THIS IS A MOTHER WHO HAD FAITH AND WAS HEALED. SHE HAD ALS-PAST TENSE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RNHmFRO9VJo
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
TO HEAL OR NOT TO BE
HEY ALL,
HOPE YOU'RE WELL.
I WENT TO A HEALER YESTERDAY IN SHREWSBURY, MASS.
http://www.rdohealingministry.org/
BELIEVE ME, I'M HAVING A HARD TIME BELIEVING IN ANYTHING THAT HAS TO DO W/ ANY HIGHER POWER. I'M TRYING BUT IT'S A TRYING TIME FOR ME. MY COUSIN SALLY TOOK THE INITIATIVE AND EMAILED ALL THE INFO AND THE WEBSITE. GLAD SHE DID. IT WAS A GREAT 3HRS. AT THE END, YOU GO UP AND HE (FR. DIORIO) ANOINTS THE SICK. I DON'T AGREE THAT I'M SICK-NOR DO I BELIEVE. I'M THINKING THAT THIS IS A MONUMENTAL WAKE-UP CALL. AND THROUGH SHEER WILL-POWER AND SCIENCE------------------- I WILL OVERCOME.
SO I'M WAITING IN LINE TO GET ANOINTED AND WHEN PEOPLE GET BLESSED, THEY'RE ACTUALLY FALLING DOWN. FROM GOD'S FORCES-I'M TOLD. WELL, WHEN I WENT UP, MY SISTER SAID TO THE PRIEST, "IF THE GOD IS GONNA GRACE DREW WITH HIS PRESENCE-SOMEONE OUGHT TO KNOW THAT DREW IS GONNA GO DOWN LIKE A TON OF BRICK'S AND SOMEONE BETTER GET BEHIND HIM". LOW AND BEHOLD, I DIDN'T HAVE THAT POWERFUL OF A FORCE FROM THE MAN (GOD). I GUESS IT'S BECAUSE OF MY QUESTIONING GOD AND MY FAITH IN HIM-RIGHT NOW. OVERALL IT WAS POWERFUL.
I HAVE TO FIND THAT COMMON GROUND BETWEEN SCIENCE AND FAITH. I'M JUST NOT YET THERE W/ THE WHOLE HIGHER POWER BELIEF. I MEAN, I BELIEVE THAT I HAVE A HIGHER POWER-DON'T GET ME WRONG-THERE IS A GOD-BUT WHAT THE HECK DID I DO TO DESERVE THIS (SOME WOULD SAY PLENTY!!!). DO I HAVE MY CHALLENGE (ALS) BECAUSE GOD PICKED ME TO CHAMPION THE CAUSE OR AT LEAST SPREAD THE WORD. BECAUSE IF THAT'S THE REASON-I WISH HE WOULD HAVE ASKED ME PRIOR TO MY DIAGNOSES. I WOULD HAVE POLITELY DECLINED. BUT IT IS WHAT IT IS-SOMETIMES WHEN YOU'RE EXPECTING A FASTBALL LIFE THROWS YOU A CURVE-AND W/ THAT-I WILL CHAMPION THE CAUSE. AND OPEN MOUTH.
I JUST HAVE TO BELIEVE. EVERYONE THAT IS CLOSE TO ME IS SO SURE OF GOD'S PRESENCE AROUND ME-IT'S TRULY REMARKABLE THE FAITH THAT PEOPLE HAVE.
BUT RIGHT NOW SCIENCE IS CALLING-I GO TO COLUMBIA TOMORROW FOR MY CHECK-UP.
SAY A PRAYER
DREW
HOPE YOU'RE WELL.
I WENT TO A HEALER YESTERDAY IN SHREWSBURY, MASS.
http://www.rdohealingministry.org/
BELIEVE ME, I'M HAVING A HARD TIME BELIEVING IN ANYTHING THAT HAS TO DO W/ ANY HIGHER POWER. I'M TRYING BUT IT'S A TRYING TIME FOR ME. MY COUSIN SALLY TOOK THE INITIATIVE AND EMAILED ALL THE INFO AND THE WEBSITE. GLAD SHE DID. IT WAS A GREAT 3HRS. AT THE END, YOU GO UP AND HE (FR. DIORIO) ANOINTS THE SICK. I DON'T AGREE THAT I'M SICK-NOR DO I BELIEVE. I'M THINKING THAT THIS IS A MONUMENTAL WAKE-UP CALL. AND THROUGH SHEER WILL-POWER AND SCIENCE------------------- I WILL OVERCOME.
SO I'M WAITING IN LINE TO GET ANOINTED AND WHEN PEOPLE GET BLESSED, THEY'RE ACTUALLY FALLING DOWN. FROM GOD'S FORCES-I'M TOLD. WELL, WHEN I WENT UP, MY SISTER SAID TO THE PRIEST, "IF THE GOD IS GONNA GRACE DREW WITH HIS PRESENCE-SOMEONE OUGHT TO KNOW THAT DREW IS GONNA GO DOWN LIKE A TON OF BRICK'S AND SOMEONE BETTER GET BEHIND HIM". LOW AND BEHOLD, I DIDN'T HAVE THAT POWERFUL OF A FORCE FROM THE MAN (GOD). I GUESS IT'S BECAUSE OF MY QUESTIONING GOD AND MY FAITH IN HIM-RIGHT NOW. OVERALL IT WAS POWERFUL.
I HAVE TO FIND THAT COMMON GROUND BETWEEN SCIENCE AND FAITH. I'M JUST NOT YET THERE W/ THE WHOLE HIGHER POWER BELIEF. I MEAN, I BELIEVE THAT I HAVE A HIGHER POWER-DON'T GET ME WRONG-THERE IS A GOD-BUT WHAT THE HECK DID I DO TO DESERVE THIS (SOME WOULD SAY PLENTY!!!). DO I HAVE MY CHALLENGE (ALS) BECAUSE GOD PICKED ME TO CHAMPION THE CAUSE OR AT LEAST SPREAD THE WORD. BECAUSE IF THAT'S THE REASON-I WISH HE WOULD HAVE ASKED ME PRIOR TO MY DIAGNOSES. I WOULD HAVE POLITELY DECLINED. BUT IT IS WHAT IT IS-SOMETIMES WHEN YOU'RE EXPECTING A FASTBALL LIFE THROWS YOU A CURVE-AND W/ THAT-I WILL CHAMPION THE CAUSE. AND OPEN MOUTH.
I JUST HAVE TO BELIEVE. EVERYONE THAT IS CLOSE TO ME IS SO SURE OF GOD'S PRESENCE AROUND ME-IT'S TRULY REMARKABLE THE FAITH THAT PEOPLE HAVE.
BUT RIGHT NOW SCIENCE IS CALLING-I GO TO COLUMBIA TOMORROW FOR MY CHECK-UP.
SAY A PRAYER
DREW
Monday, January 28, 2008
I WANTED TO SHARE THIS W/ YOU-A FRIEND LEFT A COMMENT ON MY BLOG
YOU CAN ACCESS THE WHOLE COMMENT BY GOING TO THE "TIDBIT" POST AND AT THE BOTTOM, CLICK ON COMMENTS.
THE COMMENT MOVED ME. SEE, I CARE TOO MUCH WHAT PEOPLE WILL THINK WHEN THEY SEE ME-I USED TO NOT CARE WHAT PEOPLE THOUGHT ABOUT ME BECAUSE I WAS NORMAL-PHYSICALLY. NOW I AM NOT. I'M REDUCED TO THE SLOW AND UNBALANCED GUY THAT NEEDS HELP. AND I'M NOT OKAY WITH THAT, I GUESS I HAVE TO GET OFF MY HIGH HORSE AND ACCEPT HELP WHEN AND IF I NEED IT.
I'M TRYING-LORD KNOWS I AM- BUT IT AIN'T EASY!!
COMMENT:
Drew
-I don't know you, but came across your blog since I'm a Martin Sexton fan and saw info on the benefit concert. I just thought I'd let you know that my dad LIVED with ALS for 30 years. We went camping, fishing, and boating even after he needed others to help him do it. We had someone remind us that there was no reason we couldn't go out and do much of what we loved to do and then helped us get started. It did take more effort and planning, but we were able to still do so much of what was important to us. I can understand your concern about a loss of independence. The limitations for one, and relying on others for another. In case you're wondering about how someone providing the care felt, it was a lot of work, but we all learned about ourselves and while some things were taken away new gifts were given to us. His body was reduced over time, but it made it easier to see his spirit.
LIVE-LOVE AND BE ABLE TO LAUGH AT YOURSELF
THE COMMENT MOVED ME. SEE, I CARE TOO MUCH WHAT PEOPLE WILL THINK WHEN THEY SEE ME-I USED TO NOT CARE WHAT PEOPLE THOUGHT ABOUT ME BECAUSE I WAS NORMAL-PHYSICALLY. NOW I AM NOT. I'M REDUCED TO THE SLOW AND UNBALANCED GUY THAT NEEDS HELP. AND I'M NOT OKAY WITH THAT, I GUESS I HAVE TO GET OFF MY HIGH HORSE AND ACCEPT HELP WHEN AND IF I NEED IT.
I'M TRYING-LORD KNOWS I AM- BUT IT AIN'T EASY!!
COMMENT:
Drew
-I don't know you, but came across your blog since I'm a Martin Sexton fan and saw info on the benefit concert. I just thought I'd let you know that my dad LIVED with ALS for 30 years. We went camping, fishing, and boating even after he needed others to help him do it. We had someone remind us that there was no reason we couldn't go out and do much of what we loved to do and then helped us get started. It did take more effort and planning, but we were able to still do so much of what was important to us. I can understand your concern about a loss of independence. The limitations for one, and relying on others for another. In case you're wondering about how someone providing the care felt, it was a lot of work, but we all learned about ourselves and while some things were taken away new gifts were given to us. His body was reduced over time, but it made it easier to see his spirit.
LIVE-LOVE AND BE ABLE TO LAUGH AT YOURSELF
Saturday, January 26, 2008
A LITTLE OPENING TO WHERE I AM WITH MY HIGHER POWER
Higher Power, help me realize each day that it is okay to be wrong, that real communication with other people depends on my being willing to see other points of view, and that being teachable is a divine quality
I WAS ASKED ABOUT MY FAITH THE OTHER DAY.
AS OF NOW, I'M HAVING A HARD TIME BELIEVING IN ANYTHING.
SORRY
I WAS ASKED ABOUT MY FAITH THE OTHER DAY.
AS OF NOW, I'M HAVING A HARD TIME BELIEVING IN ANYTHING.
SORRY
Thursday, January 24, 2008
I NEED YOUR EMAIL JIM
PLEASE EMAIL ME AT schemera@yahoo.com
you left a comment on my blog
BY THE WAY MY BLOOD-GAS WAS 97.7%-WHICH IS GREAT-AND MY LUNG CAPACITY IS 85%, ANYTHING OVER 80% IS NORMAL!!
you left a comment on my blog
BY THE WAY MY BLOOD-GAS WAS 97.7%-WHICH IS GREAT-AND MY LUNG CAPACITY IS 85%, ANYTHING OVER 80% IS NORMAL!!
