Stem cell revolution gets closer

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Edgar Irastorza was just 31 when his heart stopped beating in October 2008.

A Miami property manager, Irastorza had recently gained weight as his wife's third pregnancy progressed. "I kind of got pregnant, too," he said.

During a workout one day, he felt short of breath and insisted that friends rush him to the hospital. Minutes later, his pulse flatlined. He survived the heart attack, but the scar tissue that resulted cut his heart's pumping ability by a third. He couldn't pick up his children. He fell asleep every night wondering if he would wake up in the morning.

Desperation motivated Irastorza to volunteer for a highly unusual medical research trial: getting stem cells injected directly into his heart. "I just trusted my doctors and the science behind it, and said, 'This is my only chance,' " he said recently.

Over the last five years, by studying stem cells in lab dishes, test animals and intrepid patients like Irastorza, researchers have brought the vague, grandiose promises of stem cell therapies closer to reality.

Stem cells broke into the public consciousness in the early 1990s, alluring for their potential to help the body beat back diseases of degeneration like Alzheimer's, and to grow new parts to treat conditions like spinal cord injuries.

Progress has been slow. But researchers are learning how to best use stem cells, what types to use and how to deliver them to the body findings that are not singularly transformational, but progressive and pragmatic.

As many as 4,500 clinical trials involving stem cells are under way in the United States to treat patients with heart disease, blindness, Parkinson's, HIV, blood cancers and spinal cord injuries, among other conditions.

Initial studies suggest that stem cell therapy can be delivered safely, said Dr. Ellen Feigal, senior vice president of research and development at the California Institute of Regenerative Medicine, the state stem cell agency, which has awarded more than $2 billion toward stem cell research since 2006.

But enthusiasm for stem cells sometimes outstrips the science. When Gov. Rick Perry of Texas had adult stem cells injected into his spine in 2011 for a back injury, his surgeon had never tried the procedure and had no data to support the experiment. A June review in the New England Journal of Medicine found that "platelet-rich plasma" stem cell therapies praised by a number of athletes worked no better than placebos.

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Stem cell revolution gets closer

New molecule allows for up to 10-fold increase in stem cell transplants

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Investigators from the Institute for Research in Immunology and Cancer (IRIC) at the Universit de Montral have just published, in the journal Science, the announcement of the discovery of a new molecule, the first of its kind, which allows for the multiplication of stem cells in a unit of cord blood. Umbilical cord stem cells are used for transplants aimed at curing a number of blood-related diseases, including leukemia, myeloma and lymphoma. For many patients this therapy comprises a treatment of last resort.

Directed by Dr. Guy Sauvageau, principal investigator at IRIC and hematologist at the Maisonneuve-Rosemont Hospital, the research has the potential to multiply by 10 the number of cord blood units available for a transplant in humans. In addition, it will considerably reduce the complications associated with stem cell transplantation. And it will be particularly useful for non-Caucasian patients for whom compatible donors are difficult to identify.

A clinical study using this molecule, named UM171 in honor of the Universit de Montral, and a new type of bioreactor developed for stem culture in collaboration with the University of Toronto will be initiated in December 2014 at the Maisonneuve-Rosemont Hospital.

According to Dr. Guy Sauvageau, "This new molecule, combined with the new bioreactor technology, will allow thousands of patients around the world access to a safer stem cell transplant. Considering that many patients currently cannot benefit from a stem cell transplant for lack of matching donors, this discovery looks to be highly promising for the treatment of various types of cancer."

The Centre of Excellence for Cellular Therapy at the Maisonneuve-Rosemont Hospital will serve as production unit for these stem cells, and grafts will then be distributed to patients in Montreal, Quebec City and Vancouver for this first Canadian clinical study. Tangible results should be available one year later, that is, in December 2015. The significance of this new discovery is such that over time, conclusive clinical results could revolutionize the treatment of leukemia and other blood-related illnesses.

