National & World News Reports

March 19, 2010: Stem cell windpipe op 'success'
from BBC Front Page News
A 10-year-old British boy has become the first child to undergo a windpipe transplant with an organ crafted from his own stem cells.
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March 17, 2010: Patient-Specific, Pluripotent Stem Cells - Testis is a New Source
Ann A. Kiessling, PhD

Improving treatments for damaged organs and tissues is the promise of human pluripotent stem cells. The power of pluripotent stem cells to alleviate damage to organs, a form of regenerative medicine, has been amply demonstrated in many animal and laboratory model systems (see: State of the Stem Cell). In some studies, the pluripotent stem cells need to differentiate into the type of cell needed for normal function prior to transplantation, whereas in other studies, the presence of the transplanted stem cells themselves appears to alleviate damage and help restore organ function (1). It is not hype to assert that pluripotent stem cells are the foundation upon which regenerative medicine will grow.

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March 15, 2010: Obama Policy Shelves Most Bush-Era Stem Cell Lines
from NPR Research News
President Obama's stem cell policy, announced a year ago this month, opened up federal funding for more stem cell lines created from human embryos. But now, scientists are facing a bitter irony — a few popular stem cell lines that could be studied with federal money under President Bush are suddenly off-limits.
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March 15, 2010: Obama Policy Shelves Popular Stem Cell Lines
from NPR Research News
President Obama's stem cell policy, announced a year ago this month, opened up federal funding for more stem cell lines created from human embryos. But now, scientists are facing a bitter irony — a few popular stem cell lines that could be studied with federal money under President Bush are suddenly off-limits.
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February 22, 2010: Possible Prostate Cancer Culprit
from U.S. News & World Report
Scientists identify a type of stem cell and a gene that play a role in the disease.
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February 17, 2010: Stem cell experiment reverses aging in rare disease (Reuters)
from Yahoo Top News Stories
Reuters - In a surprise result that can help in the understanding of both aging and cancer, researchers working with an engineered type of stem cell said they reversed the aging process in a rare genetic disease.
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February 11, 2010: Why Adult Cells Won't End the Stem-Cell Wars
from Newsweek Top Stories

A new study finds serious problems with stem cells produced from adult cells.

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February 1, 2010: Journal stem cell work 'blocked'
from BBC News | Science/Nature
Stem cell experts say they believe a small group of scientists is vetoing high quality science from being published in journals.
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January 27, 2010: The State of the Stem Cell
Ann A. Kiessling, PhD

Too many choices?
As we enter a new decade of this new millennium, stem cell science is in a state of confusion. The power of pluripotent stem cells to alleviate damage to organs has been amply demonstrated in many model systems (1). It is not hype to assert that pluripotent stem cells are the foundation upon which regenerative medicine will grow. The over arching problem now, however, is lack of consensus about which stem cells to use and how to use them.

Simply put, the big question facing scientists is: what type of pluripotent stem cell will ultimately prove to be the most therapeutically valuable? This report on the state of the stem cell outlines the choices, the concerns, and the unknowns, for each candidate therapeutic stem cell.
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January 27, 2010: Wisconsin Gets Big Grant for Stem Cell Research
from U.S. News & World Report
A research facility at the University of Wisconsin will conduct “first-of-its-kind� stem cell research.
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January 22, 2010: Scientists Grow Working Neurons From Stem Cells
from NPR Research News
Reporting in The Journal of Neuroscience, researchers write of creating working neurons from embryonic stem cells. When transplanted into an infant mouse brain, the cells hooked into the correct brain areas, as normal neurons would. Study author James Weimann discusses the findings.
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January 20, 2010: Stem Cell Research: A Photo Timeline
from Newsweek Top Stories
Embryonic-stem-cell research is barely 12 years old, but it has provoked more controversy—political, religious, and ethical—than almost any other field of scientific inquiry. And it has seen enormous highs and lows: the thrill of new discoveries, the debacle of faked research. So far nobody has been cured using embryonic stem cells, but scientists believe these cells have the potential to unvravel mysteries about biological development and treat vexing diseases. Last year, President Obama lifted Bush-era restrictions on the research, making far more federal funding available to scientists. As a new chapter begins, we look back at the evolution of a scientific discipline.

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January 19, 2010: Can stem cells cure HIV?
Ann A. Kiessling, PhD
A promising new case report of stem cell therapy for leukemia re-opens the possibility of curing HIV infection with stem cell transplantation.
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January 17, 2010: Stem cell transplant hopes lifted
from BBC News | Science/Nature
A technique which may remove the need for matched bone marrow transplants for patients is used in humans for the first time.
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January 7, 2010: Fruit Fly Bodies Hoard Stem Cells
from U.S. News & World Report
Protective pockets hold reserves until it's time for stem cells to become intestinal cells.
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December 28, 2009: Reflecting On A Decade Of Stem Cell Research
from NPR Health and Science
It's been more than 10 years since scientists first showed it is possible to grow embryonic stem cells. Despite political wrangling over the years, scientists have made advances in basic research. Still, there is a ways to go before stem cells can be used to treat disease.
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December 22, 2009: Stem cell cure for attack victim
from BBC Front Page News
Scientists in Newcastle use a stem cell technique to repair the vision of a man partially blinded in an ammonia attack.
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December 17, 2009: Scientist Is Crucial to the Bay Area's Role in Stem Cell Research
from New York Times Health Feed
Efforts are under way to cure diseases using Dr. Shinya Yamanaka’s technique of transforming ordinary cells from skin into stem cells.
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December 8, 2009: Stem cell dilemma
from BBC Front Page News
'How can we get more patients to join trials?'
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December 3, 2009: Health Buzz: Government Will Fund Research Using New Embryonic Stem Cell Lines and Other Health News
from U.S. News & World Report
How exercise may fight diseases of aging; getting early intervention therapy for an autistic child
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December 3, 2009: New Stem Cell Lines Open to Research
from New York Times Health Feed
The action by the National Institutes of Health followed President Obama’s decision to change a policy set in the Bush administration.
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December 3, 2009: On Social Issues, Bishops Flex Political Muscle
from NPR Politics
A new generation of U.S. bishops is both more conservative on social issues and more vocal. They are irked by the new political landscape: Abortion remains legal, President Obama lifted a ban on stem cell research, and a few states are allowing same-sex marriage.
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December 2, 2009: Government Approves More Stem Cells For Research
from NPR Research News
The National Institutes of Health says 13 previously off-limits human embryonic stem cell lines can now be studied with public funds. The move comes after President Obama lifted restrictions on stem cell research put in place by the Bush administration.
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December 2, 2009: More Stem Cells Get OK For Government Funding
from NPR Research News
The National Institutes of Health says 13 previously off-limits human embryonic stem cell lines can now be studied with public funds. The move comes after President Obama lifted restrictions on stem cell research put in place by the Bush administration.
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December 2, 2009: N.I.H. Expands Stem Cells Lines Available for Research
from New York Times Health Feed
The agency's action followed a decision by President Obama to change a policy set in the Bush administration.
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December 2, 2009: U.S. approves first
from Yahoo Top News Stories
Reuters - The U.S. government approved the first 13 batches of human embryonic stem cells on Wednesday, enabling researchers using them to get millions of dollars in federal funding as promised by President Barack Obama in March.
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December 2, 2009: US approves 'ethical' stem cells
from BBC News | Science/Nature
US regulators approve 13 new lines of human embryonic stem cells for use in federally funded scientific research.
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November 24, 2009: Nebraska Regents Reject Stem Cell Restrictions
from U.S. News & World Report
Resolution before university regents would have cut back stem cell research at the school.
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November 21, 2009: U. of Nebraska Defeats Tighter Limits on Stem Cell Research
from The New York Times Science Section
The effort had been seen by opponents as a possible new front in the national debate over the matter.
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November 20, 2009: University Weighs Tighter Limits on Stem Cell Research
from The New York Times Science Section
The University of Nebraska would be the first such institution to set stricter limits than what national or state law allows.
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November 19, 2009: New skin 'may help burns victims'
from BBC News | Science/Nature
French researchers say they have found a way of using human embryonic stem cells to create new skin which could help serious burns victims.
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November 9, 2009: Dr. Ann A. Kiessling honored with the Jacob Heskel Gabbay Award for Biotechnology and Medicine
Bedford Research Foundation
Dr. Kiessling’s work has also helped bridged a gap between assisted reproduction and basic research in stem cells. Using the micro-array technologies of previous Gabbay Awardees, Patrick O. Brown and Stephen P. A. Fodor, she is revealing the cellular machinery that gives rise to human embryonic stem cells. Understanding of this cell cycle regulation is urgently needed. It will revolutionize outcomes in assisted reproduction, the derivation of stem cells and our understanding of cancer.
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November 5, 2009: Stem Cell scientists from major universities attend a conference of 100-scientists and invited guest
Bedford Stem Cell Research Foundation
Friday, Nov 6, 2009: Discussions will include estimates of time to develop new stem cell based therapies for degenerative diseases, including diabetes, Parkinson’s disease, spinal cord diseases, AIDS and heart failure.
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November 3, 2009: Leading experts in basic science and clinical care discuss barriers to a
Shepherd Center
To identify and address these barriers, leading experts in neuroscience and stem cells recently came together for the one-day workshop at the University of Georgia. “The concept of this workshop grew out of a need for better communication between stem cells scientists, who dared to use the term ‘cure’ for spinal cord injury, and care providers, who are worried about raising ‘false hopes’ and setting unrealistic goals for people with spinal cord injury,” says Ann Kiessling, Ph.D., associate professor of surgery at Harvard Medical School and director of the Bedford Stem Cell Research Foundation, which organized the second annual gathering in cooperation with Shepherd Center. “Both groups clearly have the patient’s best interest at heart, but were not hearing each other’s concerns.”
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October 29, 2009: California Awards Grants for Research Projects in Nonembryonic Stem Cells
from New York Times Health Feed
California's stem cell research program awarded most of the $230 million in grants to projects using so-called adult stem cells.
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October 29, 2009: Health Buzz: California Invests $230 Million in Stem Cell Research and Other Health News
from U.S. News & World Report
The 4 features that make a healthy neighborhood; 6 ways to keep from passing along H1N1
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October 27, 2009: Disgraced Cloning Expert Convicted in South Korea
from New York Times International Feed
A disgraced cloning expert who falsely claimed major breakthroughs in stem cell research was convicted Monday of embezzlement and other charges connected to the scandal, but he will not serve time in prison.
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October 26, 2009: S Korea clone scientist convicted
from BBC News | Science/Nature
A South Korean court convicts disgraced cloning scientist Hwang Woo-suk of embezzlement over his stem cell research.
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October 20, 2009: Bionic Eye Opens New World Of Sight For Blind
from NPR Research News
Implanting an electronic retina can help restore some vision to people who've been blinded by retinal diseases, scientists reported Tuesday at the Neuroscience 2009 conference. Other researchers partially restored sight by growing new retina cells from stem cells.
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October 18, 2009: 'Ethical' stem cell crop boosted
from BBC News | Science/Nature
US researchers have found a way to dramatically increase the harvest of stem cells from adult tissue.
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October 10, 2009: Jaw bone created from stem cells
from BBC News | Science/Nature
Scientists create a joint in the jaw from human adult stem cells, an advance which could revolutionise reconstructive surgery.
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September 22, 2009: Snorting Stem Cells
from U.S. News & World Report
Snorting can deliver cells to the brain, research shows.
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September 14, 2009: Laskers Honor Work On Stem Cells, Gleevec & Smoking Ban
from NPR Health and Science
Lasker Awards go to three controversial areas: stem cells, cancer drugs and government's role in public health.
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September 14, 2009: National Briefing | Science: Lasker Award Recipients Named
from The New York Times Science Section
Five scientists have won research awards for developing a lifesaving leukemia treatment and for advances in ?reprogramming? DNA, which led to a new kind of stem cell.


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September 13, 2009: Awards given for leukemia treatment, DNA advances (AP)
from Yahoo Top News Stories
AP - Five scientists have won prestigious research awards for developing a life-saving leukemia treatment and for advances in "reprogramming" DNA, which led to a new kind of stem cell.
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September 9, 2009: 'Liposuction Leftovers' Easily Converted to Stem Cells
from U.S. News & World Report
Human fat left over from liposuction procedures identified as a great scientific resource.
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September 9, 2009: Health Buzz: Liposuction Fat Offers Stem Cell Source and Other Health News
from U.S. News & World Report
10 ways to ease menopause symptoms; cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia
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September 8, 2009: First Stem Cell Drug Fails 2 Late-Stage Clinical Trials
from New York Times Health Feed
The failure of Prochymal, from Osiris Therapeutics, is a setback for the use of adult stem cells to fight organ rejection.


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August 19, 2009: Expert Advice: Can Stem Cell Therapy Treat Pulmonary Hypertension?
from U.S. News & World Report
Expert Roger Blumenthal's advice on whether stem cells are a credible treatment for the condition.
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August 19, 2009: Health Advice: Can Stem Cell Therapy Treat Pulmonary Hypertension?
from U.S. News & World Report
Expert Roger Blumenthal's advice on whether stem cells are a credible treatment for the condition.
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August 19, 2009: Health Buzz: Using Tobacco Against Norovirus and Other Health News
from U.S. News & World Report
Magazine pictures may give parents bad advice; stem cells to treat heart failure.
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August 18, 2009: Clinical Trials Are Testing Stem Cells as Heart Failure Treatment
from U.S. News & World Report
A bounty of trials are exploring the healing potential of injecting stem cells into ailing hearts.
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August 18, 2009: Study Using Embryonic Stem Cells Is Delayed
from New York Times Health Feed
The Geron Corporation said regulators had ordered it to halt the trial, before any patients had been enrolled, for a therapy for paralyzed people.


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August 17, 2009: 'Magnetic' stem cells for hearts
from BBC Front Page News
Heart attacks and other vascular injuries could one day be treated using injections of magnetised stem cells, experts say.
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August 14, 2009: 70,000 U.S. Kids Overdose Annually on Household Meds
from Time Magazine Top Stories
Researchers have developed a new technique to identify chemicals that kill cancer stem cells
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August 14, 2009: Health Buzz: Compound Kills Cancer Stem Cells and Other Health News
from U.S. News & World Report
What parents don't know about kids' use of Facebook and MySpace; are blue M&Ms a health food?
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August 14, 2009: Screening Could Lead to More Potent Cancer Drugs
from New York Times Health Feed
Researchers have found a way to identify drugs that can specifically attack and kill cancer stem cells.


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July 24, 2009: Scientists Grow Mice from New Kind of Stem Cell
from Time Magazine Top Stories
Using a new type of stem cell that does not require the destruction of embryos, scientists have for the first time created mice that can reproduce and beget future generations
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July 23, 2009: Non-embryonic stem cells pass major hurdle in mice (AP)
from Yahoo Top News Stories

AP - Two teams of Chinese scientists have made a major advance in mice in the development of a new kind of stem cell that doesn't involve destroying embryos.

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July 15, 2009: Creating New Stem Cell Lines Not Easy
from NPR Health and Science
Congress and President Obama have shown little interest in lifting the ban on using federal funds to create new human embryonic stem cell lines. But creating new human embryonic stem cell lines is an expensive undertaking and few researchers are doing it.
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July 10, 2009: Pope presses Obama on abortion, stem cells (AP)
from Yahoo Top News Stories
In this photo provided by the Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano, President Barack Obama and Pope Benedict XVI, are photographed as they meet at the Vatican, Friday, July 10, 2009. President Obama sat down with the pontiff at the Vatican on Friday for a meeting in which frank but constructive talks were expected between two men who agree on helping the poor but disagree on abortion and stem cell research. (AP Photo/L'Osservatore Romano, ho)" border="0" />AP - Pope Benedict XVI stressed the church's opposition to abortion and stem cell research in his first meeting with President Barack Obama on Friday, pressing the Vatican's case with the U.S. leader who is already under fire on those issues from some conservative Catholics and bishops back home.

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July 8, 2009: British scientists claim to create human sperm (AP)
from Yahoo Top News Stories
Professor Karim Nayernia, is seen at Newcastle University and the NorthEast England Stem Cell Institute (Nesci), in Newcastle, England, Wednesday, July 8, 2009. British scientists claimed Wednesday to have created human sperm from stem cells but other experts questioned their data. Researchers at Newcastle University and the NorthEast England Stem Cell Institute say they used a new technique to derive what they described as sperm cells from embryonic stem cells. Stem cells have the potential to become any cell in the body. Newcastle research leader Karim Nayernia said in a statement Wednesday that the technique would allow researchers to study how sperm develops and possibly help develop treatments for infertile men. (AP Photo/Scott Heppell)" border="0" />AP - British scientists claimed Wednesday to have created human sperm from embryonic stem cells for the first time, an accomplishment they say may someday help infertile men father children.

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July 8, 2009: Scientists Create Human Sperm from Stem Cells
from Time Magazine Top Stories
For the first time, researchers have generated germ cells from embryonic stem cells
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July 7, 2009: Health Buzz: Stem Cell Rules and Other Health News
from U.S. News & World Report
Can Mark Sanford save his marriage? Plus, the dawning era of personalized medicine
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July 7, 2009: New Funding Rules Issued On Stem Cell Research
from NPR Research News
The National Institutes of Health says it deems stem cell lines eligible for government research dollars if scientists can prove they meet the spirit of the new ethics standards. An NIH registry will list all that qualify. The rules settle the question of whether new ethics requirements would disqualify many of the stem cells created over the past decade.
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July 7, 2009: Rules Will Allow Financing for Old Stem Cell Lines
from New York Times Health Feed
The Obama administration?s new rules will allow many older stem cell lines to be eligible for federally financed research.
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July 6, 2009: Health Buzz: Health Reform Plans Taking Shape and Other Health News
from U.S. News & World Report
5 lessons from the nation's "obesity report card"; comparing embryonic stem cells to other stem cells.
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July 2, 2009: Embryonic Stem Cells—and Other Stem Cells—Promise to Advance Treatments
from U.S. News & World Report
Adult stem cells may reach patients first, and induced pluripotent stem cells have greatest potential.
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June 30, 2009: Geron to Provide Stem Cells to GE
from Wall Street Journal, US News
Biotech company Geron Corp. agreed to provide stem cells to GE Healthcare for use in tools that will test for the toxic effects of medicines.
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June 25, 2009: New York State Allows Payment for Egg Donations for Research
from New York Times Health Feed
A boon for stem cell science is met with concerns about the exploiting of women and other ethical matters.
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June 17, 2009: Hysterectomies a stem cell source
from BBC News | Science/Nature
Discarded fallopian tubes from hysterectomies could be a good source of donor stem cells, say researchers.
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June 2, 2009: Pigs offer new stem cell source
from BBC News | Science/Nature
Chinese scientists give adult pig cells the ability to turn into any pig tissue, much like embryonic stem cells.
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May 29, 2009: Researchers Hail Creation of Stem Cells Safe for Human Use
from Time Magazine Top Stories
Scientists at a biotech firm in Massachusetts have discovered a way to create stem cells without embryos, viruses or genes, which makes them the first cells safe enough for human use
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May 22, 2009: Proposed Stem Cell Rules Could Block Research
from NPR Health and Science
In March, President Obama lifted the ban on federal funding for stem cell research, ordering the NIH to create new guidelines. Patrick Taylor, deputy general counsel at Children's Hospital Boston, says the proposed rules could actually prevent research on existing stem cell lines.
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May 21, 2009: NIH Stem Cell Research Guidelines - Urgent Response Needed
Bedford Stem Cell Research Foundation
Deadline: Tuesday, May 26, 2009. The NIH has already received over 10,000 letters opposing embryonic stem cell research. Your voice is urgently needed!
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May 7, 2009: Hurt by Economy, Plastic Surgeons Find Hope in New Products
from New York Times Health Feed
At an annual gathering, plastic surgeons looked forward to potentially revolutionary new treatments on the horizon, including stem cell injections.


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April 29, 2009: South Korea to Lift Ban On Human Stem Cell Research
from U.S. News & World Report

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April 29, 2009: Vatican Newspaper Pleasantly Surprised by Obama's First 100 Days
from U.S. News & World Report
The paper says Obama has not confirmed its fears on embryonic stem cell research.
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April 21, 2009: Doug Kmiec and Robby George Set to Debate at National Press Club
from U.S. News & World Report
The Catholic legal scholars will square off on embryonic stem cell research.
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April 20, 2009: New Stem Cell Guidelines Disappoint Both Scientists and Religious Conservatives
from U.S. News & World Report
Some scientists say the decision was political.
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April 17, 2009: Federal Stance On Stem Cell Research Revised
from NPR Research News
The Obama administration revises federal stem cell research policy. Funds will not be spent on stem cells derived from embryos created solely for research. But in a shift from Bush-era policy, embryos left from fertility treatments may be used.
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April 17, 2009: New stem-cell rules will limit funding for IVF clinics (Reuters)
from Yahoo Top News Stories

Reuters - New stem cell guidelines released on Friday by the U.S. National Institutes of Health would limit federal funding of the research to embryos left over at fertility clinics and prohibit federal funding of embryos made by cloning or certain other methods.

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April 17, 2009: NIH May Clear Discarded Embryos For Research
from NPR Politics
The National Institutes of Health announced Friday that federal research dollars will not be spent on stem cells derived from embryos created solely for research purposes. But embryos left over from fertility treatments may be used. The draft guidelines expand research beyond the limitations set in place by the Bush administration.
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April 17, 2009: NIH: New rules will ease, not end stem-cell limits (AP)
from Yahoo Top News Stories
AP - When President Barack Obama eased limits on federally funded embryonic stem cell research, the big question became how far scientists could go. Friday, the government answered: They must use cells culled from fertility clinic embryos that otherwise would be thrown away.
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April 17, 2009: Some Restrictions Lifted on Stem Cell Research
from New York Times Health Feed
The proposed guideline announced by the Obama Administration will please many but not all scientists.


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April 15, 2009: Health Buzz: Stem Cell Transplants for Type 1 Diabetes and Other Health News
from U.S. News & World Report
Seeking resolution in the autism-vaccine debate; kids and marital strife.
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April 15, 2009: Stem cells 'can treat diabetes'
from BBC News | Science/Nature
An experimental stem cell treatment has enabled patients with Type 1 diabetes to go for as long as four years without insulin injections, researchers say.
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April 14, 2009: Health Buzz: Depression Hikes Heart Failure Risk and Other Health News
from U.S. News & World Report
Teaching social skills to autistic teens; how a new stem cell discovery could treat infertility.
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April 13, 2009: Stem Cells Proffer New Hope for Infertility
from U.S. News & World Report
A study in mice shows promise for growing new eggs in the ovaries, but can it be replicated in humans?
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April 13, 2009: Study: Stem Cells May Reverse Type 1 Diabetes
from Time Magazine Top Stories
A research team from Brazil and Chicago have successfully treated type 1 diabetes patients with injections of their own stem cells
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April 12, 2009: Experts say develop eggs using stem cells from mice (Reuters)
from Yahoo Top News Stories
Reuters - Researchers in China say they have managed to generate new eggs using stem cells from the ovaries of young and adult female mice, taking a step toward addressing problems of female infertility.
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April 10, 2009: Catholic Democrats: Is Their Support for Obama Fraying?
from Time Magazine Top Stories
Catholics who supported the President expected him to reverse policies on abortion and stem cells. But they're starting to feel their voices aren't being heard
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April 6, 2009: Bone-repairing stem cell jab hope
from BBC News | Science/Nature
Doctors may soon be able to patch up damaged bones and joints anywhere in the body with a simple shot in the arm.
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April 1, 2009: Stem cell 'deafness cure' closer
from BBC News | Science/Nature
Stem cells that could one day be used to restore hearing have been successfully created, scientists reveal.
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March 27, 2009: Doug Kmiec Wants Your Answers to Stem Cell Research and Life Issue Questions
from U.S. News & World Report
Submit your questions for a debate between Douglas Kmiec and Robert P. George.
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March 25, 2009: Reading the Code on Obama's Stem Cell Research Answer
from U.S. News & World Report
The president acknowledged a moral dimension of the research.
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March 24, 2009: Did Obama Open the Door to Human Cloning With His Stem Cell Order?
from U.S. News & World Report
Some conservative Christian groups charge Obama with misleading the public on cloning.
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March 23, 2009: Embryonic Stem Cell Research Does Too Much Good to Be Evil, Says Janet Rowley
from U.S. News & World Report
Otherwise wasted embryos could go toward saving or improving many human lives.
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March 23, 2009: Janet Rowley, Tony Perkins Debate Embryonic Stem Cell Research
from U.S. News & World Report
It could save lives, argues Janet Rowley. Perhaps, but it's a slippery slope, says Tony Perkins.
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March 23, 2009: Leave Embryos Alone: Stem Cell Work Can Be Done Without Them, Says Tony Perkins
from U.S. News & World Report
It's a slippery slope, and besides, existing alternatives can supply greater scientific gains.
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March 23, 2009: Should Embryonic Stem Cell Research Be Permitted?
from U.S. News & World Report
Check out the debate in Two Takes.
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March 23, 2009: Synthetic blood from embryos bid
from BBC News | Science/Nature
UK scientists plan trials to see if embryonic stem cells can be used as a viable way of making synthetic blood.
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March 22, 2009: States Rethinking Costly Stem Cell Programs
from NPR Research News
A half-dozen states started their own embryonic stem cell research programs after former President Bush imposed restrictions on federal dollars. But now that President Obama has lifted the restrictions, some states are questioning those costly programs, especially since state funds are scarce.
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March 20, 2009: Stem Cells: A Winning Issue for Democrats, but the Controversy Ain't Over
from U.S. News & World Report
The political fallout from President Obama's executive order on embryonic stem cell research
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March 19, 2009: Obama's Stem Cell Order Reopens the Culture Wars
from U.S. News & World Report
Conservative Christians are looking for an opening to challenge embryonic stem cell research.
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March 18, 2009: Debating Stem Cell Ethics
from U.S. News & World Report
When President Bush banned federal funding for embryonic stem cell research except for certain lines already in existence, he did so with perhaps the most compelling, certainly most complete speech on medical ethics ever given by a U.S. president ["Stem Cells: 10 Diseases They May--or May Not--Cure," usnews.com].
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March 18, 2009: Health Buzz: Religion and Cancer Treatment and Other Health News
from U.S. News & World Report
Don Imus and the stress-cancer link; 10 diseases stem cells might someday cure.
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March 17, 2009: Did Obama Allow Human Cloning? Part 2 of an E-mail Debate
from U.S. News & World Report
Catholic scholars Robert P. George and Douglas Kmiec on Obama's new embryonic stem cell research policy
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March 17, 2009: Did Obama Allow Human Cloning? Part 3 of an E-mail Debate
from U.S. News & World Report
Catholic scholars Robert P. George and Douglas Kmiec on Obama's new embryonic stem cell research policy
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March 17, 2009: Did Obama Allow Human Cloning? Part 4 of an E-mail Debate
from U.S. News & World Report
Catholic scholars Robert P. George and Douglas Kmiec on Obama's new embryonic stem cell research policy.
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March 17, 2009: Did Obama Allow Human Cloning? Part 5 of an E-mail Debate
from U.S. News & World Report
Catholic scholars Robert P. George and Douglas Kmiec on Obama's new embryonic stem cell research policy
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March 16, 2009: After Change in Federal Policy, Some States Take Steps to Limit Stem Cell Research
from New York Times Health Feed
Anti-abortion groups that oppose the use of human embryos for stem cell research said similar efforts would be made in other states.


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March 16, 2009: Obama tries to loosen credit for small businesses (AP)
from Yahoo Top News Stories

AP - President Barack Obama freed billions of dollars to help the nation's small businesses on Monday, hoping to get credit flowing again to Main Street, not just Wall Street. He heaped praise on the little guys of American industry, often overshadowed in the blitz of government bailouts.

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March 16, 2009: The Left Pushes Secular Religions: Global Warming, Embryonic Stem Cell Research
from U.S. News & World Report
The cultural left is secular when it comes to conventional religion, but pushes their own variety.
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March 13, 2009: Are Opponents of Embryonic Stem Cell Research Using Octo-Mom as a Poster Girl?
from U.S. News & World Report
Antiabortion activist Jill Stanek on how conservative Christians see Nadya Suleman
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March 13, 2009: Should Human Embryonic Stem Cell Research Be Permitted?
from U.S. News & World Report
Check out the debate in the latest digital edition of U.S. News Weekly.
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March 13, 2009: Stem Cells: 10 Diseases They May—or May Not—Cure
from U.S. News & World Report
Embryonic stem cell research is poised to expand. Could an array of treatments or cures come next?
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March 11, 2009: News Analysis: Rethink Stem Cells? Science Already Has
from New York Times Health Feed
What impact will President Obama?s move to lift the ban on stem cell research have on current work?


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March 11, 2009: Octo-Mom as a Poster Girl for Opponents of Embryonic Stem Cell Research
from U.S. News & World Report
Conservative Christians cite Nadya Suleman as a "pro-life" model.
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March 11, 2009: Stem Cell Decision Worries Some Scientists
from New York Times Health Feed
An end to restrictions on federal financing of embryonic stem cell research could cause others to drop support.


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March 10, 2009: Does Stem Cell Research Hold Diabetes Cure?
from NPR Politics & Society
What progress might President Obama's approach to stem cell research bring for the fight against diabetes, sickle cell anemia, and other diseases which hit the black community hard?
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March 10, 2009: Health Buzz: Lyme Disease and Strange Behavior, and Other Health News
from U.S. News & World Report
Obama Lifts Stem Cell Ban. Also, where's Drixoral?
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March 10, 2009: Helping Science, May Hurt Pro-Life Relations
from NPR Research News
President Obama kept a campaign promise Monday by overturning President Bush's restrictions on federal funding of embryonic stem cell research. But the stem cell executive order — and a companion presidential memo intended to rebuild the wall between politics and science — aren't helping the administration's efforts to reach out to the pro-life community.
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March 10, 2009: Majority of U.S. Supports Easing Restrictions on Embryonic Stem Cell Research
from U.S. News & World Report
A majority of Americans support the easing of restrictions on human embryonic stem cell research.
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March 10, 2009: Obama Correct on Stem Cell, But Also Political
from U.S. News & World Report
Brad of TX in response to Public Opinion: Is Obama Placing Science Before Politics?
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March 10, 2009: Obama Lifts Limit On Funding Stem Cell Research
from NPR Politics & Society
The future of modern medicine took a new direction yesterday, as President Barack Obama signed an executive order, overturning a Bush-era policy on embryonic stem cell research. What does this change really mean? NPR science correspondent Joe Palca explains.
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March 10, 2009: On Stem Cells Obama, Like George W. Bush, Speaks Subtly to Values Voters
from U.S. News & World Report
In lifting President Bush's regulations on embryonic stem cell research, Obama spoke to values voters.
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March 9, 2009: Gallup Poll: Sixty Percent of Americans Say Embryonic Stem Cell Research Morally Acceptable
from U.S. News & World Report
A poll finds that conservative opponents of embryonic stem cell research are losing the moral case.
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March 9, 2009: Is Obama Placing Science Before Politics in Embryonic Stem Cell Order?
from U.S. News & World Report
The president overturns a federal funding ban on human embryonic stem cell research.
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March 9, 2009: Obama ends stem cell fund ban
from BBC News | Science/Nature
President Barack Obama lifts restrictions on US federal funding for research on human embryonic stem cells.
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March 9, 2009: Obama ends stem cell funding ban
from BBC News | Science/Nature
President Barack Obama lifts restrictions on US federal funding for research on human embryonic stem cells.
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March 9, 2009: Obama Is Leaving Some Stem Cell Issues to Congress
from New York Times Health Feed
While lifting restrictions on embryonic stem-cell research, President Obama is avoiding the question of whether tax dollars should be used to experiment on embryos themselves.