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
GREAT QUOTE
Thought for today " We cannot live only for ourselves. A thousand fibers connect us with others; and along those fibers, as sympathetic threads, our actions run as causes and they come back to us as effects ."-Herman Melville
Sunday, January 20, 2008
California company sees fertile ground in stem cells
By Maggie Fox, Health and Science EditorThu Jan 17, 1:46 PM ET
A small California company set up by an unnamed investor and a top fertility doctor burst into the stem cell field on Thursday with a report that it is the first lab to clone human embryos and prove it.
Stemagen Corp. of La Jolla, California, said its scientists used cloning technology to make five early-stage embryos, called blastocysts, from donated human eggs and skin cells from two men.
While they did not make stem cells from their embryos -- they were destroyed in the process of proving they were clones -- company founder Dr. Samuel Wood says stem cells are his business plan.
"We believe that this is the future -- to create patient-specific stem cells," Wood said in a telephone interview.
Stem cells are found throughout the body, renewing tissue and blood cells. Cells taken from very early human embryos -- smaller than the head of a pin -- can give rise to all the cells and tissues found in the human body.
Scientists hope to harness their power to transform medicine, to repair devastating injuries, replace the brain cells lost in Parkinson's disease, or to cure juvenile diabetes.
The best would be tailor-made, using a patient's own DNA.
But an influential minority of people and groups oppose their use in the United States because they believe it is wrong to destroy any human embryo.
They include President George W. Bush, who has vetoed legislation from Congress that would expand federal funding of human embryonic stem cell research. That limits the work to a few academic labs that can juggle the complex requirements of the federal limits, and private companies.
EXCESS EMBRYOS
Wood came up with the idea as part of his work at a large fertility clinic.
"We had this great excess of embryos in the tank that eventually were donated to research or to other couples. But what I also noticed was that we had a great excess of eggs," Wood said.
Human eggs are needed to use cloning techniques to make embryos, and that got Wood thinking. His mother had type-2 diabetes and died after a bad fall. He knew of an investor whose mother had died from a degenerative disease.
Wood said he made his pitch in 2005 to the investor, who wants to remain anonymous, "over a martini in a local restaurant." He then recruited Andrew French, who had created animal clones while at Monash University in Australia.
Wood says the technique is only efficient if the egg is used within two hours of being taken from the woman.
Opponents of cloning technology say it is a slippery slope to using cloning to make live babies. Wood is mindful his work at a fertility clinic could raise suspicions. But he noted that cloned animals are often abnormal.
"To put any human through that just strikes me as inherently unethical," he said.
While some cloning experts support the new company's work, others are skeptical, including Dr. Douglas Melton, who helped found Harvard University's stem cell research center.
"The value, if any, will come from using the cells to discover drugs, i.e. using the cells as research tools," Melton said by e-mail.
French said his team is working to make embryonic stem cells from embryos donated at the clinic, to perfect the technique before trying to use cloning methods again to make tailored cells.
"This field has faced a lot of controversy so we wanted to be clean," French said.
Other companies in the field include Massachusetts-based Advanced Cell Technology, California-based International Stem Cell Corporation and Geron Corp..
A small California company set up by an unnamed investor and a top fertility doctor burst into the stem cell field on Thursday with a report that it is the first lab to clone human embryos and prove it.
Stemagen Corp. of La Jolla, California, said its scientists used cloning technology to make five early-stage embryos, called blastocysts, from donated human eggs and skin cells from two men.
While they did not make stem cells from their embryos -- they were destroyed in the process of proving they were clones -- company founder Dr. Samuel Wood says stem cells are his business plan.
"We believe that this is the future -- to create patient-specific stem cells," Wood said in a telephone interview.
Stem cells are found throughout the body, renewing tissue and blood cells. Cells taken from very early human embryos -- smaller than the head of a pin -- can give rise to all the cells and tissues found in the human body.
Scientists hope to harness their power to transform medicine, to repair devastating injuries, replace the brain cells lost in Parkinson's disease, or to cure juvenile diabetes.
The best would be tailor-made, using a patient's own DNA.
But an influential minority of people and groups oppose their use in the United States because they believe it is wrong to destroy any human embryo.
They include President George W. Bush, who has vetoed legislation from Congress that would expand federal funding of human embryonic stem cell research. That limits the work to a few academic labs that can juggle the complex requirements of the federal limits, and private companies.
EXCESS EMBRYOS
Wood came up with the idea as part of his work at a large fertility clinic.
"We had this great excess of embryos in the tank that eventually were donated to research or to other couples. But what I also noticed was that we had a great excess of eggs," Wood said.
Human eggs are needed to use cloning techniques to make embryos, and that got Wood thinking. His mother had type-2 diabetes and died after a bad fall. He knew of an investor whose mother had died from a degenerative disease.
Wood said he made his pitch in 2005 to the investor, who wants to remain anonymous, "over a martini in a local restaurant." He then recruited Andrew French, who had created animal clones while at Monash University in Australia.
Wood says the technique is only efficient if the egg is used within two hours of being taken from the woman.
Opponents of cloning technology say it is a slippery slope to using cloning to make live babies. Wood is mindful his work at a fertility clinic could raise suspicions. But he noted that cloned animals are often abnormal.
"To put any human through that just strikes me as inherently unethical," he said.
While some cloning experts support the new company's work, others are skeptical, including Dr. Douglas Melton, who helped found Harvard University's stem cell research center.
"The value, if any, will come from using the cells to discover drugs, i.e. using the cells as research tools," Melton said by e-mail.
French said his team is working to make embryonic stem cells from embryos donated at the clinic, to perfect the technique before trying to use cloning methods again to make tailored cells.
"This field has faced a lot of controversy so we wanted to be clean," French said.
Other companies in the field include Massachusetts-based Advanced Cell Technology, California-based International Stem Cell Corporation and Geron Corp..
Friday, January 18, 2008
A WAY TO OVERCOME!!!!
We must constantly build dykes of courage to hold back the flood of fear.
--Martin Luther King, Jr.
--Martin Luther King, Jr.
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
A TID BIT
I HEARD FROM BOTH MIKE'S (TORONTO AND THE UK).
AND THEY ARE BOTH WELL. ALIVE AND FIGHTING. AS I AM TOO BUT IT'S A TRYING TIME FOR ME. I EXPECT TO BE HEALED AND WELL EVERY TIME I WAKE UP. THEN A HEAVY DOSE OF REALITY HITS ME WHEN I TAKE MY FIRST STEP. my ego says everything will okay. MY EGO IS WRITING CHECKS THAT MY BODY IS HAVING A HARD TIME CASHING. HAVEN'T BOUNCED ONE. BUT I KNOW I HAVE A HEAVY LOAD TO CARRY IN THE FUTURE. I'M NOT COMPLAINING, I'M JUST SCARED-I GUESS. AND I'VE NEVER BEEN SCARED OF ANYTHING-EXCEPT BEES! I MEAN IT. but the thought of not being to move haunts me every second. IT'S NOT DYING THAT SCARES ME, IT'S NOT BEING ABLE TO MOVE. THE THOUGHT OF HAVING TO RELY ON SOMEONE FOR EVERYTHING.
I FEEL, AS OTHERS HAVE W/ ALS, THAT EACH TIME I LET SOMEONE HELP ME OR BUY A CANE TO HELP THEM WALK (I'M ALMOST THERE W/ REGARDS TO A CANE). WE ARE LOSING SOMETHING-INDEPENDENCE.
AND THAT MY FRIENDS, IS THE SCARIEST PART OF THE PROGRESSION OF ALS-LOSING YOUR INDEPENDENCE.
I WROTE THIS TIDBIT TODAY BECAUSE A FRIEND EMAILED ME. HE JUST LOST HIS ABILITY TO WALK ON HIS OWN. THE EMAIL CONVEYED TO ME, THAT IT'S A MATTER OF TIME FOR ME, BEFORE I'M THE ONE TELLING YOU THAT I NOW NEED ASSISTANCE. IT WAS SO HARD FOR HIM TO GIVE IN-SO HARD. BUT YOU KNOW ME-I'M NOT GIVING TILL I'M CRAWLING!!!!!!!!!(I GOT THAT SAYING FROM HIM)
THAT IS MY EGO, MY HOPE TALKING. AND I WILL TALK ON............
MY OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY WENT WELL YESTERDAY AT GAYLORD-MY THERAPIST-TONY-SHE IS AWESOME. SO INNOVATIVE W/ HER METHODS.
I'M OFF-TO GET FITTED FOR A NEW PALATE LIFT.
HAVE A GREAT DAY AND SMILE,
D
AND THEY ARE BOTH WELL. ALIVE AND FIGHTING. AS I AM TOO BUT IT'S A TRYING TIME FOR ME. I EXPECT TO BE HEALED AND WELL EVERY TIME I WAKE UP. THEN A HEAVY DOSE OF REALITY HITS ME WHEN I TAKE MY FIRST STEP. my ego says everything will okay. MY EGO IS WRITING CHECKS THAT MY BODY IS HAVING A HARD TIME CASHING. HAVEN'T BOUNCED ONE. BUT I KNOW I HAVE A HEAVY LOAD TO CARRY IN THE FUTURE. I'M NOT COMPLAINING, I'M JUST SCARED-I GUESS. AND I'VE NEVER BEEN SCARED OF ANYTHING-EXCEPT BEES! I MEAN IT. but the thought of not being to move haunts me every second. IT'S NOT DYING THAT SCARES ME, IT'S NOT BEING ABLE TO MOVE. THE THOUGHT OF HAVING TO RELY ON SOMEONE FOR EVERYTHING.
I FEEL, AS OTHERS HAVE W/ ALS, THAT EACH TIME I LET SOMEONE HELP ME OR BUY A CANE TO HELP THEM WALK (I'M ALMOST THERE W/ REGARDS TO A CANE). WE ARE LOSING SOMETHING-INDEPENDENCE.
AND THAT MY FRIENDS, IS THE SCARIEST PART OF THE PROGRESSION OF ALS-LOSING YOUR INDEPENDENCE.
I WROTE THIS TIDBIT TODAY BECAUSE A FRIEND EMAILED ME. HE JUST LOST HIS ABILITY TO WALK ON HIS OWN. THE EMAIL CONVEYED TO ME, THAT IT'S A MATTER OF TIME FOR ME, BEFORE I'M THE ONE TELLING YOU THAT I NOW NEED ASSISTANCE. IT WAS SO HARD FOR HIM TO GIVE IN-SO HARD. BUT YOU KNOW ME-I'M NOT GIVING TILL I'M CRAWLING!!!!!!!!!(I GOT THAT SAYING FROM HIM)
THAT IS MY EGO, MY HOPE TALKING. AND I WILL TALK ON............
MY OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY WENT WELL YESTERDAY AT GAYLORD-MY THERAPIST-TONY-SHE IS AWESOME. SO INNOVATIVE W/ HER METHODS.
I'M OFF-TO GET FITTED FOR A NEW PALATE LIFT.
