International Stem Cell Corporation Comments on
WSJ Article Hope for Stem-Cell Treatment of Parkinson's

post from International Stem Cell Corporation Blog on 09 November 2011 03:15:43 PM. © International Stem Cell Corporation Blog

Article: Hope for Stem-CellTreatment of Parkinson's BY GAUTAM NAIK ? The Wall Street Journal HEALTH
?Researchers have used stem cells obtained from human embryos to successfully treat Parkinson's disease in mice and rats, a key step in the quest to develop a similar approach for people.
In a study published Sunday in the journal Nature, scientists described how they converted human embryonic stem cells into nerve cells that produced the brain chemical dopamine. When these nerve cells were transplanted into the brains of mice and rats, they released dopamine and got rid of the animals' Parkinson's symptoms. The cells were also successfully transplanted into rhesus monkeys, whose biology is closer to that of humans.?
SOURCE - To read the complete article on The Wall Street Journal HEALTH site, please click HERE
Comments from International Stem Cell Corporation:
International Stem Cell Corporation (ISCO) announced in July 2011 the initiation of a series of preclinical animal studies of neuronal cells derived from ISCO?s proprietary pluripotent stem cells. The studies will evaluate the in vivo safety and tumorigenicity of neuronal cells derived from ISCO's proprietary human parthenogenetic stem cells (hpSCs), as well as their ability to develop into functioning dopaminergic neuron?like cells, a key milestone towards creating a cell-based therapy for Parkinson's Disease (PD).
Dr. Andrey Semechkin, Co-Chairman and CEO of ISCO, comments: ?The ability of neuronal cells to become a specific type of neuron is one of the most important properties that these cells must have to be used in cell-based therapy of neurological disorders. These studies will bring us one step closer to our goal of being able to treat PD.?

Forward-looking StatementsStatements pertaining to anticipated developments, research and development goals and related potential therapeutic treatments, the potential benefits of products, and other opportunities for the company and its subsidiaries, along with other statements about the future expectations, beliefs, goals, plans, or prospects expressed by management constitute forward- looking statements. Any statements that are not historical fact (including, but not limited to statements that contain words such as "will," "believes," "plans," "anticipates," "expects," "estimates,") should also be considered to be forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties, including, without limitation, risks inherent in the development and/or commercialization of potential products and the management of collaborations, regulatory approvals, need and ability to obtain future capital, application of capital resources among competing uses, and maintenance of intellectual property rights. Actual results may differ materially from the results anticipated in these forward-looking statements and as such should be evaluated together with the many uncertainties that affect the company's business, particularly those mentioned in the cautionary statements found in the company's Securities and Exchange Commission filings. The company disclaims any intent or obligation to update forward-looking statements.

Read The Full Article:
http://intlstemcell.blogspot.com/2011/11/international-stem-cell-corporation.html

Add to del.icio.us

Digg this

Post to Furl

Add to reddit

Add to myYahoo!

No CR4 Daily Digest November 11-12, 2011

post from CR4 - Recent Blog Entries on 09 November 2011 02:00:00 PM. © CR4 - Recent Blog Entries

The CR4 Daily Digest will not be sent on Friday, November 11 or Saturday, November 12. Email delivery of the CR4 Daily Digest should resume on Sunday, November 13.The CR4 site will remain operational during this time period. As always, if you have any questions or concerns, please contact the CR4

Read The Full Article:
http://cr4.globalspec.com/blogentry/18210/No-CR4-Daily-Digest-November-11-12-2011
?from_rss=1

Digg this

Cool Infographics on Big Data

post from Science &... on 09 November 2011 01:41:25 PM. © Science &...

On WebProNews, Chris Crum shows some interesting infographics about the big data onslaught. The three topics that are covered include: Big Data – just what the information deluge is going to look like (for example, by 2015, there will be 7.9 zettabytes of data created, enough to fill 1.8 million Libraries of Congress The Digital

(Read More...)

Read The Full Article:
http://www.micfarris.com/2011/11/cool-infographics-on-big-data/

Digg this

Slice of History: Advanced Ocean Technology
Development Platform

post from Blog - NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory on 09 November 2011 01:33:16 PM. © Blog - NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory

By Julie CooperEach month in “Slice of History” we feature a historical photo from the JPL Archives. See more historical photos and explore the JPL Archives at https://beacon.jpl.nasa.gov/.Advanced Ocean Technology Development Platform — Photograph Number P-23298BThe Advanced Ocean Technology Development Platform (AOTDP) was developed at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in the late 1970s by the [...]

Read The Full Article:
http://blogs.jpl.nasa.gov/2011/11/slice-of-history-advanced-ocean-technology-deve
lopment-platform/

Digg this

On the birthday of Carl Sagan

post from Bad Astronomy on 09 November 2011 01:12:43 PM. © Bad Astronomy

If Carl Sagan were still alive, he’d be 77 years old today. Perhaps he wouldn’t have been overly concerned with arbitrary time measurements, especially when based on the fickle way we define a "year", but it’s human nature to[...]

Read The Full Article:
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/BadAstronomyBlog/~3/sh-kCwteyaw/

Digg this

Young woman with amnesia unable to hold a single
face in short-term memory

post from Top stories on 09 November 2011 12:39:28 PM. © Top stories

A 22-year-old woman known as "HC" with amnesia since birth as a result of developing only half the normal volume of the hippocampus in her brain, has demonstrated to scientists that the ability to hold a single face or word in short-term memory is impaired.