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March 9, 2009: Obama Lifts Embryonic Stem Cell Research Ban, Spurring Blogger Debate
from U.S. News & World Report
Bloggers take on Obama's move on stem cells and the Middle East.
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March 9, 2009: Obama Lifts Restrictions On Stem Cell Research
from NPR Research News
President Obama ended the ban on federal funding of embryonic stem cell research on Monday, fulfilling a controversial campaign promise. He also signed a second order intended to further separate politics and science under his administration.
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March 9, 2009: Obama Lifts Stem Cell Ban but Opens Debate on Embryo Creation
from U.S. News & World Report
The president leaves unanswered the question of whether embryos can be created solely for lab research.
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March 9, 2009: Obama Lifts Stem Cell Research Restrictions
from NPR Research News
In eliminating the Bush-era regulations on a topic that divides even abortion opponents, the president also promises the White House will avoid political interference in scientific research issues.
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March 9, 2009: Obama Reversing Stem Cell Limits Bush Imposed
from New York Times Health Feed
The president?s action, which will carry out a campaign pledge, involves a long-controversial intersection of science and personal moral beliefs.


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March 9, 2009: Obama To Lift Restrictions On Stem Cell Research
from NPR Politics
President Obama is set to keep a controversial campaign promise. He'll overturn existing restrictions on federal funding of embryonic stem cell research on Monday. White House officials say he'll also sign a second order intended to further separate politics and science.
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March 9, 2009: Politics Week: Stem Cells, Omnibus Spending Bill
from NPR Health and Science
President Barack Obama is lifting federal restrictions on funding stem cell research. President George W. Bush imposed the ban in the summer of 2001 saying he wanted to protect the sanctity of life. Also, Congress is looking at the vast Omnibus Spending Bill. Host Alex Cohen talks with NPR Senior Washington Editor Ron Elving about this week in politics.
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March 9, 2009: Praise for Obama's Embryonic Stem Cell Decision From a Pro-Life Republican Mother
from U.S. News & World Report
As a mother of a child with Type I diabetes, I hope Obama's decision helps U.S. research catch up.
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March 9, 2009: President Obama Reverses Bush's Stem Cell Research Ban
from U.S. News & World Report
Obama vowed to "vigorously support" stem cell research.
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March 9, 2009: President Obama's Speech on Stem Cell Executive Order
from U.S. News & World Report
Obama signed an executive order to allow federal funding for stem cell research.
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March 9, 2009: Stem Cell Move Fulfills Obama Pledge
from NPR Health and Science
President Barack Obama's decision to allow federal funding for stem cell research represents the fulfillment of a campaign promise. Both Obama and his campaign rival, John McCain, vowed to repudiate the Bush administration's willingness to let policy imperatives invade science.
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March 9, 2009: Susan Watts
from BBC News | Science/Nature
What does the US stem cell decision mean for the UK?
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March 9, 2009: The Faith-Based Guest List for the White House Stem Cell Signing Ceremony
from U.S. News & World Report
Not all religious groups object to lifting Bush's limits.
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March 9, 2009: The Politics Behind Obama's Embryonic Stem Cell Research Decision
from U.S. News & World Report
President Obama's move suggests that the Democrats finally have a winning wedge issue.
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March 8, 2009: Stem cell 'scaffold' for stroke
from BBC News | Science/Nature
Scientists claim to have developed a tiny scaffold of stem cells to fill holes in the brain caused by stroke damage.
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March 6, 2009: Obama To Reverse Funding Ban On Stem Cell Work
from NPR Research News
Under President George W. Bush, federal money could not be used on cell lines from embryos destroyed after Aug. 9, 2001. Obama plans to sign an executive order on Monday lifting that restriction.
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March 5, 2009: Embryonic Stem Cell Standstill
from U.S. News & World Report
For the last eight years, the Bush ban of federal funding of embryonic stem cell research has financially tied the hands of our nation's scientists ["Why Embryonic Stem Cells Are Obsolete," usnews.com].
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March 5, 2009: Health Buzz: Supreme Court Phenergan Ruling and Other Health News
from U.S. News & World Report
Birth control and weight gain; embryonic stem cells: cure for diabetes and more, or obsolete?
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March 4, 2009: Why Embryonic Stem Cells Are Obsolete
from U.S. News & World Report
President Obama has been right to take his time lifting the ban on embryonic stem cell research.
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March 1, 2009: 'Ethical' stem cell creation hope
from BBC News | Science/Nature
The ability to create stem cell treatments without using embryos is a step closer, say researchers.
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February 18, 2009: Health Buzz: Tumors After Stem Cell Injections and Other Health News
from U.S. News & World Report
Rising security concerns over electronic medical records; 12 deals on stress relief at spas.
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February 17, 2009: Obama Poised to Reverse Bush's Taliban-Like, Big Brother Stem Cell Policy
from U.S. News & World Report
Bush's religious-right kowtow set us back 50 years.
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February 17, 2009: Reader Comment of the Day
from U.S. News & World Report
B. Nuckols, MD of TX in response to Bonnie Erbe: Obama Will Halt Extreme Bush Stem Cell Idiocy
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February 17, 2009: Stem cell 'cure' boy gets tumour
from BBC News | Science/Nature
A boy treated with foetal stem cells for a rare disease develops tumours, raising questions over the therapy's safety.
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February 15, 2009: Advisers: Obama Close To Decision On Stem Cells
from NPR Health and Science
The president's advisers say he's close to a decision on lifting Bush-era restrictions on federal funding of embryonic stem cell research.
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February 9, 2009: Obama and a Conservative, Pro-Life Case for Embryonic Stem Cell Research
from U.S. News & World Report
Embryonic stem cell research can help save lives in an imperfect world—that's pro-life.
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February 3, 2009: Obama May Lift Stem Cell Restrictions
from NPR Health and Science
President Barack Obama has been crossing tasks off his to-do list. He's already ordered the closing of Guantanamo Bay prison and proffered an economic stimulus plan. Up soon may be his promise to lift restrictions on stem cell research.
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February 2, 2009: Study questions usefulness of animal-human embryos (AP)
from Yahoo Top News Stories
AP - It may be futile to try producing stem cells by putting human DNA into cow or rabbit eggs and making hybrid cloned embryos, a strategy that triggered controversy recently in Britain, a new study says.
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January 26, 2009: Health Buzz: Obama and Stem Cells and Other Health News
from U.S. News & World Report
Pfizer and Wyeth, an end to the abortion funding ban.
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January 23, 2009: 3 Ways That Stem Cells May Speed New Cures
from U.S. News & World Report
First stem cell trial in humans may be followed by end on federal ban.
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January 23, 2009: Cautious Optimism for the First Stem Cell Human Trial Approved by the FDA
from Time Magazine Top Stories
A promising and perilous study could lead to new treatments for spinal cord injury
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January 23, 2009: F.D.A. Approves a Stem Cell Trial
from New York Times Health Feed
The government will allow the world?s first test in people of a therapy derived from human embryonic stem cells.


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January 23, 2009: FDA allows first test of human stem cell therapy (Reuters)
from Yahoo Top News Stories

Reuters - The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has cleared the way for the first trial to see if human embryonic stem cells can treat people safely, a company involved in the controversial research on Friday.

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January 23, 2009: FDA Approves Embryonic Stem Cell Trial In Humans
from NPR Research News
Biotech company Geron Corp. will conduct a human clinical trial on patients with spinal cord injuries, using a federally approved line of embryonic stem cells. The approval is the first of its kind in the world. Stem cell experts discuss the significance of the decision.
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January 23, 2009: Geron Jumps: Is Stem Cell Investing Back?
from U.S. News & World Report
FDA clears first human stem cell trial.
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January 23, 2009: Green light for US stem cell work
from BBC News | Science/Nature
US regulators have cleared the way for the world's first study on human embryonic stem cell therapy.
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January 23, 2009: What Stem Cells Can Do—and Can't
from U.S. News & World Report
Stem cell promise new disease treatments but haven't yet delivered.
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January 18, 2009: Stem cell stroke therapy assessed
from BBC News | Science/Nature
A Glasgow team is to launch a major trial to assess whether stem cells can be used to treat stroke patients, the BBC learns.
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January 14, 2009: Changing times
from BBC News | Science/Nature
What would the US make of a stem cell U-turn?
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December 21, 2008: 4 Top Science Advisers Are Named by Obama
from The New York Times Science Section
In his selections, Barack Obama has signaled what are likely to be changes in policies governing global warming, ocean protections and stem cell research.


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December 20, 2008: Bowel cancer link to stem cells
from BBC News | Science/Nature
Scientists have said they may be narrowing down the hunt for the cells which are the source of bowel cancer.
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December 15, 2008: A Conversation With Renee A. Reijo Pera: Using Embryos to Put Fertility First
from New York Times Health Feed
Renee A. Reijo Pera works at ground zero of the controversy over human embryonic stem cells and hopes to make fertility treatments safer.


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November 24, 2008: UK stem cell work under threat
from BBC Front Page News
Red tape and lack of funds threaten the UK's place as a leader in stem cell research, experts warn.
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November 20, 2008: Europeans Announce Pioneering Surgery
from New York Times Health Feed
Physicians transplanted a human windpipe, using stem cells from the recipient?s bone marrow to reline a donor trachea and prevent its rejection by her immune system.


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November 19, 2008: Stem Cell Method Seen as Success
from New York Times International Feed
Physicians completed what they say is the first successful transplant of a human windpipe using a patient?s own stem cells to fashion an organ, according to a medical article.


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November 19, 2008: Stem Cells Used In Woman's Windpipe Transplant
from NPR Research News
The pioneering operation used a section of windpipe engineered in a laboratory with adult human stem cells. Engineering new tissues and organs from stem cells has long been sought as a solution to overcome a chronic shortage of donor organs.
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November 18, 2008: Windpipe transplant breakthrough
from BBC News | Science/Nature
Surgeons in Spain claim a major breakthrough by giving a woman a new windpipe with tissue grown from her own stem cells.
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November 14, 2008: Health Buzz: Bone Marrow Stem Cells to Cure AIDS and Other Health News
from U.S. News & World Report
A vaccine's power to stop genital warts in men; 5 reasons women still need to take vitamin D
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November 14, 2008: Rare Treatment Is Reported to Cure AIDS Patient
from New York Times International Feed
Doctors reported curing a man of AIDS by giving him blood stem cells from a person resistant to the virus.


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November 5, 2008: Begley: Bring On the ‘Reality- Based Community’
from Newsweek Top Stories
It took a while to discern the guiding ideology behind the Bush administration's poisonous science policies. The real problem wasn't tax cuts and war spending, even though the combination did strangle domestic programs so severely that scientists at the nation's premier physics lab were ordered to take unpaid leave, and the government is allocating 13 percent less to biomedical research in 2009 than it did in 2004. Nor was the culprit the sop that Bush offered the religious right in 2001 by banning the use of federal money for research on new lines of human embryonic stem cells, paralyzing the field for eight years and sending some of the nation's most promising young biologists overseas. It wasn't even Bush's refusal to take any action to reduce greenhouse gases, allowing U.S. emissions to grow by 178 million tons during his years in the White House and making the needed cuts that much deeper now. No, Obama and Congress can reverse all of that if they want to. The truly poisonous legacy of the past eight years is one that spread to much of society and will therefore be much harder to undo: the utter contempt with which those in power viewed inconvenient facts, empiricism and science in general.

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October 31, 2008: Michigan Ballot Takes On Stem Cell Research
from NPR Health and Science
There is a new proposal on the ballot in Michigan that would expand the use of human embryos in medical research, but would limit the manner in which they could be acquired. The proposal appears to be popular in public opinion polls.
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October 24, 2008: 'New prostate' grown in mouse
from BBC News | Science/Nature
Scientists have grown new prostate glands in mice, in another advance for stem cell technology.
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October 24, 2008: 'New prostate' grown inside mouse
from BBC News | Science/Nature
Scientists have grown new prostate glands in mice, in another advance for stem cell technology.
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October 23, 2008: Lung Cancer Gene Discovery A Sign of Cancer's Future
from U.S. News & World Report
Science is tackling gene-caused flaws, cancer stem cells, and earlier detection of tumors.
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October 21, 2008: Science minister urges investment
from BBC News | Science/Nature
Science is vital to the economy, the UK science minister says as he signs a stem cell funding agreement with California.
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October 9, 2008: Health Buzz: Stem Cells From Testicles and Other Health News
from U.S. News & World Report
How to weather financial stress, seeking a cure for type 1 diabetes, and reactions to genetic testing.
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September 16, 2008: Presidential Candidates? Positions on Science Issues
from The New York Times Science Section
Both presidential candidates have issued positions on science policy, including climate change and stem cells.


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September 8, 2008: For Stem Cells, a Role on the Battlefield
from The New York Times Science Section
Besides curing illness and disease, embryonic stem cells may serve to make red blood cells for transfusions.


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September 5, 2008: Questionnaire Distills Candidates' Health Policies
from NPR Health and Science
A health research advocacy group recently sent a questionnaire to both campaigns asking for policy details on issues such as health care coverage, stem cell research, the Medicare prescription drug benefit, and funding for NIH, FDA and CDC. Mary Woolley, president of Research!America, talks about the candidates' responses.
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September 4, 2008: Down's signs 'seen in stem cells'
from BBC News | Science/Nature
Scientists in London have traced the embryonic changes that occur in children with Down's syndrome
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August 22, 2008: Stem cells 'created from teeth'
from BBC News | Science/Nature
Japanese scientists say they have created human stem cells from tissue taken from discarded wisdom teeth.
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August 19, 2008: Stem cell advance may help transfusion supplies (AP)
from Yahoo Top News Stories
AP - Scientists say they've found an efficient way to make red blood cells from human embryonic stem cells, a possible step toward making transfusion supplies in the laboratory.
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August 19, 2008: Stem Cell Find May Help Transfusions
from Time Magazine Top Stories
Scientists say they've found an efficient way to make red blood cells from human embryonic stem cells, a possible step toward making transfusion supplies in the laboratory
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July 31, 2008: Scientists Make Stem Cells From ALS Patient
from NPR Research News
Scientists wanted to clone human embryos because they wanted to make stem cells tailored to an individual's disease. Now, using a technique that mimics cloning but doesn't involve a human egg, scientists have made stem cells from a patient with ALS.
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July 31, 2008: Scientists Reach Stem-Cell Milestone
from Time Magazine Top Stories

Researchers create the first nerve cells out of reprogrammed stem cells, using a technique that bypasses the destruction of embryos

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July 21, 2008: Feilden's blog
from BBC News | Science/Nature
Double whammy breakthrough in stem cell research
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July 10, 2008: Muscle stem cell advance hailed
from BBC News | Science/Nature
Animal research raises the possibility that adult stem cell transplants may treat muscular dystrophy.
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July 9, 2008: New Technique Harvests Stem Cells at Earlier Stage
from U.S. News & World Report
Research shows future production of new lines may be done without destroying embryo
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June 12, 2008: We Need a New War on Cancer
from U.S. News & World Report
An understanding of tumor genes and cancer stem cells offers hope for a cure.
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June 8, 2008: Fresh hurdle for stem cell hunt
from BBC News | Science/Nature
It may be tougher than first thought to pick effective stem cell treatments, a Nobel Prize-winning geneticist says.
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June 4, 2008: Stem cells 'halt nerve disease'
from BBC News | Science/Nature
An injection of stem cells has been used to cure mice with a normally fatal nervous system condition.
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May 22, 2008: Biotech Company to Auction Chances to Clone a Dog
from The New York Times Science Section
A California company is planning a string of online auctions next month to clone five dogs, with the bidding to start at $100,000.


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May 14, 2008: F.D.A. Delays Clinical Trial of Embryonic Stem Cells
from New York Times Health Feed
The Geron Corporation announced Wednesday that its plans to begin the first clinical trial using embryonic stem cells had been delayed by federal regulators. The company, based in Menlo Park, Calif., had planned to begin a human trial soon to test its stem cell compound in patients with spinal cord injuries. The company received oral notice about the delay from the Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday and is awaiting a letter from the agency explaining its decision, said Geron’s chief executive, Thomas B. Okarma.
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May 12, 2008: Museum Kills Live Exhibit
from The New York Times Science Section
A living coat made out of mice stem cells had to be killed before it grew out of control.
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May 10, 2008: Doctor Dispels Myth that Corpses Spread Disease
from NPR Health and Science
It has been a week since a cyclone devastated the Myanmar coastline. Tens of thousands of bodies have yet to be identified or buried. United Nations consultant and expert on directing disaster relief Claude de Ville de Goyet talks with Andrea Seabrook about the difficult task ahead for Myanmar.
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May 7, 2008: $271 Million for Research on Stem Cells in California
The New York Times, By Andrew Pollack
271 Million for Research on Stem Cells in California from New York Times Health Feed The awards represent the largest chunk of money given at one time by California?s taxpayer-backed stem cell program, which plans to spend about $3 billion over a decade.
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May 6, 2008: Stem cells may lessen transplants
from BBC News | Science/Nature
Scientists examine how liver and bone disease could be treated using embryonic stem cells.
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May 1, 2008: Foreign Clinics Lure Americans With Unproven Treatments
from U.S. News & World Report
Stem cells are on offer, but do they work?
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April 24, 2008: Scientists Find Efficient Way to Grow Heart Cells
from NPR Research News
A team of scientists in Canada has developed an efficient way to produce heart cells from human embryonic stem cells, a significant step for potential organ repair. But the study must move to trials with laboratory animals before the cells can be used with human patients.
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April 15, 2008: Ethical Questions Follow Stem Cell Advances
from NPR Research News
Scientists have solved one ethical dilemma by finding a way to make the equivalent of human embryonic stem cells without destroying human embryos. But a new ethical dilemma is looming. It may be possible to derive eggs and sperm from the stem cells. Will a child someday be born to a parent who started life as a stem cell line?
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April 11, 2008: Germany eases law on stem cells
from BBC News | Science/Nature
The German parliament votes to ease restrictions on embryonic stem cell research, after a heated debate.
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April 11, 2008: Stem cell hope for osteoarthritis
from BBC Front Page News
Stem cells offer a potential way to repair cartilage damaged by osteoarthritis, say scientists.
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April 8, 2008: 'Blank' stem cells showing promise
from The Boston Globe
Cambridge scientists have used stem cells that were "reprogrammed" from ordinary skin cells to alleviate symptoms of Parkinson's disease in rodents, illustrating the vast medical potential of this new type of stem cell.
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April 7, 2008: No quick end for cloning product moratorium: USDA (Reuters)
from Yahoo Top News Stories

Reuters - The U.S. Agriculture Department said on Monday it will not lift a voluntary moratorium on selling meat and milk from cloned animals to consumers any time soon.

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April 7, 2008: Stem cells made to mimic disease
from BBC News | Science/Nature
Scientists have taken skin cells from patients with eight different diseases and turned them into stem cells.
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April 2, 2008: British scientists make human-cow embryos (Reuters)
from Yahoo Top News Stories

Reuters - British researchers say they have created embryos and stem cells using human cells and the egg cells of cows, but said such experiments would not lead to hybrid human-animal babies, or even to direct medical therapies.

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March 24, 2008: GuadalÍx De La Sierra Journal: For a Prize Bull, Next Big Test Is in Genetics Lab
from The New York Times Science Section
The owner of Alcade, an aging bull who has sired many top opponents for Spain?s bullfighters, has decided to clone him.
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March 23, 2008: Cloned cells treat Parkinson's in mice (Reuters)
from Yahoo Top News Stories
Reuters - Researchers who used cloned embryonic stem cells to treat Parkinson's disease in mice said on Sunday they worked better than other cells.
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March 23, 2008: Cloning treats mouse Parkinson's
from BBC News | Science/Nature
Therapeutic cloning has been successfully used to treat Parkinson's disease in mice, research shows.
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March 23, 2008: GuadalÍx De La Sierra Journal: For a Prize Bull, Next Big Test Is in the Genetics Lab
from New York Times International Feed
The owner of Alcade, an aging bull who has sired many top opponents for Spain?s bullfighters, has decided to clone him.
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March 19, 2008: Doctor: China's Stem-Cell Therapy for Kids Is Risky
from NPR Health and Science
Optic nerve hypoplasia is a condition in which nerves in and around the eye fail to develop properly. Some parents of affected children are seeking controversial stem cell treatments in China. Dr. Mark Borchert, head of the Vision Center at Children's Hospital Los Angeles, urges caution.
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March 5, 2008: Bullfighting Breeders Turn to Cloning
from Time Magazine Top Stories

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March 4, 2008: Brazil Court to Rule on Stem Cells
from Time Magazine Top Stories

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February 21, 2008: Stem Cell Therapy Controls Diabetes in Mice
from New York Times Health Feed
The work raises the prospect that embryonic cells might one day be used to treat the disease in humans.
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February 18, 2008: Your Steak - Medium, Rare or Cloned?
from Time Magazine Top Stories
The FDA has approved the sale of cloned meat and milk products in the US, but those items won't be specially labeled. Would you want to know how your ribeye was reproduced?
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February 17, 2008: Stem cell hope for bone fractures
from BBC News | Science/Nature
UK scientists hope to mend shattered bones and damaged cartilage using a patient's own stem cells.
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February 16, 2008: South Korea: Give the Dog a Clone
from The New York Times Science Section
A Seoul-based company says it has received the world?s first commercial order to clone a pet dog, from a California woman who wants to recreate her dead pit bull terrier.
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February 15, 2008: First order for pet dog cloning
from BBC News | Science/Nature
A South Korean company signs what it says is the world's first commercial deal to clone a pet dog.
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February 11, 2008: Slow Calif. science plan a lesson for Mass.
from The Boston Globe
SAN FRANCISCO - The same day that President Bush won a second term, California voters approved a bold plan to pour $3 billion of taxpayers' money into stem cell research over the next decade. Supporters argued the investment would save millions of lives through new medical therapies, generate millions of dollars in added tax revenue, cut healthcare costs by billions, ...
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February 8, 2008: Conservatives Fault McCain on Campaign Finance, Stem Cells, Immigration
from U.S. News & World Report
McCain has to woo back some party stalwarts.
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February 4, 2008: Banking Stem Cells (1 Letter)
from The New York Times Science Section
To the Editor:.
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February 1, 2008: Finnish patient gets new jaw from own stem cells
from Yahoo Top News Stories
An undated microscopic view of undifferentiated human embryonic stem cells. Scientists in Finland said they had replaced a 65-year-old patient's upper jaw with a bone transplant cultivated from stem cells isolated from his own fatty tissue and grown inside his abdomen. (University of Wisconsin/Handout/Reuters) Scientists in Finland said they had replaced a 65-year-old patient's upper jaw with a bone transplant cultivated from stem cells isolated from his own fatty tissue and grown inside his abdomen.
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January 30, 2008: Questioning the Allure of Putting Cells in the Bank
from The New York Times Science Section
Some experts say consumers should think twice before spending money on storing stem cells, because it is not clear how useful they will be.
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January 28, 2008: Menstruation as a Source of Stem Cells? Maybe Not
from The New York Times Science Section
The prospect that ?the curse? might be a source of stem cells to sustain life was a surprise to some experts.
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January 20, 2008: Muscular dystrophy cell hope
from BBC News | Science/Nature
A new way to manipulate human embryonic stem cells offers hope of a treatment for muscular dystrophies.
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January 20, 2008: Muscular dystrophy stem cell hope
from BBC News | Science/Nature
A new way to manipulate human embryonic stem cells offers hope of a treatment for muscular dystrophies.
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January 18, 2008: Would You Like Fries With Your Clone?
from Newsweek Top Stories
European and U.S. food safety agencies have deemed cloned pigs and cows safe to eat. Should we all become vegetarians?

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January 17, 2008: Cloning Said to Yield Human Embryos
from New York Times Health Feed
Scientists at a small biotechnology company say they have used cloning to create human embryos from the skin cells of two men.
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January 17, 2008: Europe?s Ethics Panel Says Cloning Harms Animals
from New York Times Business Feed
Just days after being told that milk and meat from cloned livestock were safe for human consumption, Europeans were warned that cloning causes suffering to the animals.
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January 17, 2008: F.D.A. Says Food From Cloned Animals Is Safe
from New York Times Health Feed
Despite the F.D.A. endorsement, the Agriculture Department has asked farmers to continue withholding clones from the food supply.
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January 17, 2008: Scientists Clone Human Embryos
from Time Magazine Top Stories
Scientists in California say they have produced embryos that are clones of two men, a potential step toward developing scientifically valuable stem cells
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January 17, 2008: Scientists make human embryo clones (AP)
from Yahoo Top News Stories

AP - Scientists in California say they have produced embryos that are clones of two men, a potential step toward developing scientifically valuable stem cells.

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January 17, 2008: US team makes embryo clone
from BBC News | Science/Nature
Scientists say they have produced cloned embryos in a step towards producing patient-specific stem cells.
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January 17, 2008: US team makes embryo clone of men
from BBC News | Science/Nature
Scientists say they have produced cloned embryos in a step towards producing patient-specific stem cells.
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January 15, 2008: Cloned animals are 'safe to eat'
from BBC News | Science/Nature
Meat and milk from cloned animals is generally safe to eat, US authorities conclude in a long-awaited report.
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January 15, 2008: Cloned Meat Is Safe—But Let's Not Sell It
from U.S. News & World Report
The FDA isn't worried about an effect on health but wants change to come slowly.
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January 15, 2008: F.D.A. Says Cloned Animals Safe to Eat
from New York Times Business Feed
The decision removes the last hurdle before meat and milk from cloned animals can be sold at stores.
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January 15, 2008: FDA Finds Meat, Milk from Clones Safe to Eat
from NPR Research News
FDA scientists studying the chemical composition of meat and milk from cloned cattle, pigs and goats say they're as safe as that of their noncloned counterparts. The FDA findings, similar to an EU report issued last week, do not address the ethics of cloning.
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January 15, 2008: FDA says cloned animals safe is food (AP)
from Yahoo Top News Stories

AP - Just over a decade after scientists cloned the first animal, the last major barrier to selling meat and milk from clones has fallen: The U.S. government declared this food safe Tuesday. Now, will people buy it?

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January 15, 2008: FDA: Cloned Cow Is 'Safe and Traditional'
from NPR Health and Science
The Food and Drug Administration is saying meat and milk from cloned cows are as safe as they are traditional. But how do they taste and will they turn us into mutated creatures?
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January 15, 2008: Picking a Cow to Clone
from NPR Health and Science
Bob Schauf, a Wisconsin farmer who cloned one of his prized cows, discusses how the FDA's approval of cloned meat and milk will affect his business. He also addresses whether the copy is as good as the original.
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January 15, 2008: U.S. gives blessing to food from cloned animals (Reuters)
from Yahoo Top News Stories

Reuters - The U.S. government ruled on Tuesday that food from cloned animals and their offspring is as safe as other food, opening the door to bringing meat and milk from clone offspring into the food supply.

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January 15, 2008: US approves animal clone food
from BBC News | Science/Nature
The US gives the green light to meat and milk from cloned animals, concluding they are generally safe to eat.
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January 15, 2008: US approves animal clones as food
from BBC News | Science/Nature
The US gives the green light to meat and milk from cloned animals, concluding they are generally safe to eat.
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January 15, 2008: US backs animal clones as food
from BBC Front Page News
The US gives the green light to meat and milk from cloned animals, concluding they are generally safe to eat.
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January 14, 2008: Italian farmers fight cloned food
from BBC News | Science/Nature
Concerns about the safety of meat and milk from cloned animals prompt the EU to promise to consult consumers.
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January 11, 2008: Cloned Meat and Milk Await an Official 'OK'
from U.S. News & World Report
The Food and Drug Administration is poised to permit sales of products derived from cloned livestock.
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January 11, 2008: Food From Cloned Animals Seems Safe, a Panel Finds
from New York Times Health Feed
Meat and milk from cloned animals seem to pose no special health risks, said a report released by the European Food Safety Agency. It was a first step toward the eventual sale of such products within the European Union.
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January 9, 2008: Glowing pig passes genes to piglets (AP)
from Yahoo Top News Stories

AP - A cloned pig whose genes were altered to make it glow fluorescent green has passed on the trait to its young, a development that could lead to the future breeding of pigs for human transplant organs, a Chinese university reported.

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January 4, 2008: FDA Poised to Clear Cloned Food
from Wall Street Journal, US News
The FDA is expected to declare that milk and meat from cloned animals and their offspring are safe to eat. But consumer wariness toward cloned food may lead to a backlash among U.S. lawmakers and overseas.

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January 2, 2008: A Stem Cell Victory
from U.S. News & World Report
Human stem cells now can be made from adult skin, without using embryos or eggs.
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December 28, 2007: Stem Cell Debate Still Thorny Despite Progress
from NPR Research News
Scientists say they've found a way to create cells that act like embryonic stem cells without using human embryos. That could sidestep a big political and moral debate. Yet some scientists say, not so fast.
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December 23, 2007: Researchers get embryonic stem cells from skin (Reuters)
from Yahoo Top News Stories

Reuters - A third team of researchers has found a way to convert an ordinary skin cell into valued embryonic-like stem cells, with the potential to grow batches of cells that can be directed to form any kind of tissue.

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December 21, 2007: Scientists Weigh Stem Cells? Role as Cancer Cause
from New York Times Health Feed
A debate over a hypothesis that cancers are fed by cancerous stem cells could affect the path of research.
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December 18, 2007: System to Track Cloned Animals Is Planned
from New York Times Health Feed
Responding to concerns in the food industry, companies developing cloned livestock have come up with a system to track the animals as they move through farms and slaughterhouses.
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December 17, 2007: Caution urged in new method for stem cells
from The Boston Globe
CAMBRIDGE - The stem cell wars are not over, say leading researchers at Harvard and other universities who believe that the cloning of human embryos still represents the key to developing effective treatments for an array of horrific diseases.
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December 10, 2007: Scientist at Work | Shinya Yamanaka: Risk Taking Is in His Genes
from The New York Times Science Section
After years of searching, Shinya Yamanaka found a way to turn adult skin cells into the equivalent of human embryonic stem cells without using an actual embryo.
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December 6, 2007: Stem-Cell Study Treats Sickle Cell
from Wall Street Journal, US News
Scientists have derived embryonic-like stem cells from mature tissue of mice, then used the fresh cells to successfully treat a version of sickle-cell anemia in the animals. The work marks the latest in a string of stem-cell breakthroughs.

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December 1, 2007: Why Stem Cells Are Still a Sticky Issue
from Time Magazine Top Stories
Viewpoint: Michael Kinsley doesn't think recent advancements can make up for the GOP's hypocritical stance on embryonic-stem-cell studies - or six years of lost research
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November 29, 2007: Bangladesh, India: Hot Spots for Disaster
from NPR Top Stories Feed
At least 3,100 people have died in Bangladesh as a result of a cyclone that hit the south Asian nation on Nov. 15. A study shows that Bangladesh and its neighbor India are two of the top three hot spots for natural disasters.
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November 26, 2007: Reaching for the Sky: A California Project to Clone Redwoods
from The New York Times Science Section
Scientists are hoping to create more forests in California and other parts of the world.
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November 24, 2007: Reality Check on an Embryonic Debate
from Newsweek Top Stories
So skin cells can turn into stem cells. That doesn't mean cures are in sight.