HAVE A GREAT DAY AND SMILE,
D
Sunday, January 13, 2008
Embryonic stem cell lines created without destroying embryo: study
Embryonic stem cell lines created without destroying embryo: study
by Mira ObermanThu Jan 10, 5:11 PM ET
In a bid to sidestep the ethical debate over the use of human embryos in medical research, scientists have developed a way to derive viable stem cell lines without harming the embryo.
They did so by extracting a single cell from the embryo -- as in vitro fertilization clinics do when they test for genetic defects -- and introducing a common molecule called laminin to keep it in a stem cell, or pluripotent, state.
Subsequent development of the embryo was unaffected by the biopsy, according to the study published Thursday by the journal Cell Stem Cell.
The new technique holds the promise of dramatically speeding up clinical applications of stem cell therapies for a wide range of debilitating diseases and illnesses.
Stem cells are considered a potential magic bullet because they can be transformed into any cell in the body and potentially used to help replace damaged or diseased cells, tissues and organs.
However, embryonic stem cell research is highly controversial because, until now, viable embryos were destroyed in the process of extracting the stem cells.
Two groups of scientists recently bypassed this problem by transforming human skin cells into stem cells.
Skin cells will likely become the most common source of stem cells, said Australian researcher Alan Trounson, who heads the world's biggest stem cell research project at the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine.
But skin cells are still far from ready for clinical use because the transformation process introduces potentially deadly genetic alterations and viruses.
Which means embryonic stem cells, which do not carry the same risk of mutation, are currently the only option for therapeutic applications, Trounson said.
"There will (also) be a lot of people interested in the embryonic stem cells because they are the gold standard," he told AFP, explaining that the stem cells derived from skin have not been fully investigated.
Stem cell pioneer Robert Lanza hopes the technique he helped develop to preserve the embryo will spur US regulators to allow funding for research on new embryonic stem cell lines.
Progress in the promising field has been stifled by restrictions on access to federal funds in the United States and outright bans on embryonic research in other countries due to ethical concerns.
"Within the next few months we could make as many of these cells as we like," said Lanza, chief scientific officer at Advanced Cell Technology.
"We really can't afford to hold this field up any more."
Lanza also cautioned against relying upon the stem cells derived from skin.
"I've been in this field for too long and been fooled too many times. When you have something you move ahead," Lanza said in a telephone interview.
"These are useable. They are not genetically modified. They're here."
But a leading opponent of embryonic stem cell research said Lanza's method -- while "morally laudable" in principal -- "still fails to deliver any kind of ethical solution."
"Any procedure that places at risk the health and life of a human embryo for purposes that do not directly benefit the embryo is morally unacceptable," said Reverend Tadeusz Pacholczyk, director of education at the National Catholic Bioethics Center.
Saturday, January 12, 2008
I'M BACK
HAPPY NEW YEAR PEOPLE!!!!!!!!!!!!
I'M WELL AND WORKING MY ASS OFF IN THERAPY. AT GAYLORD REHAB IN WALLINGFORD,CT, THEY HAVE PT IN THE POOL! SO I'M EXCITED TO DO THAT. OTHERWISE I AM KICKING ASS AND TAKING NAMES W/ MY CHALLENGE.
A VISIT TO MY PULMONOLOGIST (LUNG DOCTOR) YIELDED GREAT RESULTS. I'M BREATHING AT AN ATHLETE'S PACE.
I WILL START WRITING DAILY NOW.
DREW
I'M WELL AND WORKING MY ASS OFF IN THERAPY. AT GAYLORD REHAB IN WALLINGFORD,CT, THEY HAVE PT IN THE POOL! SO I'M EXCITED TO DO THAT. OTHERWISE I AM KICKING ASS AND TAKING NAMES W/ MY CHALLENGE.
A VISIT TO MY PULMONOLOGIST (LUNG DOCTOR) YIELDED GREAT RESULTS. I'M BREATHING AT AN ATHLETE'S PACE.
I WILL START WRITING DAILY NOW.
DREW
Wednesday, January 9, 2008
APPROPRIATE FOR MY BLOG
The Journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.-- Chinese proverb
Tuesday, January 8, 2008
QUOTE FROM A FRIEND
You had better live your best and act your best and think your best today: for today is the sure preparation for tomorrow and all the other tomorrows that follow. --Harriet Martineau
Monday, January 7, 2008
Mike from the UK
Please email me or leave a comment. I want to know how you're doing.
schemera@yahoo.com
schemera@yahoo.com
Thursday, January 3, 2008
Humans not the only animals confronting the ramifications of stem cells
[chinastemcells] Humans not the only animals confronting the ramifications of stem cells
OK how sad is it that horses have greater access to stem cell treatments in this country than we do and how irritating is it that a horse can get its stem cell transplants paid for by insurance companies but we as human beings can not.
If I am a horse in the grand ol’ USA with a joint injury I can have effective treatment with stem cells and my insurance will pay for it but if I am a human with the very same condition not only will insurance not pay for my treatment but I would have to go so far as to leave the dam country to get treatment.
This is so infuriating to me. All this patients I work with from the USA would be better off and get better medical care if they were a horse!
Good lord what is wrong with our system or perhaps I should say what is not wrong since that would yield a shorter list!
Posted December 30, 2007Humans not the only animals confronting the ramifications of stem cells, steroids
By Wesley Elford
I recently attended the very elite American Association of Equine Practitioners annual convention.
It is the continuing education event of the year for equine veterinarians. The most cutting-edge information is presented in the areas of reproduction, surgery, medicine and farriery. I was really impressed by the progress that is being made in all areas.
The use of stem cells has now become an accepted procedure in treating lameness in the horse. Equine medical insurance companies are covering the treatment of joint injuries with stem cells. Fat cells from the patient are used as the source of cells to culture and obtain stem cells. These are injected into injured or diseased joints. The stem cells are used by the joint cartilage or joint capsule as a source of cells to contribute to faster and more complete healing of the arthritis. The use of umbilical blood for the source of stem cell of the horse is also being perfected.
Whether for horses, humans or giraffes, genes carry the blueprint for all life on earth. Thanks to advancements in animal sciences, a specific gene of a specific horse can be looked at and identified as being healthy or not. A gene for certain diseases can be determined to be on the chromosome of a particular horse or not — and breedings can be arranged to avoid the propagation of that individual that would have a particular disease. Lethal white in paint horses would be an example.
Steroids are a problem in equine athletes also. The same type of steroid is available for normal medical use on our equine patients. These steroids are called anabolic or androgenic steroid, meaning they cause a build up of body tissues by affecting the metabolism to act in a positive and regenerative way.
The Delaware Thoroughbred Racing Commission has come out with a ban of such steroids. This racing commission has decided that they do not want horses racing with these steroids in their bodies. It takes 120 days for the steroids to come out of the horse's body. Therefore, by announcing the ban now, the horses that will be racing at the start of the spring meet in April will be all free of the drug. Horses are tested on race day in a random fashion, both with blood and urine taken. If a horse were found with steroids in its body there would be severe repercussions to owners and trainers.
Obviously, humans aren't the only animals that are performance "enhanced" with mind and body altering drugs. The beneficial use is to treat sick and debilitated animals that need to be stimulated to feel better, to eat more and to adjust what they eat to regenerate tissues and to create lots of energy. But this use should not be done to artificially make a horse stronger or more energetic. It is amazing how man can manipulate everything to his benefit.
Medicine is good and is needed to see that animals are kept healthy and strong so that they can perform up to their maximum. A horse should be asked to perform based on its own innate ability, however, not based on how man can manipulate that performance.
OK how sad is it that horses have greater access to stem cell treatments in this country than we do and how irritating is it that a horse can get its stem cell transplants paid for by insurance companies but we as human beings can not.
If I am a horse in the grand ol’ USA with a joint injury I can have effective treatment with stem cells and my insurance will pay for it but if I am a human with the very same condition not only will insurance not pay for my treatment but I would have to go so far as to leave the dam country to get treatment.
This is so infuriating to me. All this patients I work with from the USA would be better off and get better medical care if they were a horse!
Good lord what is wrong with our system or perhaps I should say what is not wrong since that would yield a shorter list!
Posted December 30, 2007Humans not the only animals confronting the ramifications of stem cells, steroids
By Wesley Elford
I recently attended the very elite American Association of Equine Practitioners annual convention.
It is the continuing education event of the year for equine veterinarians. The most cutting-edge information is presented in the areas of reproduction, surgery, medicine and farriery. I was really impressed by the progress that is being made in all areas.
The use of stem cells has now become an accepted procedure in treating lameness in the horse. Equine medical insurance companies are covering the treatment of joint injuries with stem cells. Fat cells from the patient are used as the source of cells to culture and obtain stem cells. These are injected into injured or diseased joints. The stem cells are used by the joint cartilage or joint capsule as a source of cells to contribute to faster and more complete healing of the arthritis. The use of umbilical blood for the source of stem cell of the horse is also being perfected.
Whether for horses, humans or giraffes, genes carry the blueprint for all life on earth. Thanks to advancements in animal sciences, a specific gene of a specific horse can be looked at and identified as being healthy or not. A gene for certain diseases can be determined to be on the chromosome of a particular horse or not — and breedings can be arranged to avoid the propagation of that individual that would have a particular disease. Lethal white in paint horses would be an example.
Steroids are a problem in equine athletes also. The same type of steroid is available for normal medical use on our equine patients. These steroids are called anabolic or androgenic steroid, meaning they cause a build up of body tissues by affecting the metabolism to act in a positive and regenerative way.
The Delaware Thoroughbred Racing Commission has come out with a ban of such steroids. This racing commission has decided that they do not want horses racing with these steroids in their bodies. It takes 120 days for the steroids to come out of the horse's body. Therefore, by announcing the ban now, the horses that will be racing at the start of the spring meet in April will be all free of the drug. Horses are tested on race day in a random fashion, both with blood and urine taken. If a horse were found with steroids in its body there would be severe repercussions to owners and trainers.
Obviously, humans aren't the only animals that are performance "enhanced" with mind and body altering drugs. The beneficial use is to treat sick and debilitated animals that need to be stimulated to feel better, to eat more and to adjust what they eat to regenerate tissues and to create lots of energy. But this use should not be done to artificially make a horse stronger or more energetic. It is amazing how man can manipulate everything to his benefit.
Medicine is good and is needed to see that animals are kept healthy and strong so that they can perform up to their maximum. A horse should be asked to perform based on its own innate ability, however, not based on how man can manipulate that performance.
Tuesday, January 1, 2008
CHECK THIS OUT!!
chinastemcells] Institute of Regenerative Medicine Closed in Scandal
It was back in late 2005 and early 2006 that I first reported the “stay away” message on this group yet still from time to time people would bring this place up on the boards as a viable option for treatment. I think we all need a reminder that it is not safe to take your child or loved one to just any stem cell provider who has a slick web site and offers a lower price. There are so many people and places out there that want to take advantage and we must be very careful. The claims below about the intentional early delivery of babies who were then used as a harvest resource seem outrageous and unreal but this is not the first time I have heard of this. The story about new born infants disappearing has also been reported by other news sources and there does seem to be some evidence behind the claims.
