Thursday, July 27, 2006

Life Links 7/27/06

Stem cells from fat can be transformed into smooth muscle tissue. These cells could possibly be used to repair damaged organs. The article also mentions another finding in adult stem cell research.
Fiona Watt of Cancer Research UK and colleagues studied stem cells from human skin and found a protein known as Lrig1 kept the skin cells from proliferating. When Lrig1 production was silenced, the stem cells began growing and dividing.

Michigan's Coercive Abortion Prevention Act package passed in the Michigan House yesterday. These bills are designed to make it illegal to coerce a woman into an abortion. The bills got between 66-68 votes in favor of this legislation and either 37 or 38 votes against. Summaries of the bills and which organizations support and oppose them can be found here.


The Associated Press did an article on Governor Granholm using a state web site for political posturing. The response from her spokesman is absurd. The article also misstates the legal situation regarding embryonic stem cell research in Michigan. It's amazing to claim that embryonic stem cell research in Michigan is banned in Michigan when the University of Michigan gets federal funds for embryonic stem cell research. What is illegal in Michigan is killing human embryos for research purposes. It is not illegal, however, to take part in embryonic stem cell research on stem cell lines which are created out of state.


A movie of fetal development pictures set to Pachelbel's Canon.

No comments:

Post a Comment