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November 24, 2007: Suddenly, Connecticut Is Stem Cell Central
from The New York Times Science Section
With $100 million in state money, and a remarkable lack of controversy, stem cell research in Connecticut is picking up speed.
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November 21, 2007: Embryonic Stem Cells Made Without Embryos
from NPR Research News
Two teams of scientists, one in the United States and one in Japan, have independently found a way to make embryonic stem cells without destroying an embryo. The result essentially eliminates the ethical objections some people have had about embryonic stem cell research.
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November 20, 2007: Scientists Create Embryonic Stem Cells from Skin
from NPR Research News
Two teams independently discover a way to turn ordinary human skins cells into stem cells with the same characteristics as those derived from human embryos, a breakthrough that could open the door for advanced medical therapies.
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November 20, 2007: Stem Cell Breakthrough
from U.S. News & World Report
U.S. News Health Editor Bernadine Healy, M.D., http://www.usnews.com/sections/opinion/bhealy will make an appearance tomorrow on CNN's American Morning live at 6:40 a.m. EST. Healy will discuss a breakthrough development in stem cell research announced today. Two groups of researchers say they have been able to turn human skin cells into stem cells, potentially mitigating the ethical debate on the use of human embryonic stem cells.
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November 4, 2007: N. J. to Vote on Funding Stem Cell Research
from NPR Health and Science
New Jersey voters will decide this week whether to spend $450 billion to fund stem cell research in their state. The bond issue is expected to pass, placing New Jersey at the top of the list of states spending large amounts of public money on stem cell research.
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October 29, 2007: Vibrations Shown to Build Bone, Reduce Fat
from NPR Research News
The stem cell in bone marrow can become muscle, bone or fat. A biomedical engineer believes he has found a way to accomplish making muscle and bone. It involves standing on a gently vibrating platform for 15 minutes a day.
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October 25, 2007: Bristol?s Profit More Than Doubles; ImClone Posts Loss
from New York Times Business Feed
Bristol-Myers Squibb said yesterday that its third-quarter profit more than doubled on a resurgence in sales of the blood thinner Plavix, while the biotechnology company ImClone Systems said it swung to a third-quarter loss on higher operating costs.
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October 25, 2007: ImClone Systems Swings to Loss
from New York Times Business Feed
The biotechnology company said it lost $916,000 in the third quarter on higher operating costs, including a $50 million charge for a patent lawsuit settlement.
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October 15, 2007: IVF 'cell bank' plan criticised
from BBC News | Science/Nature
A US firm's controversial proposition to store stem cells from spare IVF embryos has angered UK scientists.
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October 10, 2007: Apathy halts Nobel winner's talk
from BBC News | Science/Nature
A talk on stem cells by Nobel Prize winner Sir Martin Evans is postponed because of a "lack of interest".
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October 8, 2007: Nobel Prize for Cardiff professor
from BBC Front Page News
A professor at Cardiff University is awarded the Nobel Prize for medicine for his stem cell work.
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September 24, 2007: In Trenton, Judge Says Item on Stem Cells Stays on Ballot
from New York Times Health Feed
A state judge ruled on Monday that a $450 million bond proposal to finance stem cell research must stay on the November ballot, dealing a blow to abortion opponents.
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September 20, 2007: Scientists Find Less Controversial Stem Cell
from NPR Research News
Scientists in New York say they may have found cells as promising as embryonic stem cells. Scientists are enthusiastic about the potential for treating a variety of diseases with embryonic stem cells. But obtaining the cells is controversial since it means destroying an embryo.
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September 19, 2007: Testicle stem cell harvest plan
from BBC News | Science/Nature
A man's testicles might be a source of stem cells to help him fight serious diseases, US scientists have shown.
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September 18, 2007: University offers stem cell boost
from BBC News | Science/Nature
Scientists develop a method of routinely growing stem cells in conditions similar to the human body.
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September 14, 2007: Australian Scientist to Lead $3 Billion Stem Cell Research Program in California
from The New York Times National News
An Australian scientist was named to run California?s stem cell research program, filling a vacuum that had threatened to rob the program of recent momentum.
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September 13, 2007: Stem Cell Therapy Goes to the Dogs--and Horses
from Newsweek Top Stories
Three-year-old Nakota, a Siberian Husky, is one of more than 200 dogs who've received high-tech stem cell therapy to relieve pain due to ligament, joint or tendon problems. "While many promising stem cell therapies are still awaiting approval for use in humans, vets are already using the technology to treat arthritis and tendon ailments in dogs and horses.
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August 26, 2007: Stem-Cell Procedure Could Rebuild Heart Tissue
from NPR Health and Science
Heart muscle doesn't regenerate when it's damaged, one reason heart attacks are so debilitating. A dream of researchers is to build new heart muscle using transplanted cardiac stem cells. Scientists at the University of Washington have taken a potentially important step in that direction, using embryonic stem cells as their starting material.
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August 10, 2007: Stem Cell Amendment Changes Little in Missouri
from The New York Times Science Section
A voter-approved expansion of stem cell research in the state has run into political and financial roadblocks, putting the future of the research in doubt.
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August 9, 2007: California: Stem Cell Program Appointment
from The New York Times Science Section
California?s $3 billion stem cell research program appointed an interim president, Richard A. Murphy, while it continued a longer-than-expected search for a permanent chief.
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August 5, 2007: The Laser Beam Revolutionized Medicine and Industry
from U.S. News & World Report
Charles Townes was distressed. It was 1951, a beautiful morning in Washington, D.C., and the physicist had awakened early to take a walk. He was in town for a conference devoted to a peculiar-and frustrating-effect of quantum mechanics: The illusory particles that create light could clone themselves but were getting absorbed faster than they were created.
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August 2, 2007: Revisiting the South Korean Stem-Cell Claim
from NPR Research News
In 2004, South Korean scientists claimed to have derived embryonic stem cells from a cloned human embryo. The claim was discredited, but questions lingered. Now Harvard researchers say the South Koreans made a different sort of breakthrough.
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August 2, 2007: Within Discredited Stem Cell Research, a True Scientific First
from The New York Times Science Section
A Korean scientist who was found to have fabricated much of his work did achieve a scientific first, though not the one he claimed.
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July 31, 2007: ImClone Reports Lower Earnings
from New York Times Business Feed
BOSTON, July 31 (Reuters) ? ImClone Systems said on Tuesday that second-quarter earnings fell as competition eroded sales of its cancer drug Erbitux.
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July 20, 2007: Patrick pitches biotech plan
from The Boston Globe
Governor Deval Patrick provided a blueprint yesterday for his proposed $1 billion investment in biotechnology, introducing sweeping legislation that would finance cutting-edge research, create the nation's largest stem cell bank, and provide expanded tax credits to life science companies.
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July 14, 2007: Endangered turtles might be cloned
from LA Times
Malaysia is studying a plan to clone leatherback turtles, an endangered species that scientists believe once swam with dinosaurs, an official said Thursday.
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July 11, 2007: World Briefing | Europe: Russia: Mammoth?s Corpse Found
from The New York Times Science Section
Remains of a baby mammoth were discovered in the permafrost of northwest Siberia, adding to some scientists? hope of resurrecting the species, the BBC reported. The 6-month-old female calf was on the Yamal peninsula and is thought to have died 10,000 years ago. Scientists have said it could be the best preserved specimen of its type. Its trunk, eyes and some fur are still intact. The mammoth was found in May by a reindeer herder, and last week an international delegation of experts examined it. If viable DNA can be extracted, it might theoretically be cloned.
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July 10, 2007: US could approve clones as food
from BBC News | Science/Nature
The US could approve cloned animals for use as food in as little as two years, according to experts.
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July 3, 2007: Cloned sperm created in the lab
from BBC News | Science/Nature
Cloning sperm could enable men with very low sperm counts to become fathers, say US scientists.
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June 30, 2007: The Moral Status of the Embryo
Harvard Magazine
Is a blastocyst—an early-stage human embryo—a person? As part of the University’s efforts to encourage public dialogue about stem-cell research, the Harvard Stem Cell Institute (HSCI), in conjunction with Harvard Divinity School (HDS) and the Boston Theological Institute, sponsored a March 14 forum, “Religious Perspectives on Stem-Cell Research,” which centered on this fundamental question. Moderated by Philip Clayton, a visiting professor of science and religion, the forum featured four panelists representing the three Abrahamic faiths: Eric Cohen, executive director of the Tikvah fund (a foundation devoted to Jewish ideas and culture) and a consultant to the President’s Council on Bioethics; Omar Sultan Haque, a Muslim theologian currently studying at HDS and Harvard Medical School (HMS); professor John Davis of the Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, an evangelical Christian theologian ordained in the Presbyterian church; and the Reverend Doctor Llewellyn Smith, B.D. ’67, of Andover Newton Theological School, a Congregational minister in the United Church of Christ (UCC). (HSCI faculty members M. William Lensch and Jerome Ritz attended as well to provide scientific input and clarification.)
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June 28, 2007: Scientists: Stem cells created from eggs
from Yahoo Top News Stories
AP - Scientists say they've created embryonic stem cells by stimulating unfertilized eggs, a significant step toward producing transplant tissue that's genetically matched to women.
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June 27, 2007: New stem cell could aid research
from BBC Front Page News
UK researchers say the discovery of a new type of "missing link" stem cell in rodents could boost research.
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June 21, 2007: Bush's Stem Cell Veto Echoes in Research Field
from NPR Health and Science
President Bush vetoed a bill that would allow new federal funding for embryonic stem cell research. Alta Charo, professor of law and bioethics at the University of Wisconsin Law School, talks about what the federal ban means to researchers. Charo spoke with Steve Inskeep.
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June 20, 2007: Majority of couples with frozen embryos would be willing to donate them to research
from Boston Herald National News
WASHINGTON - A majority of couples with stored embryos from fertility treatments say they would be willing to donate unused embryos for stem cell research, says a doctor who surveyed patients. "Large...
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June 20, 2007: Stem Cells: Many Willing Embryo Donors
from Newsweek Top Stories
A surprising survey of infertility patients finds that 60 percent are willing to donate their frozen embryos for stem-cell research. Science favored over adoption.
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June 12, 2007: Stem cell first for Parkinson's
from BBC News | Science/Nature
Parkinson's researchers inject human stem cells into primates for the first time, with promising results.
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June 10, 2007: From Skin Cells to Stem Cells: New Science Still Finds Ongoing Political Fight
from U.S. News & World Report
Congress wasted no time last week jumping on the groundbreaking notion that ordinary adult cells could eventually replace human embryos as the source of stem cells. Opponents of the use of embryos seized on the development to argue that stem cell research could go forward without embryos. And proponents claimed that embryos were needed just as much as ever because of uncertain human applications for the technique.
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May 13, 2007: Donating Your Newborn's Umbilical Cord Might One Day Save a Life
from U.S. News & World Report
When 6-year-old Hayden Zavareei developed an aggressive form of leukemia, the odds were stacked against her. She desperately needed a bone marrow transplant to replace her cancerous blood cells, but neither her sisters nor the worldwide registry of willing donors could provide a match. Her frantic parents searched for other answers-and found one, to their relief, in a vial at a public blood bank at Duke University Medical Center. Today, 2 1/2 years after receiving an infusion of stem cells at Duke from a donated umbilical cord, Hayden is a cancer-free third grader. "Every day is such a blessing," says her father, Hassan, 38, a Bethesda, Md., attorney."I can't help thinking how this baby saved her life."
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May 11, 2007: Odds high, funds sparse for stem cell researchers
from The Boston Globe
For all the hype and hope surrounding stem cell research, most of the companies trying to develop treatments from these powerful cells live in a place Governor Deval Patrick this week called the "valley of death." It is a harsh place where neither the federal government nor private investors provide much support and small firms with limited funding struggle to ...
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May 8, 2007: Massachusetts Proposes Stem Cell Research Grants
from New York Times Health Feed
The $1.25 billion proposal is intended to help the state maintain its status as a pre-eminent place for research.
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April 30, 2007: Probe clears S Korea wolf cloners
from BBC News | Science/Nature
Scientists who claimed to have created the first wolf clones have been cleared by a panel of manipulating data.
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April 26, 2007: ImClone?s Profit Slides but Its Drug Gains Sales
from New York Times Business Feed
The biotechnology developer said that profit fell 87 percent because the company received less money from a marketing partner.
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April 13, 2007: Bush, opposing stem cell research bill, says resist 'temptation to manipulate life'
from Boston Herald National News
WASHINGTON - President Bush, at the national Catholic prayer breakfast, stressed his opposition to easing restrictions on federally funded embryonic stem cell research, a reference to a bill he's...
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April 13, 2007: Kennedy accuses Bush of favoring ideology over evidence
from Boston Herald National News
BOSTON - Sen. Edward M. Kennedy charged the Bush administration Friday with ignoring fact in favor of ideology on an array of topics including stem cell research, global warming and the war in Iraq. During...
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April 12, 2007: A Preliminary Study Shows Stem Cells Fight Diabetes
from U.S. News & World Report
Adult stem cells transplanted into people with type 1-diabetes show potential as a treatment, according to a preliminary study in the current issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association. "It's a very promising step forward, but I would never use the word cure," says Richard Burt, the director of the department of immunotherapy at Northwestern University and one of the study's authors.
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April 12, 2007: Bush vows to veto stem cell bill passed in Democratic-controlled Senate
from Boston Herald National News
WASHINGTON - President Bush remains opposed to easing restrictions on embryonic stem cell research, vowing to veto a measure the Senate hopes will lead to new medical treatments. "This bill crosses...
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April 12, 2007: Senate Backs Embryonic Stem Cell Research
from NPR Research News
The Senate voted Wednesday on a bill that would expand federal funding for embryonic stem-cell research. The bill passed 63-34. But President Bush has reiterated his plans to veto the legislation. Whether the Senate can override a veto is uncertain.
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April 12, 2007: Senate votes to relax rules on stem cells
from Boston Herald National News
WASHINGTON - The Senate voted yesterday to ease restrictions on federally funded embryonic stem cell research, ignoring President Bush's threat of a second veto on legislation designed to lead to...
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April 12, 2007: The Science Behind the Stem Cell Debate
from NPR Research News
The science behind the debate over federal funding of stem-cell research has evolved since it first became a political issue. Opponents of stem-cell research suggest there are alternatives to using embryonic stem cells, while proponents say the cells could lead to cures of a number of diseases.
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April 12, 2007: The Science Behind the Stem-Cell Debate
from NPR Research News
The science behind the debate over federal funding of stem-cell research has evolved since it first became a political issue. Opponents of stem-cell research suggest there are alternatives to using embryonic stem cells, while proponents say the cells could lead to cures of a number of diseases.
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April 11, 2007: Senate defies Bush on stem cells
from BBC News | Science/Nature
The US Senate votes to ease curbs on funding stem-cell research but President George W Bush vows to veto this.
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April 11, 2007: Senate passes stem cell research bill; unlikely to survive Bush veto
from Boston Herald National News
WASHINGTON - A stubborn Senate voted Wednesday to ease restrictions on federally funded embryonic stem cell research, ignoring President Bush's threat of a second veto on legislation designed to...
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April 11, 2007: Senate passing stem cell research bill, but unlikely to survive Bush veto
from Boston Herald National News
WASHINGTON - Persistent senators lined up Wednesday to ease restrictions on federally funded embryonic stem cell research, ignoring President Bush's threat of a second veto on legislation designed...
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April 11, 2007: Senate Republicans Seek Compromise on Stem Cell Research
from U.S. News & World Report
In a speech at the Virginia Military Institute today, Sen. John McCain called the war in Iraq "necessary and just" and reiterated his criticisms of Democrats in Congress who advocate a withdrawal from the war-torn nation.
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April 10, 2007: Bush would veto stem cell research bill (AP)
from Yahoo Top News Stories

AP - President Bush will again veto a bill to subsidize stem cell research using human embryos, but would sign an alternative that permits public funding for studies on embryos incapable of developing into fetuses, the White House said Tuesday.

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April 10, 2007: Diabetes 'blocked by stem cells'
from BBC News | Science/Nature
Brazilian scientists use transfusions of patients' own stem cells to reverse type 1 diabetes.
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April 10, 2007: Erbitux Proves Ineffective for Pancreatic Cancer
from Wall Street Journal, US News
Erbitux failed in a study to significantly prolong the lives of pancreatic-cancer patients, Bristol-Myers and ImClone said. The drug is already sold for other types of cancer.

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April 10, 2007: ImClone?s Drug Fails in Pancreatic Cancer Study
from New York Times Business Feed
ImClone Systems said yesterday that its cancer drug Erbitux failed to help pancreatic cancer patients live longer in a study, a setback for the company?s plan to expand the market for its only product.
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April 10, 2007: S Korea wolf clone claims probed
from BBC News | Science/Nature
A claim by South Korean scientists to have created the first cloned wolves is investigated by officials at the team's university.
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April 10, 2007: Senate, Bush head for showdown on stem cells (Reuters)
from Yahoo Top News Stories

Reuters - The White House threatened on Tuesday to veto a new bid to lift President George W. Bush's restrictions on federal funding of stem cell research as the Senate began considering the bipartisan bill.

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April 10, 2007: Study Shows Promise for Diabetes Patients
from Wall Street Journal, US News
Treating patients with stem cells made from their own blood showed promise as a treatment for 15 patients in Brazil newly diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes.

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April 10, 2007: The Scientific Side of the Stem-Cell Debate
from NPR Politics
This week, the Senate will take up legislation passed by the House that would expand federal funding for embryonic stem cell research. There'll also be discussion of a bill to spend more money on finding ways to make embryonic stem cells without destroying an embryo.
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April 10, 2007: White House: Bush would veto bill subsidizing stem cell research
from Boston Herald National News
WASHINGTON - President Bush will again veto a bill to subsidize stem cell research using human embryos, but would sign an alternative that permits public funding for studies on embryos incapable of developing...
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April 8, 2007: Stem cell vote set for Congress this week (Reuters)
from Yahoo Top News Stories

Reuters - Stem cells will be at the top of the agenda for the U.S. Senate when it returns on Tuesday with supporters of the research hoping they can change the president's mind on the issue and opponents hoping to have a say about their stand.

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April 3, 2007: Heart valve grown from cells
from BBC News | Science/Nature
Scientists at the British Harefield hospital grow part of a human heart from stem cells for the first time.
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April 2, 2007: 3 Patents on Stem Cells Are Revoked in Initial Review
from New York Times Business Feed
If the decision stands, some scientists and consumer groups say it could ease limits on research in the field.
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April 2, 2007: Heart valve grown from stem cells
from BBC News | Science/Nature
Scientists at the British Harefield hospital grow part of a human heart from stem cells for the first time.
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April 2, 2007: U.S. Revokes Stem Cell Patent
from New York Times Business Feed
The Patent and Trademark Office said the patents for cells held by the University of Wisconsin appeared to be either the same or obvious variations of cells described in previous patents.
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March 30, 2007: Governor wants end to curb on stem cells
from The Boston Globe
Governor Deval Patrick will announce this morning that he wants the Department of Public Health to reverse restrictions on stem cell research imposed by his predecessor, according to an administration official with direct knowledge of the governor's intentions.
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March 30, 2007: Key Moments in the Stem Cell Debate
NPR Health & Science
The first embryonic stem cells were isolated in mice in 1981. But it wasn't until 1998 that researchers managed to derive stem cells from human embryos. That kicked into full gear an ethical debate that continues to this day. Here's a look at key moments in the controversy so far:
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March 30, 2007: States Take Lead in Funding Stem Cell Research
NPR Politics, All Things Considered
State governments have taken the unusual step of funding biomedical research – usually done with federal grants – because of federal political decisions to restrict funding for embryonic stem-cell research.
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March 29, 2007: For Athletes, the Next Fountain of Youth?
from New York Times Health Feed
Some doctors and researchers say that in a few years the use of stem cells could grow new knee ligaments or elbow tendons, creating a therapy that becomes the vanguard of sports injury repair.
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March 29, 2007: Francis Collins on 'The Language of God'
NPR Fresh Air, Terry Gross
Geneticist Francis Collins is director of the National Human Genome Research Project. He is also an evangelical Christian, and author of the book The Language of God: A Scientist Presents Evidence for Belief. “I think over the course of time this problem may solve itself. Because it will be the kind of stem cells that don’t come from the union of sperm and egg will be most useful. The ones I would like to have if I was developing Parkinson’s diseases would be stem cells that match me perfectly. So the ability to do this thing called Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer - where you take one of my skin cells and pass it through the experience of being bathed in the cytoplasma of an egg cell - in just such a way - to cause that cell to suddenly be capable of making other types of cells like neurons, that I might need; is a much more promising approach in the long term for medical benefit. And carries with it, in the view of most of us, a much lower moral concern."
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March 23, 2007: Stem Cell Wars: The Cultural and Ideological Bases
Jeffrey E. Horvitz
Originally published, October 19, 2006 Why has stem cell research been singled out of many stunning advances in this, the Golden Age of biology and medicine? Why is there such a tempest in a Petri dish?
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March 8, 2007: EU to look at cloned meat safety
from BBC News | Science/Nature
Europe's food watchdog is to assess whether meat and dairy products from cloned animals are safe to eat.
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February 27, 2007: Panel Finds Flawed Data in a Major Stem Cell Report
from New York Times Health Feed
An inquiry panel has found what it called ?significantly flawed? data in a stem cell paper that claimed stem cells isolated from an adult could change into all the major tissue types of the body.
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February 22, 2007: Cyclone Favio strikes Mozambique
from BBC Front Page News
Cyclone Favio hits central Mozambique with strong winds uprooting trees and damaging houses.
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February 22, 2007: Human Cloning May Be Just Around the Corner
from NPR Health and Science
Ten years after Dolly the cloned sheep was introduced to the world, scientists have yet to successfully clone a human embryo. But even mainstream scientists say it's still only a matter of time.
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February 19, 2007: Romney defends opposition to stem cell research
from Boston Herald National News
SIOUX CITY, Iowa - Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney on Monday defended his opposition to embryonic stem cell research despite its scientific promise to cure diseases like multiple sclerosis...
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February 18, 2007: The Empire Zone: Spitzer?s Stem Cell Plan May Not Steamroll Through the Assembly
from New York Times Health Feed
Gov. Eliot Spitzer?s $2 billion stem cell initiative is getting a cool reception in the Assembly.
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February 13, 2007: Mice cloned from skin stem cells
from BBC News | Science/Nature
Healthy mice are successfully cloned from skin cells taken from adult mice, US researchers report.
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February 12, 2007: Stem cells used to boost breasts
from BBC News | Science/Nature
Scientists in Japan claim to be able to increase the size of a woman's breasts using fat and stem cells.
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February 8, 2007: GOP Advisers Press Boehner to Be More Aggressive
from U.S. News & World Report
House Republican advisers, antsy with the go-slow approach by leaders like Minority Leader John Boehner, are urging that the GOP instead follow the pattern of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, who has aggressively moved on several fronts, including the war in Iraq, taxes, and stem cell research.
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February 7, 2007: 'No Food Till Tenure' Strike Begins
from U.S. News & World Report
A black MIT professor has begun the food strike he promised in January after learning a decision not to give him tenure would not be overturned, the Tech reports. James Sherley, a stem cell scientist, calls MIT's handling of his tenure decision racist, pointing out that the university asked "an African-American head" to sign off on the decision-even though the person "is not in my field."
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February 6, 2007: 10 Years of Cloning
Time Magazine Top Stories
On the anniversary of Dolly, the sheep from Scotland introduced to the world as the first cloned mammal, a look back at a decade of advancements - and controversy
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February 6, 2007: Are the Stem Cell Wars Over?
Time Magazine Top Stories
Researchers at Wake Forest University and Harvard have just announced that they've derived stem cells and used them to grow an amazing variety of cells
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February 6, 2007: Senate Approves Stem Cell Bill
from Time Magazine Top Stories

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January 8, 2007: 'New stem cell source' discovered
from BBC Front Page News
US scientists say they have discovered a source of stem cells which does not involve the use of human embryos.
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January 8, 2007: New Stem-Cell Source Could Alter Debate
from Newsweek Top Stories

Stem cells derived from amniotic fluid show great promise in the lab and may end the divisive ethical debate once and for all.

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January 8, 2007: Stem Cells Found in Amniotic Fluid
from Wall Street Journal, US News
Stem-cell researchers reacted with enthusiasm and reservations to a report that scientists have found stem cells in amniotic fluid, a discovery that could allow them to sidestep controversy over destroying embryos for research.

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January 7, 2007: Researchers report stem cell source in amniotic fluid
from Boston Herald National News
Scientists reported Sunday they had found a plentiful source of stem cells in the fluid that cushions babies in the womb and produced a variety of tissue types from these cells - sidestepping the controversy...
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December 28, 2006: FDA Approves Food From Cloned Animals
from Wall Street Journal, US News
Milk and meat from cloned animals is safe to eat and doesn't require special labeling, the FDA announced.

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December 28, 2006: FDA gives preliminary approval to food from cloned animals
from Boston Herald National News
WASHINGTON - The government declared Thursday that food from cloned animals is safe to eat. After more than five years of study, the Food and Drug Administration concluded that cloned livestock is "virtually...
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December 28, 2006: FDA OKs food from cloned animals (AP)
from Yahoo Top News Stories

AP - The government declared Thursday that food from cloned animals is safe to eat. After more than five years of study, the Food and Drug Administration concluded that cloned livestock is "virtually indistinguishable" from conventional livestock.

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December 28, 2006: FDA Ruling Could Boost Texas Biotech Firm
from U.S. News & World Report
At a Texas ranch run by a biotechnology company, a dozen brown-and-white longhorn calves frolic in a fenced-off plot dotted with yellow wildflowers. The playful 2-week-old babies nudge one another and run together. If the calves seem unusually close, it's because they are. All clones of one show champion longhorn, they share the exact same DNA but were borne by 12 different surrogate cows.
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December 28, 2006: Food from cloned animals safe to eat: FDA (Reuters)
from Yahoo Top News Stories

Reuters - Milk and meat from some cloned animals is safe to eat and can be sold in the United States, the Food and Drug Administration said on Thursday in a landmark draft ruling that brings the controversial technology one step closer to Americans' grocery carts.

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December 28, 2006: Food Safety: Feds Give a Thumbs Up to Cloned Hamburgers
from U.S. News & World Report
You can't tell the difference–even under a microscope–between meat from a cloned cow and meat from a conventional animal, say government scientists. Today, their conclusion cleared the way for the Food and Drug Administration to allow meat and milk from clones onto supermarket shelves. And since there's no discernable difference, the agency says, there's probably no need to mark the food with any special label.
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December 28, 2006: Food Safety: Feds Might Give a Thumbs Up to Meat and Milk From Cloned Cows
from U.S. News & World Report
You can't tell the difference–even under a microscope– between meat from a cloned cow and meat from a conventional animal, say two government scientists. Their conclusion may clear the way for a decision later this week by the Food and Drug Administration to allow meat and milk from clones onto supermarket shelves. And since there's no discernable difference, the scientists say, there's no need to mark the food with any special label.
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December 28, 2006: US body backs sale of cloned food
from BBC News | Science/Nature
US food authorities say food from cloned animals is safe to eat, paving the way for its sale in shops.
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December 27, 2006: FDA poised Thursday to approve food from cloned animals
from Boston Herald National News
WASHINGTON - Federal scientists have concluded there is no difference between food from cloned animals and food from conventional livestock, setting the stage for the government to declare Thursday that...
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December 6, 2006: Australia Lifts Ban on Therapeutic Cloning
from Wall Street Journal, US News
Australia's Parliament lifted a ban on cloning human embryos for stem cell research despite opposition from the prime minister and other party leaders.

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December 6, 2006: Australia overturns cloning ban
from BBC News | Science/Nature
Australia lifts a ban on cloning human embryos for stem cell research, despite strong opposition.
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December 5, 2006: Foetal cells 'to treat strokes'
from BBC News | Science/Nature
A UK company is applying for permission to transplant stem cells made from human foetal tissue into the brains of stroke patients.
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November 28, 2006: Journal Faulted in Publishing Korean’s Claims
from The New York Times Science Section
Fraudulent stem cell reports that shook the scientific world could have been prevented by extra review procedures, according to a panel appointed by the journal Science.
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November 21, 2006: Connecticut Legislature committed 100 million dollars to embryonic stem cell research
Connecticut
History was made in Connecticut this week. Nearly three dozen stem cell scientists were awarded public funds to conduct embryonic stem cell research. This puts Connecticut in a leadership position in stem cell research in the U.S.
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September 13, 2006: New Battle Lines Are Drawn Over Egg Donation
Los Angeles Times - By Lee Romney, Times Staff Writer
The issue of whether to pay women to be stem cell research donors has split feminists, causing some to align with Christian conservatives. Ann Kiessling, director of the Bedford Stem Cell Research Foundation in Massachusetts, said banning it was no guarantee that women wouldn't be exploited. "They're only going to be protected by good medical care and fully informed consent," she said. "How well they're cared for is independent of whether they're going to be compensated."
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August 24, 2006: City seeks to lure stem cell labs
Somerville Journal - By David L. Harris/ Journal Staff
With the encouragement of a little-known stem cell research lab, Somerville’s going all-out in its bid to attract more cutting edge biotech companies. "The mayor said, ’What, you’re kidding?" said Ann A. Kiessling, the director of Davis Square-based Bedford Stem Cell Research Foundation, when she recently told him they exist. "Now’s the time. Everything has now fallen into place." Kiessling, a Harvard-affiliated researcher, has maintained the Bedford Foundation’s location on Elm Street, not far from Redbones, Starbucks and The Burren, since 1998. Since 2000, Kiessling and fellow researchers have been successfully replicating monkey, cow and mouse eggs trying to eventually use unfertilized eggs to develop human stem cells.
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April 10, 2006: In End Run Around Legal Challenge, California Gives Out Stem Cell Research Grants
from The New York Times National News
The state's program to study embryonic stem cells drew on money put up by state business leaders.
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April 10, 2006: Umbilical Cord Blood: The Future of Stem Cell Research?
from National Geographic Magazine
Scientists have found that umbilical cord blood may be a new source of organ-growing stem cells. But experts disagree about the future of this potentially life-saving resource.
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April 6, 2006: Champion Horse Cloned by Texas Breeder
from National Geographic Magazine
The first commercially cloned horse in the United States was recently born, opening the gates on questions about the future of horse breeding and racing.
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April 4, 2006: $14 Million for Research on Stem Cells
from New York Times Business Feed
LOS ANGELES, April 4 — California's stem cell research program has arranged for a stopgap infusion of $14 million from philanthropic foundations started by some of California's wealthiest businesspeople.
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March 30, 2006: Co. Produces Clones From Cutting Horses (AP)
from Yahoo Top News Stories

AP - A company that offers horse owners exact duplicates of their animals says it has successfully cloned two top-earning horses.

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March 30, 2006: Goodbye Dolly: Up From Sheep to Cloned Horses
from New York Times Business Feed
A Texas company, Viagen, announced the succesful birth of a cloned commercial horse, and say seven more are on their way.
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March 29, 2006: Cloned Pigs Produce Healthy Pork?
from National Geographic Magazine
Scientists say they have genetically modified pigs to make their meat as healthy as seafood. Can heart-smart pork chops be far behind?
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March 28, 2006: Mouse Testicles Yield Promising Stem Cells
from National Geographic Magazine
Scientists say they have isolated stem cells in adult mouse testicles that have properties similar to embryonic stem cells, offering possible clues to new sources of stem cells in humans.
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March 26, 2006: Cloning May Lead to Healthy Pork
from The New York Times National News
Researchers said that they had created pigs that make their own omega-3 fatty acids, but for now the benefits are theoretical.
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March 26, 2006: Germans announce stem cell advance
from The Boston Globe
German scientists said yesterday that they have created cells similar to embryonic stem cells without using embryos, suggesting a way that stem cell research might advance without the controversy that has surrounded it.
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March 26, 2006: Pork That's Good for the Heart May Be Possible With Cloning
from The New York Times National News
Researchers said that they had created pigs that make their own omega-3 fatty acids, but for now the benefits are theoretical.
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March 25, 2006: Cloned Pigs Could Provide Meat That Benefits the Heart
from The New York Times Science Section
A group of university researchers said that they had created cloned pigs that make their own omega-3 fatty acids.
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March 25, 2006: Cloned Pigs Could Provide Meat That Helps Heart
from The New York Times Science Section
A group of university researchers said today that they had created cloned pigs that make their own omega-3 fatty acids.
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March 25, 2006: Pursuing healthier bacon through genetic engineering and cloning
from Boston Herald National News
SAN FRANCISCO - A microscopic worm may be the key to heart-friendly bacon. Geneticists have mixed DNA from the roundworm C. elegans and pigs to produce swine with significant amounts of omega-3 fatty...
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March 24, 2006: Study: Adult Mice Cells Mimic Embryonic Stem Cells
from NPR Health and Science
German scientists say cells from the testes of male mice can behave like embryonic stem cells. If the same holds true in humans, it could perhaps provide a controversy-free source of versatile cells for use in treating disease.
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March 24, 2006: Study: Cells from Adult Mice Mimic Embryonic Stem Cells
from NPR Health and Science
German scientists say cells from the testes of male mice can behave like embryonic stem cells. If the same holds true in humans, it could perhaps provide a controversy-free source of versatile cells for use in treating disease.
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March 24, 2006: Testicle cells may aid research
from BBC News | Science/Nature
Scientists believe the human testicle may provide a less controversial source of cells for stem cell research.
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March 20, 2006: School Fires Scientist for Stem Cell Fraud (AP)
from Yahoo Top News Stories

AP - Disgraced cloning scientist Hwang Woo-suk was fired Monday as professor of Seoul National University over his stem cell fraud.