It is indeed cases like this that lead to fear of all stem cells. These reports are yet another indictor as to why we must stay away from clinics that use fetal stem cells. The use of any such product on any basis will only lead to abuses like those reported below.
Anytime you or someone you know is considering trying out a new clinic and or doctor please check the databases very carefully. It is not uncommon for these clinics to be shut down only to have those involved move onto a new country and set up shop again under a new name. Be very careful and do your homework, talk with others both patients and those involved in the business of stem cells. There are a few of us that are honest and sincere about our work unfortunately we are rare among the general population of those working in this field.
Institute of Regenerative Medicine Closed in Scandal
Stem cell clinic closed
Published on: 11/26/07.
by Sanka Price
BARBADOS IS NO LONGER in the controversial stem cell treatment business.
The Institute of Regenerative Medicine (IRM) which was named in a critical British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) television report last December as one of the clinics using stem cells from aborted foetuses and dismembered babies, closed in May. Its closure brings to an end four contentious years of operation here.
The clinic, which was located at Hempstead , Two Mile Hill, St Michael, was forced to close its doors because business slowed after the BBC investigation was aired, said Professor Yuliy Baltaytis, the IRM's scientific director.
"The brutal attack of the BBC and the British papers ruined our business," said Baltaytis, who spoke to the SUNDAY SUN from New York .
The BBC documentary aired last December 12 and was re-screened on BBC World News on December 13, claimed that stem cells in the city of Kharkiv, Ukraine in eastern Europe were not only procured from aborted foetuses in the first trimester, but that healthy living babies may have been delivered through induced labour at two weeks'
gestation, killed, their bodies dismembered and their internal organs and brains removed for the harvest of stem cells.
Video footage of exhumed bodies detailing this barbaric practice was lodged with the Council of Europe. The Council of Europe had already investigated the maternity clinic in Kharkiv at the centre of the allegations in August 2006 and expressed its extreme concern about "the disappearance of new-born babies in the country and allegations of trafficking of babies for adoption and of foetuses for scientific purposes".
The Institute of Cryobiology in Kharkiv, that supplied the IRM with stem cells, refused to be interviewed for the BBC documentary.
Baltaytis, a Ukrainian, reiterated his condemnation of the British reports saying: "The European Commissioner said that no crime was being committed in Ukraine . They said the BBC report and Daily Mail reports were not true."
The professor, who established the first stem cell clinic here in
2002 - a rejuvenation clinic called "Vita Nova" at Villa Nova, St John , which was rebranded the IRM in 2004 - said he no longer worked for the company, and was trying to set up his own business, possibly in Europe .
Baltaytis said he would like to return here, though he couldn't say how soon he would. "I like to work in Barbados . I have some patients over there."
As to the allegations that IRM skipped the country owing their former landlord $8,000 rent; their employees', salaries; and other companies money for services provided, Baltaytis stoutly denied this.
"We paid everybody. The only one we may owe is the telephone company," he insisted.
"I personally delivered cash to [the landlord] from our chairman, Mr Irme Pakh. ... We paid staff not only money but told them they could take the furniture," he added.
A staff member however disagreed with Baltaytis. The person told the SUN an affidavit was signed by the professor agreeing to pay the National Insurance Scheme (NIS) the deductions taken from their salaries over the last two years. That apart companies were calling about monies owed.
"It is just a complete mess," the former employee said.
Quizzed on the NIS payments for staff, Baltaytis said he was "not a financial officer of the company, so I have limited knowledge. I was scientific director".
YOU HAVE TO KNOW BEFORE YOU GO!
It was back in late 2005 and early 2006 that I first reported the “stay away” message on this group yet still from time to time people would bring this place up on the boards as a viable option for treatment. I think we all need a reminder that it is not safe to take your child or loved one to just any stem cell provider who has a slick web site and offers a lower price. There are so many people and places out there that want to take advantage and we must be very careful. The claims below about the intentional early delivery of babies who were then used as a harvest resource seem outrageous and unreal but this is not the first time I have heard of this. The story about new born infants disappearing has also been reported by other news sources and there does seem to be some evidence behind the claims.
It is indeed cases like this that lead to fear of all stem cells. These reports are yet another indictor as to why we must stay away from clinics that use fetal stem cells. The use of any such product on any basis will only lead to abuses like those reported below.
Anytime you or someone you know is considering trying out a new clinic and or doctor please check the databases very carefully. It is not uncommon for these clinics to be shut down only to have those involved move onto a new country and set up shop again under a new name. Be very careful and do your homework, talk with others both patients and those involved in the business of stem cells. There are a few of us that are honest and sincere about our work unfortunately we are rare among the general population of those working in this field.
Institute of Regenerative Medicine Closed in Scandal
Stem cell clinic closed
Published on: 11/26/07.
by Sanka Price
BARBADOS IS NO LONGER in the controversial stem cell treatment business.
The Institute of Regenerative Medicine (IRM) which was named in a critical British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) television report last December as one of the clinics using stem cells from aborted foetuses and dismembered babies, closed in May. Its closure brings to an end four contentious years of operation here.
The clinic, which was located at Hempstead , Two Mile Hill, St Michael, was forced to close its doors because business slowed after the BBC investigation was aired, said Professor Yuliy Baltaytis, the IRM's scientific director.
"The brutal attack of the BBC and the British papers ruined our business," said Baltaytis, who spoke to the SUNDAY SUN from New York .
The BBC documentary aired last December 12 and was re-screened on BBC World News on December 13, claimed that stem cells in the city of Kharkiv, Ukraine in eastern Europe were not only procured from aborted foetuses in the first trimester, but that healthy living babies may have been delivered through induced labour at two weeks'
gestation, killed, their bodies dismembered and their internal organs and brains removed for the harvest of stem cells.
Video footage of exhumed bodies detailing this barbaric practice was lodged with the Council of Europe. The Council of Europe had already investigated the maternity clinic in Kharkiv at the centre of the allegations in August 2006 and expressed its extreme concern about "the disappearance of new-born babies in the country and allegations of trafficking of babies for adoption and of foetuses for scientific purposes".
The Institute of Cryobiology in Kharkiv, that supplied the IRM with stem cells, refused to be interviewed for the BBC documentary.
Baltaytis, a Ukrainian, reiterated his condemnation of the British reports saying: "The European Commissioner said that no crime was being committed in Ukraine . They said the BBC report and Daily Mail reports were not true."
The professor, who established the first stem cell clinic here in
2002 - a rejuvenation clinic called "Vita Nova" at Villa Nova, St John , which was rebranded the IRM in 2004 - said he no longer worked for the company, and was trying to set up his own business, possibly in Europe .
Baltaytis said he would like to return here, though he couldn't say how soon he would. "I like to work in Barbados . I have some patients over there."
As to the allegations that IRM skipped the country owing their former landlord $8,000 rent; their employees', salaries; and other companies money for services provided, Baltaytis stoutly denied this.
"We paid everybody. The only one we may owe is the telephone company," he insisted.
"I personally delivered cash to [the landlord] from our chairman, Mr Irme Pakh. ... We paid staff not only money but told them they could take the furniture," he added.
A staff member however disagreed with Baltaytis. The person told the SUN an affidavit was signed by the professor agreeing to pay the National Insurance Scheme (NIS) the deductions taken from their salaries over the last two years. That apart companies were calling about monies owed.
"It is just a complete mess," the former employee said.
Quizzed on the NIS payments for staff, Baltaytis said he was "not a financial officer of the company, so I have limited knowledge. I was scientific director".
YOU HAVE TO KNOW BEFORE YOU GO!
Monday, December 31, 2007
Sunday, December 30, 2007
VERY GREAT ARTICLE
FROM K-AS ALWAYS.
AT LEAST CHINA IS DOING SOMETHING IN THE FIGHT AGAINST THIS AWFUL DISEASE. YA HEAR THAT USA-THEY ARE DOING, NOT SITTING ON THERE ASS HOPING! MAYBE YOU SHOULD TAKE A PAGE OUT OF THERE BOOK!
Note that China has been providing this treatment for MS and ALS for months now and it became our “official” treatment protocol for MS and ALS as of December 1st, 2007
Mesenchymal ALS & MS
Hadassah's Innovative Treatment for Multiple Sclerosis: Transplanting Stem Cells from Patient's Bone Marrow New Multiple Sclerosis Center Launched at Hadassah
Nov 22, 2007
A treatment developed at Hadassah, still in the research stage, has been tested on 25 multiple sclerosis and ALS (Lou Gehrig's Disease) patients. Professor Dmitrius Karussis, a senior neurologist at Hadassah and the director of the new Multiple Sclerosis Center, working in collaboration with the University of Athens, and Professor Shimon Slavin, the former director of the Department of Bone Marrow Transplantation (BMT) and the BMT Laboratory at Hadassah, discovered that it is possible to remove stem cells from a patient's bone marrow, to isolate these cells under special conditions and to generate over 50 million cells within two months. As part of this process, mesenchymal cells (mature stem cells) are extracted from the patient and transplanted by a lumbar injection in the spinal column (into the spinal fluid of the central nervous system), with each patient serving as his/her own donor. The transplanted cells are marked in order to track and verify that they reach the intended destination in the patient's body.
"During the initial stage, our research included studying the effectiveness of stem cells in laboratory animals. We found that stem cells from bone marrow can reduce cerebral damage and improve the animal's functioning," Professor Karussis said. Professor Karussis has conducted clinical trials during the past two years with patients suffering from multiple sclerosis and ALS. "Most of the patients who underwent this process report an improvement in their condition,"
Professor Karussis said.
There are 3,000-4,000 multiple sclerosis patients in Israel and about a third of them are treated at Hadassah. Many patients also come to Hadassah from around the world. Multiple sclerosis is an autoimmune inflammatory disease of the central nervous system in which the immune system attacks the myelin insulation of neurons. As a result, the nervous system is damaged at a number of levels, leading to functional deficiencies in a number of neurological systems: sensory, motor, balance, sphincteral, and vision. "The onset of the disease is usually between the ages of 20 to 40, and can continue for 30 or more years. Thus, the center we opened is important for treating the patient over the course of years," said Professor Tamir Ben-Hur, the director of the Department of Neurology at Hadassah.
The new Multiple Sclerosis Center at Hadassah provides innovative treatments and is operated by neurologists who are world leaders in research, as well as rehabilitation physicians and advisors in the fields of urology, ophthalmology and social work.__._,_.___
AT LEAST CHINA IS DOING SOMETHING IN THE FIGHT AGAINST THIS AWFUL DISEASE. YA HEAR THAT USA-THEY ARE DOING, NOT SITTING ON THERE ASS HOPING! MAYBE YOU SHOULD TAKE A PAGE OUT OF THERE BOOK!