Read The Full Article:
http://machineslikeus.com/news/young-woman-amnesia-unable-hold-single-face-short-
term-memory

Digg this

Warm water lured landlubber animals back to sea

post from New Scientist - Environment on 09 November 2011 12:21:00 PM. © New Scientist - Environment

Vertebrates moved out of the sea and onto land once, 365 million years ago, but many animals later went back – only when the water was warm, though

Read The Full Article:
http://feeds.newscientist.com/c/749/f/424048/s/19f4ae12/l/0L0Snewscientist0N0Cart
icle0Cdn211440Ewarm0Ewater0Elured0Elandlubber0Eanimals0Eback0Eto0Esea0Bhtml0DDCMP0FOTC0Erss0Gnsref0Fenvironment/story01.htm

Digg this

Pluto/Charon: A Dangerous Arrival

We?ve often considered the effect of interstellar dust on a spacecraft moving at a substantial percentage of the speed of light. The matter becomes even more acute when we consider an interstellar probe arriving at the destination solar system. A flyby[...]

Read The Full Article:
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/centauri-dreams/eepu/~3/Gm4A6fYlmbU/

Digg this

Spectra Saves Girl's Interest in Science

11 Year Old, Althea, Goes as Laser Super Hero, Spectra, for Halloween
Photo courtesy of Kirsten O'Brien

As Halloween creeps back into the shadows of October one PhysicsCentral reader and comic enthusiast shared her Halloween costume of 2011. This 11 year old from California, didn?t dress up like any regular super hero, no; she went as Spectra, the teenage girl with super hero powers of a laser.

Althea, the Spectra enthusiast, first discovered the laser superhero through the comic books her mother and stepfather brought home from Comic Con. Althea was hooked and then began her search for the perfect Spectra costume. Althea raided thrift stores until she found all of the items to make an exact replica of Spectra?s wardrobe. She found a bright yellow vest and a red shirt and fashioned yellow cuffs to fit over her ruby red gloves. She donned brown cargo pants that were just a bit too short over her red sneakers, just like Spectra. Her only complaint was that the belt she found in the thrift store was too big. She describes the belt by saying, ?The belt was so big I had to wrap it around myself like 3 times.? Her rose colored safety glasses were also hand crafted through taking a red sharpie and coloring a pair of safety glasses from her step-dad. Althea had transformed herself into Spectra. The comic book hero would have thought she was looking in a mirror when seeing Althea.

Althea is no stranger to comics. She also likes Batman and Superwoman, but when asked who would win in a battle, Althea quickly replied, ?Spectra would win. She has so many things she can do!?

As reading becomes more and more of an activity that is done online and science class enrollees become less and less as funding in schools gets cut, comics are helping cross the barrier and make science fun and accessible. Teachers often find themselves struggling to find ways to get kids engaged in science and physics. As a former teacher, I remember finding it difficult to engage children and struggling readers. Comics or graphic novels, like the Spectra series, gave my students a hero to identify with.

Not only is Spectra a cool kid, she?s a cool girl who?s into physics. Physics is often a subject that attracts boys. Girls, unfortunately, are often deterred from studying math or science. Generating excitement and role models that girls can identify with helps keep girls interested in science. I used the Spectra comics in my own classroom when I taught students who suffered from dyslexia. They were so excited because the pictures allowed them to figure out what was going on in the story and deduce what words were on the page, even if it wasn?t immediately clear. The girls loved the superhero because she was a smart, cool, and moderately nerdy girl ? like most middle school girls and they could see themselves in her character. The boys liked them because they were comics and who doesn?t like a comic, the action, the adventure?

Not only are these comics great, but they each launch alongside a kit that is FREE to teachers and groups. It comes with everything you need to do four experiments, a teacher?s guide (you don?t need a degree in physics to understand what?s going on), and a student guide. The idea is that the students are no longer people reading the comic, but they are active participants in the outcome. By completing the experiments and arriving at an answer the class helps Spectra solve her case and defeat her arch nemesis or help another superhero along the way.

It?s a crafty way to get kids excited about physics and feel like they?re part of a story. I mean who doesn?t want to have a super power. I know Althea does. She told me she wanted x-ray vision so she could help people find things when they were lost and help people who have been hurt. Sounds like Althea is taking a lesson from Spectra, real superheroes help people.

If you?re interested in becoming part of PhysicsQuest 2011 and joining Spectra and her gang as they use physics to make the world? or middle school? a better place, you can register here at www.physicscentral.com. Previous Spectra comic books are available to the public and can be downloaded and printed.

Read The Full Article:
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/physicscentral/PhysicsBuzz/~3/jFHueOkxioY/spectra-
saves-girls-interest-in-science.html

Digg this

TED: Ben Kacyra: Ancient wonders captured in 3D -
Ben Kacyra (2011)

Ancient monuments give us clues to astonishing past civilizations -- but they're under threat from pollution, war, neglect. Ben Kacyra, who invented a groundbreaking 3D scanning system, is using his invention to scan and preserve the world's heritage in archival detail. (Watch to the end for a little demo.)

Read The Full Article:
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TEDTalks_video/~3/_3iRKNj87o4/ben_kacyra_ancient_w
onders_captured_in_3d.html

Digg this