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March 20, 2006: Scientist Hwang Fired for Stem Cell Fraud (AP)
from Yahoo Top News Stories

AP - Disgraced cloning scientist Hwang Woo-suk was fired Monday as professor of Seoul National University over his stem cell fraud.

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March 20, 2006: South Korea cloning expert fired
from BBC News | Science/Nature
Disgraced South Korean cloning scientist Hwang Woo-suk is dismissed from Seoul National University.
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March 19, 2006: Raging cyclone brings fear to Australian coast (AFP)
from Yahoo Top News Stories

AFP - The howling winds, pounding seas and lashing rain made even Australia's legendary tough men quake as Cyclone Larry hit the coast in the country's tropical northeast.

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March 19, 2006: Tropical cyclone hits northeastern Australia (Reuters)
from Yahoo Top News Stories

Reuters - A powerful cyclone ripped roofs of houses and uprooted trees near the tropical city of Cairns in Australia's far northeast on Monday, with winds of up to 290 kph (180 mph) devastating local communities and crops.

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March 13, 2006: Fraud Leads to Procedural Reviews at Scientific Journals
from NPR Health and Science
A high-profile case of research fraud is prompting science journals to reexamine their review procedures. Last year, South Korean scientists claimed to have made breakthroughs in cloning. Journals assumed that the reports' authors were telling the truth about their research. They later learned some of the data were fraudulent.
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March 11, 2006: Stem Cell Proposal Splits Missouri G.O.P.
from The New York Times Science Section
A ballot proposal promoting embryonic stem cell research is turning conservatives against one another in Missouri.
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March 9, 2006: Science moves on from dog clone
from BBC News | Science/Nature
The fall-out from the Korean cloning scandal means major scientific claims will be subjected to more scrutiny.
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March 5, 2006: Cosby's Lawyers See No Flattery in an Imitation
from New York Times Business Feed
The creator of an animated series featuring an obsessed Bill Cosby fan who builds a machine that clones Cosbys has received a cease and desist letter from the actor's lawyers.
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March 2, 2006: Trial Over California Stem Cell Research Ends
from New York Times Health Feed
Lawyers opposed to embryonic stem cell research have argued that the $3 billion program violates the state Constitution.
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March 1, 2006: Korean cloning expert questioned
from BBC News | Science/Nature
South Korean prosecutors question disgraced cloning expert Hwang Woo-suk and three of his researchers.
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March 1, 2006: Wider Use of ImClone Drug
from New York Times Business Feed
By Bloomberg News.
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February 28, 2006: Setback for a Novel Heart-Attack Treatment
from New York Times Health Feed
A report by researchers in Germany severely undercut an apparently promising form of stem cell therapy for heart attack patients.
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February 25, 2006: Conflicting laws hinder research
from BBC News | Science/Nature
Inconsistent national policies in embryonic stem cell research hamper collaboration, scientists say.
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February 20, 2006: Stem Cells May Be Key to Cancer
from The New York Times Science Section
A far more pressing reason to study stem cells is the fact that they are the source of at least some, and perhaps all, cancers.
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February 19, 2006: Harvard unveils plans for complex
from The Boston Globe
The first building of Harvard University's new campus in Allston will be a 500,000-square-foot science complex, with a state-of-the-art stem cell laboratory at its heart, according to plans unveiled yesterday by university officials and Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino.
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February 19, 2006: Talent Shifts Stance on Stem-Cell Research
from NPR Health and Science
Missouri Republican Sen. Jim Talent, running for re-election his fall, has infuriated supporters by taking his name off a bill to ban cloning. Anti-abortion organizations are fighting an amendment that would protect stem-cell research from being criminalized.
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February 17, 2006: Stem Cell Research: Science and the Future
from NPR Health and Science
In Stem Cell Now, bioethics expert Christopher Thomas Scott explores the possibilities of what some consider the greatest discovery since nuclear fusion: the isolation of embryonic stem cells for research.
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February 16, 2006: U.K. Seeks Lead in Stem-Cell Research
from NPR Health and Science
As the debate about embryonic stem-cell research rages in the United States, the United Kingdom is trying to become a leader in this burgeoning field of research. It has launched a stem-cell bank and is building several labs to make pharmaceutical-grade stem cells.
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February 15, 2006: Science Academy Creating Panel to Monitor Stem-Cell Research
from The New York Times Science Section
To fill a void in federal supervision, the National Academy of Sciences is setting up a committee to provide informal oversight over research with embryonic stem cells.
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February 14, 2006: Cloning research egg donor plan
from BBC News | Science/Nature
Women could be allowed to donate eggs for cloning research under plans to be considered by the fertility watchdog.
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February 14, 2006: U.K. Takes Lead in Stem-Cell Research
from NPR Health and Science
As the debate about embryonic stem-cell research rages in the United States, the United Kingdom is trying to become a leader in this burgeoning field of research. It has launched a stem-cell bank and is building several labs to make pharmaceutical-grade stem cells.
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February 10, 2006: University Panel Faults Cloning Co-Author
from The New York Times Science Section
Dr. Gerald P. Schatten, a biologist at the University of Pittsburgh, linked to Dr. Hwang Woo Suk and his discredited claim to have cloned human cells, is accused of "research misbehavior."
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February 9, 2006: S Korea cloning expert suspended
from BBC News | Science/Nature
Disgraced South Korean cloning scientist Hwang Woo-suk is suspended from Seoul National University.
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February 8, 2006: Babies' Cells Linger, May Protect Mothers
from NPR Health and Science
Some scientists have proposed that when a woman has a baby, she gets not just a son or a daughter, but a gift of cells that stays behind and protects her for the rest of her life. That's because a baby's cells linger in its mom's body for decades and -- like stem cells -- may help to repair damage when she gets sick.
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February 6, 2006: U.K. Researchers Chase Stem-Cell Breakthrough
from NPR Health and Science
Researchers at Seoul National University last year said they had made eleven different embryonic stem cell lines from cloned human embryos. Investigation has proven that breakthrough work to be fabricated. Now, two research teams in the United Kingdom are trying to replicate the work legitimately.
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February 3, 2006: NY mayor donates $100 mln to stem cell research (Reuters)
from Yahoo Science News

Reuters - New York's Republican Mayor Michael Bloomberg has made a $100 million donation toward stem cell research in the latest quiet move against his own party's policies.

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February 3, 2006: S.Korean commits suicide over Hwang scientist case (Reuters)
from Yahoo Science News

Reuters - A South Korean truck driver killed himself on Saturday by setting himself on fire after distributing leaflets urging disgraced stem-cell scientist Hwang Woo-suk to resume his research, police said.

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February 2, 2006: Billionaire NYC Mayor Gives Hospital $100M (AP)
from Yahoo Science News
This is an artist's rendition of a planned Childrens Tower at Hopkins Hospital. An anonymous donation of $100 million to support work at the medical school and undergraduate campus has been made to the Johns Hopkins Institutions, the university announced in Baltimore Thursday, Feb. 2, 2006. The private donation will fund stem cell research, the renovation of Gilman Hall on the Homewood campus, projects at the School of Public Health and a $275 million Children's Tower at Hopkins Hospital, which will be built starting in June.(AP Photo/Perkins and Will) AP - Mayor Michael Bloomberg, a billionaire known for his philanthropy, anonymously donated $100 million Thursday to Johns Hopkins University to support stem cell research, a new children's hospital and other projects, The Associated Press has learned.
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January 31, 2006: Donor Payments and Stem Cell Research
WBUR By Allan Coukell
Now some scientists here are worried that new restrictions on payments to egg donors in Massachusetts may make local stem cell research more difficult.
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January 26, 2006: Korea cloning expert questioned
from BBC News | Science/Nature
Disgraced scientist Hwang Woo-suk is questioned by officials for the first time since admitting his work was faked.
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January 23, 2006: A Conversation With Douglas Melton: At Harvard's Stem Cell Center, the Barriers Run Deep and Wide
from The New York Times Science Section
Even before President Bush barred federal financing for most human embryonic stem cell research, the work of Douglas Melton was mired in controversy.
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January 23, 2006: S Korea probes stem cell trials
from BBC News | Science/Nature
South Korean authorities investigate whether abuses took place during clinical trials for stem cell treatments.
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January 21, 2006: In a Country That Craved Respect, Stem Cell Scientist Rode a Wave of Korean Pride
from The New York Times Science Section
Fierce nationalism in South Korea shielded disgraced Dr. Hwang Woo Suk from scrutiny.
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January 12, 2006: Animal eggs 'to grow stem cells'
from BBC News | Science/Nature
Researchers are looking at using animal eggs as "hosts" in order to grow human stem cells.
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January 12, 2006: Insight into mystery of antlers
from BBC News | Science/Nature
Stem cells play a key role in the deer's remarkable ability to grow new antlers, according to research.
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January 11, 2006: South Korea Scientist Contrite for Stem Cell Fraud
from The New York Times Science Section
Dr. Hwang Woo Suk's tearful apology, which he offered with 20 colleagues standing behind him, marked a grand anticlimax to his career.
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January 10, 2006: News Analysis: Lesson in South Korea: Stem Cells Aren't Cars or Chips
from The New York Times Science Section
The downfall of a vilified scientist holds a lesson for developing countries rushing into cutting-edge life science.
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January 10, 2006: Science takes stock after row
from BBC News | Science/Nature
Scientists are reviewing how revelations about South Korea's stem cell pioneer leaves research.
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January 10, 2006: Scientist's embryo cloning faked
from BBC News | Science/Nature
A South Korean scientist's research on cloning human embryos was faked, a panel rules, but he did clone a dog.
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January 9, 2006: Researcher Faked Evidence of Human Cloning, Koreans Report
from The New York Times Science Section
A South Korean researcher who claimed to have cloned human cells fabricated all his evidence, an investigation found.
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January 6, 2006: Court Upholds Martha Stewart's Conviction
from Wall Street Journal, US News
A federal appeals court upheld the convictions of Martha Stewart and her former stockbroker Peter Bacanovic on obstruction of justice and other charges related to the 2001 sale of ImClone shares. (Law blog)
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January 2, 2006: Scientists Report a Crucial Gain in Growing Stem Cells
from The New York Times Science Section
Scientists have developed a stem-cell culture medium free of animal cells and used it to derive two new human embryonic stem-cell lines.
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December 30, 2005: Amid Confusion, Journal Retracts Korean's Stem Cell Paper
from The New York Times Science Section
Editors of the journal Science are finding it hard to set the record straight on a controversial paper on cloned human stem cells.
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December 29, 2005: Fresh blow for S Korea clone work
from BBC News | Science/Nature
South Korea's disgraced cloning expert did not make stem cells tailored to individuals, a panel concludes.
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December 29, 2005: New blow to S Korea clone work
from BBC News | Science/Nature
South Korea's disgraced cloning expert did not make stem cells tailored to individuals, a panel concludes.
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December 29, 2005: S Korea cloning expert faked work
from BBC News | Science/Nature
South Korea's disgraced cloning expert did not make stem cells tailored to individuals, a panel concludes.
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December 29, 2005: University Disputes Stem-Cell Research
from Wall Street Journal, US News
A South Korean scientist fabricated results for all the stem cells he said were tailored to individual patients, Seoul National University said.
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December 28, 2005: Panel Further Discredits South Korean Scientist
from The New York Times Science Section
A panel found no evidence that Hwang Woo Suk extracted stem cells from cloned human embryos that genetically match patients.
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December 28, 2005: Panel Further Discredits Stem Cell Work of South Korean Scientist
from The New York Times Science Section
A panel found no evidence that Hwang Woo Suk extracted stem cells from cloned human embryos that genetically match patients.
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December 27, 2005: 'Give stem cells to ill patients'
from BBC News | Science/Nature
The scientist who cloned Dolly the Sheep is calling for stem cell treatment to be offered to terminally-ill people.
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December 24, 2005: Clone Scientist Relied on Peers and Korean Pride
from The New York Times Science Section
Dr. Hwang Woo Suk's faked research left scientists wondering how he had risen so fast and deceived so many.
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December 22, 2005: Faked Research on Stem Cells Is Confirmed by Korean Panel
from The New York Times Science Section
The South Korean researcher Hwang Woo Suk faked results of at least 9 of 11 stem cell lines he had claimed to have created.
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December 16, 2005: New Jersey Awards $5 Million in Grants for Stem Cell Research
from The New York Times Science Section
The grants represent an important step in New Jersey's effort to establish a stem cell research industry.
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December 16, 2005: South Korean Scientist Says He'll Prove Cloning Method
from The New York Times Science Section
A South Korean scientist lashed out at his critics, saying he would prove the validity of his stem cell cloning technique within two weeks.
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December 15, 2005: Korean Scientist Said to Admit Fabrication in a Cloning Study
from The New York Times Science Section
The South Korean scientist who claimed a series of advances in cloning and stem cell research has admitted that critical parts of one discovery had been fabricated.
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December 15, 2005: S Korea stem cell success 'faked'
from BBC News | Science/Nature
South Korea's cloning pioneer has admitted faking key parts of his stem cell research, a colleague says.
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December 14, 2005: Adult stem cells 'fusion hope'
from BBC News | Science/Nature
Scientists believe adult stem cells may be more flexible than first thought, which could help in fighting disease.
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December 14, 2005: Scientist Faked Stem Cell Study, Associate Says
from The New York Times Science Section
Hwang Woo Suk faked a landmark research paper, one of his South Korean co-authors said today in television and newspaper interviews.
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December 13, 2005: American Co-Author Wants His Name Off Stem Cell Paper
from The New York Times Science Section
The request, by Dr. Gerald Schatten of the University of Pittsburgh, came after serious accusations about the validity of an article.
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December 9, 2005: California's Stem Cell Program Is Hobbled but Staying the Course
from The New York Times Science Section
More than a year after Californians approved a program to harness human embryonic stem cells to treat diseases, not a single dollar has yet been spent on research.
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December 9, 2005: Cell bank 'requires few samples'
from BBC News | Science/Nature
The UK Stem Cell Bank could be well stocked by samples from as few as 150 human embryos, scientists say.
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December 9, 2005: New Criticism Rages Over South Korean Cell Research
from The New York Times Science Section
A new round of criticism has broken out in South Korea over the accuracy of a recent article that reported a dramatic advance in human stem cell research.
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December 6, 2005: Journal Defends Stem Cell Article Despite Photo Slip
from The New York Times Science Section
An error arose because the authors supplied the wrong photos and not because of anything that would undermine the article's conclusions, editors said.
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December 5, 2005: New Questions on a Breakthrough in Human Stem Cell Research
from The New York Times Science Section
The South Korean researcher whose work was hailed as an advance in stem cell research is correcting photographs that appeared with his article.
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December 1, 2005: Experts plead for stem cell cash
from BBC News | Science/Nature
UK stem cell scientists call for £350m for research by 2016 as the government pledges £50m by 2007.
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November 24, 2005: Korean Leaves Cloning Center in Ethics Furor
from The New York Times Science Section
The South Korean stem cell researcher apologized for lying about the sources of some human eggs used in his research.
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November 16, 2005: Cartilage grown from stem cells
from BBC News | Science/Nature
Cartilage cells have been grown from stem cells, raising hopes of a new way to treat injuries, UK scientists have revealed.
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November 14, 2005: Scientists' Rift on Stem Cells Surrounded by Mystery
from The New York Times National News
An American researcher announced that he was suspending his ties with a South Korean research team, citing ethical concerns.
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October 28, 2005: Italian laboratory clones 14 pigs
from BBC News | Science/Nature
The Italian research group that produced the first horse clone has announced the birth of 14 pig clones.
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October 28, 2005: Pig clones born in Italy
from BBC News | Science/Nature
The Italian research group that produced the first horse clone has announced the birth of 14 pig clones.
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October 21, 2005: An overseas home for embryonic stem cells
from U.S. News & World Report
Korean stem cell researchers have announced the opening of the World Stem Cell Hub, funded by the South Korean government. The hub will create and store embryonic stem cells that can be made available to researchers around the world.
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October 21, 2005: Bush faces political dilemma over move to fund stem cell research (Chicago Tribune)
from Yahoo Science News
Chicago Tribune - Long-disputed legislation to fund additional embryonic stem cell research could be revived in coming months, presenting President Bush with another political headache as he confronts a series of crises.
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October 21, 2005: Embryonic Stem Cell Bill Postponed (AP)
from Yahoo Science News

AP - The Senate won't vote until early next year on a bill to loosen restrictions on publicly funded embryonic stem cell studies, under a deal struck Friday by the sponsors.

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October 21, 2005: Senate Pushes Back Stem-Cell Debate to '06
from New York Times Health Feed
A Senate debate over whether to ease federal restrictions on stem cell research will be put off until next year, an influential senator seeking to relax the rules said.
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October 21, 2005: Senate stem cell vote to wait until 2006 (Reuters)
from Yahoo Science News

Reuters - Legislation to expand federally funded embryonic stem cell research will not come to a vote in the U.S. Senate until early next year, one of the sponsors, Sen. Arlen Specter, said on Friday.

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October 20, 2005: South Korea Aims to Ease Stem-Cell Access
from NPR Health and Science
South Korean scientists announce a new consortium aimed at giving researchers wider access to custom-made human embryonic stem-cell lines. The World Stem Cell Hub conflicts with U.S. policies that have limited scientists' access to stem cells in the past.
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October 20, 2005: South Korea to supply cloned human cells
from The Boston Globe
South Korean scientists are organizing an international consortium, to include laboratories in California and Britain, that will clone human cells for American and other researchers who don't have access to the controversial stem cell technology.
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October 19, 2005: Fox to Guest Star on 'Boston Legal' (AP)
from Yahoo Top News Stories

AP - Michael J. Fox, who left his "Spin City" sitcom because of his fight against Parkinson's disease, will guest star on three episodes of "Boston Legal" scheduled to air this season.

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October 19, 2005: International stem cell bank open
from BBC News | Science/Nature
A bank that will create and supply embryonic stem cells for international research opens in South Korea.
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October 19, 2005: S.Korea launches ambitious global stem-cell project (Reuters)
from Yahoo Science News

Reuters - South Korea launched on Wednesday an ambitious project to make the country a global hub for stem-cell storage and research, hoping to further cement its status at the forefront of cloning research.

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October 19, 2005: Wilma Now Most Intense Atlantic Storm Ever (AP)
from Yahoo Top News Stories

AP - Gathering strength at a fierce pace, Hurricane Wilma swirled into the most intense Atlantic storm ever recorded Wednesday, a Category 5 monster packing 175 mph wind that forecasters warned was "extremely dangerous."

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October 18, 2005: Codey Announces Change to Aid Stem Cell Research
from New York Times Health Feed
The creation of a statewide public bank for umbilical and placental blood is another step to make New Jersey a leader in a growing medical research field.
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October 18, 2005: Korean Researchers to Help Others Clone Cells for Study
from The New York Times Science Section
The Korean researchers who pioneered the cloning of human cells say they will set up a worldwide foundation to help create embryonic stem cells for medical research.
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October 18, 2005: New approach reported in stem cell creation
from The Boston Globe
Two teams of Massachusetts researchers announced yesterday that they have made progress creating embryonic stem cells without destroying embryos, suggesting that scientists might someday find a technical solution to one of the nation's most highly charged ethical debates.
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October 18, 2005: Scientists to Create New Stem Cell Lines (AP)
from Yahoo Science News
AP - Scientists in South Korea will help their American colleagues — frustrated by U.S. government barriers — create new lines of embryonic stem cells in an unusual partnership in the contentious field, researchers in both countries announced Wednesday.
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October 18, 2005: Senate May Postpone Stem Cell Vote (AP)
from Yahoo Science News

AP - The Senate wouldn't vote until next year on a House-passed bill to expand federal funding of embryonic stem cell research under a deal quietly being suggested by Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist.

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October 17, 2005: Hope over stem cell ethical fears
from BBC News | Science/Nature
US scientists say they have developed a way of creating stem cells without destroying the embryo they grow in.
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October 17, 2005: New Jersey Creates Blood Bank for Stem Cell Research
from New York Times Health Feed
Governor Richard J. Codey announced the creation of what he called the nation's first statewide public bank for umbilical and placental blood.
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October 17, 2005: New Stem-Cell Growth Technique Emerges
from NPR Health and Science
Scientists are reporting alternative methods for growing embryonic stem cells in mice. If it can be used in humans, the development could potentially quell a moral debate over use of the cells for research.
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October 17, 2005: No Embryos Lost to New Stem Cells (Los Angeles Times)
from Yahoo Science News
Los Angeles Times - Scientists say they have created viable embryonic stem cell lines without destroying any embryos — a development that could clear ethical barriers that have sharply restricted federal funding for the controversial research.
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October 16, 2005: Alternative stem cell methods work in mice-studies (Reuters)
from Yahoo Science News

Reuters - Two alternative methods for making embryonic stem cells work in mice and might lead to a less controversial way to grow them, researchers reported on Sunday.

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October 16, 2005: Alternative stem cell methods work in mice: studies (Reuters)
from Yahoo Science News

Reuters - Two alternative methods for making embryonic stem cells work in mice and might lead to a less controversial way to grow them, researchers reported on Sunday.

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October 16, 2005: Experiments May Overcome Stem-Cell Qualms (AP)
from Yahoo Top News Stories

AP - Two new mouse experiments may show how to obtain human embryonic stem cells without ethical hurdles, a step that could allow federal funding for such research, scientists reported Sunday.

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October 16, 2005: New Insights May Ease Stem Cell Process
from NPR Health and Science
New research may solve an ethical dilemma facing scientists. Emrbyonic stem cells are prized in the scientific world because of their potential for treating diseases. But obtaining those stem cells means destroying embryos. The new research may provide a way around that moral conundrum.
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October 16, 2005: New Ways to Obtain Stem Cells
from Wall Street Journal, US News
Scientists derived stem cells without destroying embryos, research in the journal Nature shows. Findings may ease some concerns over stem-cell use.
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October 16, 2005: Stem Cell Test Tried on Mice Saves Embryo
from The New York Times National News
A new technique to derive embryonic stem cells in mice that does not destroy an embryo could shift the political debate about human stem cell research.
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October 16, 2005: Studies May Show New Way to Get Stem Cells (AP)
from Yahoo Top News Stories

AP - Two new mouse experiments may show how to obtain human embryonic stem cells without ethical hurdles, a step that could allow federal funding for such research, scientists reported Sunday.

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October 15, 2005: Scientists Devise New Stem Cell Methods to Ease Concerns
from The New York Times Science Section
In a development that may shift the debate over embryonic stem cells, researchers have devised two new techniques designed to alleviate ethical concerns.
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October 15, 2005: Scientists Devise Stem Cell Methods to Ease Concerns
from The New York Times Science Section
In a development that may shift the debate over embryonic stem cells, researchers have devised two new techniques designed to alleviate ethical concerns.
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October 13, 2005: Calif. court taking up motion to toss stem cell bonds (Reuters)
from Yahoo Science News
Reuters - A California judge overseeing a lawsuit to prevent the state from issuing up to $3 billion in bonds for its stem cell research institute has scheduled a hearing on November 17 on a motion to dismiss the lawsuit, a spokesman for the state's lawyer said on Thursday.
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October 11, 2005: Mo. Groups Propose Stem Cell Amendment (AP)
from Yahoo Science News

AP - A coalition of researchers and patients groups proposed a constitutional amendment Tuesday to protect stem cell research in Missouri, where anti-abortion activists have tried to outlaw a particular type of research they say amounts to the taking of a human life.

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October 11, 2005: Stem cell heart cure to be tested
from BBC Front Page News
Doctors have launched a trial to test whether heart disease can be treated using a patient's own stem cells.
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October 10, 2005: California Maps Strategy for Its $3 Billion Stem Cell Project
from New York Times Health Feed
Zach W. Hall is about to lay the groundwork for the largest biomedical venture since the Human Genome Project.
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October 8, 2005: Windpipe defect repaired in womb
from BBC Front Page News
Stem cells from amniotic fluid have been used to repair windpipe defects in unborn lambs while still in the womb.
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October 6, 2005: Is Cloned Food Destined for Our Tables? (AP)
from Yahoo Science News

AP - About 80 miles east of Austin, out where the fire ants bite and men still doff their baseball hats when greeting women, 20 cows pregnant with calves cloned by ViaGen Inc. have just arrived.

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October 6, 2005: South Korean Catholics fund stem-cell research (AFP)
from Yahoo Science News

AFP - South Korea's Roman Catholic Church plans to fund research here into deriving stem cells from adults rather than human embryos, church officials said.

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October 3, 2005: US sets up national stem-cell bank (Reuters)
from Yahoo Science News

Reuters - The University of Wisconsin, where human embryonic stem cells were first isolated, will host the first federally funded bank of the valuable cells, the U.S. government said on Monday.

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October 3, 2005: Wis.-Based Group to Run Stem Cell Bank (AP)
from Yahoo Science News

AP - A Wisconsin-based research group will run the nation's first embryonic stem cell bank under a four-year, $16 million federal contract, officials announced Monday.

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October 1, 2005: 'Left-Over' Embryos Present Dilemma
from NPR Health and Science
Opponents to embryonic stem cell research point out its moral cost: the destruction of human embryos. Two couples discuss the different choices they made about the embryos they left at a fertility clinic.
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September 30, 2005: U. of Wis. to Host National Stem Cell Bank (AP)
from Yahoo Science News
AP - The University of Wisconsin-Madison will house the nation's first bank of embryonic stem cells, Gov. Jim Doyle's office said Friday.
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September 24, 2005: 'We're not like New Orleans' says China as it braces for typhoon (AFP)
from Yahoo Science News
AFP - Southeastern China braced itself as tropical storm Damrey was upgraded to a typhoon, though officials insisted the country's experience dealing with cyclones would prevent a New Orleans-style disaster.
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September 23, 2005: Philippines says close to cloning water buffalo (Reuters)
from Yahoo Science News

Reuters - Researchers in the Philippines say they are close to creating the world's first clone of a water buffalo that could eventually help raise productivity levels for millions of impoverished farmers.

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September 23, 2005: Stem Cells Repair Damaged Spinal Cords in Mice
from National Geographic Magazine
Human stem cells injected into mice can repair damaged spinal cords and help partially paralyzed mice walk again, scientists say, raising hope for spin-off human therapies.
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September 21, 2005: Research Finds Stem Cells Aid in Spinal Cord Repair
from NPR Health and Science
Scientists in California have shown that it is possible to used human neural stem cells to repair spinal cord injury in mice. Debate has surrounded whether stem cells actually helped in spinal cord repair. The new research shows that when the cells were removed, the repairs disappeared.
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September 19, 2005: Study: Stem Cells May Repair Cord Damage (AP)
from Yahoo Science News

AP - Injections of human stem cells seem to directly repair some of the damage caused by spinal cord injury, according to research that helped partially paralyzed mice walk again.

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September 18, 2005: Work on Stem Cells, DNA Research Honored (AP)
from Yahoo Science News
AP - Two scientists who first identified stem cells and two others who did pioneering work in DNA research have won prestigious medical awards.
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September 17, 2005: Five Pioneers Are Awarded Lasker Medical Prizes
from The New York Times Science Section
The 2005 Lasker Awards are going to scientists who discovered stem cells, invented genetic fingerprinting and developed technology crucial to mapping the human genome.
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September 15, 2005: Link likely between global warming, stronger hurricanes: US study (AFP)
from Yahoo Science News

AFP - The quantity of high-strength cyclones, like Hurricane Katrina, has nearly doubled in 35 years in all five of Earth's ocean basins, which scientists said could be linked to global climate change.

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September 12, 2005: Analyzing the Circuitry of Stem Cells
from The New York Times Science Section
Insights may have been gained by mapping the top-level circuitry that controls the human embryonic stem cell.
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September 8, 2005: Team Finds Stem Cells in Heart Tissue (AP)
from Yahoo Science News
AP - Japanese researchers have discovered stem cells in human heart tissue, a development that could lead to improved treatments for heart disease and reduce the need for transplants, a Japanese newspaper reported Friday.
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September 7, 2005: Winston warns of stem cell 'hype'
from BBC News | Science/Nature
Fertility expert Lord Winston says the potential benefits of embryonic stem cell research have probably been oversold.
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September 6, 2005: Senate Reconvenes, Agenda Sidelined
from NPR Top Stories Feed
The Senate returns from its five-week break and tosses out its planned agenda in order to focus on Katrina relief efforts. Gone for the time being are efforts to permanently repeal the estate tax, restructure social security, and debate stem cell research proposals.
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September 4, 2005: Winston warns of stem cell hype
from BBC Front Page News
Fertility expert Lord Winston says the potential benefits of embryonic stem cell research have probably been oversold.
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August 31, 2005: StemCells gets license for California facility (Reuters)
from Yahoo Science News

Reuters - Biotechnology company StemCells Inc. on Wednesday said it had received a manufacturing license for a cell processing facility in California.

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August 30, 2005: Mother's stem cell hopes for baby
from BBC Front Page News
A young mother is about to undergo an innovative medical procedure in a County Londonderry hospital.
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August 30, 2005: Stem Cell Breakthrough: No More Need to Destroy Embryos?
from National Geographic Magazine
Harvard scientists say they have found a way to turn ordinary skin cells into what appear to be embryonic stem cells.
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August 30, 2005: Stem cell hopes for young mother
from BBC Front Page News
A young mother is about to undergo a pioneering medical procedure in a County Londonderry hospital.
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August 29, 2005: Clarification: Justice Sunday II Story (AP)
from Yahoo Science News
AP - In an Aug. 26 story about evangelicals and politics, and in a stories Aug. 14 and Aug. 15 on Justice Sunday, The Associated Press reported that the organizers of "Justice Sunday II," a rally about federal judges, did not invite Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist because of his support for expanded embryonic stem cell research. The rally's organizers, however, said Frist wasn't asked to attend because he had participated by videotape in the group's previous event.
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August 29, 2005: First kittens for cloned wildcats
from BBC News | Science/Nature
Wildcat kittens born by cross-breeding clones, a move which could help preservation of endangered species.
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August 29, 2005: Scientists Grow Lung Cells From Stem Cells
from National Geographic Magazine
Scientists in London say they have successfully grown specialized lung cells from embryonic stem cells, a potential step toward lab-grown replacement lungs and tissue.
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August 28, 2005: Hybrid hope in stem cell research
from BBC News | Science/Nature
US scientists believe they have found a less controversial way of creating embryonic stem cells.
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August 27, 2005: The Week
from U.S. News & World Report
Is it housing boom or bust? Iraq struggles to finish a constitution; military bases lost and found; another promising stem cell therapy; the politics of preaching
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August 26, 2005: Reprogramming Adult Stem Cells
from NPR Health and Science
Scientists said this week that they've reprogrammed adult stem cells to their embryonic state. If they can perfect this technique, it might provide an alternative to creating stem cells by therapeutic cloning, a technique at the center of the current political and ethical debate over stem cell research.
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August 26, 2005: Singapore carves niche in stem cell research (Reuters)
from Yahoo Science News
Reuters - South Korea stole headlines after creating the world's first cloned dog, but the tiny city-state of Singapore is quietly preparing to take the fruits of its stem cell research straight to the market.
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August 25, 2005: Frist Subject of Anti-Stem Cell TV Ads (AP)
from Yahoo Science News
AP - An evangelical group has begun a weeklong advertising campaign in Iowa criticizing Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist for backing expanded embryonic stem cell research.
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August 24, 2005: Feinstein, Schwarzenegger Back Cell Study (AP)
from Yahoo Science News

AP - A bipartisan group of politicians — including Sen. Dianne Feinstein, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa — announced their support Tuesday for a federal bill that would ban reproductive human cloning without harming embryonic stem cell research.