Note that China has been providing this treatment for MS and ALS for months now and it became our “official” treatment protocol for MS and ALS as of December 1st, 2007
Mesenchymal ALS & MS
Hadassah's Innovative Treatment for Multiple Sclerosis: Transplanting Stem Cells from Patient's Bone Marrow New Multiple Sclerosis Center Launched at Hadassah
Nov 22, 2007
A treatment developed at Hadassah, still in the research stage, has been tested on 25 multiple sclerosis and ALS (Lou Gehrig's Disease) patients. Professor Dmitrius Karussis, a senior neurologist at Hadassah and the director of the new Multiple Sclerosis Center, working in collaboration with the University of Athens, and Professor Shimon Slavin, the former director of the Department of Bone Marrow Transplantation (BMT) and the BMT Laboratory at Hadassah, discovered that it is possible to remove stem cells from a patient's bone marrow, to isolate these cells under special conditions and to generate over 50 million cells within two months. As part of this process, mesenchymal cells (mature stem cells) are extracted from the patient and transplanted by a lumbar injection in the spinal column (into the spinal fluid of the central nervous system), with each patient serving as his/her own donor. The transplanted cells are marked in order to track and verify that they reach the intended destination in the patient's body.
"During the initial stage, our research included studying the effectiveness of stem cells in laboratory animals. We found that stem cells from bone marrow can reduce cerebral damage and improve the animal's functioning," Professor Karussis said. Professor Karussis has conducted clinical trials during the past two years with patients suffering from multiple sclerosis and ALS. "Most of the patients who underwent this process report an improvement in their condition,"
Professor Karussis said.
There are 3,000-4,000 multiple sclerosis patients in Israel and about a third of them are treated at Hadassah. Many patients also come to Hadassah from around the world. Multiple sclerosis is an autoimmune inflammatory disease of the central nervous system in which the immune system attacks the myelin insulation of neurons. As a result, the nervous system is damaged at a number of levels, leading to functional deficiencies in a number of neurological systems: sensory, motor, balance, sphincteral, and vision. "The onset of the disease is usually between the ages of 20 to 40, and can continue for 30 or more years. Thus, the center we opened is important for treating the patient over the course of years," said Professor Tamir Ben-Hur, the director of the Department of Neurology at Hadassah.
The new Multiple Sclerosis Center at Hadassah provides innovative treatments and is operated by neurologists who are world leaders in research, as well as rehabilitation physicians and advisors in the fields of urology, ophthalmology and social work.__._,_.___
ANOTHER RANT IS GROWING IN THE GARDEN I LIKE TO CALL "MY CHALLENGE"
STAY TUNED
ON A GOOD NOTE: I HAD A WONDERFUL CHRISTMAS-I HOPE IT WENT WELL FOR YOU.
ON A GOOD NOTE: I HAD A WONDERFUL CHRISTMAS-I HOPE IT WENT WELL FOR YOU.
VERY INTERESTING!
SKoreans claim to create cloned pigs through stem cells
Thu Dec 27, 2:08 AM ET
South Korean scientists said Thursday that they had developed a more efficient way to produce cloned pigs suitable for organ transplants for humans.
Unlike the traditional cloning method using somatic cells, the scientists said they had used stem cells extracted from pigs' bone marrow to obtain cloned embryos -- much improving the success rate.
The scientists wanted to clone smaller-than-normal pigs weighing between 60-80 kilogrammes (132-176 pounds) when adult, since their organs would be a similar size to human ones.
They said it was the first time such pigs had been cloned using stem cells.
"This is a highly efficient method to produce cloned mini-pigs," said Seong Hwan-Hoo, a senior researcher with the National Institute of Animal Science.
Embryos cloned using somatic cells have only a one to five percent chance of survival, the team said. Using stem cells, this can be increased to 20 percent.
Four baby pigs cloned through stem cells were born on December 3. One was killed for DNA analysis, one was crushed to death while feeding and the remaining two are growing well.
"This technology will be useful to produce mini-pigs with modified genes, whose organs may cause little resistance when transplanted into human beings," Seong told AFP.
South Korea's bio-engineering industry suffered a setback after a much-touted achievement by cloning expert Hwang Woo-Suk turned out to have been faked.
Hwang, who is on trial for fraud, embezzlement, ethical breaches and other charges, has been banned from research using human eggs after his claims that he created the first human stem cells through cloning were ruled to be bogus.
Thu Dec 27, 2:08 AM ET
South Korean scientists said Thursday that they had developed a more efficient way to produce cloned pigs suitable for organ transplants for humans.
Unlike the traditional cloning method using somatic cells, the scientists said they had used stem cells extracted from pigs' bone marrow to obtain cloned embryos -- much improving the success rate.
The scientists wanted to clone smaller-than-normal pigs weighing between 60-80 kilogrammes (132-176 pounds) when adult, since their organs would be a similar size to human ones.
They said it was the first time such pigs had been cloned using stem cells.
"This is a highly efficient method to produce cloned mini-pigs," said Seong Hwan-Hoo, a senior researcher with the National Institute of Animal Science.
Embryos cloned using somatic cells have only a one to five percent chance of survival, the team said. Using stem cells, this can be increased to 20 percent.
Four baby pigs cloned through stem cells were born on December 3. One was killed for DNA analysis, one was crushed to death while feeding and the remaining two are growing well.
"This technology will be useful to produce mini-pigs with modified genes, whose organs may cause little resistance when transplanted into human beings," Seong told AFP.
South Korea's bio-engineering industry suffered a setback after a much-touted achievement by cloning expert Hwang Woo-Suk turned out to have been faked.
Hwang, who is on trial for fraud, embezzlement, ethical breaches and other charges, has been banned from research using human eggs after his claims that he created the first human stem cells through cloning were ruled to be bogus.
Monday, December 24, 2007
MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL
MERRY CHRISTMAS
Hey, I just made a total elf of myself. Check it out by clicking the link below.
http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1452907718
Hey, I just made a total elf of myself. Check it out by clicking the link below.
http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1452907718
Sunday, December 23, 2007
China has ethical guidelines for research on stem cell, genetic modification
China has worked out bio-safety and ethical guidelines to regulate the research on stem cell and genetic modification, said Vice Minister of Science and Technology Li Xueyong on Tuesday. "We attach great importance to moral and ethical issues in the research on stem cell and genetic modification," said Li, a delegate to the 17th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC), on the sidelines of the five-yearly CPC conference. "The Chinese government has a clear-cut stand on the research of stem cell and genetic modification and pays much attention to bio-safety while actively and carefully promoting the industrialization of the technologies," the official said.
Saturday, December 22, 2007
GREAT ARTICLE
Chinese scientists take lead in developing "omnipotent cells"
November 26, 2007
On the morning of November 21, two research teams – one from the University of Wisconsin at Madison in the United States (US), and the other from Japan 's Kyoto University – both announced a new development in stem cell research. The US team is led by Yu Junying, a Chinese scientist who graduated from Beijing University . Both research teams applied genetic rescheduling technology. They used this technology to implant a group of four genes into skin cells and endowed the skin cells with embryonic stem cell functions by rescheduling the genes.
These kinds of cells are known as "iPS cells." By using these cells, scientists hope to avoid the ethical controversy in embryonic stem cell research; and promote the research of stem cell therapy on disease. The two research teams implanted genes of slightly different composition. And they used different types of human skin cells. Whereas the American research team used fibroblasts; the Japanese group chose facial skin cells. Experiments show that "iPS cells" and embryonic stem cells function similarly. "iPS" cells can now be translated into a variety of human cells.
Both research groups said they will continue to study these "imitating embryonic stem cells" in order to determine if significant differences exist between these cells and genuine embryonic stem cells in clinical applications. They believe that it is still too early to halt human embryonic stem cell research because humans are a long way from applying "iPS cells" to practical situations. Scientific community gives high marksThe two research teams published their respective reports in two authoritative scientific journals. The US report was published in "Science" magazine. The research team is led by Chinese scientist Yu Junying. The Japanese team, led by Professor Shinya Yamanaka, published their report in "Cell" magazine.
Robert Lanza, chief scientist of the American Institute of Advanced Technology – an institute engaged in human embryo cloning technology – said: "This study is a remarkable scientific milestone. It is comparable to the invention of the first aircraft by the Wright Brothers in the field of biology.
"British scientist Ian Wilmut, "midwife" of the world's first cloned sheep called Victoria , stated: "Now we can imagine an era in which we can create stem cells in a simple way and produce any organs by using specimens from any human organism."On the phone with Yu JunyingOn the morning of November 21, reporters contacted Chinese scientist Dr. Yu Junying. Dr. Yu said that the breakthrough is in fact the beginning of a broader study on the use of human cells. Yu Junying graduated from Beijing University and became a student of the University of Pennsylvania in the United States in 1997. After graduating in 2003, she received a position at the Thomson Laboratory of the University of Wisconsin at Madison , and started a new project on stem cell research. According to Yu, there are other Chinese researchers on the team.
By People's Daily Online
November 26, 2007
On the morning of November 21, two research teams – one from the University of Wisconsin at Madison in the United States (US), and the other from Japan 's Kyoto University – both announced a new development in stem cell research. The US team is led by Yu Junying, a Chinese scientist who graduated from Beijing University . Both research teams applied genetic rescheduling technology. They used this technology to implant a group of four genes into skin cells and endowed the skin cells with embryonic stem cell functions by rescheduling the genes.
These kinds of cells are known as "iPS cells." By using these cells, scientists hope to avoid the ethical controversy in embryonic stem cell research; and promote the research of stem cell therapy on disease. The two research teams implanted genes of slightly different composition. And they used different types of human skin cells. Whereas the American research team used fibroblasts; the Japanese group chose facial skin cells. Experiments show that "iPS cells" and embryonic stem cells function similarly. "iPS" cells can now be translated into a variety of human cells.
Both research groups said they will continue to study these "imitating embryonic stem cells" in order to determine if significant differences exist between these cells and genuine embryonic stem cells in clinical applications. They believe that it is still too early to halt human embryonic stem cell research because humans are a long way from applying "iPS cells" to practical situations. Scientific community gives high marksThe two research teams published their respective reports in two authoritative scientific journals. The US report was published in "Science" magazine. The research team is led by Chinese scientist Yu Junying. The Japanese team, led by Professor Shinya Yamanaka, published their report in "Cell" magazine.
Robert Lanza, chief scientist of the American Institute of Advanced Technology – an institute engaged in human embryo cloning technology – said: "This study is a remarkable scientific milestone. It is comparable to the invention of the first aircraft by the Wright Brothers in the field of biology.
"British scientist Ian Wilmut, "midwife" of the world's first cloned sheep called Victoria , stated: "Now we can imagine an era in which we can create stem cells in a simple way and produce any organs by using specimens from any human organism."On the phone with Yu JunyingOn the morning of November 21, reporters contacted Chinese scientist Dr. Yu Junying. Dr. Yu said that the breakthrough is in fact the beginning of a broader study on the use of human cells. Yu Junying graduated from Beijing University and became a student of the University of Pennsylvania in the United States in 1997. After graduating in 2003, she received a position at the Thomson Laboratory of the University of Wisconsin at Madison , and started a new project on stem cell research. According to Yu, there are other Chinese researchers on the team.
