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Stem cell, marijuana proposals expected to pass in Mich. poll
LANSING, Mich. - A recent poll shows voter support leading opposition for ballot proposals to loosen Michigan's restrictions on embryonic stem cell research and allow medical use of marijuana.
The EPIC-MRA poll conducted for The Detroit News and television stations WXYZ, WILX, WOOD and WJRT found 50 percent of likely Michigan voters support the stem cell proposal, 32 percent against and 18 percent undecided.
The poll also found 59 percent support the marijuana proposal, 37 against and 4 percent undecided.
The telephone poll of 400 likely Michigan voters was conducted Saturday through Monday. It has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 5 percentage points. Both proposals are on the November ballot. LANSING, Mich. - A recent poll shows voter support leading opposition for ballot proposals to loosen Michigan's restrictions on e... more -
Australia licenses human clones.
SYDNEY — The Australian government has issued its first licence allowing scientists to create cloned human embryos to try and obtain embryonic stem cells.
The in vitro fertilization firm Sydney IVF was granted the licence and reportedly has access to 7,200 human eggs for its research.
If the firm is successful it would be a world first, the Australian government's National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC), which granted the licence, said on Wednesday.
Scientists in other countries have made stem cells they believe are similar to embryonic cells using a variety of techniques, but none have been able to extract embryonic stem cells from cloned human embryos.
An Australian ban on the research, known as therapeutic cloning or somatic cell nuclear transfer, was lifted in December, 2006, after a rare conscience vote in the national parliament.
But the use of excess IVF embryos and the creation and use of other embryos in research is restricted by law through national legislation. Human cloning for reproductive purposes is banned.
More at link... SYDNEY — The Australian government has issued its first licence allowing scientists to create cloned human embryos to try an... more -
Stem cells 'created from teeth'
"Japanese scientists say they have created human stem cells from tissue taken from the discarded wisdom teeth of a 10-year-old girl.
The researchers say their work suggests that wisdom teeth could be a suitable alternative to human embryos as a source for therapeutic stem cells.
Research involving stem cells is seen as having the potential to treat many life-threatening diseases.
But some people believe using human embryos is ethically controversial.
The researchers, based at the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), say it will be at least five years before their findings result in practical medical applications.
Stem cells have the ability to develop into other kinds of human cells, and experts believe they may eventually lead to treatments for some of the most intractable conditions, such as cancer and diabetes.
The AIST researchers said they had identified a form of stem cell in the wisdom teeth which had the capability to develop and be grown successfully into other forms of cell outside the body.
The cells they harvested continued to grow in the laboratory for just over a month, they added.
The leader of the team, Hajime Ogushi, said the research was significant in two ways.
"One is that we can avoid the ethical issues of stem cells because wisdom teeth are destined to be thrown away anyway," he told the AFP news agency.
"Also, we used teeth that had been extracted three years ago and had been preserved in a freezer. That means that it's easy for us to stock this source of stem cells."
In the US, dentists are starting to offer to store stem cells taken from wisdom teeth and from baby teeth, another potential source, for therapeutic purposes in the future.
Last year, a team of US and Japanese scientists announced they had managed to produce stem cells from skin. " "Japanese scientists say they have created human stem cells from tissue taken from the discarded wisdom teeth of a 10-year-old gi... more -
STEM CELL: no more darkness for Rylea
Ryleas was diagnosed with Optic Nerve Hypoplasia, an abnormal deficiency of cells: in her case ONH was extremely severe, resulting in her complete loss of vision. Such a condition is normally linked with hormonal imbalances in the brain which can affect a child's growth, although in Rylea’s case Optic Nerve Hypoplasia does not seem to have affected her in being a very lively and happy child. Sight apart, in all other respects Rylea is healthy and energetic.