"These extraordinary advances result from the efforts of a remarkable team that includes extremely gifted students and postdoctoral investigators working in the IRIC laboratories," adds Dr. Guy Sauvageau. "Among them, the first authors of this publication: Iman Fars, doctoral student, and Jalila Chagraoui, research officer, along with the professionals in IRIC's medical chemistry core facility under the direction of Anne Marinier, who optimized the therapeutic properties of this new molecule."

Context

Umbilical cord blood from newborn children is an excellent source of hematopoietic stem cells for stem cell transplants, since their immune system is still immature and the stem cells have a lower probability of inducing an adverse immune reaction in the recipient.

Furthermore, it is not necessary for the immunological compatibility between donor and recipient to be perfect, unlike in a bone marrow transplant. However, in most cases the number of stem cells obtained from an umbilical cord is much too low for treating an adult, and its use is confined above all to the treatment of children. With the new molecule UM171 it will be possible to multiply stem cells in culture and to produce enough of them to treat adults, especially those who are not Caucasian, and who because of the lack of donors have limited access to transplants.

Collaborators from the Maisonneuve-Rosemont Hospital, the British Columbia Cancer Agency, the Ontario Cancer Institute and the Fred Hutchison Cancer Research Center also played an important role in evaluating the biological properties of this new molecule, and those from the University of Toronto in developing the bioreactor.

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New molecule allows for up to 10-fold increase in stem cell transplants

Paths of the Spirit: Finding a place for secular spirituality

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Sam Harris has a new book out. He's arguably our most prominent, prolific and articulate American atheist. The book is "Waking Up: A Guide to Spirituality without Religion." Actually he's a bit late with this, since there have been numerous other books published in recent decades extolling the virtues of spirituality without religion and/or religion without God. But Harris is popular and has a large following, so what he writes will seem novel to those unfamiliar with the turf.

Harris' thesis is not novel, but in fact, quite familiar. Spirituality without religion be it Christianity, Judaism or Buddhism, to name a few is capable of construction. William James in "The Varieties of Religious Experience" more than a century ago catalogued ordinary mysticism, with or without religion. Stephen Batchelor has written brilliantly on "Buddhism without Beliefs" (anyway, Buddhism sidesteps the God issue). Thomas J. J. Altizer is dean of theologians who writes beyond "the death of God." There's lots on the market that dismisses the necessity of either God or religion as foundational for a spiritual life.

What's new is Harris' approach. He says he has given up riding his older hobbyhorse of criticizing organized religion. Now he wants to turn in a positive direction to assist those many people whom, we know, cannot quite find a way to fit into any organization. I applaud this move.

The sense of transcendence may occur in anyone's life. W. H. Auden, a mean thinker as well as an extraordinary poet, wrote of it as "the vision of Dame Kind," in which the universe seems to be integrated and fully alive and you become part of it, merge into it and lose all sense of separateness. Essayist farmer Wendell Berry has put this in an epithet: we are not apart from nature; we are a part of nature.

Feelings of transcendence may occur prior to any experience of, much less commitment to, a religious organization or set of teachings. In fact, in some religions, they have been discouraged because they are free for the taking and exist outside the framework of dogmatic teachings. They are "spiritual" in the sense Jesus meant when he spoke of the wind of God that blows where it wants and no one can control it.

Some churches have invalidated this entryway to the religious life. By insisting on a set of doctrines to be accepted as the threshold to the institution, we turn aside people who otherwise are thirsting and hungering for the depths that our traditions really do hold. So often we forget to tell people that doctrine is an invitation, not a barrier.

On the other hand, I don't find a great deal of comfort in the secular arena either. People who have experiences of transcendence are just as likely to feel embarrassed or timid or even fearful about sharing them at a pub as they are in a church, for fear of ridicule. Most secular settings rule out any discussion of spiritual matters, whether tied to an institution or not.

We need safe havens where people can explore experiences beyond their own small lives that bind them to the universal love or unity. Many people receive these cosmic nudges through science and we should underscore that science and religion do not have to be enemies. But if religious institutions are not going to provide these safe havens, then the culture will move to invent its own. Sam Harris is definitely onto a movement the beginnings of which we may be seeing right before us. The need clearly exists. Will religious institutions find ways to respond to the need that maintain integrity with their own traditions?