By People's Daily Online
Six U.S. institutions cooperate in stem cell research
Six U.S. institutions cooperate in stem cell research
Six medical, research and educational institutions of the United States announced on Thursday they have established a partnership to conduct and advance stem cell research. The partners of the Southern California Stem Cell Scientific Collaboration, or SC3, are University of Southern California (USC), Children Hospital Los Angeles, City of Hope , University of California in Santa Barbara, California Technological Institute and the Los Angeles-based House Ear Institute. "The potential applications for stem cell research in medicine are enormous," Martin Pera, director of USC's Center for Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine, said in a statement. "Tackling these complex problems requires scientists with diverse expertise. We are delighted to have an opportunity to work with such an outstanding collection of scientists to really accelerate the pace of discovery and translational research in regenerative medicine."
A statement announcing the formation of the partnership called it "a major step forward in supporting potential significant stem cell findings by allowing members to share training programs, scientific core facilities and expertise, and to team up on a wide range of research programs." Added Dr. Michael A. Friedman, City of Hope 's president and chief executive Officer: "For patients and their families, cures for cancer, HIV/AIDS and other diseases cannot come soon enough." "We believe the SC3 collaboration provides a critical mass of expertise that will create new knowledge and significantly accelerate treatments for diseases that impact so many," Friedman said. Each institution will appoint a faculty member to serve on a joint scientific advisory committee, which will serve as a forum to develop collaborative research ventures, facilitate access to scientific resources and provide expertise, a statement said. Source: Xinhua
Six medical, research and educational institutions of the United States announced on Thursday they have established a partnership to conduct and advance stem cell research. The partners of the Southern California Stem Cell Scientific Collaboration, or SC3, are University of Southern California (USC), Children Hospital Los Angeles, City of Hope , University of California in Santa Barbara, California Technological Institute and the Los Angeles-based House Ear Institute. "The potential applications for stem cell research in medicine are enormous," Martin Pera, director of USC's Center for Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine, said in a statement. "Tackling these complex problems requires scientists with diverse expertise. We are delighted to have an opportunity to work with such an outstanding collection of scientists to really accelerate the pace of discovery and translational research in regenerative medicine."
A statement announcing the formation of the partnership called it "a major step forward in supporting potential significant stem cell findings by allowing members to share training programs, scientific core facilities and expertise, and to team up on a wide range of research programs." Added Dr. Michael A. Friedman, City of Hope 's president and chief executive Officer: "For patients and their families, cures for cancer, HIV/AIDS and other diseases cannot come soon enough." "We believe the SC3 collaboration provides a critical mass of expertise that will create new knowledge and significantly accelerate treatments for diseases that impact so many," Friedman said. Each institution will appoint a faculty member to serve on a joint scientific advisory committee, which will serve as a forum to develop collaborative research ventures, facilitate access to scientific resources and provide expertise, a statement said. Source: Xinhua
Friday, December 21, 2007
I'M STILL ANGRY BUT TRYING NOT BE
TODAY I will lift up my thoughts.
In expecting nothing but good to come to me, that is exactly what I will receive.
In expecting nothing but good to come to me, that is exactly what I will receive.
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
2007 stem cell breakthrough is 'like turning lead into gold'
2007 stem cell breakthrough is 'like turning lead into gold'
by Mira ObermanWed Dec 19, 8:42 AM ET
It was the kind of breakthrough scientists had dreamed of for decades and its promise to help cure disease appears to be fast on the way to being realized. Researchers in November announced they were able to turn the clock back on skin cells and transform them into stem cells, the mutable building blocks of organs and tissues.
Then just earlier this month a different team announced it had cured sickle cell anemia in mice using stem cells derived from adult mouse skin.
"This is truly the Holy Grail: To be able to take a few cells from a patient -- say a cheek swab or few skin cells -- and turn them into stem cells in the laboratory," said Robert Lanza, a stem cell pioneer at Advanced Cell Technology.
"This work represents a tremendous scientific milestone - the biological equivalent of the Wright Brothers' first airplane," he told AFP.
"It's bit like learning how to turn lead into gold."
Stem cells offer enormous potential for curing and treating disease because they can be transformed into any cell in the body and then hopefully used to replace damaged or diseased cells, tissues and organs.
But stem cell research has been highly controversial because -- until now -- viable embryos had to be destroyed to extract the stem cells.
US President George W. Bush has banned all federal funding for research on human embryonic stem cells and access to stem cells in other countries has also been restricted because of the difficulty in finding women willing to donate their eggs.
The new technique, while far from perfected, is so promising that the man who managed to cl
one the world's first sheep, Dolly, is giving up his work cloning embryos to focus on studying stem cells derived from skin cells.
"The fact that (the) introduction of a small number of proteins into adult human cells could produce cells that are equivalent to embryo stem cells takes us into an entirely new era of stem cell biology," said Ian Wilmut, the Scottish researcher who first created a viable clone by transferring a cell nucleus into a new embryo.
One of the greatest advantages of the new technique is its simplicity: it takes just four genes to turn the skin cell back into a stem cell.
This, unlike the complex and expensive process developed by Wilmut, can be done in a standard biological lab. And skin cells are much easier to harvest than embryos.
"It's an explosion of resources," said Konrad Hochedlinger, of the Harvard Stem Cell Institute.
Prior to this discovery, researchers who wanted to look at how diseases developed would usually have to study animals or organs harvested from cadavers because embryonic stem cells were so hard to use and access.
But with stem cells derived from skin, tissues and organs can be grown in a petri dish, making it easier for researchers to map the genetic structure of diseased cells, a process which could unlock a cure.
They could also allow researchers to do chemical screens to identify drugs which may cure or treat a disease, a process which could significantly speed up the process of bringing life-saving drugs to the market.
The use of skin cells will eventually allow doctors to create stem cells with a specific patient's genetic code, eliminating the risk that the body would reject transplanted tissues or organs.
Researchers have already shown this is possible when they cured sickle cell anemia in mice.
They used skin cells taken from the tails of sick mice, transformed them into stem cells, manipulated those stem cells into healthy bone marrow cells and then transplanted them into the sick mice.
And since the new cells came from the sick mice, there was also no need for dangerous immunosuppressant drugs to prevent rejection.
But leading stem cell researchers warned that the skin cells are not yet -- and might never be -- a substitute for embryonic stem cells.
"This new research is just the beginning -- we hardly understand how these cells work," said James Thomson of the University of Wisconsin at Madison, who led one of the two teams which made the simultaneous discoveries.
"It is not the time to abandon stem cell research," Thomson said, adding that embryonic stem cells will remain the "gold standard" by which other research is measured.
Further research is also needed to find a safer way to transform the skin cells and to make sure that the cells do not deteriorate over time.
by Mira ObermanWed Dec 19, 8:42 AM ET
It was the kind of breakthrough scientists had dreamed of for decades and its promise to help cure disease appears to be fast on the way to being realized. Researchers in November announced they were able to turn the clock back on skin cells and transform them into stem cells, the mutable building blocks of organs and tissues.
Then just earlier this month a different team announced it had cured sickle cell anemia in mice using stem cells derived from adult mouse skin.
"This is truly the Holy Grail: To be able to take a few cells from a patient -- say a cheek swab or few skin cells -- and turn them into stem cells in the laboratory," said Robert Lanza, a stem cell pioneer at Advanced Cell Technology.
"This work represents a tremendous scientific milestone - the biological equivalent of the Wright Brothers' first airplane," he told AFP.
"It's bit like learning how to turn lead into gold."
Stem cells offer enormous potential for curing and treating disease because they can be transformed into any cell in the body and then hopefully used to replace damaged or diseased cells, tissues and organs.
But stem cell research has been highly controversial because -- until now -- viable embryos had to be destroyed to extract the stem cells.
US President George W. Bush has banned all federal funding for research on human embryonic stem cells and access to stem cells in other countries has also been restricted because of the difficulty in finding women willing to donate their eggs.
The new technique, while far from perfected, is so promising that the man who managed to cl
one the world's first sheep, Dolly, is giving up his work cloning embryos to focus on studying stem cells derived from skin cells.
"The fact that (the) introduction of a small number of proteins into adult human cells could produce cells that are equivalent to embryo stem cells takes us into an entirely new era of stem cell biology," said Ian Wilmut, the Scottish researcher who first created a viable clone by transferring a cell nucleus into a new embryo.
One of the greatest advantages of the new technique is its simplicity: it takes just four genes to turn the skin cell back into a stem cell.
This, unlike the complex and expensive process developed by Wilmut, can be done in a standard biological lab. And skin cells are much easier to harvest than embryos.
"It's an explosion of resources," said Konrad Hochedlinger, of the Harvard Stem Cell Institute.
Prior to this discovery, researchers who wanted to look at how diseases developed would usually have to study animals or organs harvested from cadavers because embryonic stem cells were so hard to use and access.
But with stem cells derived from skin, tissues and organs can be grown in a petri dish, making it easier for researchers to map the genetic structure of diseased cells, a process which could unlock a cure.
They could also allow researchers to do chemical screens to identify drugs which may cure or treat a disease, a process which could significantly speed up the process of bringing life-saving drugs to the market.
The use of skin cells will eventually allow doctors to create stem cells with a specific patient's genetic code, eliminating the risk that the body would reject transplanted tissues or organs.
Researchers have already shown this is possible when they cured sickle cell anemia in mice.
They used skin cells taken from the tails of sick mice, transformed them into stem cells, manipulated those stem cells into healthy bone marrow cells and then transplanted them into the sick mice.
And since the new cells came from the sick mice, there was also no need for dangerous immunosuppressant drugs to prevent rejection.
But leading stem cell researchers warned that the skin cells are not yet -- and might never be -- a substitute for embryonic stem cells.
"This new research is just the beginning -- we hardly understand how these cells work," said James Thomson of the University of Wisconsin at Madison, who led one of the two teams which made the simultaneous discoveries.
"It is not the time to abandon stem cell research," Thomson said, adding that embryonic stem cells will remain the "gold standard" by which other research is measured.
Further research is also needed to find a safer way to transform the skin cells and to make sure that the cells do not deteriorate over time.
A RANT
I'M ANGRY TODAY:
FOR ALL OF THE THINGS THIS "DEBACLE" OF A DISEASE HAS TAKEN FROM ME:
MY ABILITY TO BUTTON MY FREAKIN' PANTS-IT TOOK ME 18 TRIES-BUT I GOT IT
MY ABILITY TO HAVE REGULAR LIFE
MY ABILITY TO HAVE A FAMILY
MY ABILITY TO BE GREAT AT SOMETHING AGAIN
MY ABILITY TO BELIEVE IN GOD AT THE MOMENT-HOW I LET GO AND LET GOD YESTERDAY -- I'M THINKING WHY-WHY ME-WHY THIS DISEASE-WHY IF I'M GOING TO DIE-JUST MAKE IT QUICK-INSTEAD I'M GOING TO MELT AWAY-SLOWLY
MY ABILITY TO SPEAK CLEARLY
MY ABILITY TO RUN-CATCH-SKATE-PLAY-EVEN WALKING FAST IS A CHALLENGE
MY ABILITY TO BELIEVE AT THIS MOMENT I WILL BE OKAY
THIS IS BULLSHIT ON THE GRANDEST OF SCALES THAT ANYONE HAS TO GO THROUGH THIS.