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August 24, 2005: Stem cells without new embryos?
from U.S. News & World Report
Researchers at Harvard this week announced success at a method that could one day?maybe in several years, if all goes well?let scientists produce new stem cell lines without cloning or destroying new embryos.
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August 23, 2005: Harvard scientists advance cell work
from The Boston Globe
Harvard scientists have created cells similar to human embryonic stem cells without destroying embryos, a major step toward someday possibly defusing the central objection to stem cell research.
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August 23, 2005: Researchers Fuse Skin and Stem Cells (AP)
from Yahoo Science News

AP - Harvard scientists announced they've discovered a way to fuse adult skin cells with embryonic stem cells, a promising and dramatic breakthrough that could lead to the creation of useful stem cells without first having to create and destroy human embryos.

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August 22, 2005: Scientists create embryonic cells from skin cell (Reuters)
from Yahoo Science News

Reuters - Scientists have created a new human embryonic stem cell from an ordinary skin cell, U.S. researchers said on Monday.

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August 22, 2005: Scientists create embryonic cells from skin cells (Reuters)
from Yahoo Science News

Reuters - Scientists have created a human embryonic stem cell from ordinary skin cells and say it is a step closer to tailored medical treatments without the technical difficulties or the controversy of using human embryos.

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August 22, 2005: Stem Cell Advance Muddles Debate (washingtonpost.com)
from Yahoo Science News
washingtonpost.com - A Harvard University advance in generating embryonic stem cells may have the unintended consequence of hindering congressional efforts to lift research restrictions imposed by President Bush four years ago, leaders on both sides of the issue said yesterday as details of the discovery traveled through the scientific and political communities.
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August 22, 2005: Stem cell research hybrid hope
from BBC Front Page News
US scientists believe they have found a less controversial way of creating embryonic stem cells by using skin cells to create a "hybrid" version.
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August 22, 2005: Stem-Cell Breakthrough Is Reported
from Wall Street Journal, US News
Scientists announced they have discovered a way to fuse adult skin cells with embryonic stem cells, a breakthrough that could lead to the creation of useful stem cells without having to destroy human embryos.
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August 22, 2005: Stem-Cell Breakthrough Reported
from Wall Street Journal, US News
Scientists announced they've discovered a way to fuse adult skin cells with embryonic stem cells, a breakthrough that could lead to the creation of useful stem cells without first having to create and destroy human embryos.
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August 21, 2005: Scientists send skin cell back to embryo stage (Reuters)
from Yahoo Science News

Reuters - U.S. researchers said on Monday they have created a new human embryonic stem cell by fusing an embryonic stem cell to an ordinary skin cell.

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August 19, 2005: Cloned Tabby Wildcats Have Kittens (AP)
from Yahoo Science News
AP - The little tabby wildcats are just doing what comes naturally, but the people who cloned them say their kittens are the last bit of proof that cloning can help save endangered species.
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August 17, 2005: Furrier Mice Offer Discovery on Active Adult Stem Cells
from The New York Times Science Section
Researchers have discovered that an enzyme known to serve as a last-ditch defense against cancer also activates adult stem cells.
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August 17, 2005: Furrier Mice Yield Stem-Cell Discovery
from The New York Times Science Section
Researchers have discovered that an enzyme known to serve as a last-ditch defense against cancer also activates adult stem cells.
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August 16, 2005: Scientists make nerve stem cells
from BBC News | Science/Nature
The world's first pure nerve stem cells made from human embryonic stem cells are created by scientists.
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August 10, 2005: Can Your Dog Be Cloned?
from Time Magazine Top Stories
The implications of a successful dog-cloning experiment
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August 10, 2005: Dog Cloned by South Korean Scientists
from National Geographic Magazine
Korean scientists have won the race to clone a domestic dog successfully. They used skin cells to make a copy of a male Afghan hound.
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August 6, 2005: Q&A: The Man Who Created Snuppy the Clone
from Newsweek Top Stories
Hwang Woo-suk, the stem-cell pioneer who led the team that cloned the world’s first dog, explains why they did it and why they believe Snuppy could benefit all of mankind.
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August 4, 2005: Cloned dog raises ethical questions of its science (Reuters)
from Yahoo Science News
Reuters - South Korea's Woo-Suk Hwang has reached the highest peaks of cloning and stem cell research, but critics say he has taken science onto a steep and slippery slope and raised alarming questions about interfering with life.
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August 4, 2005: First Cloned Dog Is a One-in-a-Thousand Success (Los Angeles Times)
from Yahoo Science News
Los Angeles Times - Researchers in South Korea have produced the first cloned dog — a frisky Afghan hound puppy — in a scientifically daunting feat eagerly anticipated by scientists and pet owners alike.
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August 4, 2005: South Korean Stem Cell Pioneer Clones Dog (AP)
from Yahoo Science News
AP - Pioneer South Korean stem cell researcher Hwang Woo-suk and his research colleagues have succeeded in cloning a dog, a global first that extends the remarkable string of laboratory successes by the Seoul National University professor.
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August 3, 2005: Beating Hurdles, Scientists Clone a Dog for a First
from The New York Times Science Section
South Korean researchers are reporting that they have cloned what scientists deem the most difficult animal, the dog.
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August 3, 2005: Bush Reiterates Stem Cell Study Position (AP)
from Yahoo Science News
AP - President Bush on Tuesday reaffirmed his opposition to any legislation that would allow more federal money to be spent on embryonic stem cell research.
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August 3, 2005: Bush unswayed by Sen. Frist on stem cell research (Reuters)
from Yahoo Science News
Reuters - President Bush in remarks published on Wednesday reiterated his threat to veto any legislation that would use federal funds to destroy human embryos for stem cell research after Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist broke with Bush on the subject.
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August 3, 2005: Bush unswayed in position on stem cell research (Reuters)
from Yahoo Science News
Reuters - President Bush said in remarks published on Wednesday he was unswayed by Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist's position in favor of expanding federal funding for stem cell research, saying he wanted U.S. policy to remain where it stands.
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August 3, 2005: Cloned dog 'born' in S Korea
from BBC Front Page News
Scientists in South Korea produce the first dog clone, an Afghan hound named Snuppy.
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August 3, 2005: Korean First to Successfully Clone a Dog (AP)
from Yahoo Science News
AP - Scientists for the first time have cloned a dog. But don't count on a better world populated by identical and resourceful Lassies just yet.
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August 3, 2005: Korean Scientists Clone a Dog
from Wall Street Journal, US News
South Korean scientists have produced the world's first cloned dog, a medical breakthrough that is likely to add fuel to the heated debate about the ethics of cloning.
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August 3, 2005: Meet Snuppy, the World's First Cloned Dog
from NPR Health and Science
South Korean scientists announced Wednesday they have created the first cloned dog. Snuppy, an Afghan hound, was born in April. The cloning technique used is not efficient. It took nearly 2,000 eggs to make some 1,000 embryos -- all of which produced just one healthy puppy.
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August 3, 2005: S Korea unveils first dog clone
from BBC News | Science/Nature
Scientists in South Korea have produced the first dog clones, they report in Nature magazine this week.
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August 3, 2005: S.Korean scientists create world's first cloned dog (Reuters)
from Yahoo Science News
Reuters - Man can now reproduce his best friend -- South Korean scientists announced on Wednesday they had created the world's first cloned dog.
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August 3, 2005: Scientists in South Korea Clone a Dog (AP)
from Yahoo Science News
AP - Scientists for the first time have cloned a dog. But don't count on a better world populated by identical and resourceful Lassies just yet.
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August 3, 2005: South Korean Scientists Clone First Dog (AP)
from Yahoo Top News Stories
AP - South Korea's pioneering stem cell scientist has cloned a dog, smashing another biological barrier and reigniting a fierce ethical debate — while producing a perky, lovable puppy.
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August 2, 2005: South Korean Scientists Clone Man's Best Friend, a First
from The New York Times Science Section
South Korean researchers report that they have cloned what scientists deem the most difficult animal of all - the dog.
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August 2, 2005: South Korean Scientists Create World's First Cloned Dog
from New York Times International Feed
In a tour de force, a team of South Korean researchers reports it has cloned what scientists deem the most difficult animal of all - the dog.
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August 2, 2005: Top cloning experts gather in South Korea for clandestine test (AFP)
from Yahoo Science News
AFP - Top cloning experts from Britain, South Korea and the United States working on ways to use stem cells to treat incurable diseases gathered here to kick-off a week-long secret experiment.
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August 1, 2005: Frist, Bush split on stem cell stance (USATODAY.com)
from Yahoo Science News
USATODAY.com - Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist's dramatic decision to break with the White House by supporting expanded federal funding for embryonic stem cell research exposed a deep split among Republicans. In Frist's speech on the Senate floor Friday, he set the stage for President Bush's first veto.
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August 1, 2005: Senate Lacks Votes for Stem Cell Override (AP)
from Yahoo Science News
AP - Senate supporters of a measure to ease restrictions on embryonic stem cell research lack the votes to override a threatened veto by President Bush, a top proponent of the research says.
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July 31, 2005: Specter Seeks Veto-Proof Stem Cell Margin (AP)
from Yahoo Science News
AP - Despite a boost from the majority leader, there is not enough Senate support now to override a threatened veto if Congress tries to ease restrictions on embryonic stem cell research, a key proponent said Sunday.
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July 31, 2005: Stem Cell Bill Said Lacks Senate Support (AP)
from Yahoo Science News
AP - Despite a boost from the majority leader, there is not enough Senate support now to override a threatened veto if Congress tries to ease restrictions on embryonic stem cell research, a key proponent said Sunday.
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July 31, 2005: Stem cell debate divides top US Republicans (AFP)
from Yahoo Science News
AFP - The future of human embryo stem cell research in the United States has divided top officials of George W. Bush's Republican party in a roiling morality debate.
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July 31, 2005: Stem cell sponsor sees veto-proof Senate backing (Reuters)
from Yahoo Science News
Reuters - An expansion of federally funded embryonic stem cell research could pass the U.S. Senate with a veto-proof margin now that the chamber's leader backs the idea, a leading sponsor of the effort said on Sunday.
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July 31, 2005: US stem cell sponsor sees veto-proof Senate backing (Reuters)
from Yahoo Top News Stories
Reuters - An expansion of federally funded embryonic stem cell research could pass the U.S. Senate with a veto-proof margin now that the chamber's leader backs the idea, a leading sponsor of the effort said on Sunday.
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July 30, 2005: Defection Bares Stem Cell Rifts (Los Angeles Times)
from Yahoo Science News
Los Angeles Times - WASHINGTON — Abandoned by his most prominent Senate ally, President Bush moved closer Friday to a confrontation with fellow Republicans over his opposition to expanded federal backing for embryonic stem cell research, as one of the most explosive moral issues of his presidency reignited in Congress.
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July 30, 2005: Frist's stem cell stance creates rift (Chicago Tribune)
from Yahoo Science News
Chicago Tribune - Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist's announcement Friday that he would support federal funding of embryonic stem cell research sparked outrage among Christian conservatives and may signal a rift within the Republican Party in advance of the 2008 elections.
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July 30, 2005: In Race to Stem Cell Center, New Jersey's Efforts Stall
from New York Times Health Feed
In New Jersey, which bills itself as the medicine cabinet of the nation, the potentially lucrative stem cell research race has gone off with both a bang and a whimper.
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July 29, 2005: Bush ally to back stem cell bill
from BBC Front Page News
The Senate Republican leader backs a bill easing stem cell research limits, breaking ranks with President Bush.
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July 29, 2005: Finding could mean extended fertility
from The Boston Globe
Blood and bone marrow contain stem cells that can produce new eggs, researchers reported yesterday, suggesting that someday, women may be able to extend their fertility simply by freezing their blood while young and then defrosting it decades later.
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July 29, 2005: Frist Breaks With Bush on Stem-Cell Bill (AP)
from Yahoo Science News
AP - Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist endorsed government-funded research on human embryonic stem cells Friday, breaking with President Bush and the religious conservatives he's been courting for a 2008 presidential bid. He drew praise from former first lady Nancy Reagan.
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July 29, 2005: Frist Breaks with Bush on Stem-Cell Legislation
from NPR Health and Science
Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist says he will support legislation to expand federal funding for embryonic stem cell research. Frist (R-TN) is calling for President Bush to modify his stem cell policy, which puts strict limits on their use.
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July 29, 2005: Frist to Back Funding of Stem Cell Study (AP)
from Yahoo Top News Stories
AP - Breaking with President Bush, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist said Friday he now supports legislation to remove some of the administration's limitations on embryonic stem cell research.
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July 29, 2005: Key Senate ally breaks with Bush on stem cells (Reuters)
from Yahoo Top News Stories
Reuters - In a rare break with President Bush, the most powerful Republican in the Senate, Majority Leader Bill Frist, threw his support behind legislation to expand embryonic stem cell research on Friday.
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July 29, 2005: Sen. leader breaks with Bush on stem cells: report (Reuters)
from Yahoo Top News Stories
Reuters - In a rare break with President Bush, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist will throw his support behind a bill to expand research on stem cells derived from human embryos, The New York Times reported on Friday.
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July 29, 2005: Senate leader backs expanded stem cell research (Reuters)
from Yahoo Top News Stories
Reuters - In a rare break with President Bush and anti-abortion conservatives, U.S. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist on Friday endorsed legislation that would expand federally funded embryonic stem cell research.
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July 29, 2005: Senate Leader Criticized and Praised for Stem Cell Shift
from The New York Times Science Section
In defying the president, Senator Bill Frist was veering to the political center in a year during which he had artfully courted his party's right wing.
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July 29, 2005: Senate leader Frist backs stem cell research (Reuters)
from Yahoo Top News Stories
Reuters - In a rare break with President Bush and Christian conservatives, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist on Friday endorsed legislation to expand federal funding of embryonic stem cell research.
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July 29, 2005: Stem cell debate roiled as top Senate Republican abandons Bush (AFP)
from Yahoo Science News
AFP - Republican Senate leader Bill Frist broke with President George W. Bush and backed more government cash for stem cell research, reigniting a red-hot moral debate convulsing American politics.
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July 29, 2005: Top Republican Senator backs stem cell research, sets up clash with Bush (AFP)
from Yahoo Science News
AFP - US Senate Majority leader Bill Frist called for the lifting of some curbs on federal financing of stem cell research, setting up a direct clash with Republican ally President George W. Bush.
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July 29, 2005: Top Republican Senator breaks with Bush, supports stem cell bill: report (AFP)
from Yahoo Science News
AFP - Senate Majority leader and physician Bill Frist reportedly plans to announce his support for a bill easing restrictions on embryonic stem cell research that President George W. Bush has vowed to veto.
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July 29, 2005: Top Senate Republican abandons Bush, roiling stem cell debate (AFP)
from Yahoo Science News
AFP - Republican Senate leader Bill Frist has broken with President George W. Bush by backing more government cash for stem cell research, supercharging a red-hot debate roiling American politics.
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July 28, 2005: Senate's Leader Veers From Bush Over Stem Cells
from New York Times Health Feed
Senator Bill Frist has decided to support a bill to expand federal financing for embryonic stem cell research.
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July 27, 2005: Romney Says Abortion Views Have 'Evolved' (AP)
from Yahoo Science News
AP - Abortion. Stem cell research. Emergency contraception. Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, a Republican from a liberal state who is flirting with a 2008 presidential bid, has begun carefully redefining his positions on these hot-button social issues.
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July 27, 2005: Study Links Stem Cells in Marrow to Fertility
from New York Times Health Feed
Women may possess a hidden cache of stem cells in the bone marrow that constantly replenish the ovaries with new eggs, a new study suggests.
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July 27, 2005: U.S. Offering Kyoto Protocol Alternative (AP)
from Yahoo Science News

AP - The United States will join India, China and Australia in announcing a new pact to limit greenhouse gases as an alternative to the Kyoto Protocol, Australia's environment minister said Wednesday.