Fr. Gabriel Rochelle is pastor of St Anthony of the Desert Orthodox Mission. The church web site is stanthonylc.org.

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Paths of the Spirit: Finding a place for secular spirituality

Selfless spiritual seeker, greatest revivalist and propagandist of Buddhism in modern times

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Continued from yesterday

Dharmapala decided to join Colonel Olcott and C.W.Leadbeater in their campaign to raise funds for the activities of the campaign and acted as a junior clerk. From this juncture, he renounced wealth, the comforts of a secular life and became known as Anagarika Dharmapala homeless one, celibate, fulltime worker for Buddhism.

His frequent trips abroad to India, Siam, Japan, UK and the USA started soon after he became involved in the activities of the Theosophical Society. His trip to Buddha Gaya in January 1891- the place the Buddha attained Enlightenment gave him a shock when he realised that the sacred place was in the hands of a Shiva priest, the Buddha image transformed into a Hindu God and the Buddhist pilgrims barred from offering pooja and paying respects. When Dharmapala arrived at the sacred place, he experienced a sense of mission that would occupy the rest of his life: As soon as I touched with my forehead the Vajirasana (the diamond throne of the Buddha), a sudden impulse came to my mind to stop here and take care of this sacred spot.

The most of the remainder of Dharmapalas devoted life was spent on reclaiming this most sacred Buddhist site from Hindu occupation.

In 1884, when Dharmapala accompanied Colonel Olcott on a trip to Japan, he read Sir Edwin Arnolds epic work Light of Asia. This book which was a poetic account of the life of the Buddha and in which the sacred Bodhi tree was described as the tree of wisdom was published in 1879. It appears that Dharmapala was aware of the Light of Asia soon after it was published. He wrote: I thought it was light from heaven. The idea of restoring Buddha Gaya into Buddhist hands was first expressed and disseminated by Sir Edwin Arnold after having visited the sacred place in 1886.

Anagarika Dharmapala acknowledged this: It was he who gave me the impulse to visit the shrine

Anagarika Dharmapala travelled extensively in Europe, America and the Far East and addressed hundreds of meetings, wrote thousands of letters and published hundreds of articles in various parts of the world with his avowed aim of disseminating the sublime teachings of the Buddha and to create a unified, righteous and peaceful society.

One of the major developments of Dharmapalas campaign was meeting with Mary Foster Robinson in 1893, a rich Hawaiian woman who became his main benefactress throughout his later life without whose extremely generous donations, most of his ambitious work such as London Buddhist Vihara, and the Buddhist activities in India including the Maha Bodhi Society would not have been possible.

In 1906, his father passed away. In 1915, riots between the Muslims and the Sinhalese erupted and internment was imposed on Anagarika by the British Government so that he could not leave India. After he returned from India (1922), he continued his Dhamma duta campaign in Europe and the USA even though he was suffering from a severe illness. Dharmapala blamed the British government for imposing a five year internment on him without any evidence of an offence committed by him. The restrictions imposed on his movements in India and travelling abroad interrupted his campaign in reclaiming Buddha Gaya and his Buddhist activities. Further, it greatly affected his health. As Dharmapala has mentioned in his diaries: The British government took every effort to get rid of me by keeping me as prisoner in India for five years.

To fulfil his long awaited sacred ambition, he became a monk on June 13, 1931 by the name of Sri Devamitta Dhammapala. Ven. Sri Devamitta Dhammapala received upasampada (higher ordination) in 1933 at Saranath. For this ceremony, three senior monks from Ceylon Madugalle Siddhartha, Kahawe Sumangala and Lunupokune Dharmakirthi were invited. Ven. Sri Devamitta Dhammapala passed away in April of the same year at the age of 68.

