science journal Nature Biotechnology, shows researchers that timing is everything when adding their chemical cocktails to stem cell stews.

It took researcher Su-Chun Zhang and his colleagues two years of tedious trial-and-error experiments to direct stem cells to turn into motor neurons.

"This shows that you can't dump whatever growth factors you want in there," Zhang said. "It's not that simple. It's very specific. You have to have the right cocktail in the right amount at the right time."

Other scientists said Zhang's work also will help researchers better translate data gleaned from decades of animal experiments into human terms.

Embryonic stem cells are created in the first days after conception and ultimately turn into the 220 or so types of cells that make up the human body. Scientists believe they can someday control what stem cells become and when, using that power to replace damaged and dead cells that cause a wide range of suffering, from diabetes to Parkinson's.

But harnessing that power has proved elusive in all but a few cell types such as heart and two other types of brain cells.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

New state Senate panel will monitor stem cell research

February 1, 2005

Despite its intentions to dole out $3 billion for stem cell research without the involvement of the state Legislature, leaders of the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine will have to answer questions from at least one Senate subcommittee.

The Senate Rules Committee last week approved a request by Sen. Deborah Ortiz, D-Sacramento, to create a subcommittee on Stem Cell Research Oversight within the Senate Health Committee.

The subcommittee would hold public hearings to monitor the agency that will be awarding up to $300 million annually in taxpayer-funded stem cell research grants.

Ortiz plans to invite members of the Institute for Regenerative Medicine's governing board to the subcommittee's first hearing in February or March.

Ortiz campaigned for the passage of Proposition 71, the voter initiative that allows the state to sell $3 billion in bonds over the next decade to fund stem cell research.

But she also has questioned whether the initiative's governing board and its rules and standards will provide proper protections for women who donate embryos for research, and have safeguards against conflicts of interest.

The subcommittee is the result of legislation she proposed to provide oversight for the stem cell effort. Ortiz heads the Health Committee and will head the new subcommittee, but other members of the subcommittee have not been named.

Ortiz wants to work with the institute's governing board to "ensure that California and its very generous contribution to this very important research is being handled appropriately," said Hallye Jordan, a spokeswoman for Ortiz. "This is not an antagonistic forum."

Robert Klein, the real estate expert who is chairman of the institute's governing board, previously had criticized Ortiz for trying to meddle in an initiative that had been designed to avoid political interference.

The governing board's attitude is now more conciliatory.

"She's obviously a strong supporter of the effort," said Fiona Hutton, a spokeswoman for the Institute. "The (governing board) is happy to work with her and all other legislative task forces."

By Terri Somers
STAFF WRITER