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July 26, 2005: Lawmakers' stem cell proposals vary widely (USATODAY.com)
from Yahoo Science News
USATODAY.com - The Senate is having trouble deciding how to approach the controversial issue of stem cell research using human embryos, dimming hopes of Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., and other supporters that a bill will pass before the summer recess begins Friday.
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July 22, 2005: Stem Cell Bill, Once Seen as a Sure Thing, Is Now Mired in Uncertainty
from New York Times Health Feed
The bill would permit federal financing for research on stem cell lines derived from embryos that are in frozen storage at fertility clinics.
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July 21, 2005: Stem cell bill stalls in Senate, backers vow fight (Reuters)
from Yahoo Science News
Reuters - A measure to expand federal funding of stem cell research has stalled in the Senate but backers unable to get the anticipated July vote instead vowed on Thursday to force the issue one way or another this year.
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July 19, 2005: 'The Island' poses question: Do you want a clone? (Reuters)
from Yahoo Science News
Reuters - "Armageddon" director Michael Bay likes big bangs, fast chases and fancy gadgets but his latest movie "The Island" takes a new turn, addressing the pressing political issue of cloning and the ethics of science.
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July 19, 2005: Chances Dim for Vote on Stem Cell Bill (AP)
from Yahoo Science News
AP - Chances for a Senate vote soon on stem cell research grew uncertain Tuesday as the sponsors of a half-dozen bills haggled with each other and Majority Leader Bill Frist over which should come up for debate.
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July 19, 2005: Haggling Dims Prospects for Stem Cell Bill (AP)
from Yahoo Science News
AP - Chances for a Senate vote soon on stem cell research grew uncertain Tuesday as the sponsors of a half-dozen bills haggled with each other and Majority Leader Bill Frist over which should come up for debate. Asked whether the bill was stuck or even dead for the year, Frist, R-Tenn., said, "Not yet."
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July 18, 2005: Mass. AG Nixes Stem Cell Ballot Initiative (AP)
from Yahoo Science News
AP - The state's attorney general on Monday halted a proposed ballot referendum that sought to repeal the state's stem cell law, saying the law's reference to religion exempts it from the referendum process.
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July 17, 2005: Texas A&M Leads World in Cloning Animals (AP)
from Yahoo Science News
AP - Eighty-six Squared has never been in a hurry. The Black Angus bull was born 15 years after cells from his genetic donor, Bull 86, were frozen as part of a study on natural disease resistance. When Bull 86 died in 1997, scientists thought his unique genetic makeup was lost. But researchers at Texas A&M University were able to clone him from the frozen cells in 2000.
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July 14, 2005: Ethicists Offer Advice for Testing Human Brain Cells in Primates
from The New York Times Science Section
Putting human brain stem cells into monkeys or apes could raise awkward ethical dilemmas, like the possibility of generating a humanlike mind in a chimpanzee's body.
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July 14, 2005: Moral Debate: Procedure Risks Making Monkeys More Humanlike (SPACE.com / LiveScience.com)
from Yahoo Science News
SPACE.com / LiveScience.com - The insertion of human stem cells into monkey brains runs a "real risk" of altering the animals' abilities in ways that might make them morally more like us, scientists said today.
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July 13, 2005: Actor Fox Urges Congress on Stem Cell Bill (AP)
from Yahoo Top News Stories
AP - Actor Michael J. Fox is pushing Congress hard to lift President Bush's restrictions on embryonic stem cell research.
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July 13, 2005: Bush urged to back expanded stem cell research (Reuters)
from Yahoo Science News
Reuters - Actor Michael J. Fox, a Parkinson's disease sufferer, urged President Bush on Wednesday to drop his opposition to expanded embryonic stem cell research as Congress geared up for a pivotal vote for more government spending on the research.
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July 13, 2005: Ill. Plans $10M for Stem Cell Research (AP)
from Yahoo Science News
AP - Illinois became the fourth state to support stem cell research after Gov. Rod Blagojevich circumvented the Legislature and ordered $10 million in tax dollars be used for the controversial research.
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July 13, 2005: S.Korean scientists produce cloned pigs for organ transplant (AFP)
from Yahoo Science News
AFP - South Korean scientists said they had successfully cloned piglets whose organs were genetically modified to make them more suitable for human transplants.
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July 13, 2005: Stem cell alternatives put forth (USATODAY.com)
from Yahoo Science News
USATODAY.com - The Senate heard details Tuesday of potential new ways to obtain embryonic stem cells without destroying embryos. Some scientists and others called the techniques unproven and an attempt to derail efforts at expanding federal funding into the research.
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July 12, 2005: G.O.P. Lawmakers Offer Alternative Bill on Stem Cells
from The New York Times Science Section
Leading Congressional Republicans have drafted a bill that promotes new, unproven methods of obtaining stem cells without destroying embryos.
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July 12, 2005: Harkin: Lift Stem Cell Restrictions (AP)
from Yahoo Science News
AP - Senators who want the public to pay for human embryonic stem cell studies said Tuesday that Congress must first pass legislation to lift President Bush's restrictions on such research before paying for unproven alternative methods favored by conservatives.
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July 12, 2005: Illinois to Pay for Cell Research
from New York Times Health Feed
Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich signed an executive order on Tuesday making Illinois the fourth state to devote public money to embryonic stem cell research.
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July 12, 2005: Lawmakers Wary of Backup Stem Cell Bill (AP)
from Yahoo Science News
AP - President Bush and his conservative Senate allies are trying to peel votes from a stem cell bill by offering alternative legislation that would instead fund promising but unproven studies, several senators said Tuesday.
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July 12, 2005: New science, politics muddy U.S. stem-cell debate (Reuters)
from Yahoo Science News
Reuters - Supporters and opponents of human-embryo research wielded politics and science on Tuesday in last-minute battles to push some kind of stem cell legislation through the Senate.
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July 12, 2005: Senate Stem Cell Study Advocates Skeptical (AP)
from Yahoo Science News
AP - Senators who want the public to pay for human embryonic stem cell studies are giving a skeptical hearing to scientists studying unproven but less controversial methods.
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July 12, 2005: Senators Urge Change in Stem Cell Rules (AP)
from Yahoo Science News
AP - Senators who want the public to pay for human embryonic stem cell studies said Tuesday that Congress must first pass legislation to lift President Bush's restrictions on such research before paying for unproven alternative methods favored by conservatives.
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July 12, 2005: Stem Cell Alternatives Bring Skepticism (AP)
from Yahoo Top News Stories
AP - Senators who want the public to pay for human embryonic stem cell studies are giving a skeptical hearing to scientists studying unproven but less controversial methods.
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July 12, 2005: US lawmakers debate stem cell research amid Bush veto threat (AFP)
from Yahoo Science News
AFP - US lawmakers and scientific experts weighed expanding controversial embryonic stem cell research, against the threat of a veto by President George W. Bush.
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July 12, 2005: US lawmakers, scientists seek middle ground on divisive stem cell bill (AFP)
from Yahoo Science News
AFP - Lawmakers in the US Senate considered legislation to relax restrictions on embryonic stem cell research, while some conservative legislators insisted on pro-life concessions before allowing the bill to advance.
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July 11, 2005: Dairy Industry Skeptical About Cloned Cows (AP)
from Yahoo Science News
AP - As the Food and Drug Administration considers whether to lift a voluntary ban on selling food from cloned animals, the agency is getting some resistance from an unusual source: the dairy industry.
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July 5, 2005: South Korean firm plans hospital for stem cell therapy (AFP)
from Yahoo Science News
AFP - A South Korea medical company said it plans to open the world's first hospital exclusively providing treatment using stem cells obtained from umbilical cord blood.
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June 30, 2005: Friendly Pa. senators at odds in stem cell debate (USATODAY.com)
from Yahoo Science News
USATODAY.com - Never wanting to fault the other, GOP's Specter, Santorum now face bitter fight in stem cell debate. "I don't know of another issue that is this high profile ... in which both have played such tremendous leadership roles," said political scientist Terry Madonna of Franklin & Marshall College.
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June 30, 2005: GOP Backs Non-Destructive Cell Research (AP)
from Yahoo Science News
AP - Embryonic stem cell research that doesn't destroy budding human life? Right now, it's possible only in theory, or on animals. But those alternatives to the most promising stem cell science are enough to win the attention of anti-abortion Republicans and President Bush.
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June 30, 2005: Ohio Gov. Vetoes Stem Cell Funding Ban (AP)
from Yahoo Science News
AP - Gov. Bob Taft on Thursday vetoed a ban on using money from a high-tech job initiative to fund embryonic stem cell research, calling it too restrictive.
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June 29, 2005: GOP Probes Non-Destructive Cell Research (AP)
from Yahoo Science News
AP - Embryonic stem cell research that doesn't destroy budding human life? Right now, it's possible only in theory, or on animals. But those alternatives to the most promising stem cell science are enough to win the attention of anti-abortion Republicans and President Bush.
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June 29, 2005: Male and queen little fire ants clone after gender battle: scientists (AFP)
from Yahoo Science News
AFP - A type of fire ant found in North and Central America, the Galapagos Islands and west Africa has become capable of cloning itself after what appears to be a gender battle, according to Swiss research published in the science journal Nature.
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June 29, 2005: Senators expect stem cell debate in July (Reuters)
from Yahoo Science News
Reuters - A Senate health panel on Wednesday approved a bill that would establish a national network to expand access to umbilical cord blood for research, one of several bills on bioethical issues likely to be debated next month in the fight over embryonic stem cell research.
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June 27, 2005: Stem cell debate hits close to home in House, Senate (Chicago Tribune)
from Yahoo Science News
Chicago Tribune - Sen. Gordon Smith, the Oregon Republican with the starched white collars and the pocket kerchiefs, is someone President Bush typically can count on.
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June 25, 2005: Stem-Cell Conference Draws Big Crowd
from NPR Health and Science
The International Society of Stem Cell Research wraps up its annual meeting in San Francisco. Joe Palca tells host John Ydstie that there's more interest in stem-cell research than ever before. Attendance at the three-year-old conference is booming.
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June 23, 2005: Stem Cell Conference Opens in California (AP)
from Yahoo Top News Stories
AP - Despite optimism and enthusiasm, stem cell researchers arriving here Thursday for a conference are rowing hard against strong currents of financial, political and technical turmoil.
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June 23, 2005: Wis. Assembly Votes to Ban Cloning Embryos (AP)
from Yahoo Science News
AP - The Wisconsin Assembly approved one of the nation's toughest bans on human cloning Thursday despite concerns the bill would cripple embryonic stem cell research in the state where it was discovered.
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June 22, 2005: Scientists See Defects in Lab-Grown Stem Cells
from NPR Health and Science
Scientists have uncovered problems that may limit the usefulness of human embryonic stem cells. After several months of growing in a lab, the cells exhibit genetic abnormalities. Scientists will have to address that issue before stem cells can be used to treat disease.
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June 22, 2005: UK stem cell firm seeks 10 mln stg from July IPO (Reuters)
from Yahoo Science News
Reuters - A Scotland-based stem cell research firm is looking to raise 10 million pounds ($18.3 million) by floating on London's junior stock market next month to fund work on science which has stirred global controversy.
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June 21, 2005: Bush Promotes Funding for Religious Groups (AP)
from Yahoo Science News
AP - President Bush on Tuesday told the Southern Baptist Convention a compassionate society would rely more on religious groups to provide social services and oppose expanded embryonic stem cell research.
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June 21, 2005: Gov. Bush Opposes Embryo Stem Cell Study (AP)
from Yahoo Science News
AP - Florida Gov. Jeb Bush said Tuesday that he opposes human embryonic stem cell research because it requires the destruction of days-old embryos.
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June 20, 2005: Embryos cloned from eggs matured in laboratory (Reuters)
from Yahoo Science News
Reuters - Belgian scientists said on Monday they have cloned the first human embryos from unripe eggs matured in the laboratory, an achievement that could help to overcome a stumbling block in stem cell research.
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June 20, 2005: Human Embryo Cloned From Immature Eggs (AP)
from Yahoo Science News
AP - Scientists have cloned human embryos for the first time using unripe eggs matured in a dish — a technique that may help cloning become a viable option for growing patients' own replacement tissue to treat diseases.
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June 19, 2005: Stem cell finding offers IVF hope
from BBC News | Science/Nature
UK scientists say they have taken a step towards showing human eggs and sperm can be created from stem cells.
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June 19, 2005: Study: Stem Cells Could Develop Into Eggs (AP)
from Yahoo Top News Stories
AP - Scientists in Britain have shown that stem cells extracted from human embryos can develop in the laboratory into the early forms of cells that become eggs or sperm. The research raises the possibility that one day eggs and sperm needed for infertility treatment could be grown in a dish.
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June 18, 2005: Ethics, Eggs and Embryos
Newsweek, By Claudia Kalb
Exploring the ethics of egg donation and the use of embyos for stem cell research....
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June 17, 2005: BIO Confab Grows More Global Than Ever (AP)
from Yahoo Science News
AP - The South Koreans are way ahead in developing human embryonic stem cells to treat disease.
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June 17, 2005: Nancy Reagan May Prod Senate on Stem Cells (AP)
from Yahoo Science News
AP - Nancy Reagan is poised for a quiet entrance into the Senate's embryonic stem cell debate in much the same role she played during the fierce fight in the House, calling up wavering lawmakers to help win passage of legislation in the shadow of President Bush's veto threat.
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June 16, 2005: Frozen Embryos Focus in Stem Cell Debate (AP)
from Yahoo Top News Stories
AP - In politics, it always helps to put a face on a cause. For supporters of embryonic stem cell research, nobody played that role quite like Christopher Reeve, the paralyzed actor who touted the promise of such research before his death in October.
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June 16, 2005: Senate leader predicts stem cell vote within month (Reuters)
from Yahoo Science News
Reuters - Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist said on Wednesday he hoped to have a vote within a month on the controversial issue of expanding federal funding for embryonic stem cell research.
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June 15, 2005: Scientist to Continue Stem Cell Research (AP)
from Yahoo Science News
AP - The world's leading stem-cell researcher, Hwang Woo-suk, said Wednesday he would push forward with his research while maintaining respect for human dignity after confronting Catholic critics who have condemned his work as unethical.
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June 14, 2005: Religious Right, Left Meet in Middle (washingtonpost.com)
from Yahoo Science News
washingtonpost.com - The Rev. Rob Schenck is an evangelical Christian and a leader of the religious right. Rabbi David Saperstein is a Reform Jew and a leader of the religious left. Both head political advocacy groups in Washington, and they have battled for years over abortion, gay rights, stem cell research and school prayer.
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June 13, 2005: Correction: Stem-Cell-Research Story (AP)
from Yahoo Science News
AP - In a June 1 story about stem cell research bills passed in Massachusetts and Connecticut, The Associated Press reported erroneously that federal law prohibits cloning that results in a baby. While President Bush has imposed limits on federal funding for embryonic stem cell research, no law has been passed by Congress that specifically bans reproductive cloning. The same error appeared in related stories than ran earlier in the month and on March 30 about the Massachusetts Legislature approving a stem cell research bill.
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June 11, 2005: It's Not So Easy to Adopt an Embryo
from New York Times Health Feed
Conservatives use embryo donation as an argument against using embryos for stem cell research. But relatively few couples make such a donation to another couple.
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June 10, 2005: Stem Cell Advocates Meet, Plan Strategy (AP)
from Yahoo Science News
AP - Scientists gather routinely at the Texas Medical Center to share research. But they are meeting this weekend in enemy territory for a war-room session on political strategy.
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June 9, 2005: Bush's stubbornness may be hindering him (USATODAY.com)
from Yahoo Science News
USATODAY.com - Bush's stubbornness on issues such as tax cuts, education policy and the creation of a Medicare prescription-drug benefit has served him well. But when it comes to judicial nominations and federal funding of stem cell research, his determination to do things his way could be counterproductive.
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June 8, 2005: ImClone Cancer Drug Clears Review by an Independent Panel
from New York Times Business Feed
By Reuters.
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June 8, 2005: ImClone Treatment Is Cleared by Panel
from New York Times Health Feed
A clinical trial showed how the drug Erbitux, used in combination with radiation, was more effective in checking the spread of cancerous tumors beyond the head and neck than radiation alone.
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June 7, 2005: Icahn Files to Acquire Shares in ImClone
from New York Times Business Feed
By The Associated Press.
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June 7, 2005: No human clones this century - stem cell expert (Reuters)
from Yahoo Science News
Reuters - There will be no human clones this century because the work is dangerous, complicated and unethical, the South Korea scientist at the forefront of stem cell research and cloning technology said on Tuesday.
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June 6, 2005: Battle Threatens Calif. Stem Cell Agency (AP)
from Yahoo Science News
AP - California's effort to become a world leader in human embryonic stem cell research has long been supported by a coterie of well-heeled patient advocates who found their champion in an obscure state senator from Sacramento.
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June 6, 2005: Cloning programme to maintain biodiversity in Vietnam (AFP)
from Yahoo Science News
AFP - French researchers have begun an inventory of animal species in Vietnam and a programme to clone those which are endangered to ensure their survival, a French public research institute said.
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June 5, 2005: Devon city tops 'clone town' poll
from BBC Front Page News
Cathedral city Exeter tops a poll of bland high streets, but town centre bosses dismiss the survey.
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June 2, 2005: Ill Sen. Specter Backs Stem Cell Research (AP)
from Yahoo Science News
AP - Sen. Arlen Specter, newly bald from chemotherapy treatments for Hodgkin's disease, held himself up on Wednesday as Exhibit A for the possible benefits of embryonic stem cell research.
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June 2, 2005: Stem cell bill override turns talk to research support
from The Boston Globe
Democratic leaders in the state House and Senate, fresh off a robust override of Governor Mitt Romney's veto of a bill encouraging human embryonic stem cell research, said yesterday that they will take up a proposal within months to spend taxpayer dollars to foster such science.
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June 1, 2005: Clarification: Stem Cells-Mass. Story (AP)
from Yahoo Science News
AP - In a May 27 story about Gov. Mitt Romney's veto of a stem cell research bill, The Associated Press reported that religious groups oppose the research because it destroys human life. The story should have specified that some religious groups have endorsed stem-cell research under certain circumstances. Orthodox Judaism, for example, teaches that human life begins at birth, while the United Church of Christ and some other Protestant groups have come out in support of federal funding for embryonic stem cell research, within certain ethical guidelines.
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June 1, 2005: Cloning Pioneer Envisions Stem Cell Bank (AP)
from Yahoo Science News
AP - South Korean cloning pioneer Hwang Woo-suk said Wednesday he plans to open a stem cell bank by the end of the year to help speed up the quest to grow replacement tissue to treat diseases.
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June 1, 2005: From Opponents of Stem Cell Research, an Embryo Crusade
from New York Times Health Feed
An unexpected alliance has been formed between conservative Christians and the world of test-tube babies.
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June 1, 2005: From Stem Cell Opponents, an Embryo Crusade
from New York Times Health Feed
An unexpected alliance has been formed between conservative Christians and the world of test-tube babies.
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June 1, 2005: Hwang Hopes to Open World Stem Cell Bank (AP)
from Yahoo Science News
AP - Cloning pioneer Hwang Woo-suk said Wednesday he plans to open a world stem cell bank in South Korea by the end of the year to help speed up the quest to grow patients' own replacement tissues.
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May 31, 2005: Bush faces GOP shift on stem cells (Chicago Tribune)
from Yahoo Science News
Chicago Tribune - Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham, 63, a conservative representing the San Diego area, says he wants to have a heart-to-heart talk with President Bush soon about embryonic stem cell research. He wants to change the president's mind.
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May 31, 2005: Bush vows to veto bill granting federal funds to embryonic stem cell research (AFP)
from Yahoo Science News
AFP - US President George W. Bush said he would veto any legislation allowing public funding for stem cell research that destroys embryos, if the Senate passes such a bill.
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May 31, 2005: Conn. Lawmakers Approve Stem Cell Research (AP)
from Yahoo Science News
AP - The state House of Representatives on Tuesday gave final approval to a 10-year, $100 million plan to fund stem cell research, seeking to position Connecticut to compete with other states in the emerging scientific field.
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May 31, 2005: Mass. Lawmakers Override Stem Cell Veto (AP)
from Yahoo Science News
AP - The Legislature on Tuesday swiftly overturned Gov. Mitt Romney's veto and approved a bill designed to propel Massachusetts to the forefront of embryonic stem cell research.
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May 31, 2005: Study calms fears over stem cells
from BBC News | Science/Nature
Human embryonic stem cells appear to be much more stable than scientists had feared, research suggests.
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May 30, 2005: Federal funding is key to stem cell research: US scientists (AFP)
from Yahoo Science News
AFP - Both the business potential and the public health benefits of embryonic stem cell research will be severely handicapped in the United States if President George W. Bush keeps a lid on federal funding for the science as promised.
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May 29, 2005: FACTBOX-S.Korea's Hwang at cutting edge in stem cell study (Reuters)
from Yahoo Science News
Reuters - South Korean researchers led by Woo-Suk Hwang of Seoul National University are at the forefront of stem cell research.
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May 29, 2005: S.Korea cloning expert cautious on Bush policy (Reuters)
from Yahoo Science News
Reuters - The Bush administration's reluctance to fully support stem cell research is impeding U.S. research that has the potential to make major medical breakthroughs, South Korea's top cloning expert said on Sunday.
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May 29, 2005: S.Korea cloning expert criticizes Bush policy (Reuters)
from Yahoo Science News
Reuters - The Bush administration's reluctance to fully support stem cell research is impeding U.S. research that has the potential to make major medical breakthroughs, South Korea's top cloning expert said on Sunday.
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May 29, 2005: S.Korea's Hwang at cutting edge in stem cell study (Reuters)
from Yahoo Science News
Reuters - South Korean researchers led by Woo-Suk Hwang of Seoul National University are at the forefront of stem cell research.
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May 28, 2005: Reigniting The Stem Cell Debate (U.S. News & World Report)
from Yahoo Science News
U.S. News & World Report - Debate about thousands of tiny blobs of cells--or nascent humans, depending on your politics--heated up Congress last week, as the House passed a bill that would expand federal funding for embryonic stem cell research. But don't expect a diabetes cure soon. The bill still has to get through the Senate and past the president, who has promised to veto it. And researchers say it could be decades before embryonic stem cells cure anything.
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May 27, 2005: California Senate panel passes stem cell controls (Reuters)
from Yahoo Science News
Reuters - A proposed constitutional amendment that could put stem cell research controls on the ballot in California was passed by a state Senate committee late on Thursday despite strong objections by the head of the $3 billion scientific program.
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May 27, 2005: Hello Kitty, Hello Clone
from The New York Times Science Section
For $32,000, your next cat can be an exact copy of your last cat. And where cloned cats roam, cloned dogs are soon to follow.
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May 27, 2005: Here And Now - Trip to Darfur Lands Photographer in Sudanese Jail
from NPR WBUR Local Feed
Trip to Darfur Lands Photographer in Sudanese Jail, France Votes of EU Constitution, Stem Cell Debate, Female Rice Car Driver, Turkish-American Dancer
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May 27, 2005: Romney Vetoes Stem Cell Bill for Mass. (AP)
from Yahoo Science News
AP - Gov. Mitt Romney vetoed a bill Friday to expand stem cell experiments in Massachusetts because it would allow the cloning of human embryos — a practice he has called morally wrong.
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May 27, 2005: Senators call for a vote on stem cells
from The Boston Globe
WASHINGTON -- Emboldened by a victory in the House, a bipartisan group of senators urged Senate majority leader Bill Frist to allow a vote on a bill to expand federal funding of embryonic stem cell research and threatened to go around him if necessary to guarantee that the matter is considered.
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May 26, 2005: Conn. Senate OK Stem Cell Research Bill (AP)
from Yahoo Science News
AP - The state Senate on Thursday overwhelmingly approved spending $100 million over 10 years to fund stem cell research, including the embryonic research that right-to-life groups oppose but that some scientists believe offers the most hope for curing diseases.
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May 25, 2005: Bush Reaffirms Vow to Veto Stem Cell Measure
from NPR Health and Science
President Bush reasserts his intention to veto a measure to expand funding for research using stem cells from human embryos. He says it creates "incentives to destroy emerging human life." Bill supporters say the research could accelerate finding cures for numerous diseases. The House of Representatives approved the bill Tuesday; it moves next to the Senate.
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May 25, 2005: Sponsor of Stem Cell Bill Says Senate Could Override a Veto
from The New York Times Science Section
Senator Arlen Specter said he had enough votes in the Senate to override a presidential veto of a bill to expand federal financing for human embryonic stem cell research.
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May 24, 2005: House Approves a Stem Cell Research Bill Opposed by Bush
from New York Times Health Feed
The vote sets up a possible showdown between Congress and President Bush, who has never exercised his veto power.
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May 24, 2005: House Votes to Fund More Stem Cell Research
from NPR Health and Science
The House of Representatives votes to allow federal funding of embryonic stem cell research, setting up a possible veto by President Bush. The president has said he opposes research using human embryos. The bill passed by a vote of 238-194, not enough to withstand a veto.
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May 24, 2005: US House backs stem cell funding
from BBC News | Science/Nature
The US lower house votes to increase funding for embryonic stem cell research, setting up a clash with President Bush.
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May 1, 2005: U.S. Panel Urges New Rules for Stem-Cell Research (Reuters)
from Yahoo Science News
Reuters - Research using stem cells from human embryos is going ahead with or without federal support and must be regulated, a panel of experts said on Tuesday.
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April 29, 2005: Guidelines Proposed for Stem Cell Research
from NPR Health and Science
A report released this week by the National Academies offers guidelines for scientists doing research with human embryonic stem cells. The report's authors say the rules are needed because federal regulations specifically designed for this type of research, which is not broadly supported with federal funds, are lacking.
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April 28, 2005: Science panel sets guidelines on stem cell work
from The Boston Globe
The country's premier scientific organization, the National Academies, issued a sweeping set of guidelines for human embryonic stem cell research yesterday, declaring the federal government has failed to provide adequate ethical standards for a booming, controversial field.
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April 28, 2005: Texas A&M Researchers Clone Horse (AP)
from Yahoo Science News
AP - A team of French and American researchers has successfully cloned a horse, Texas A&M University officials announced Wednesday. The foal was named Paris Texas.
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April 27, 2005: Stem Cell Research Standards Offered (Los Angeles Times)
from Yahoo Science News
Los Angeles Times - With human embryonic stem cell research advancing more quickly than the government's appetite for regulating it, a national science panel issued a wide-ranging set of guidelines Tuesday to prevent scientists from crossing delicate moral and ethical boundaries.
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April 27, 2005: Texas A&M Says It Has Cloned a Horse (AP)
from Yahoo Science News
AP - Texas A&M University announced Wednesday that it had successfully cloned a horse, making the school the first to clone six different species.
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April 27, 2005: Texas A&M Successfully Clones Horse (AP)
from Yahoo Science News
AP - Texas A&M University announced Wednesday that it had successfully cloned a horse, making the school the first to clone six different species.
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April 27, 2005: Way cleared for stem cell research bill
from The Boston Globe
House and Senate leaders announced yesterday that they have reached an agreement on a bill promoting embryonic stem cell research in Massachusetts, setting the stage for the measure to become law in the coming weeks.
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April 26, 2005: Group Calls for Stem Cell Research Rules (AP)
from Yahoo Science News
AP - More oversight is needed to ensure that research using stem cells culled from human embryos is done under strict ethical standards, a government advisory group said Tuesday in proposing national guidelines for the controversial field.
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April 26, 2005: Group of Scientists Drafts Rules on Ethics for Stem Cell Research
from New York Times Health Feed
The National Academy of Sciences cited a lack of leadership by the federal government in proposing the guidelines.
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April 26, 2005: ImClone Profit Down Sharply
from New York Times Business Feed
ImClone Systems said that first-quarter earnings fell sharply because of lower revenue, higher compensation expenses and higher professional fees.
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April 26, 2005: Mass. Senate Approves Stem Cell Bill (AP)
from Yahoo Science News
AP - The state Senate overwhelmingly backed a stem cell research bill Tuesday and sent it to the House, where it could be debated as early as next week.
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April 26, 2005: US National Academies recommend rules for stem cell research (AFP)
from Yahoo Science News
AFP - The National Academies recommended rules for research involving human embryonic stem cells, and urged groups conducting such research to set up oversight committees to ensure compliance.
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April 25, 2005: Brain stem cells 'to cure diabetes'
from BBC News | Science/Nature
US researchers believe they could one day use stem cells from the brain to cure people with diabetes.
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April 25, 2005: Brain stem cells to cure diabetes
from BBC News | Science/Nature
Scientists believe they could use stem cells from the brain to cure people with diabetes.
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April 25, 2005: Scientists Draft Rules on Ethics for Stem Cells
from New York Times Health Feed
The National Academy of Sciences issued today a proposal for guidelines to govern research with human embryonic stem cells.
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April 24, 2005: Priest Ordered to Stop Protests in Mass. (AP)
from Yahoo Science News
AP - The Archdiocese of Boston has ordered a priest to stop demonstrations outside the home of the state Senate president, protests the priest said were necessary because of the politician's support of embryonic stem cell research.
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April 20, 2005: Adult stem cells 'cancer threat'
from BBC Front Page News
Stem cells from adults can turn cancerous, two research teams find.
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April 20, 2005: Adult stem cells a cancer threat
from BBC Front Page News
Adult stem cells can turn cancerous, warn scientists.
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April 16, 2005: Italian Scientists Claim to Clone a Horse (AP)
from Yahoo Science News
AP - Italian scientists have reported cloning a horse for the second time, a new foal created from the DNA of a throroughbred Arabian gelding that was twice world endurance champion.
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April 16, 2005: Italian Scientists Claim to Clone Horse (AP)
from Yahoo Science News
AP - Italian scientists said they have created their second cloned horse — produced from the DNA of a thoroughbred Arabian gelding race champion.
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April 16, 2005: Scientists Say They've Cloned a Horse (AP)
from Yahoo Science News
AP - Italian scientists have reported cloning a horse for the second time, a new foal created from the DNA of a throroughbred Arabian gelding that was twice world endurance champion.
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April 15, 2005: UVM Researcher Helps Create Healthier Cow (AP)
from Yahoo Science News
AP - A University of Vermont professor has helped to create a healthier cow. The U.S. Agriculture Department has cloned a cow that is resistant to one form of mastitis, a common bacterial infection of cows' udders that costs the national dairy industry nearly $2 billion a year.
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April 14, 2005: Castrated horse becomes a dad, thanks to clone arrangers (AFP)
from Yahoo Science News
AFP - Gene scientists announced the birth of world's second horse clone -- an animal that they hope will emulate the champion performance of his castrated father.
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April 14, 2005: Champion endurance horse cloned
from BBC News | Science/Nature
French and Italian scientists announce the birth of the world's second horse clone, a copy of a world endurance champion.
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April 14, 2005: Champion horse cloned
from BBC News | Science/Nature
French and Italian scientists announce the birth of the world's second horse clone, a copy of a world endurance champion.
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April 14, 2005: Cloned horse born in Italy (AFP)
from Yahoo Science News
AFP - The birth of the clone of a castrated horse was to be announced in France and Italy by the genetic engineering laboratories Cryozootech of Evry, France, and LTR-CIZ of Cremona, Italy.
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April 14, 2005: Codey to Seek Ethics Panel on Stem Cells
from New York Times Health Feed
Acting Gov. Richard J. Codey is expected to propose that the state establish a new ethics panel to oversee New Jersey's stem cell research project.
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April 14, 2005: Scientists clone champion horse
from BBC Front Page News
French and Italian scientists announce the birth of the world's second horse clone, a copy of a world endurance champion.
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April 12, 2005: Cloned cattle produce normal milk, beef (AFP)
from Yahoo Science News
AFP - Beef and milk from cloned cattle is similar to that produced by normal animals, according to a Japanese-US study published by the annals of the American Academy of Sciences, the first to investigate the nutritional value and possible health risks of products from animal clones.
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April 12, 2005: Correction: Cloned-Meat Story (AP)
from Yahoo Science News
AP - In an April 11 story about the safety of meat and milk from cloned animals, The Associated Press reported erroneously that Carol Tucker Foreman is affiliated with the consumer group Public Citizen. She is director of the Food Policy Institute at the Consumer Federation of America.
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April 12, 2005: Firms Pursue Stem-Cell Research
from Wall Street Journal, US News
Some large U.S. companies are pursuing plans to study stem cells drawn from early-stage human embryos, amid a growing push on Capitol Hill to ease restrictions enacted by Bush.
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April 12, 2005: Report: Cloned Animals Products Compare to Natural
from NPR Health and Science
A new report says the meat and milk from cloned cattle is not significantly different from that of ordinary animals. The Food and Drug Administration has been considering the safety of animal food products from clones since 2001.
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April 11, 2005: Produce from cloned cattle 'safe'
from BBC News | Science/Nature
Meat and dairy products from cloned cattle are safe for human consumption, say scientists.
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April 11, 2005: Products from Cloned Animals Compare to Natural, Report Says
from NPR Health and Science
A new report says the meat and milk from cloned cattle is not significantly different from that of ordinary animals. The Food and Drug Administration has been considering the safety of animal food products from clones since 2001.
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April 6, 2005: Changes Are Weighed on Stem Cells
from The New York Times Science Section
The director of the National Institutes of Health said that loosening President Bush's restrictions on federal financing for research would benefit science.
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April 6, 2005: Globe reporter Cook wins Pulitzer
from The Boston Globe
The Boston Globe's Gareth Cook won the 2005 Pulitzer Prize for explanatory journalism yesterday for his coverage of the scientific and ethical dimensions of stem cell research.
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April 6, 2005: Here And Now - Delay's Mounting Political Woes
from NPR WBUR Local Feed
Delay's Mounting Political Woes, Financial State of the Vatican, Pulitzer Winning Reporter on Stem Cell Research, Different Worlds of Healing, Paula Poundstone
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April 6, 2005: US Catholics want new pope to resemble John Paul II (AFP)
from Yahoo Science News
AFP - Roman Catholics in the United States and Canada would like the next pope to resemble John Paul II -- with somewhat more progressive theology on issues like contraception and stem cell research.
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April 4, 2005: Massachusetts Stem Cell Bill Gets Veto-Proof Vote (Reuters)
from Yahoo Science News
Reuters - A bill that would allow embryonic stem cell research in Massachusetts cleared its second big legislative hurdle on Thursday with enough support to withstand a near-certain veto by the state's governor.
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April 2, 2005: House approves stem cell research
from The Boston Globe
The state House of Representatives overwhelmingly approved a bill yesterday that promotes embryonic stem cell research in the Bay State, rejecting by a veto-proof margin Governor Mitt Romney's attempt to prohibit a research technique that involves the cloning of human cells.
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April 1, 2005: Mass. Governor to Veto Stem Cell Bill (AP)
from Yahoo Science News
AP - Gov. Mitt Romney said Friday he knows he can't stop a bill that would give scientists more freedom to conduct embryonic stem cell research, but he promised to "vote my conscience" and veto it anyway.
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April 1, 2005: Senate OK's research on stem cells
from The Boston Globe
State senators overwhelmingly approved a measure yesterday promoting embryonic stem cell research in Massachusetts, dealing a defeat to Governor Mitt Romney by endorsing a research technique that involves the cloning of human cells.
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March 31, 2005: Dr. Kiessling Interviewed on NPR
WBUR Radio
BOSTON (2005-03-31) In the debate on stem cell legislation, there's been little discussion about the impact on the women who donate eggs for research.
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March 31, 2005: Massachusetts House OKs Stem Cell Bill (AP)
from Yahoo Science News
AP - The Massachusetts House passed a bill Thursday night that would give scientists more freedom to conduct embryonic stem cell research in the state.
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March 31, 2005: Massachusetts Lawmakers Approve Stem Cell Research
from The New York Times Science Section
Legislation authorizing embryonic stem cell research passed in the Massachusetts House of Representatives by an overwhelming margin.
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March 31, 2005: Massachusetts Senate OKs Stem Cell Bill (AP)
from Yahoo Science News
AP - Despite a veto threat from the governor, the state Senate overwhelmingly approved a bill Wednesday to give scientists more freedom to conduct embryonic stem cell research in Massachusetts.
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March 31, 2005: Romney's ads blast stem cell measure
from The Boston Globe
Ratcheting up the political pressure on undecided lawmakers, Governor Mitt Romney will launch a radio ad today describing the state Senate's stem cell measure as a ''radical cloning bill" and urging its defeat.
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March 30, 2005: Senate bill sets rules for stem cell research
from The Boston Globe
State senators unveiled a bill yesterday that would proclaim the Bay State's firm support for embryonic stem cell research, but require scientists conducting certain cutting-edge research to obtain licenses from the Department of Public Health. . The bill also would set fines as high as $1 million for those who violate new state rules governing stem cell work.
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March 28, 2005: Hair Follicles Provide Source of Nerve Stem Cells (Reuters)
from Yahoo Science News
Reuters - Stem cells found in hair follicles can develop into nerve cells and might be useful in medical treatment, U.S.-based researchers reported on Monday.
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March 28, 2005: Hair is good source of stem cells
from BBC News | Science/Nature
Scientists have found hair follicles are an accessible and plentiful source of stem cells.
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March 28, 2005: UConn Seeks to Launch Stem Cells Program (AP)
from Yahoo Science News
AP - As lawmakers consider plans to make the state a hotbed for stem cell research, the University of Connecticut has announced it is poised to become one of the first colleges in the country to launch a program for making human embryonic stem cells.
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March 26, 2005: UConn Said Close to Creating Stem Cells (AP)
from Yahoo Science News
AP - As lawmakers consider plans to make the state a hotbed for stem cell research, the University of Connecticut has announced it is poised to become one of the first colleges in the country to launch a program for making human embryonic stem cells.
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March 25, 2005: Republicans Discuss Vote on New Stem Cell Policy
from The New York Times Science Section
A vote this year on stem cell research policy could open another contentious moral, theological and scientific debate.
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March 24, 2005: Australia Scientists Grow Stem Cells from Nose (Reuters)
from Yahoo Science News
Reuters - With the help of the Catholic Church, Australian researchers have successfully grown adult stem cells harvested from the human nose, avoiding the ethical and legal problems associated with embryonic stem cells.
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March 23, 2005: Calif. High Court Dismisses Stem Cell Challenge (Reuters)
from Yahoo Science News
Reuters - The California Supreme Court on Wednesday dismissed two lawsuits that sought to block the state's publicly financed $3 billion stem cell research program approved by voters last year.
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March 22, 2005: Chicks used to create nerve cells
from BBC News | Science/Nature
Scientists have found a way to transform stem cells from human bone marrow into nerve cells.
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March 21, 2005: Son's disease propels a stem cell pioneer
from The Boston Globe
CAMBRIDGE -- Douglas Melton was building a brilliant career in science, enraptured with the mysteries of early frog development, when he had the kind of day that every parent fears.
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March 16, 2005: Brown Promises UK National Stem Cell Network (Reuters)
from Yahoo Science News
Reuters - Britain aims to consolidate its position as a world leader in stem cell research with the establishment of a new national network for investigating the therapeutic benefits of the "master" cells.
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March 16, 2005: Calif. Cities Compete to Attract Stem Cell Researchers
from NPR Health and Science
Last year, California voters agreed to spend $3 billion on stem cell research. Now, city managers agree that whichever city ends up winning the bid for a new institute will probably become the center for a burgeoning biotech research area, bringing new jobs and new payroll taxes. Member station KQED's Sarah Varney reports.
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March 16, 2005: UCLA to Start $20 Mln Stem Cell Research Center (Reuters)
from Yahoo Science News
Reuters - The University of California at Los Angeles will spend $20 million over five years to establish a stem cell research institute and compete for new state funds to fight cancer and other diseases, university officials said on Wednesday.
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March 16, 2005: UCLA to Unveil Plans for Stem Cell Center (AP)
from Yahoo Science News
AP - The University of California, Los Angeles, is scheduled Wednesday to announce plans for a $20 million stem cell research institute that would compete for part of the $3 billion approved for the research by voters in November.
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March 14, 2005: Poll backs research on stem cells
from The Boston Globe
A large majority of Massachusetts adults support stem-cell research using human embryos, but there is also strong opposition to the use of cloned embryos in such research, a Boston Globe poll indicates.
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March 14, 2005: Stem-Cell Craze Spreads in Russia (AP)
from Yahoo Science News
AP - While scientists worldwide are only studying stem cells, dozens of Russian clinics and beauty salons claim they are already using both adult and embryonic stem cells to treat everything from wrinkles to Parkinson's disease to impotence.
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March 13, 2005: Tracking the Uncertain Science of Growing Heart Cells
from New York Times Health Feed
A heart treatment using stem cells of bone marrow has touched off sharp differences as to whether it is ready to be taken to people.
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March 11, 2005: Acquiring human eggs for cloning is costly, arduous
Paul Elias, Associated Press
Arizona Daily Star, Mobile Edition
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March 9, 2005: Travaglini eyes $100m for stem cell research
from The Boston Globe
Senate President Robert E. Travaglini and local biotechnology industry leaders are discussing a spending package of up to $100 million for human embryonic stem cell research facilities and education initiatives, the Democratic lawmaker said yesterday.
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March 8, 2005: Stem cell therapy safety boosted
from BBC Front Page News
A new way of growing human embryonic stem cells will reduce the risk that their use in therapy could go wrong, say scientists.
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March 7, 2005: New Method Makes 'Safer' Stem Cells, Study Finds (Reuters)
from Yahoo Science News
Reuters - Researchers looking for ways to make safer stem cells for use in medical therapies said on Monday they had grown human cells without the use of contaminating animal cells.
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March 4, 2005: Stem cell bill seen heading to passage
from The Boston Globe
A bill encouraging human embryonic stem cell research in Massachusetts will probably pass both houses of the Legislature by the end of March, Democratic leaders predicted yesterday, but they remained unsure whether they can override an anticipated veto by Governor Mitt Romney, a Republican.
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March 3, 2005: Brazil Lawmakers Legalize Cell Research (AP)
from Yahoo Science News
AP - As Brazilians in wheelchairs cheered, legislators voted to legalize stem cell research using human embryos — offering hope of one day finding treatments for ailments such as diabetes, Parkinson's disease and spinal cord injuries.
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March 3, 2005: War of the clones
from The Scientist
US firm and anti-vivisectionists in a PR cat fight as the price of a cloned kitty drops
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March 1, 2005: Calif. Set to Name Stem Cell Chief (AP)
from Yahoo Science News
AP - The new interim president of California's $3 billion stem cell research institute said Tuesday his first task will be to "raid everyplace I can" to hire top scientific talent.
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February 22, 2005: Moving Stem Cells Front and Center
from The New York Times Science Section
Dr. Hans Keirstead might be the Pied Piper of stem cells - and not just because he makes rats walk.
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February 22, 2005: Suit Filed to Stop Stem Cell Institute (AP)
from Yahoo Top News Stories
AP - A politically conservative public interest group filed a lawsuit Tuesday seeking to invalidate the $3 billion stem cell research funding institution California voters approved in November.
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February 22, 2005: Suits Filed to Stop Stem Cell Institute (AP)
from Yahoo Top News Stories
AP - Politically conservative public interest groups filed lawsuits Tuesday seeking to invalidate the $3 billion stem cell research funding institution California voters approved in November.
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February 21, 2005: California's Stem-Cell Money Worries Other States
from NPR Health and Science
The debate over stem cell research in Massachusetts. California plans to spend $3 billion on the cutting-edge science, and there's fear that all that money could lure research from the East Coast to the West. Fred Thys reports.
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February 20, 2005: A desperate injection of stem cells and hope (Los Angeles Times)
from Yahoo Top News Stories
Los Angeles Times - Alone at his computer, drool sliding down his chin, Tom Hill searched the Internet for anything that could save him.
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February 18, 2005: 'Natural' breast implant advance
from BBC News | Science/Nature
Scientists claim a breakthrough to produce natural breast implants using human stem cells.
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February 18, 2005: Divided UN Panel Opposes All Forms of Human Cloning (Reuters)
from Yahoo Science News
Reuters - A deeply divided U.N. General Assembly committee adopted a nonbinding statement on Friday calling on governments to prohibit all forms of human cloning, including techniques used in research on human stem cells.
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February 18, 2005: Personal pleas ring at stem cell hearing
from The Boston Globe
With arguments ranging from the highly personal to the highly technical, witnesses testified before state lawmakers yesterday about the pros and cons of human embryonic stem cell research, forcing legislators to weigh deep moral and scientific questions surrounding a bill intended to stimulate the state's biotechnology sector.
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February 18, 2005: Researchers Make Gains on Stem Cell Lines (AP)
from Yahoo Science News
AP - San Diego researchers recently confirmed scientifically what biologists knew intuitively: The stem cell lines President Bush approved for federally funded research are contaminated by the mouse "feeder cells" used to make them grow in the lab.
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February 18, 2005: U.N. Committee Approves Call to Ban Human Cloning (Reuters)
from Yahoo Science News
Reuters - A deeply divided General Assembly committee voted on Friday to approve a declaration calling on governments to prohibit all forms of human cloning including techniques used in research on human stem cells.
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February 18, 2005: U.N. Panel Backs Plea for Human Cloning Ban (Reuters)
from Yahoo Science News
Reuters - A deeply divided General Assembly committee adopted on Friday a nonbinding declaration calling on governments to prohibit all forms of human cloning including techniques used in research on human stem cells.
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February 16, 2005: California scrambles to pay for stem cell research (USATODAY.com)
from Yahoo Top News Stories
USATODAY.com - The clock counts down to May for California's audacious $3 billion experiment in funding stem cell research.
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February 16, 2005: Call for £100m UK stem cell fund
from BBC News | Science/Nature
Scientists and entrepreneurs call for a charitable foundation to promote and fund UK stem cell research.
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February 16, 2005: New Bills Seek to Promote Stem Cell Research (Reuters)
from Yahoo Science News
Reuters - Aiming to circumvent President Bush's limits on the use of stem cells from human embryos, members of Congress on Wednesday introduced bills to allow federal funding of embryonic stem cell research.
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February 15, 2005: Museum Won't Clone Tasmanian Tiger (AP)
from Yahoo Science News
AP - An Australian museum said Tuesday it has abandoned a project to clone a Tasmanian Tiger — the extinct, wolf-like striped creature that carried its young in a pouch.
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February 14, 2005: Characterization of gana-1, a Caenorhabditis elegans gene encoding a single ortholog of vertebrate ?
from BioMed Central
Background: Human ?-galactosidase A (?-GAL) and ?-N-acetylgalactosaminidase (?-NAGA) are presumed to share a common ancestor. Deficiencies of these enzymes cause two well-characterized human lysosomal storage disorders (LSD) ? Fabry (?-GAL deficiency) and Schindler (?-NAGA deficiency) diseases. Caenorhabditis elegans was previously shown to be a relevant model organism for several late endosomal/lysosomal membrane proteins associated with LSDs. The aim of this study was to identify and characterize C. elegans orthologs to both human lysosomal luminal proteins ?-GAL and ?-NAGA. Results: BlastP searches for orthologs of human *-GAL and *-NAGA revealed a single C. elegans gene (R07B7.11) with homology to both human genes (?-galactosidase and *?-N-acetylgalactosaminidase) ? gana-1. We cloned and sequenced the complete gana-1 cDNA and elucidated the gene organization.Phylogenetic analyses and homology modeling of GANA-1 based on the 3D structure of chicken ?-NAGA, rice ?-GAL and human ?-GAL suggest a close evolutionary relationship of GANA-1 to both human ?-GAL and ?-NAGA.Both ?-GAL and ?-NAGA enzymatic activities were detected in C. elegans mixed culture homogenates. However, ?-GAL activity on an artificial substrate was completely inhibited by the ?-NAGA inhibitor, N-acetyl-D-galactosamine.A GANA-1::GFP fusion protein expressed from a transgene, containing the complete gana-1 coding region and 3 kb of its hypothetical promoter, was not detectable under the standard laboratory conditions. The GFP signal was observed solely in a vesicular compartment of coelomocytes of the animals treated with Concanamycin A (CON A) or NH4Cl, agents that increase the pH of the cellular acidic compartment.Immunofluorescence detection of the fusion protein using polyclonal anti-GFP antibody showed a broader and coarsely granular cytoplasmic expression pattern in body wall muscle cells, intestinal cells, and a vesicular compartment of coelomocytes.Inhibition of gana-1 by RNA interference resulted in a decrease of both ?-GAL and ?-NAGA activities measured in mixed stage culture homogenates but did not cause any obvious phenotype. Conclusions: GANA-1 is a single C. elegans ortholog of both human ?-GAL and ?-NAGA proteins. Phylogenetic, homology modeling, biochemical and GFP expression analyses support the hypothesis that GANA-1 has dual enzymatic activity and is localized in an acidic cellular compartment.
View Article