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Selfless spiritual seeker, greatest revivalist and propagandist of Buddhism in modern times

Minecraft Space Station Challenge Pack #3 | SMELTERY AND THINGS! – Minecraft Mod Pack Survival – Video

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Minecraft Space Station Challenge Pack #3 | SMELTERY AND THINGS! - Minecraft Mod Pack Survival
LET #39;S SEE IF WE CAN GET 3000 LIKES [ SSCP ] Its the challenge of space, The final frontier, You look up there every night you sleep, thinking about your house.. Up there! explore the...

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Minecraft Space Station Challenge Pack #3 | SMELTERY AND THINGS! - Minecraft Mod Pack Survival - Video

NASA Chooses Boeing and SpaceX Companies to Transport U.S. Astronauts to ISS – Video

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NASA Chooses Boeing and SpaceX Companies to Transport U.S. Astronauts to ISS
NASA officials at the agency #39;s Kennedy Space Center in Florida announced Sept. 16 the selection of Boeing and SpaceX to develop and certify crew transportation systems that will transport...

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SpaceX Dragon version 2 to Transport U.S. Astronauts to the International Space Station #Nasa – Video

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SpaceX Dragon version 2 to Transport U.S. Astronauts to the International Space Station #Nasa
The Dragon version 2 spacecraft in development by SpaceX of Hawthorne, California, will advance beyond the design phase and be put into manufacturing for fli...

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SpaceX Dragon version 2 to Transport U.S. Astronauts to the International Space Station #Nasa - Video

Dr. George Nelson: How best to use your neighborhood space station – Video

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Dr. George Nelson: How best to use your neighborhood space station
The International Space Station has maintained a continuous human presence in space since November of 2000. Upon completion of the Space Station and the retirement of the Space Shuttle, NASA #39;s...

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Dr. George Nelson: How best to use your neighborhood space station - Video

Russia Spaced Out: NASA to end Kremlin space reliance and partner with Boeing and SpaceX – Video

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Russia Spaced Out: NASA to end Kremlin space reliance and partner with Boeing and SpaceX
NASA has confirmed that America #39;s reliance on Russia for space travel will end. NASA will partner with private firms Boeing and SpaceX for sending people into space from 2017. Russia currently...

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Space station cost projections questioned

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NASA cost estimates for operating the International Space Station through 2024 are "overly optimistic," the agency's inspector general reported Thursday, adding that the price of new U.S.-built space taxis likely will be higher than currently projected, exceeding the cost of flying aboard Russian Soyuz spacecraft.

NASA Inspector General Paul Martin also raised questions about NASA's ability to safely operate the lab complex through 2024, the current goal, unless engineers can develop ways to offset age-related solar array degradation; minimize equipment failures and get large replacement components to the lab in the absence of the space shuttle.

"While the ISS program is actively working to mitigate these risks, anticipating the correct amount of replacement parts and transporting them to the ISS present major challenges to extending station operations 10 or more years beyond its original expected service life," Martin concluded.

More troubling, perhaps, the OIG found that the "assumptions underlying the agency's budget projections for the ISS are overly optimistic and that its actual costs may be higher."

The report said NASA projects the space station budget will grow from $3 billion a year to nearly $4 billion by fiscal 2020. But the OIG found station costs rose 26 percent between fiscal 2011 and 2013 "and an average of 8 percent annually over the life of the program."

Much of the projected cost increase, the report said, was due to higher transportation costs.

"NASA's estimates for the cost of commercial crew transportation services expected to replace the Russian Soyuz are based on the cost of a Soyuz seat in FY 2016 -- $70.7 million -- per seat for a total cost of $283 million per mission for transporting four astronauts," the report said.

"However, the program's independent government cost estimates project significantly higher transportation costs when the agency transitions to contracts with commercial spaceflight companies."

NASA has relied on the three-seat Russian Soyuz to ferry astronauts to and from the space station since even before the shuttle's retirement in 2011. While the cost per seat is significant, it is far less than the cost of a seat on the much more powerful, and more expensive, space shuttle.