I'N ANGRY AT THE MOMENT-SORRY-TOMORROW I COULD BE HAPPY-THIS DISEASE IS LIKE HAVING MULTIPLE PERSONALITIES!! I HAVE MY ANGRY FACE ON AT THE MOMENT.
LOVE YA,
DREW
FOR ALL OF THE THINGS THIS "DEBACLE" OF A DISEASE HAS TAKEN FROM ME:
MY ABILITY TO BUTTON MY FREAKIN' PANTS-IT TOOK ME 18 TRIES-BUT I GOT IT
MY ABILITY TO HAVE REGULAR LIFE
MY ABILITY TO HAVE A FAMILY
MY ABILITY TO BE GREAT AT SOMETHING AGAIN
MY ABILITY TO BELIEVE IN GOD AT THE MOMENT-HOW I LET GO AND LET GOD YESTERDAY -- I'M THINKING WHY-WHY ME-WHY THIS DISEASE-WHY IF I'M GOING TO DIE-JUST MAKE IT QUICK-INSTEAD I'M GOING TO MELT AWAY-SLOWLY
MY ABILITY TO SPEAK CLEARLY
MY ABILITY TO RUN-CATCH-SKATE-PLAY-EVEN WALKING FAST IS A CHALLENGE
MY ABILITY TO BELIEVE AT THIS MOMENT I WILL BE OKAY
THIS IS BULLSHIT ON THE GRANDEST OF SCALES THAT ANYONE HAS TO GO THROUGH THIS.
I'N ANGRY AT THE MOMENT-SORRY-TOMORROW I COULD BE HAPPY-THIS DISEASE IS LIKE HAVING MULTIPLE PERSONALITIES!! I HAVE MY ANGRY FACE ON AT THE MOMENT.
LOVE YA,
DREW
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
THOUGHT
AS MUCH AS I AM MAD AT MY HIGHER POWER --------I FEEL THE NEED TO LET GO AND LET GOD!
Today, I let my Higher Power work in my life. I have the courage to have faith.
Today, I let my Higher Power work in my life. I have the courage to have faith.
Saturday, December 15, 2007
A brave new future for China in science
A brave new future for China in scienceBy MARY BROWN BULLOCKPublished on: 12/14/07
My introduction to Chinese scientists was at Dulles Airport in April 1974, two years after President Nixon's historic visit. My assignment — actually my very first job — was to escort Chinese seismologists around the United States for a month, one of the first scientific exchanges between the two previously estranged nations.
The delegation had traveled by way of Moscow and was clearly exhausted when they landed: I found the 10 men totally uncommunicative. We traveled by bus in near silence to the Mayflower Hotel in Washington where I had arranged a welcoming dinner. The elegant service was interminably slow. When the waitress asked us if we would have dessert, I responded — no — everyone is tired and needs a rest. Whereupon the 65-year-old delegation head, Gu Gongxu, suddenly came alive. In perfect English he called the waitress back to the table: "We'll all have pie, apple pie, apple pie a la mode — I've waited 25 years for a piece of American apple pie." The ice was broken.
Mary Brown Bullock is president emerita of Agnes Scott College in Decatur . This column was adapted from a recent speech.
Gu was one of several thousand Chinese students who had studied in the United States before l949, returned to China and, after suffering for their American training in Mao's China , led in re-connecting American and Chinese science in the l970s and l980s. When he returned to Cal Tech and the Colorado School of Mines, Gu was received as a distinguished alumnus. His visit paved the way for the United States Geological Survey to establish seismological monitoring stations in China which provide real time information about movements in the Earth's crust.
Today, more than 30 years after Gu's visit, China 's science and technology are driving its economic modernization. It is a developing country with Nobel aspirations.
The Chinese people are acutely aware that China 's science led the world until about the l8th century: Chinese invented paper, gunpowder, moveable type and accurately predicted Halley's comet — all hundreds of years before the West. For the last 150 years, all of China 's leaders have aspired to regain their rightful intellectual place in the world.
After the devastation of the Cultural Revolution, Deng Xiaoping recognized that China needed to both train scientists and engineers abroad. Since 1979, more than 700,000 students and visiting scholars have studied in the West.
While many of the younger scientists have yet to return to China , most of the visiting scholars have done so. Today, this western educated group is leading China 's scientific development. Information, space and environmental science are among China 's top priorities. It has become a global leader in nanotechnology and stem-cell research. A new system of national laboratories includes major global diseases and plant-breeding. China 's investment in research and higher education has increased at a higher rate than its 10 percent economic growth: Its R&D spending now ranks third, behind the United States and Japan .
China's science and technology is not yet a powerhouse, but American universities and corporations believe that within a quarter of a century it will be. Accordingly, collaboration with Chinese scientists and investments in jointly operated research facilities has been accelerating. Today, there are more than 1,000 foreign-funded R&D centers in China , compared to fewer than than 200 in India . Likewise, universities are scrambling to set up collaborative research labs in China . Georgia Tech was one of the earliest American universities to establish collaborative programs with China . Why should we be collaborating with a potential competitor?
Universities and corporations give the same answer: American science and technology will benefit from collaboration with China 's rapidly developing scientific community. The U.S. government takes a somewhat different position. Aware of both the commercial advantages but also the challenge of strategic competitiveness it maintains tough export controls on dual-use technology.
America's scientific relationship with China will be both challenging and promising in the years ahead. Whether the problem is global health or climate change or the exploitation of space China will be a major player.
My message to the young scientists today is: Take advantage of any opportunity to travel to China . You will keep pace with global science, and you will be ready, in an informed way, to influence U.S.-China policy. With luck, you will also forge professional friendships that last for decades, and that may, like those of professor Gu Gongxu, ultimately help both nations transcend political differences and contribute to world peace.
My introduction to Chinese scientists was at Dulles Airport in April 1974, two years after President Nixon's historic visit. My assignment — actually my very first job — was to escort Chinese seismologists around the United States for a month, one of the first scientific exchanges between the two previously estranged nations.
The delegation had traveled by way of Moscow and was clearly exhausted when they landed: I found the 10 men totally uncommunicative. We traveled by bus in near silence to the Mayflower Hotel in Washington where I had arranged a welcoming dinner. The elegant service was interminably slow. When the waitress asked us if we would have dessert, I responded — no — everyone is tired and needs a rest. Whereupon the 65-year-old delegation head, Gu Gongxu, suddenly came alive. In perfect English he called the waitress back to the table: "We'll all have pie, apple pie, apple pie a la mode — I've waited 25 years for a piece of American apple pie." The ice was broken.
Mary Brown Bullock is president emerita of Agnes Scott College in Decatur . This column was adapted from a recent speech.
Gu was one of several thousand Chinese students who had studied in the United States before l949, returned to China and, after suffering for their American training in Mao's China , led in re-connecting American and Chinese science in the l970s and l980s. When he returned to Cal Tech and the Colorado School of Mines, Gu was received as a distinguished alumnus. His visit paved the way for the United States Geological Survey to establish seismological monitoring stations in China which provide real time information about movements in the Earth's crust.
Today, more than 30 years after Gu's visit, China 's science and technology are driving its economic modernization. It is a developing country with Nobel aspirations.
The Chinese people are acutely aware that China 's science led the world until about the l8th century: Chinese invented paper, gunpowder, moveable type and accurately predicted Halley's comet — all hundreds of years before the West. For the last 150 years, all of China 's leaders have aspired to regain their rightful intellectual place in the world.
After the devastation of the Cultural Revolution, Deng Xiaoping recognized that China needed to both train scientists and engineers abroad. Since 1979, more than 700,000 students and visiting scholars have studied in the West.
While many of the younger scientists have yet to return to China , most of the visiting scholars have done so. Today, this western educated group is leading China 's scientific development. Information, space and environmental science are among China 's top priorities. It has become a global leader in nanotechnology and stem-cell research. A new system of national laboratories includes major global diseases and plant-breeding. China 's investment in research and higher education has increased at a higher rate than its 10 percent economic growth: Its R&D spending now ranks third, behind the United States and Japan .
China's science and technology is not yet a powerhouse, but American universities and corporations believe that within a quarter of a century it will be. Accordingly, collaboration with Chinese scientists and investments in jointly operated research facilities has been accelerating. Today, there are more than 1,000 foreign-funded R&D centers in China , compared to fewer than than 200 in India . Likewise, universities are scrambling to set up collaborative research labs in China . Georgia Tech was one of the earliest American universities to establish collaborative programs with China . Why should we be collaborating with a potential competitor?
Universities and corporations give the same answer: American science and technology will benefit from collaboration with China 's rapidly developing scientific community. The U.S. government takes a somewhat different position. Aware of both the commercial advantages but also the challenge of strategic competitiveness it maintains tough export controls on dual-use technology.
America's scientific relationship with China will be both challenging and promising in the years ahead. Whether the problem is global health or climate change or the exploitation of space China will be a major player.
My message to the young scientists today is: Take advantage of any opportunity to travel to China . You will keep pace with global science, and you will be ready, in an informed way, to influence U.S.-China policy. With luck, you will also forge professional friendships that last for decades, and that may, like those of professor Gu Gongxu, ultimately help both nations transcend political differences and contribute to world peace.
Stem cell therapy counters muscular dystrophy in mice: study
WASHINGTON (AFP) - Scientists have demonstrated that a combination of stem cell and gene therapy can be used to correct the devastating hereditary disease of muscular dystrophy, according to a new study published Wednesday.
the link:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20071212/ts_afp/ushealthstemcelldystrophyresearch;_ylt=AlI7OA81qCTZbkDpQBBflv2JhMgF
Working with mice but using human cells, a team led by Yvan Torrente of the University of Milan, Italy showed that they could spark the most common form of the muscle-wasting disease, Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), and then reverse it, offering hope to millions of sufferers world-wide.
They also showed that a DMD sufferer's own cells might be used for the therapy, reducing the possibility of rejection.
DMD is a hereditary affliction in which the gene which helps synthesize the key muscle protein dystrophin is mutated. Dystrophin is essential to preventing damage to the muscles as they are used, and so with the presence of the defective gene, its production is disturbed and the muscles deteriorate.
In their experiment, Torrente and his team obtained muscle stem cells, labelled CD133+, from human DMD patients. The cells were implanted into mice where they generated defective muscle tissue resembling that in the human DMD patients.
The researchers then took more muscle stem cells from the humans and repaired the damaged dystrophin gene in them, so that dystrophin production would be normalized.
Those cells were implanted in the same mice, and began producing healthy muscle tissue, helping the mice begin to recover from the induced DMD.
"These data demonstrate that genetically engineered blood or muscle-derived CD133+ cells represent a possible tool for future stem cell-based autograft applications in humans with DMD," Torrente said in a summary of the research.
"Additional research will substantially enhance our understanding of the mechanisms underlying this effect, and may lead to the improvement of gene and cell therapy strategies for DMD," he added.