February 13, 2005: Characterization of gana-1, a Caenorhabditis elegans gene encoding a single ortholog of vertebrate ?
from BioMed Central
Background: Human ?-galactosidase A (?-GAL) and ?-N-acetylgalactosaminidase (?-NAGA) are presumed to share a common ancestor. Deficiencies of these enzymes cause two well-characterized human lysosomal storage disorders (LSD) ? Fabry (?-GAL deficiency) and Schindler (?-NAGA deficiency) diseases. Caenorhabditis elegans was previously shown to be a relevant model organism for several late endosomal/lysosomal membrane proteins associated with LSDs. The aim of this study was to identify and characterize C. elegans orthologs to both human lysosomal luminal proteins ?-GAL and ?-NAGA. Results: BlastP searches for orthologs of human *-GAL and *-NAGA revealed a single C. elegans gene (R07B7.11) with homology to both human genes (?-galactosidase and *?-N-acetylgalactosaminidase) ? gana-1. We cloned and sequenced the complete gana-1 cDNA and elucidated the gene organization.Phylogenetic analyses and homology modeling of GANA-1 based on the 3D structure of chicken ?-NAGA, rice ?-GAL and human ?-GAL suggest a close evolutionary relationship of GANA-1 to both human ?-GAL and ?-NAGA.Both ?-GAL and ?-NAGA enzymatic activities were detected in C. elegans mixed culture homogenates. However, ?-GAL activity on an artificial substrate was completely inhibited by the ?-NAGA inhibitor, N-acetyl-D-galactosamine.A GANA-1::GFP fusion protein expressed from a transgene, containing the complete gana-1 coding region and 3 kb of its hypothetical promoter, was not detectable under the standard laboratory conditions. The GFP signal was observed solely in a vesicular compartment of coelomocytes of the animals treated with Concanamycin A (CON A) or NH4Cl, agents that increase the pH of the cellular acidic compartment.Immunofluorescence detection of the fusion protein using polyclonal anti-GFP antibody showed a broader and coarsely granular cytoplasmic expression pattern in body wall muscle cells, intestinal cells, and a vesicular compartment of coelomocytes.Inhibition of gana-1 by RNA interference resulted in a decrease of both ?-GAL and ?-NAGA activities measured in mixed stage culture homogenates but did not cause any obvious phenotype. Conclusions: GANA-1 is a single C. elegans ortholog of both human ?-GAL and ?-NAGA proteins. Phylogenetic, homology modeling, biochemical and GFP expression analyses support the hypothesis that GANA-1 has dual enzymatic activity and is localized in an acidic cellular compartment.
View Article

February 13, 2005: Characterization of gana-1, a Caenorhabditis elegans gene encoding a single ortholog of vertebrate ?
from BioMed Central
Background: Human ?-galactosidase A (?-GAL) and ?-N-acetylgalactosaminidase (?-NAGA) are presumed to share a common ancestor. Deficiencies of these enzymes cause two well-characterized human lysosomal storage disorders (LSD) ? Fabry (?-GAL deficiency) and Schindler (?-NAGA deficiency) diseases. Caenorhabditis elegans was previously shown to be a relevant model organism for several late endosomal/lysosomal membrane proteins associated with LSDs. The aim of this study was to identify and characterize C. elegans orthologs to both human lysosomal luminal proteins ?-GAL and ?-NAGA. Results: BlastP searches for orthologs of human *-GAL and *-NAGA revealed a single C. elegans gene (R07B7.11) with homology to both human genes (?-galactosidase and *?-N-acetylgalactosaminidase) ? gana-1. We cloned and sequenced the complete gana-1 cDNA and elucidated the gene organization.Phylogenetic analyses and homology modeling of GANA-1 based on the 3D structure of chicken ?-NAGA, rice ?-GAL and human ?-GAL suggest a close evolutionary relationship of GANA-1 to both human ?-GAL and ?-NAGA.Both ?-GAL and ?-NAGA enzymatic activities were detected in C. elegans mixed culture homogenates. However, ?-GAL activity on an artificial substrate was completely inhibited by the ?-NAGA inhibitor, N-acetyl-D-galactosamine.A GANA-1::GFP fusion protein expressed from a transgene, containing the complete gana-1 coding region and 3 kb of its hypothetical promoter, was not detectable under the standard laboratory conditions. The GFP signal was observed solely in a vesicular compartment of coelomocytes of the animals treated with Concanamycin A (CON A) or NH4Cl, agents that increase the pH of the cellular acidic compartment.Immunofluorescence detection of the fusion protein using polyclonal anti-GFP antibody showed a broader and coarsely granular cytoplasmic expression pattern in body wall muscle cells, intestinal cells, and a vesicular compartment of coelomocytes.Inhibition of gana-1 by RNA interference resulted in a decrease of both ?-GAL and ?-NAGA activities measured in mixed stage culture homogenates but did not cause any obvious phenotype. Conclusions: GANA-1 is a single C. elegans ortholog of both human ?-GAL and ?-NAGA proteins. Phylogenetic, homology modeling, biochemical and GFP expression analyses support the hypothesis that GANA-1 has dual enzymatic activity and is localized in an acidic cellular compartment.
View Article

February 13, 2005: Characterization of gana-1, a Caenorhabditis elegans gene encoding a single ortholog of vertebrate ?
from BioMed Central
Background: Human ?-galactosidase A (?-GAL) and ?-N-acetylgalactosaminidase (?-NAGA) are presumed to share a common ancestor. Deficiencies of these enzymes cause two well-characterized human lysosomal storage disorders (LSD) ? Fabry (?-GAL deficiency) and Schindler (?-NAGA deficiency) diseases. Caenorhabditis elegans was previously shown to be a relevant model organism for several late endosomal/lysosomal membrane proteins associated with LSDs. The aim of this study was to identify and characterize C. elegans orthologs to both human lysosomal luminal proteins ?-GAL and ?-NAGA. Results: BlastP searches for orthologs of human *-GAL and *-NAGA revealed a single C. elegans gene (R07B7.11) with homology to both human genes (?-galactosidase and *?-N-acetylgalactosaminidase) ? gana-1. We cloned and sequenced the complete gana-1 cDNA and elucidated the gene organization.Phylogenetic analyses and homology modeling of GANA-1 based on the 3D structure of chicken ?-NAGA, rice ?-GAL and human ?-GAL suggest a close evolutionary relationship of GANA-1 to both human ?-GAL and ?-NAGA.Both ?-GAL and ?-NAGA enzymatic activities were detected in C. elegans mixed culture homogenates. However, ?-GAL activity on an artificial substrate was completely inhibited by the ?-NAGA inhibitor, N-acetyl-D-galactosamine.A GANA-1::GFP fusion protein expressed from a transgene, containing the complete gana-1 coding region and 3 kb of its hypothetical promoter, was not detectable under the standard laboratory conditions. The GFP signal was observed solely in a vesicular compartment of coelomocytes of the animals treated with Concanamycin A (CON A) or NH4Cl, agents that increase the pH of the cellular acidic compartment.Immunofluorescence detection of the fusion protein using polyclonal anti-GFP antibody showed a broader and coarsely granular cytoplasmic expression pattern in body wall muscle cells, intestinal cells, and a vesicular compartment of coelomocytes.Inhibition of gana-1 by RNA interference resulted in a decrease of both ?-GAL and ?-NAGA activities measured in mixed stage culture homogenates but did not cause any obvious phenotype. Conclusions: GANA-1 is a single C. elegans ortholog of both human ?-GAL and ?-NAGA proteins. Phylogenetic, homology modeling, biochemical and GFP expression analyses support the hypothesis that GANA-1 has dual enzymatic activity and is localized in an acidic cellular compartment.
View Article

February 13, 2005: Characterization of gana-1, a Caenorhabditis elegans gene encoding a single ortholog of vertebrate ?
from BioMed Central
Background: Human ?-galactosidase A (?-GAL) and ?-N-acetylgalactosaminidase (?-NAGA) are presumed to share a common ancestor. Deficiencies of these enzymes cause two well-characterized human lysosomal storage disorders (LSD) ? Fabry (?-GAL deficiency) and Schindler (?-NAGA deficiency) diseases. Caenorhabditis elegans was previously shown to be a relevant model organism for several late endosomal/lysosomal membrane proteins associated with LSDs. The aim of this study was to identify and characterize C. elegans orthologs to both human lysosomal luminal proteins ?-GAL and ?-NAGA. Results: BlastP searches for orthologs of human *-GAL and *-NAGA revealed a single C. elegans gene (R07B7.11) with homology to both human genes (?-galactosidase and *?-N-acetylgalactosaminidase) ? gana-1. We cloned and sequenced the complete gana-1 cDNA and elucidated the gene organization.Phylogenetic analyses and homology modeling of GANA-1 based on the 3D structure of chicken ?-NAGA, rice ?-GAL and human ?-GAL suggest a close evolutionary relationship of GANA-1 to both human ?-GAL and ?-NAGA.Both ?-GAL and ?-NAGA enzymatic activities were detected in C. elegans mixed culture homogenates. However, ?-GAL activity on an artificial substrate was completely inhibited by the ?-NAGA inhibitor, N-acetyl-D-galactosamine.A GANA-1::GFP fusion protein expressed from a transgene, containing the complete gana-1 coding region and 3 kb of its hypothetical promoter, was not detectable under the standard laboratory conditions. The GFP signal was observed solely in a vesicular compartment of coelomocytes of the animals treated with Concanamycin A (CON A) or NH4Cl, agents that increase the pH of the cellular acidic compartment.Immunofluorescence detection of the fusion protein using polyclonal anti-GFP antibody showed a broader and coarsely granular cytoplasmic expression pattern in body wall muscle cells, intestinal cells, and a vesicular compartment of coelomocytes.Inhibition of gana-1 by RNA interference resulted in a decrease of both ?-GAL and ?-NAGA activities measured in mixed stage culture homogenates but did not cause any obvious phenotype. Conclusions: GANA-1 is a single C. elegans ortholog of both human ?-GAL and ?-NAGA proteins. Phylogenetic, homology modeling, biochemical and GFP expression analyses support the hypothesis that GANA-1 has dual enzymatic activity and is localized in an acidic cellular compartment.
View Article

February 13, 2005: Characterization of gana-1, a Caenorhabditis elegans gene encoding a single ortholog of vertebrate ?
from BioMed Central
Background: Human ?-galactosidase A (?-GAL) and ?-N-acetylgalactosaminidase (?-NAGA) are presumed to share a common ancestor. Deficiencies of these enzymes cause two well-characterized human lysosomal storage disorders (LSD) ? Fabry (?-GAL deficiency) and Schindler (?-NAGA deficiency) diseases. Caenorhabditis elegans was previously shown to be a relevant model organism for several late endosomal/lysosomal membrane proteins associated with LSDs. The aim of this study was to identify and characterize C. elegans orthologs to both human lysosomal luminal proteins ?-GAL and ?-NAGA. Results: BlastP searches for orthologs of human *-GAL and *-NAGA revealed a single C. elegans gene (R07B7.11) with homology to both human genes (?-galactosidase and *?-N-acetylgalactosaminidase) ? gana-1. We cloned and sequenced the complete gana-1 cDNA and elucidated the gene organization.Phylogenetic analyses and homology modeling of GANA-1 based on the 3D structure of chicken ?-NAGA, rice ?-GAL and human ?-GAL suggest a close evolutionary relationship of GANA-1 to both human ?-GAL and ?-NAGA.Both ?-GAL and ?-NAGA enzymatic activities were detected in C. elegans mixed culture homogenates. However, ?-GAL activity on an artificial substrate was completely inhibited by the ?-NAGA inhibitor, N-acetyl-D-galactosamine.A GANA-1::GFP fusion protein expressed from a transgene, containing the complete gana-1 coding region and 3 kb of its hypothetical promoter, was not detectable under the standard laboratory conditions. The GFP signal was observed solely in a vesicular compartment of coelomocytes of the animals treated with Concanamycin A (CON A) or NH4Cl, agents that increase the pH of the cellular acidic compartment.Immunofluorescence detection of the fusion protein using polyclonal anti-GFP antibody showed a broader and coarsely granular cytoplasmic expression pattern in body wall muscle cells, intestinal cells, and a vesicular compartment of coelomocytes.Inhibition of gana-1 by RNA interference resulted in a decrease of both ?-GAL and ?-NAGA activities measured in mixed stage culture homogenates but did not cause any obvious phenotype. Conclusions: GANA-1 is a single C. elegans ortholog of both human ?-GAL and ?-NAGA proteins. Phylogenetic, homology modeling, biochemical and GFP expression analyses support the hypothesis that GANA-1 has dual enzymatic activity and is localized in an acidic cellular compartment.
View Article

February 13, 2005: Characterization of gana-1, a Caenorhabditis elegans gene encoding a single ortholog of vertebrate ?
from BioMed Central
Background: Human ?-galactosidase A (?-GAL) and ?-N-acetylgalactosaminidase (?-NAGA) are presumed to share a common ancestor. Deficiencies of these enzymes cause two well-characterized human lysosomal storage disorders (LSD) ? Fabry (?-GAL deficiency) and Schindler (?-NAGA deficiency) diseases. Caenorhabditis elegans was previously shown to be a relevant model organism for several late endosomal/lysosomal membrane proteins associated with LSDs. The aim of this study was to identify and characterize C. elegans orthologs to both human lysosomal luminal proteins ?-GAL and ?-NAGA. Results: BlastP searches for orthologs of human *-GAL and *-NAGA revealed a single C. elegans gene (R07B7.11) with homology to both human genes (?-galactosidase and *?-N-acetylgalactosaminidase) ? gana-1. We cloned and sequenced the complete gana-1 cDNA and elucidated the gene organization.Phylogenetic analyses and homology modeling of GANA-1 based on the 3D structure of chicken ?-NAGA, rice ?-GAL and human ?-GAL suggest a close evolutionary relationship of GANA-1 to both human ?-GAL and ?-NAGA.Both ?-GAL and ?-NAGA enzymatic activities were detected in C. elegans mixed culture homogenates. However, ?-GAL activity on an artificial substrate was completely inhibited by the ?-NAGA inhibitor, N-acetyl-D-galactosamine.A GANA-1::GFP fusion protein expressed from a transgene, containing the complete gana-1 coding region and 3 kb of its hypothetical promoter, was not detectable under the standard laboratory conditions. The GFP signal was observed solely in a vesicular compartment of coelomocytes of the animals treated with Concanamycin A (CON A) or NH4Cl, agents that increase the pH of the cellular acidic compartment.Immunofluorescence detection of the fusion protein using polyclonal anti-GFP antibody showed a broader and coarsely granular cytoplasmic expression pattern in body wall muscle cells, intestinal cells, and a vesicular compartment of coelomocytes.Inhibition of gana-1 by RNA interference resulted in a decrease of both ?-GAL and ?-NAGA activities measured in mixed stage culture homogenates but did not cause any obvious phenotype. Conclusions: GANA-1 is a single C. elegans ortholog of both human ?-GAL and ?-NAGA proteins. Phylogenetic, homology modeling, biochemical and GFP expression analyses support the hypothesis that GANA-1 has dual enzymatic activity and is localized in an acidic cellular compartment.
View Article

February 13, 2005: Characterization of gana-1, a Caenorhabditis elegans gene encoding a single ortholog of vertebrate ?
from BioMed Central
Background: Human ?-galactosidase A (?-GAL) and ?-N-acetylgalactosaminidase (?-NAGA) are presumed to share a common ancestor. Deficiencies of these enzymes cause two well-characterized human lysosomal storage disorders (LSD) ? Fabry (?-GAL deficiency) and Schindler (?-NAGA deficiency) diseases. Caenorhabditis elegans was previously shown to be a relevant model organism for several late endosomal/lysosomal membrane proteins associated with LSDs. The aim of this study was to identify and characterize C. elegans orthologs to both human lysosomal luminal proteins ?-GAL and ?-NAGA. Results: BlastP searches for orthologs of human *-GAL and *-NAGA revealed a single C. elegans gene (R07B7.11) with homology to both human genes (?-galactosidase and *?-N-acetylgalactosaminidase) ? gana-1. We cloned and sequenced the complete gana-1 cDNA and elucidated the gene organization.Phylogenetic analyses and homology modeling of GANA-1 based on the 3D structure of chicken ?-NAGA, rice ?-GAL and human ?-GAL suggest a close evolutionary relationship of GANA-1 to both human ?-GAL and ?-NAGA.Both ?-GAL and ?-NAGA enzymatic activities were detected in C. elegans mixed culture homogenates. However, ?-GAL activity on an artificial substrate was completely inhibited by the ?-NAGA inhibitor, N-acetyl-D-galactosamine.A GANA-1::GFP fusion protein expressed from a transgene, containing the complete gana-1 coding region and 3 kb of its hypothetical promoter, was not detectable under the standard laboratory conditions. The GFP signal was observed solely in a vesicular compartment of coelomocytes of the animals treated with Concanamycin A (CON A) or NH4Cl, agents that increase the pH of the cellular acidic compartment.Immunofluorescence detection of the fusion protein using polyclonal anti-GFP antibody showed a broader and coarsely granular cytoplasmic expression pattern in body wall muscle cells, intestinal cells, and a vesicular compartment of coelomocytes.Inhibition of gana-1 by RNA interference resulted in a decrease of both ?-GAL and ?-NAGA activities measured in mixed stage culture homogenates but did not cause any obvious phenotype. Conclusions: GANA-1 is a single C. elegans ortholog of both human ?-GAL and ?-NAGA proteins. Phylogenetic, homology modeling, biochemical and GFP expression analyses support the hypothesis that GANA-1 has dual enzymatic activity and is localized in an acidic cellular compartment.
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February 13, 2005: Characterization of gana-1, a Caenorhabditis elegans gene encoding a single ortholog of vertebrate ?
from BioMed Central
Background: Human ?-galactosidase A (?-GAL) and ?-N-acetylgalactosaminidase (?-NAGA) are presumed to share a common ancestor. Deficiencies of these enzymes cause two well-characterized human lysosomal storage disorders (LSD) ? Fabry (?-GAL deficiency) and Schindler (?-NAGA deficiency) diseases. Caenorhabditis elegans was previously shown to be a relevant model organism for several late endosomal/lysosomal membrane proteins associated with LSDs. The aim of this study was to identify and characterize C. elegans orthologs to both human lysosomal luminal proteins ?-GAL and ?-NAGA. Results: BlastP searches for orthologs of human *-GAL and *-NAGA revealed a single C. elegans gene (R07B7.11) with homology to both human genes (?-galactosidase and *?-N-acetylgalactosaminidase) ? gana-1. We cloned and sequenced the complete gana-1 cDNA and elucidated the gene organization.Phylogenetic analyses and homology modeling of GANA-1 based on the 3D structure of chicken ?-NAGA, rice ?-GAL and human ?-GAL suggest a close evolutionary relationship of GANA-1 to both human ?-GAL and ?-NAGA.Both ?-GAL and ?-NAGA enzymatic activities were detected in C. elegans mixed culture homogenates. However, ?-GAL activity on an artificial substrate was completely inhibited by the ?-NAGA inhibitor, N-acetyl-D-galactosamine.A GANA-1::GFP fusion protein expressed from a transgene, containing the complete gana-1 coding region and 3 kb of its hypothetical promoter, was not detectable under the standard laboratory conditions. The GFP signal was observed solely in a vesicular compartment of coelomocytes of the animals treated with Concanamycin A (CON A) or NH4Cl, agents that increase the pH of the cellular acidic compartment.Immunofluorescence detection of the fusion protein using polyclonal anti-GFP antibody showed a broader and coarsely granular cytoplasmic expression pattern in body wall muscle cells, intestinal cells, and a vesicular compartment of coelomocytes.Inhibition of gana-1 by RNA interference resulted in a decrease of both ?-GAL and ?-NAGA activities measured in mixed stage culture homogenates but did not cause any obvious phenotype. Conclusions: GANA-1 is a single C. elegans ortholog of both human ?-GAL and ?-NAGA proteins. Phylogenetic, homology modeling, biochemical and GFP expression analyses support the hypothesis that GANA-1 has dual enzymatic activity and is localized in an acidic cellular compartment.
View Article

February 13, 2005: Characterization of gana-1, a Caenorhabditis elegans gene encoding a single ortholog of vertebrate ?
from BioMed Central
Background: Human ?-galactosidase A (?-GAL) and ?-N-acetylgalactosaminidase (?-NAGA) are presumed to share a common ancestor. Deficiencies of these enzymes cause two well-characterized human lysosomal storage disorders (LSD) ? Fabry (?-GAL deficiency) and Schindler (?-NAGA deficiency) diseases. Caenorhabditis elegans was previously shown to be a relevant model organism for several late endosomal/lysosomal membrane proteins associated with LSDs. The aim of this study was to identify and characterize C. elegans orthologs to both human lysosomal luminal proteins ?-GAL and ?-NAGA. Results: BlastP searches for orthologs of human *-GAL and *-NAGA revealed a single C. elegans gene (R07B7.11) with homology to both human genes (?-galactosidase and *?-N-acetylgalactosaminidase) ? gana-1. We cloned and sequenced the complete gana-1 cDNA and elucidated the gene organization.Phylogenetic analyses and homology modeling of GANA-1 based on the 3D structure of chicken ?-NAGA, rice ?-GAL and human ?-GAL suggest a close evolutionary relationship of GANA-1 to both human ?-GAL and ?-NAGA.Both ?-GAL and ?-NAGA enzymatic activities were detected in C. elegans mixed culture homogenates. However, ?-GAL activity on an artificial substrate was completely inhibited by the ?-NAGA inhibitor, N-acetyl-D-galactosamine.A GANA-1::GFP fusion protein expressed from a transgene, containing the complete gana-1 coding region and 3 kb of its hypothetical promoter, was not detectable under the standard laboratory conditions. The GFP signal was observed solely in a vesicular compartment of coelomocytes of the animals treated with Concanamycin A (CON A) or NH4Cl, agents that increase the pH of the cellular acidic compartment.Immunofluorescence detection of the fusion protein using polyclonal anti-GFP antibody showed a broader and coarsely granular cytoplasmic expression pattern in body wall muscle cells, intestinal cells, and a vesicular compartment of coelomocytes.Inhibition of gana-1 by RNA interference resulted in a decrease of both ?-GAL and ?-NAGA activities measured in mixed stage culture homogenates but did not cause any obvious phenotype. Conclusions: GANA-1 is a single C. elegans ortholog of both human ?-GAL and ?-NAGA proteins. Phylogenetic, homology modeling, biochemical and GFP expression analyses support the hypothesis that GANA-1 has dual enzymatic activity and is localized in an acidic cellular compartment.
View Article

February 13, 2005: Characterization of gana-1, a Caenorhabditis elegans gene encoding a single ortholog of vertebrate ?
from BioMed Central
Background: Human ?-galactosidase A (?-GAL) and ?-N-acetylgalactosaminidase (?-NAGA) are presumed to share a common ancestor. Deficiencies of these enzymes cause two well-characterized human lysosomal storage disorders (LSD) ? Fabry (?-GAL deficiency) and Schindler (?-NAGA deficiency) diseases. Caenorhabditis elegans was previously shown to be a relevant model organism for several late endosomal/lysosomal membrane proteins associated with LSDs. The aim of this study was to identify and characterize C. elegans orthologs to both human lysosomal luminal proteins ?-GAL and ?-NAGA. Results: BlastP searches for orthologs of human *-GAL and *-NAGA revealed a single C. elegans gene (R07B7.11) with homology to both human genes (?-galactosidase and *?-N-acetylgalactosaminidase) ? gana-1. We cloned and sequenced the complete gana-1 cDNA and elucidated the gene organization.Phylogenetic analyses and homology modeling of GANA-1 based on the 3D structure of chicken ?-NAGA, rice ?-GAL and human ?-GAL suggest a close evolutionary relationship of GANA-1 to both human ?-GAL and ?-NAGA.Both ?-GAL and ?-NAGA enzymatic activities were detected in C. elegans mixed culture homogenates. However, ?-GAL activity on an artificial substrate was completely inhibited by the ?-NAGA inhibitor, N-acetyl-D-galactosamine.A GANA-1::GFP fusion protein expressed from a transgene, containing the complete gana-1 coding region and 3 kb of its hypothetical promoter, was not detectable under the standard laboratory conditions. The GFP signal was observed solely in a vesicular compartment of coelomocytes of the animals treated with Concanamycin A (CON A) or NH4Cl, agents that increase the pH of the cellular acidic compartment.Immunofluorescence detection of the fusion protein using polyclonal anti-GFP antibody showed a broader and coarsely granular cytoplasmic expression pattern in body wall muscle cells, intestinal cells, and a vesicular compartment of coelomocytes.Inhibition of gana-1 by RNA interference resulted in a decrease of both ?-GAL and ?-NAGA activities measured in mixed stage culture homogenates but did not cause any obvious phenotype. Conclusions: GANA-1 is a single C. elegans ortholog of both human ?-GAL and ?-NAGA proteins. Phylogenetic, homology modeling, biochemical and GFP expression analyses support the hypothesis that GANA-1 has dual enzymatic activity and is localized in an acidic cellular compartment.
View Article

February 13, 2005: Characterization of gana-1, a Caenorhabditis elegans gene encoding a single ortholog of vertebrate ?
from BioMed Central
Background: Human ?-galactosidase A (?-GAL) and ?-N-acetylgalactosaminidase (?-NAGA) are presumed to share a common ancestor. Deficiencies of these enzymes cause two well-characterized human lysosomal storage disorders (LSD) ? Fabry (?-GAL deficiency) and Schindler (?-NAGA deficiency) diseases. Caenorhabditis elegans was previously shown to be a relevant model organism for several late endosomal/lysosomal membrane proteins associated with LSDs. The aim of this study was to identify and characterize C. elegans orthologs to both human lysosomal luminal proteins ?-GAL and ?-NAGA. Results: BlastP searches for orthologs of human *-GAL and *-NAGA revealed a single C. elegans gene (R07B7.11) with homology to both human genes (?-galactosidase and *?-N-acetylgalactosaminidase) ? gana-1. We cloned and sequenced the complete gana-1 cDNA and elucidated the gene organization.Phylogenetic analyses and homology modeling of GANA-1 based on the 3D structure of chicken ?-NAGA, rice ?-GAL and human ?-GAL suggest a close evolutionary relationship of GANA-1 to both human ?-GAL and ?-NAGA.Both ?-GAL and ?-NAGA enzymatic activities were detected in C. elegans mixed culture homogenates. However, ?-GAL activity on an artificial substrate was completely inhibited by the ?-NAGA inhibitor, N-acetyl-D-galactosamine.A GANA-1::GFP fusion protein expressed from a transgene, containing the complete gana-1 coding region and 3 kb of its hypothetical promoter, was not detectable under the standard laboratory conditions. The GFP signal was observed solely in a vesicular compartment of coelomocytes of the animals treated with Concanamycin A (CON A) or NH4Cl, agents that increase the pH of the cellular acidic compartment.Immunofluorescence detection of the fusion protein using polyclonal anti-GFP antibody showed a broader and coarsely granular cytoplasmic expression pattern in body wall muscle cells, intestinal cells, and a vesicular compartment of coelomocytes.Inhibition of gana-1 by RNA interference resulted in a decrease of both ?-GAL and ?-NAGA activities measured in mixed stage culture homogenates but did not cause any obvious phenotype. Conclusions: GANA-1 is a single C. elegans ortholog of both human ?-GAL and ?-NAGA proteins. Phylogenetic, homology modeling, biochemical and GFP expression analyses support the hypothesis that GANA-1 has dual enzymatic activity and is localized in an acidic cellular compartment.
View Article

February 13, 2005: Characterization of gana-1, a Caenorhabditis elegans gene encoding a single ortholog of vertebrate ?
from BioMed Central
Background: Human ?-galactosidase A (?-GAL) and ?-N-acetylgalactosaminidase (?-NAGA) are presumed to share a common ancestor. Deficiencies of these enzymes cause two well-characterized human lysosomal storage disorders (LSD) ? Fabry (?-GAL deficiency) and Schindler (?-NAGA deficiency) diseases. Caenorhabditis elegans was previously shown to be a relevant model organism for several late endosomal/lysosomal membrane proteins associated with LSDs. The aim of this study was to identify and characterize C. elegans orthologs to both human lysosomal luminal proteins ?-GAL and ?-NAGA. Results: BlastP searches for orthologs of human *-GAL and *-NAGA revealed a single C. elegans gene (R07B7.11) with homology to both human genes (?-galactosidase and *?-N-acetylgalactosaminidase) ? gana-1. We cloned and sequenced the complete gana-1 cDNA and elucidated the gene organization.Phylogenetic analyses and homology modeling of GANA-1 based on the 3D structure of chicken ?-NAGA, rice ?-GAL and human ?-GAL suggest a close evolutionary relationship of GANA-1 to both human ?-GAL and ?-NAGA.Both ?-GAL and ?-NAGA enzymatic activities were detected in C. elegans mixed culture homogenates. However, ?-GAL activity on an artificial substrate was completely inhibited by the ?-NAGA inhibitor, N-acetyl-D-galactosamine.A GANA-1::GFP fusion protein expressed from a transgene, containing the complete gana-1 coding region and 3 kb of its hypothetical promoter, was not detectable under the standard laboratory conditions. The GFP signal was observed solely in a vesicular compartment of coelomocytes of the animals treated with Concanamycin A (CON A) or NH4Cl, agents that increase the pH of the cellular acidic compartment.Immunofluorescence detection of the fusion protein using polyclonal anti-GFP antibody showed a broader and coarsely granular cytoplasmic expression pattern in body wall muscle cells, intestinal cells, and a vesicular compartment of coelomocytes.Inhibition of gana-1 by RNA interference resulted in a decrease of both ?-GAL and ?-NAGA activities measured in mixed stage culture homogenates but did not cause any obvious phenotype. Conclusions: GANA-1 is a single C. elegans ortholog of both human ?-GAL and ?-NAGA proteins. Phylogenetic, homology modeling, biochemical and GFP expression analyses support the hypothesis that GANA-1 has dual enzymatic activity and is localized in an acidic cellular compartment.
View Article