Even so, the lack of a U.S.-built ferry craft has rankled lawmakers and NASA managers alike.

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Space station cost projections questioned

'Space Station 76' roams pointlessly

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It's hard to say what the creators of "Space Station 76" were aiming for. But whatever it was, they didn't achieve it.

A good cast and much proven comic talent on both sides of the camera are lost in space as director Jack Plotnick and his co-screenwriters Sam Pancake, Jennifer Elise Cox, Kali Rocha and Michael Stoyanov fail to nail a satisfying theme, narrative or purpose.

"Space Station 76" is set on a spaceship in, as the press notes clarify, "the future as it was imagined in the 1970s." But this is no "Star Trek"-type enterprise. Instead, we're on a kind of flying condo complex with several unhappy, dysfunctional married couples (Matt Bomer and Marisa Coughlan; Jerry O'Connell and Rocha) and several unhappy, dysfunctional singles (Patrick Wilson as the ship's surly, closeted gay captain and Liv Tyler as his kindly but lonely co-captain). There's also an equitable child, Sunshine (Kylie Rogers).

Why these folks are there is blurry: The story, such as it is, lacks context. It's also without much of a structure. The film is essentially just a string of scenes, snapshots in the lives of its main characters.

Oh, and an asteroid is hurtling toward the spaceship. Big whoop.

But, really, what are we watching? If the film is a spoof, what exactly is it spoofing? If it's the 1970s, the period tunes and trappings seem random. If it's a comedy, it's rarely funny except for the robot shrink, which is inspired. And if it's a drama which much of the movie plays like it doesn't feel as if it should be taken seriously.

There's a perhaps purposeful flatness to the overall tone; it's like cinematic Musak. To that end, the actors largely play things straight. But that only adds to the confusion.

--------------------------

'Space Station 76'

MPAA rating: R for sexuality, graphic nudity, language, drug use.

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'Space Station 76' roams pointlessly

3D printer heading to space could enable lunar exploration

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Unless you're a serious space nerd, you probably haven't been following the various rockets and spacecraft that SpaceX has launched since its first historic mission to the International Space Station (ISS) in 2012. But there's good reason to pay attention to the SpaceX CRS-4 mission, which may also go down in the record books. Just as it did on that inaugural flight to the ISS, the Dragon spacecraft will carry supplies, but this time the payload includes some crucial cargo - a 3D printer that works in space.

Watch our CNET News video to find out how a Silicon Valley startup designed a printer that works in zero gravity.

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Since 2010, Made In Space has been tinkering away on the groundbreaking hardware. During an interview at the company's offices at the NASA Ames Research Park, CEO and co-founder Aaron Kemmer stressed the significance of sending an additive manufacturing device to space.

"We've been building tools for thousands of years. This is the first time that it's not happening down here, but up there [in space]. That's paradigm shifting," said Kemmer, "We can actually leave planet Earth if we can start doing this more and more, if we start living off the land, building there, getting independent from planet Earth, rather than being completely dependent."

Made In Space is shooting for the moon, in more ways than one. It's already working towards utilizing the resources on hand to avoid needing to launch feedstock (such as ABS or PLA filament) for the 3D printers. R3DO, another Made In Space project, is a recycler that reuses 3D printed objects that are either no longer useful or broken to create new 3D prints. That could reduce space waste, but Made In Space has an even more ambitious idea: to print objects using regolith. Ever looked at a photo of the moon? It's the powdery substance that covers much of the surface - part soil, part dust, part ground rock. When Neil Armstrong stepped onto the moon, he left his footprints in regolith. Kemmer says the material could be used "almost as concrete to build housing structures and roads."

With the ability to create objects on-demand, 3D printers have already been lauded as an alternative to traditional manufacturing and shipping methods which are costly and time-consuming.

"3D printing really has the capability to disrupt that. In space it's ten times, even a hundred times harder," Kemmer explains, "Because you have to have rockets in the equation and they are very dangerous and very expensive."

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3D printer heading to space could enable lunar exploration