The research is published in the December issue of the journal Cell Stem Cell.
the link:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20071212/ts_afp/ushealthstemcelldystrophyresearch;_ylt=AlI7OA81qCTZbkDpQBBflv2JhMgF
Working with mice but using human cells, a team led by Yvan Torrente of the University of Milan, Italy showed that they could spark the most common form of the muscle-wasting disease, Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), and then reverse it, offering hope to millions of sufferers world-wide.
They also showed that a DMD sufferer's own cells might be used for the therapy, reducing the possibility of rejection.
DMD is a hereditary affliction in which the gene which helps synthesize the key muscle protein dystrophin is mutated. Dystrophin is essential to preventing damage to the muscles as they are used, and so with the presence of the defective gene, its production is disturbed and the muscles deteriorate.
In their experiment, Torrente and his team obtained muscle stem cells, labelled CD133+, from human DMD patients. The cells were implanted into mice where they generated defective muscle tissue resembling that in the human DMD patients.
The researchers then took more muscle stem cells from the humans and repaired the damaged dystrophin gene in them, so that dystrophin production would be normalized.
Those cells were implanted in the same mice, and began producing healthy muscle tissue, helping the mice begin to recover from the induced DMD.
"These data demonstrate that genetically engineered blood or muscle-derived CD133+ cells represent a possible tool for future stem cell-based autograft applications in humans with DMD," Torrente said in a summary of the research.
"Additional research will substantially enhance our understanding of the mechanisms underlying this effect, and may lead to the improvement of gene and cell therapy strategies for DMD," he added.
The research is published in the December issue of the journal Cell Stem Cell.
Friday, December 14, 2007
WE MADE IT HOME............
Living in the Present
One day at a time,This is enough. Do not look back and grieve over the past. For it is gone. . .And do not be troubled about the future. For it has not yet come. Live in the present, and make it so beautiful. That it will be worth remembering
PICS TO COME
JET-LAGGED
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
PICS GOING DOWN THE LIFT
mom and the guide karen
andra was freakin' out on the lift-I was shaking itPICS FROM THE LIFT
IT'S AMAZING HOW THE HECK THEY BUILT IT THAT HIGH
THE LIFT DIDN'T STOP SO TRYING TO GET ME ON WAS COMICAL
GREAT WALL PICS
THEY WERE SELLING EVERYTHING AND I'M A SUCKER-I BOUGHT TEN T-SHIRTS THAT SAID "I CLIMBED THE GREAT WALL"
THIS WAS ALL KINDS OF DRIED FRUIT-I KEPT SAYING NO BUT I TALK FUNNY SO IT WAS A FREAKIN' COMEDY SHOW.
THAT IS WHERE YOU PAY-THE FIRST OF AROUND 300 STEPS WE HAD TO CLIMB AND THEN A SKI LIFT!
PICS OF OUR JOURNEY TO THE GREAT WALL
the parking lot but way up there is the wall
just woke up
roadkill on the head
IT STARTED OUT ON OUR OWN PRIVATE MINI BUS W/ OUR PRIVATE GUIDE KAREN. IT WAS A TWO HOUR RIDE THROUGH BEIJING'S COUNTRYSIDE. BREATHE TAKING IS THE ONLY ADJECTIVE TO DESCRIBE THE SCENARY. AND THEN TO SEE THE GREAT WALL WAY UP IN THE MOUNTAINS. IT'S REALLY HARD TO DESCRIBE IT --BREATHE TAKING AGAIN!!!
Sunday, December 9, 2007
Laughing
Laughter takes the pressure off and lightens the load. We can actually feel our body and our chemistry change when the corners of the mouth turn upward toward the heavens in a smile
Saturday, December 8, 2007
THIS IS AN ARTICLE ON WHAT I HAVE ALREADY DONE-BONE MARROW TRANSPLANT
SENT TO ME FROM MY FRIEND, K:
A study carried out by researchers at the Kyoto University School of Medicine and published in the current issue of CELL TRANSPLANTATION (Vol.16 No. 8) has shown that when transplanted bone marrow cells (BMCs) containing adult stem cells are protected by a 15mm silicon tube and nourished with bio-engineered materials, they successfully help regenerate damaged nerves. The research may provide an important step in developing artificial nerves.
"We focused on the vascular and neurochemical environment within the tube," said Tomoyuki Yamakawa, MD, the study's lead author. "We thought that BMCs containing adult stem cells, with the potential to differentiate into bone, cartilage, fat, muscle, or neuronal cells, could survive by obtaining oxygen and nutrients, with the result that rates of cell differentiation and regeneration would improve."
Nourished with bioengineered additives, such as growth factors and cell adhesion molecules, the BMCs after 24 weeks differentiated into cells with characteristics of Schwann cells - a variety of neural cell that provides the insulating myelin around the axons of peripheral nerve cells. The new cells successfully regenerated axons and extended their growth farther across nerve cell gaps toward damaged nerve stumps, with healthier vascularity.
"The differentiated cells, similar to Schwann cells, contributed significantly to the promotion of axon regeneration through the tube," explained Yamakawa. "This success may be a further step in developing artificial nerves." Grafting self-donated (autologous) nerve cells to damaged nerves has been widely practiced and considered the "gold standard." However, autologous cells for transplant are in limited supply. Allologous cells, donated by other individuals, require the host to take heavy immunosuppressant drugs. Artificial nerves, cultured from a variety of cells and transplanted to nerve damaged areas, have been considered as alternatives to nerve grafting. However, prior to this research, cells cultured for this purpose have generally not been very successful in regenerating axons with sufficient vascularity or length to bridge nerve gaps.
"This technique for implanting BMCs containing adult stem cells at damaged nerve sites as employed by the Kyoto researchers has opened up new possibilities for nerve regeneration, " said Paul Sanberg, PhD, D.Sc., Distinguished Professor at University of South Florida Health and co-editor-in- chief of Cell Transplantation.
A study carried out by researchers at the Kyoto University School of Medicine and published in the current issue of CELL TRANSPLANTATION (Vol.16 No. 8) has shown that when transplanted bone marrow cells (BMCs) containing adult stem cells are protected by a 15mm silicon tube and nourished with bio-engineered materials, they successfully help regenerate damaged nerves. The research may provide an important step in developing artificial nerves.
"We focused on the vascular and neurochemical environment within the tube," said Tomoyuki Yamakawa, MD, the study's lead author. "We thought that BMCs containing adult stem cells, with the potential to differentiate into bone, cartilage, fat, muscle, or neuronal cells, could survive by obtaining oxygen and nutrients, with the result that rates of cell differentiation and regeneration would improve."
Nourished with bioengineered additives, such as growth factors and cell adhesion molecules, the BMCs after 24 weeks differentiated into cells with characteristics of Schwann cells - a variety of neural cell that provides the insulating myelin around the axons of peripheral nerve cells. The new cells successfully regenerated axons and extended their growth farther across nerve cell gaps toward damaged nerve stumps, with healthier vascularity.
"The differentiated cells, similar to Schwann cells, contributed significantly to the promotion of axon regeneration through the tube," explained Yamakawa. "This success may be a further step in developing artificial nerves." Grafting self-donated (autologous) nerve cells to damaged nerves has been widely practiced and considered the "gold standard." However, autologous cells for transplant are in limited supply. Allologous cells, donated by other individuals, require the host to take heavy immunosuppressant drugs. Artificial nerves, cultured from a variety of cells and transplanted to nerve damaged areas, have been considered as alternatives to nerve grafting. However, prior to this research, cells cultured for this purpose have generally not been very successful in regenerating axons with sufficient vascularity or length to bridge nerve gaps.
"This technique for implanting BMCs containing adult stem cells at damaged nerve sites as employed by the Kyoto researchers has opened up new possibilities for nerve regeneration, " said Paul Sanberg, PhD, D.Sc., Distinguished Professor at University of South Florida Health and co-editor-in- chief of Cell Transplantation.
Friday, December 7, 2007
THE "ANONYMOUS" EMAILER WROTE ME BACK ABOUT THE 12 YEAR OLD
I RECEIVED A WONDERFUL EMAIL REGARDING THE COMMENT ABOUT THE 12 YR OLD
THANK YOU:
I found a website back in 2002 that mentioned the 12 year old with ALS. I had read a novel called May I Cross Your Golden River? by Page Dixon that was about a young man (18 or 20 I think) that was diagnosed with ALS and, as I hadn't heard of it before that time, I did some Internet research and came across a website that was called ALS Survival Guide. The website address, at that time, was http://www.alssurivalguide.com and also http://www.lougehrigsdisease.net It was run by an ALS sufferer named Doug Eshleman. He had onset of the disease in his late '30s and died at 43 in November 2001. The site has been offline for a little while, but you can still access copies of it by going to http://www.archive.org and typing in lougehrigsdisease.net. I have copied the direct link to the page the mentions the 12 year old with ALS. Her name was Patty and the information reads that she was from Chicago.
Here's the page http://web.archive.org/web/20020619050624/www.lougehrigsdisease.net/als_pages/journal2000-07.htm . As far as I'm aware, Doug Eshleman was from Ohio.
THANK YOU:
I found a website back in 2002 that mentioned the 12 year old with ALS. I had read a novel called May I Cross Your Golden River? by Page Dixon that was about a young man (18 or 20 I think) that was diagnosed with ALS and, as I hadn't heard of it before that time, I did some Internet research and came across a website that was called ALS Survival Guide. The website address, at that time, was http://www.alssurivalguide.com and also http://www.lougehrigsdisease.net It was run by an ALS sufferer named Doug Eshleman. He had onset of the disease in his late '30s and died at 43 in November 2001. The site has been offline for a little while, but you can still access copies of it by going to http://www.archive.org and typing in lougehrigsdisease.net. I have copied the direct link to the page the mentions the 12 year old with ALS. Her name was Patty and the information reads that she was from Chicago.
Here's the page http://web.archive.org/web/20020619050624/www.lougehrigsdisease.net/als_pages/journal2000-07.htm . As far as I'm aware, Doug Eshleman was from Ohio.
A GREAT ARTICLE-Researchers use new stem cell method to treat mice
CHICAGO (Reuters) - Using a new type of stem cells made from ordinary skin cells, U.S. researchers said on Thursday they treated mice with sickle cell anemia, proving in principle that such cells could be used as a therapy.
FOR THE REST:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20071206/sc_nm/stemcells_mice_dc;_ylt=Al66MXcny9mXWq732XPDk9KJhMgF
FOR THE REST:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20071206/sc_nm/stemcells_mice_dc;_ylt=Al66MXcny9mXWq732XPDk9KJhMgF
PICS OF ME IN TRAINING
I TOOK THESE TO SHOW MY THERAPISTS AT HOME-THE WOOD I'M STANDING ON IS CURVED ON THE BOTTOM-SO IT MOVES BACK AND FORTH-MY FIRST WEEK THEY HAD 3 PEOPLE AROUND ME-ONLY ONE NOW AND HE DIDN'T HAVE TO BE THERE!!
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