February 13, 2005: Characterization of gana-1, a Caenorhabditis elegans gene encoding a single ortholog of vertebrate ?
from BioMed Central
Background: Human ?-galactosidase A (?-GAL) and ?-N-acetylgalactosaminidase (?-NAGA) are presumed to share a common ancestor. Deficiencies of these enzymes cause two well-characterized human lysosomal storage disorders (LSD) ? Fabry (?-GAL deficiency) and Schindler (?-NAGA deficiency) diseases. Caenorhabditis elegans was previously shown to be a relevant model organism for several late endosomal/lysosomal membrane proteins associated with LSDs. The aim of this study was to identify and characterize C. elegans orthologs to both human lysosomal luminal proteins ?-GAL and ?-NAGA. Results: BlastP searches for orthologs of human *-GAL and *-NAGA revealed a single C. elegans gene (R07B7.11) with homology to both human genes (?-galactosidase and *?-N-acetylgalactosaminidase) ? gana-1. We cloned and sequenced the complete gana-1 cDNA and elucidated the gene organization.Phylogenetic analyses and homology modeling of GANA-1 based on the 3D structure of chicken ?-NAGA, rice ?-GAL and human ?-GAL suggest a close evolutionary relationship of GANA-1 to both human ?-GAL and ?-NAGA.Both ?-GAL and ?-NAGA enzymatic activities were detected in C. elegans mixed culture homogenates. However, ?-GAL activity on an artificial substrate was completely inhibited by the ?-NAGA inhibitor, N-acetyl-D-galactosamine.A GANA-1::GFP fusion protein expressed from a transgene, containing the complete gana-1 coding region and 3 kb of its hypothetical promoter, was not detectable under the standard laboratory conditions. The GFP signal was observed solely in a vesicular compartment of coelomocytes of the animals treated with Concanamycin A (CON A) or NH4Cl, agents that increase the pH of the cellular acidic compartment.Immunofluorescence detection of the fusion protein using polyclonal anti-GFP antibody showed a broader and coarsely granular cytoplasmic expression pattern in body wall muscle cells, intestinal cells, and a vesicular compartment of coelomocytes.Inhibition of gana-1 by RNA interference resulted in a decrease of both ?-GAL and ?-NAGA activities measured in mixed stage culture homogenates but did not cause any obvious phenotype. Conclusions: GANA-1 is a single C. elegans ortholog of both human ?-GAL and ?-NAGA proteins. Phylogenetic, homology modeling, biochemical and GFP expression analyses support the hypothesis that GANA-1 has dual enzymatic activity and is localized in an acidic cellular compartment.
View Article

February 13, 2005: Characterization of gana-1, a Caenorhabditis elegans gene encoding a single ortholog of vertebrate ?
from BioMed Central
Background: Human ?-galactosidase A (?-GAL) and ?-N-acetylgalactosaminidase (?-NAGA) are presumed to share a common ancestor. Deficiencies of these enzymes cause two well-characterized human lysosomal storage disorders (LSD) ? Fabry (?-GAL deficiency) and Schindler (?-NAGA deficiency) diseases. Caenorhabditis elegans was previously shown to be a relevant model organism for several late endosomal/lysosomal membrane proteins associated with LSDs. The aim of this study was to identify and characterize C. elegans orthologs to both human lysosomal luminal proteins ?-GAL and ?-NAGA. Results: BlastP searches for orthologs of human *-GAL and *-NAGA revealed a single C. elegans gene (R07B7.11) with homology to both human genes (?-galactosidase and *?-N-acetylgalactosaminidase) ? gana-1. We cloned and sequenced the complete gana-1 cDNA and elucidated the gene organization.Phylogenetic analyses and homology modeling of GANA-1 based on the 3D structure of chicken ?-NAGA, rice ?-GAL and human ?-GAL suggest a close evolutionary relationship of GANA-1 to both human ?-GAL and ?-NAGA.Both ?-GAL and ?-NAGA enzymatic activities were detected in C. elegans mixed culture homogenates. However, ?-GAL activity on an artificial substrate was completely inhibited by the ?-NAGA inhibitor, N-acetyl-D-galactosamine.A GANA-1::GFP fusion protein expressed from a transgene, containing the complete gana-1 coding region and 3 kb of its hypothetical promoter, was not detectable under the standard laboratory conditions. The GFP signal was observed solely in a vesicular compartment of coelomocytes of the animals treated with Concanamycin A (CON A) or NH4Cl, agents that increase the pH of the cellular acidic compartment.Immunofluorescence detection of the fusion protein using polyclonal anti-GFP antibody showed a broader and coarsely granular cytoplasmic expression pattern in body wall muscle cells, intestinal cells, and a vesicular compartment of coelomocytes.Inhibition of gana-1 by RNA interference resulted in a decrease of both ?-GAL and ?-NAGA activities measured in mixed stage culture homogenates but did not cause any obvious phenotype. Conclusions: GANA-1 is a single C. elegans ortholog of both human ?-GAL and ?-NAGA proteins. Phylogenetic, homology modeling, biochemical and GFP expression analyses support the hypothesis that GANA-1 has dual enzymatic activity and is localized in an acidic cellular compartment.
View Article

February 13, 2005: Characterization of gana-1, a Caenorhabditis elegans gene encoding a single ortholog of vertebrate ?
from BioMed Central
Background: Human ?-galactosidase A (?-GAL) and ?-N-acetylgalactosaminidase (?-NAGA) are presumed to share a common ancestor. Deficiencies of these enzymes cause two well-characterized human lysosomal storage disorders (LSD) ? Fabry (?-GAL deficiency) and Schindler (?-NAGA deficiency) diseases. Caenorhabditis elegans was previously shown to be a relevant model organism for several late endosomal/lysosomal membrane proteins associated with LSDs. The aim of this study was to identify and characterize C. elegans orthologs to both human lysosomal luminal proteins ?-GAL and ?-NAGA. Results: BlastP searches for orthologs of human *-GAL and *-NAGA revealed a single C. elegans gene (R07B7.11) with homology to both human genes (?-galactosidase and *?-N-acetylgalactosaminidase) ? gana-1. We cloned and sequenced the complete gana-1 cDNA and elucidated the gene organization.Phylogenetic analyses and homology modeling of GANA-1 based on the 3D structure of chicken ?-NAGA, rice ?-GAL and human ?-GAL suggest a close evolutionary relationship of GANA-1 to both human ?-GAL and ?-NAGA.Both ?-GAL and ?-NAGA enzymatic activities were detected in C. elegans mixed culture homogenates. However, ?-GAL activity on an artificial substrate was completely inhibited by the ?-NAGA inhibitor, N-acetyl-D-galactosamine.A GANA-1::GFP fusion protein expressed from a transgene, containing the complete gana-1 coding region and 3 kb of its hypothetical promoter, was not detectable under the standard laboratory conditions. The GFP signal was observed solely in a vesicular compartment of coelomocytes of the animals treated with Concanamycin A (CON A) or NH4Cl, agents that increase the pH of the cellular acidic compartment.Immunofluorescence detection of the fusion protein using polyclonal anti-GFP antibody showed a broader and coarsely granular cytoplasmic expression pattern in body wall muscle cells, intestinal cells, and a vesicular compartment of coelomocytes.Inhibition of gana-1 by RNA interference resulted in a decrease of both ?-GAL and ?-NAGA activities measured in mixed stage culture homogenates but did not cause any obvious phenotype. Conclusions: GANA-1 is a single C. elegans ortholog of both human ?-GAL and ?-NAGA proteins. Phylogenetic, homology modeling, biochemical and GFP expression analyses support the hypothesis that GANA-1 has dual enzymatic activity and is localized in an acidic cellular compartment.
View Article

February 13, 2005: Characterization of gana-1, a Caenorhabditis elegans gene encoding a single ortholog of vertebrate ?
from BioMed Central
Background: Human ?-galactosidase A (?-GAL) and ?-N-acetylgalactosaminidase (?-NAGA) are presumed to share a common ancestor. Deficiencies of these enzymes cause two well-characterized human lysosomal storage disorders (LSD) ? Fabry (?-GAL deficiency) and Schindler (?-NAGA deficiency) diseases. Caenorhabditis elegans was previously shown to be a relevant model organism for several late endosomal/lysosomal membrane proteins associated with LSDs. The aim of this study was to identify and characterize C. elegans orthologs to both human lysosomal luminal proteins ?-GAL and ?-NAGA. Results: BlastP searches for orthologs of human *-GAL and *-NAGA revealed a single C. elegans gene (R07B7.11) with homology to both human genes (?-galactosidase and *?-N-acetylgalactosaminidase) ? gana-1. We cloned and sequenced the complete gana-1 cDNA and elucidated the gene organization.Phylogenetic analyses and homology modeling of GANA-1 based on the 3D structure of chicken ?-NAGA, rice ?-GAL and human ?-GAL suggest a close evolutionary relationship of GANA-1 to both human ?-GAL and ?-NAGA.Both ?-GAL and ?-NAGA enzymatic activities were detected in C. elegans mixed culture homogenates. However, ?-GAL activity on an artificial substrate was completely inhibited by the ?-NAGA inhibitor, N-acetyl-D-galactosamine.A GANA-1::GFP fusion protein expressed from a transgene, containing the complete gana-1 coding region and 3 kb of its hypothetical promoter, was not detectable under the standard laboratory conditions. The GFP signal was observed solely in a vesicular compartment of coelomocytes of the animals treated with Concanamycin A (CON A) or NH4Cl, agents that increase the pH of the cellular acidic compartment.Immunofluorescence detection of the fusion protein using polyclonal anti-GFP antibody showed a broader and coarsely granular cytoplasmic expression pattern in body wall muscle cells, intestinal cells, and a vesicular compartment of coelomocytes.Inhibition of gana-1 by RNA interference resulted in a decrease of both ?-GAL and ?-NAGA activities measured in mixed stage culture homogenates but did not cause any obvious phenotype. Conclusions: GANA-1 is a single C. elegans ortholog of both human ?-GAL and ?-NAGA proteins. Phylogenetic, homology modeling, biochemical and GFP expression analyses support the hypothesis that GANA-1 has dual enzymatic activity and is localized in an acidic cellular compartment.
View Article

February 13, 2005: Characterization of gana-1, a Caenorhabditis elegans gene encoding a single ortholog of vertebrate ?
from BioMed Central
Background: Human ?-galactosidase A (?-GAL) and ?-N-acetylgalactosaminidase (?-NAGA) are presumed to share a common ancestor. Deficiencies of these enzymes cause two well-characterized human lysosomal storage disorders (LSD) ? Fabry (?-GAL deficiency) and Schindler (?-NAGA deficiency) diseases. Caenorhabditis elegans was previously shown to be a relevant model organism for several late endosomal/lysosomal membrane proteins associated with LSDs. The aim of this study was to identify and characterize C. elegans orthologs to both human lysosomal luminal proteins ?-GAL and ?-NAGA. Results: BlastP searches for orthologs of human *-GAL and *-NAGA revealed a single C. elegans gene (R07B7.11) with homology to both human genes (?-galactosidase and *?-N-acetylgalactosaminidase) ? gana-1. We cloned and sequenced the complete gana-1 cDNA and elucidated the gene organization.Phylogenetic analyses and homology modeling of GANA-1 based on the 3D structure of chicken ?-NAGA, rice ?-GAL and human ?-GAL suggest a close evolutionary relationship of GANA-1 to both human ?-GAL and ?-NAGA.Both ?-GAL and ?-NAGA enzymatic activities were detected in C. elegans mixed culture homogenates. However, ?-GAL activity on an artificial substrate was completely inhibited by the ?-NAGA inhibitor, N-acetyl-D-galactosamine.A GANA-1::GFP fusion protein expressed from a transgene, containing the complete gana-1 coding region and 3 kb of its hypothetical promoter, was not detectable under the standard laboratory conditions. The GFP signal was observed solely in a vesicular compartment of coelomocytes of the animals treated with Concanamycin A (CON A) or NH4Cl, agents that increase the pH of the cellular acidic compartment.Immunofluorescence detection of the fusion protein using polyclonal anti-GFP antibody showed a broader and coarsely granular cytoplasmic expression pattern in body wall muscle cells, intestinal cells, and a vesicular compartment of coelomocytes.Inhibition of gana-1 by RNA interference resulted in a decrease of both ?-GAL and ?-NAGA activities measured in mixed stage culture homogenates but did not cause any obvious phenotype. Conclusions: GANA-1 is a single C. elegans ortholog of both human ?-GAL and ?-NAGA proteins. Phylogenetic, homology modeling, biochemical and GFP expression analyses support the hypothesis that GANA-1 has dual enzymatic activity and is localized in an acidic cellular compartment.
View Article

February 13, 2005: Characterization of gana-1, a Caenorhabditis elegans gene encoding a single ortholog of vertebrate ?
from BioMed Central
Background: Human ?-galactosidase A (?-GAL) and ?-N-acetylgalactosaminidase (?-NAGA) are presumed to share a common ancestor. Deficiencies of these enzymes cause two well-characterized human lysosomal storage disorders (LSD) ? Fabry (?-GAL deficiency) and Schindler (?-NAGA deficiency) diseases. Caenorhabditis elegans was previously shown to be a relevant model organism for several late endosomal/lysosomal membrane proteins associated with LSDs. The aim of this study was to identify and characterize C. elegans orthologs to both human lysosomal luminal proteins ?-GAL and ?-NAGA. Results: BlastP searches for orthologs of human *-GAL and *-NAGA revealed a single C. elegans gene (R07B7.11) with homology to both human genes (?-galactosidase and *?-N-acetylgalactosaminidase) ? gana-1. We cloned and sequenced the complete gana-1 cDNA and elucidated the gene organization.Phylogenetic analyses and homology modeling of GANA-1 based on the 3D structure of chicken ?-NAGA, rice ?-GAL and human ?-GAL suggest a close evolutionary relationship of GANA-1 to both human ?-GAL and ?-NAGA.Both ?-GAL and ?-NAGA enzymatic activities were detected in C. elegans mixed culture homogenates. However, ?-GAL activity on an artificial substrate was completely inhibited by the ?-NAGA inhibitor, N-acetyl-D-galactosamine.A GANA-1::GFP fusion protein expressed from a transgene, containing the complete gana-1 coding region and 3 kb of its hypothetical promoter, was not detectable under the standard laboratory conditions. The GFP signal was observed solely in a vesicular compartment of coelomocytes of the animals treated with Concanamycin A (CON A) or NH4Cl, agents that increase the pH of the cellular acidic compartment.Immunofluorescence detection of the fusion protein using polyclonal anti-GFP antibody showed a broader and coarsely granular cytoplasmic expression pattern in body wall muscle cells, intestinal cells, and a vesicular compartment of coelomocytes.Inhibition of gana-1 by RNA interference resulted in a decrease of both ?-GAL and ?-NAGA activities measured in mixed stage culture homogenates but did not cause any obvious phenotype. Conclusions: GANA-1 is a single C. elegans ortholog of both human ?-GAL and ?-NAGA proteins. Phylogenetic, homology modeling, biochemical and GFP expression analyses support the hypothesis that GANA-1 has dual enzymatic activity and is localized in an acidic cellular compartment.
View Article

February 12, 2005: Characterization of gana-1, a Caenorhabditis elegans gene encoding a single ortholog of vertebrate ?
from BioMed Central
Background: Human ?-galactosidase A (?-GAL) and ?-N-acetylgalactosaminidase (?-NAGA) are presumed to share a common ancestor. Deficiencies of these enzymes cause two well-characterized human lysosomal storage disorders (LSD) ? Fabry (?-GAL deficiency) and Schindler (?-NAGA deficiency) diseases. Caenorhabditis elegans was previously shown to be a relevant model organism for several late endosomal/lysosomal membrane proteins associated with LSDs. The aim of this study was to identify and characterize C. elegans orthologs to both human lysosomal luminal proteins ?-GAL and ?-NAGA. Results: BlastP searches for orthologs of human *-GAL and *-NAGA revealed a single C. elegans gene (R07B7.11) with homology to both human genes (?-galactosidase and *?-N-acetylgalactosaminidase) ? gana-1. We cloned and sequenced the complete gana-1 cDNA and elucidated the gene organization.Phylogenetic analyses and homology modeling of GANA-1 based on the 3D structure of chicken ?-NAGA, rice ?-GAL and human ?-GAL suggest a close evolutionary relationship of GANA-1 to both human ?-GAL and ?-NAGA.Both ?-GAL and ?-NAGA enzymatic activities were detected in C. elegans mixed culture homogenates. However, ?-GAL activity on an artificial substrate was completely inhibited by the ?-NAGA inhibitor, N-acetyl-D-galactosamine.A GANA-1::GFP fusion protein expressed from a transgene, containing the complete gana-1 coding region and 3 kb of its hypothetical promoter, was not detectable under the standard laboratory conditions. The GFP signal was observed solely in a vesicular compartment of coelomocytes of the animals treated with Concanamycin A (CON A) or NH4Cl, agents that increase the pH of the cellular acidic compartment.Immunofluorescence detection of the fusion protein using polyclonal anti-GFP antibody showed a broader and coarsely granular cytoplasmic expression pattern in body wall muscle cells, intestinal cells, and a vesicular compartment of coelomocytes.Inhibition of gana-1 by RNA interference resulted in a decrease of both ?-GAL and ?-NAGA activities measured in mixed stage culture homogenates but did not cause any obvious phenotype. Conclusions: GANA-1 is a single C. elegans ortholog of both human ?-GAL and ?-NAGA proteins. Phylogenetic, homology modeling, biochemical and GFP expression analyses support the hypothesis that GANA-1 has dual enzymatic activity and is localized in an acidic cellular compartment.
View Article

February 12, 2005: Characterization of gana-1, a Caenorhabditis elegans gene encoding a single ortholog of vertebrate ?
from BioMed Central
Background: Human ?-galactosidase A (?-GAL) and ?-N-acetylgalactosaminidase (?-NAGA) are presumed to share a common ancestor. Deficiencies of these enzymes cause two well-characterized human lysosomal storage disorders (LSD) ? Fabry (?-GAL deficiency) and Schindler (?-NAGA deficiency) diseases. Caenorhabditis elegans was previously shown to be a relevant model organism for several late endosomal/lysosomal membrane proteins associated with LSDs. The aim of this study was to identify and characterize C. elegans orthologs to both human lysosomal luminal proteins ?-GAL and ?-NAGA. Results: BlastP searches for orthologs of human *-GAL and *-NAGA revealed a single C. elegans gene (R07B7.11) with homology to both human genes (?-galactosidase and *?-N-acetylgalactosaminidase) ? gana-1. We cloned and sequenced the complete gana-1 cDNA and elucidated the gene organization.Phylogenetic analyses and homology modeling of GANA-1 based on the 3D structure of chicken ?-NAGA, rice ?-GAL and human ?-GAL suggest a close evolutionary relationship of GANA-1 to both human ?-GAL and ?-NAGA.Both ?-GAL and ?-NAGA enzymatic activities were detected in C. elegans mixed culture homogenates. However, ?-GAL activity on an artificial substrate was completely inhibited by the ?-NAGA inhibitor, N-acetyl-D-galactosamine.A GANA-1::GFP fusion protein expressed from a transgene, containing the complete gana-1 coding region and 3 kb of its hypothetical promoter, was not detectable under the standard laboratory conditions. The GFP signal was observed solely in a vesicular compartment of coelomocytes of the animals treated with Concanamycin A (CON A) or NH4Cl, agents that increase the pH of the cellular acidic compartment.Immunofluorescence detection of the fusion protein using polyclonal anti-GFP antibody showed a broader and coarsely granular cytoplasmic expression pattern in body wall muscle cells, intestinal cells, and a vesicular compartment of coelomocytes.Inhibition of gana-1 by RNA interference resulted in a decrease of both ?-GAL and ?-NAGA activities measured in mixed stage culture homogenates but did not cause any obvious phenotype. Conclusions: GANA-1 is a single C. elegans ortholog of both human ?-GAL and ?-NAGA proteins. Phylogenetic, homology modeling, biochemical and GFP expression analyses support the hypothesis that GANA-1 has dual enzymatic activity and is localized in an acidic cellular compartment.
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February 12, 2005: Characterization of gana-1, a Caenorhabditis elegans gene encoding a single ortholog of vertebrate ?
from BioMed Central
Background: Human ?-galactosidase A (?-GAL) and ?-N-acetylgalactosaminidase (?-NAGA) are presumed to share a common ancestor. Deficiencies of these enzymes cause two well-characterized human lysosomal storage disorders (LSD) ? Fabry (?-GAL deficiency) and Schindler (?-NAGA deficiency) diseases. Caenorhabditis elegans was previously shown to be a relevant model organism for several late endosomal/lysosomal membrane proteins associated with LSDs. The aim of this study was to identify and characterize C. elegans orthologs to both human lysosomal luminal proteins ?-GAL and ?-NAGA. Results: BlastP searches for orthologs of human *-GAL and *-NAGA revealed a single C. elegans gene (R07B7.11) with homology to both human genes (?-galactosidase and *?-N-acetylgalactosaminidase) ? gana-1. We cloned and sequenced the complete gana-1 cDNA and elucidated the gene organization.Phylogenetic analyses and homology modeling of GANA-1 based on the 3D structure of chicken ?-NAGA, rice ?-GAL and human ?-GAL suggest a close evolutionary relationship of GANA-1 to both human ?-GAL and ?-NAGA.Both ?-GAL and ?-NAGA enzymatic activities were detected in C. elegans mixed culture homogenates. However, ?-GAL activity on an artificial substrate was completely inhibited by the ?-NAGA inhibitor, N-acetyl-D-galactosamine.A GANA-1::GFP fusion protein expressed from a transgene, containing the complete gana-1 coding region and 3 kb of its hypothetical promoter, was not detectable under the standard laboratory conditions. The GFP signal was observed solely in a vesicular compartment of coelomocytes of the animals treated with Concanamycin A (CON A) or NH4Cl, agents that increase the pH of the cellular acidic compartment.Immunofluorescence detection of the fusion protein using polyclonal anti-GFP antibody showed a broader and coarsely granular cytoplasmic expression pattern in body wall muscle cells, intestinal cells, and a vesicular compartment of coelomocytes.Inhibition of gana-1 by RNA interference resulted in a decrease of both ?-GAL and ?-NAGA activities measured in mixed stage culture homogenates but did not cause any obvious phenotype. Conclusions: GANA-1 is a single C. elegans ortholog of both human ?-GAL and ?-NAGA proteins. Phylogenetic, homology modeling, biochemical and GFP expression analyses support the hypothesis that GANA-1 has dual enzymatic activity and is localized in an acidic cellular compartment.
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February 12, 2005: Characterization of gana-1, a Caenorhabditis elegans gene encoding a single ortholog of vertebrate ?
from BioMed Central
Background: Human ?-galactosidase A (?-GAL) and ?-N-acetylgalactosaminidase (?-NAGA) are presumed to share a common ancestor. Deficiencies of these enzymes cause two well-characterized human lysosomal storage disorders (LSD) ? Fabry (?-GAL deficiency) and Schindler (?-NAGA deficiency) diseases. Caenorhabditis elegans was previously shown to be a relevant model organism for several late endosomal/lysosomal membrane proteins associated with LSDs. The aim of this study was to identify and characterize C. elegans orthologs to both human lysosomal luminal proteins ?-GAL and ?-NAGA. Results: BlastP searches for orthologs of human *-GAL and *-NAGA revealed a single C. elegans gene (R07B7.11) with homology to both human genes (?-galactosidase and *?-N-acetylgalactosaminidase) ? gana-1. We cloned and sequenced the complete gana-1 cDNA and elucidated the gene organization.Phylogenetic analyses and homology modeling of GANA-1 based on the 3D structure of chicken ?-NAGA, rice ?-GAL and human ?-GAL suggest a close evolutionary relationship of GANA-1 to both human ?-GAL and ?-NAGA.Both ?-GAL and ?-NAGA enzymatic activities were detected in C. elegans mixed culture homogenates. However, ?-GAL activity on an artificial substrate was completely inhibited by the ?-NAGA inhibitor, N-acetyl-D-galactosamine.A GANA-1::GFP fusion protein expressed from a transgene, containing the complete gana-1 coding region and 3 kb of its hypothetical promoter, was not detectable under the standard laboratory conditions. The GFP signal was observed solely in a vesicular compartment of coelomocytes of the animals treated with Concanamycin A (CON A) or NH4Cl, agents that increase the pH of the cellular acidic compartment.Immunofluorescence detection of the fusion protein using polyclonal anti-GFP antibody showed a broader and coarsely granular cytoplasmic expression pattern in body wall muscle cells, intestinal cells, and a vesicular compartment of coelomocytes.Inhibition of gana-1 by RNA interference resulted in a decrease of both ?-GAL and ?-NAGA activities measured in mixed stage culture homogenates but did not cause any obvious phenotype. Conclusions: GANA-1 is a single C. elegans ortholog of both human ?-GAL and ?-NAGA proteins. Phylogenetic, homology modeling, biochemical and GFP expression analyses support the hypothesis that GANA-1 has dual enzymatic activity and is localized in an acidic cellular compartment.
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February 12, 2005: Characterization of gana-1, a Caenorhabditis elegans gene encoding a single ortholog of vertebrate ?
from BioMed Central
Background: Human ?-galactosidase A (?-GAL) and ?-N-acetylgalactosaminidase (?-NAGA) are presumed to share a common ancestor. Deficiencies of these enzymes cause two well-characterized human lysosomal storage disorders (LSD) ? Fabry (?-GAL deficiency) and Schindler (?-NAGA deficiency) diseases. Caenorhabditis elegans was previously shown to be a relevant model organism for several late endosomal/lysosomal membrane proteins associated with LSDs. The aim of this study was to identify and characterize C. elegans orthologs to both human lysosomal luminal proteins ?-GAL and ?-NAGA. Results: BlastP searches for orthologs of human *-GAL and *-NAGA revealed a single C. elegans gene (R07B7.11) with homology to both human genes (?-galactosidase and *?-N-acetylgalactosaminidase) ? gana-1. We cloned and sequenced the complete gana-1 cDNA and elucidated the gene organization.Phylogenetic analyses and homology modeling of GANA-1 based on the 3D structure of chicken ?-NAGA, rice ?-GAL and human ?-GAL suggest a close evolutionary relationship of GANA-1 to both human ?-GAL and ?-NAGA.Both ?-GAL and ?-NAGA enzymatic activities were detected in C. elegans mixed culture homogenates. However, ?-GAL activity on an artificial substrate was completely inhibited by the ?-NAGA inhibitor, N-acetyl-D-galactosamine.A GANA-1::GFP fusion protein expressed from a transgene, containing the complete gana-1 coding region and 3 kb of its hypothetical promoter, was not detectable under the standard laboratory conditions. The GFP signal was observed solely in a vesicular compartment of coelomocytes of the animals treated with Concanamycin A (CON A) or NH4Cl, agents that increase the pH of the cellular acidic compartment.Immunofluorescence detection of the fusion protein using polyclonal anti-GFP antibody showed a broader and coarsely granular cytoplasmic expression pattern in body wall muscle cells, intestinal cells, and a vesicular compartment of coelomocytes.Inhibition of gana-1 by RNA interference resulted in a decrease of both ?-GAL and ?-NAGA activities measured in mixed stage culture homogenates but did not cause any obvious phenotype. Conclusions: GANA-1 is a single C. elegans ortholog of both human ?-GAL and ?-NAGA proteins. Phylogenetic, homology modeling, biochemical and GFP expression analyses support the hypothesis that GANA-1 has dual enzymatic activity and is localized in an acidic cellular compartment.
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February 12, 2005: Characterization of gana-1, a Caenorhabditis elegans gene encoding a single ortholog of vertebrate ?
from BioMed Central
Background: Human ?-galactosidase A (?-GAL) and ?-N-acetylgalactosaminidase (?-NAGA) are presumed to share a common ancestor. Deficiencies of these enzymes cause two well-characterized human lysosomal storage disorders (LSD) ? Fabry (?-GAL deficiency) and Schindler (?-NAGA deficiency) diseases. Caenorhabditis elegans was previously shown to be a relevant model organism for several late endosomal/lysosomal membrane proteins associated with LSDs. The aim of this study was to identify and characterize C. elegans orthologs to both human lysosomal luminal proteins ?-GAL and ?-NAGA. Results: BlastP searches for orthologs of human *-GAL and *-NAGA revealed a single C. elegans gene (R07B7.11) with homology to both human genes (?-galactosidase and *?-N-acetylgalactosaminidase) ? gana-1. We cloned and sequenced the complete gana-1 cDNA and elucidated the gene organization.Phylogenetic analyses and homology modeling of GANA-1 based on the 3D structure of chicken ?-NAGA, rice ?-GAL and human ?-GAL suggest a close evolutionary relationship of GANA-1 to both human ?-GAL and ?-NAGA.Both ?-GAL and ?-NAGA enzymatic activities were detected in C. elegans mixed culture homogenates. However, ?-GAL activity on an artificial substrate was completely inhibited by the ?-NAGA inhibitor, N-acetyl-D-galactosamine.A GANA-1::GFP fusion protein expressed from a transgene, containing the complete gana-1 coding region and 3 kb of its hypothetical promoter, was not detectable under the standard laboratory conditions. The GFP signal was observed solely in a vesicular compartment of coelomocytes of the animals treated with Concanamycin A (CON A) or NH4Cl, agents that increase the pH of the cellular acidic compartment.Immunofluorescence detection of the fusion protein using polyclonal anti-GFP antibody showed a broader and coarsely granular cytoplasmic expression pattern in body wall muscle cells, intestinal cells, and a vesicular compartment of coelomocytes.Inhibition of gana-1 by RNA interference resulted in a decrease of both ?-GAL and ?-NAGA activities measured in mixed stage culture homogenates but did not cause any obvious phenotype. Conclusions: GANA-1 is a single C. elegans ortholog of both human ?-GAL and ?-NAGA proteins. Phylogenetic, homology modeling, biochemical and GFP expression analyses support the hypothesis that GANA-1 has dual enzymatic activity and is localized in an acidic cellular compartment.
View Article

February 12, 2005: Characterization of gana-1, a Caenorhabditis elegans gene encoding a single ortholog of vertebrate ?
from BioMed Central
Background: Human ?-galactosidase A (?-GAL) and ?-N-acetylgalactosaminidase (?-NAGA) are presumed to share a common ancestor. Deficiencies of these enzymes cause two well-characterized human lysosomal storage disorders (LSD) ? Fabry (?-GAL deficiency) and Schindler (?-NAGA deficiency) diseases. Caenorhabditis elegans was previously shown to be a relevant model organism for several late endosomal/lysosomal membrane proteins associated with LSDs. The aim of this study was to identify and characterize C. elegans orthologs to both human lysosomal luminal proteins ?-GAL and ?-NAGA. Results: BlastP searches for orthologs of human *-GAL and *-NAGA revealed a single C. elegans gene (R07B7.11) with homology to both human genes (?-galactosidase and *?-N-acetylgalactosaminidase) ? gana-1. We cloned and sequenced the complete gana-1 cDNA and elucidated the gene organization.Phylogenetic analyses and homology modeling of GANA-1 based on the 3D structure of chicken ?-NAGA, rice ?-GAL and human ?-GAL suggest a close evolutionary relationship of GANA-1 to both human ?-GAL and ?-NAGA.Both ?-GAL and ?-NAGA enzymatic activities were detected in C. elegans mixed culture homogenates. However, ?-GAL activity on an artificial substrate was completely inhibited by the ?-NAGA inhibitor, N-acetyl-D-galactosamine.A GA