Through stem cell treatment her family hoped to restore the cell count in the nerves and to see some response to visual stimulus, specifically pupil dilation or retraction. Rylea’s treatment (umbilical cord stem cell injections with visual rehabilitation therapy) began on July 3rd, 2007 in a chinese hospital named Beike.
Before the treatment
In affecting her optic nerves, Rylea's illness has entirely deprived her of light perception and vision: in a word, she was blind. In early tests of shape recognition (slotting shapes through appropriate holes), Rylea relied on touch and memory, and did not attempt to identify shapes through sight..
After the treatment
Rylea showed important signs of light sensitivity less than two weeks after the treatments began. In a darkened room Rylea responded to a flashlight when shone in her eyes. Rylea's mother initially hoped to be seeing improvement over a period of up to six months: in this respect the treatment far exceeded her expectations.
The following is an excerpt from Rylea's blog (www.nomoredarkness.com). It covers her progress shortly after her return to America.
- 8 August 2007
“We met Dr. Brothers (Rylea's eye doctor) this morning. It was exciting for him to see her and respond to the light as it had been for us. He examined her eyes and Rylea showed him how she could tell which eye he was shining the light into. Then he turned the lights down low and took her in front of the wall where the eye chart shines. He asked her if she could see that light, and she pointed to it. Then he asked her if she could see the picture of the "E”... she said yes and was even able to point to the 3 ends of the "E". Watching this was very emotional for both Dr. Brothers and myself since it was by far more than either of us had expected to see as a result of the stem cell transplants”
- 12 August 2007
“Rylea asked me to go get the pen light this morning...so of course I did... we shined it in her eyes and she was able to grab the light. Then I told her that I wanted to show her something then I wanted her to tell me what she saw...so I held my breath so she couldn't feel me breathing on her. I asked her what she saw and she said, "I SAW MY MOMMY!!!" - So I asked her what I looked like and she said, "Mommy, you are beautiful!!!" She was able to identify everyone in the room immediately. What a miracle, what an absolute answer to many, many prayers!”
Stem Cells Treatments: www.beike.ch
On September 3rd, 2007, Rylea's mother was interviewed by Missouri's Joplin Globe newspaper: please read the complete interview at:
http://www.joplinglobe.com/local/local_story_245195943.... Ryleas was diagnosed with Optic Nerve Hypoplasia, an abnormal deficiency of cells: in her case ONH was extremely severe, resulting in ... more -
Hooked on Embryonics
What are stem cells? What do stem cells do? Why cant our politicians in Washington D.C. figure this out? Is there anyone out there that can explain things and make the world a better place? There is one man who can get to the core of these kinds of issues and that man is Joe Hanson. In this Whats Wrong With pod Joe talks to the experts and hits the streets to find out what all the fuss is about. What are stem cells? What do stem cells do? Why cant our politicians in Washington D.C. figure this out? Is there anyone out there th... more
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After Stem-Cell Breakthrough, the Work Begins
If stem cell researchers were oil prospectors, it could be said that they struck a gusher last week. But to realize the potential boundless riches they now must figure out how to build refineries, pipelines and gas stations.
I wish Christoper and Dana Reeve were still around to help out and benefit from this. I guess with their foundation, they still are!
http://www.christopherreeve.org/site/c.geIMLPOpGjF/b.89... If stem cell researchers were oil prospectors, it could be said that they struck a gusher last week. But to realize the potential boun... more -
Stem Cell Ground Breaker!
"Scientists have made ordinary human skin cells take on the chameleon-like powers of embryonic stem cells, a startling breakthrough that might someday deliver the medical payoffs of embryo cloning without the controversy.
"This work represents a tremendous scientific milestone -- the biological equivalent of the Wright Brothers' first airplane," said Dr. Robert Lanza, chief science officer of Advanced Cell Technology, which has been trying to extract stem cells from cloned human embryos."
How do we feel about these new developments? "Scientists have made ordinary human skin cells take on the chameleon-like powers of embryonic stem cells, a startling breakthrou... more
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Stem cell
