Well, this ain't cool!

A federal judge ruled earlier this week that federal funding for embryonic stem cells must cease, negating the expansion of federal research funding Obama signed into law in early 2009. This seems to be the crux of the issue:

"The case involves an obscure rider, known as the Dickey-Wicker amendment, that has been attached to annual appropriations bills for the Department of Health and Human Services since 1996. It prohibits the use of federal funds to support research in which embryos are destroyed or discarded. It does not directly address research on stem cells derived from embryos, a field that developed later."

Recent administrations have toed the line; they would not allow federal money to be used to derive the stem cells, which destroys embryos, but allocated research money to stem cell lines created by private funds.

And the kicker - the plaintiffs in the suit are 2 researchers who work with adult stem cells. Apparently they're scared of the potential competition. Ridiculous. The DoJ is appealing the ruling. Godspeed, dear lawyers.

What a July/early August!

As a whirlwind stretch comes to a close, I'll catch you up on the happenings around here, in the style of a 12 year old on Twitter (remember, 140 characters or less).

- 4 of July spent @ smiths cottage on walloon. much debauchery, many dead soldiers (empty wine bottles). got way sunburnt.

- VIVA ESPANA! spain wins world cup final, i make mucho dinero betting on their games.

- went to chi to see james taylor/carole king. damn they old! great concert - they were on a revolving stage in the center of arena. i didnt fall asleep!

- saw indigo girls at meijer gardens...YAWN...

- not fired from job yet! JK... enjoying working at Nurture by Steelcase, fun people, and i wear jeans to work everyday, my favorite outfit.

- therapy continues good...doing a lot of assisted walking and standing and weights. you should see my biceps! i will put up video soon.

- UM football starts soon! 5 months of awesomeness/possible torture ensues!

I love a good mocking...

...especially when the butt of the joke is my all-time fave mayor governor politician endorser for hire.

 

C'mon, it's at least a little funny.

Adventures of Bo SuperDog Episode 9

Bo, the refined gentleman he is, enjoys a game of croquet now and again. Unfortunately, he does not know how to play.

Heartwarming Video of Soldiers' Return

I challenge anyone to watch this with a dry eye. God Bless the troops!

SCI Research Update

Finally, some good news - I'm getting a little impatient! Researchers based at the Children's Hospital in Boston have made a potential breakthrough regarding nerve regeneration in the spinal cord. About damn time!

As long as I never have this hair-do, I'm good.

Nerves grow at a snail's pace anyway, but the corticospinal tract, a bundle of nerves connecting the brain and the spinal cord, are particularly resistant to regeneration after injury. And being near the brain, you guessed it, they're important. Th research team, in rodent studies, were able to achieve this corticospinal nerve regrowth by deleting a specific enzyme, PTEN, that usually acts as a brake on cell growth. Early in life, this enzyme's activity is low, allowing a person's necessary growth, but scales up to restrict growth as a person develops, to prevent giants/monsters from growing among us. By eliminating this pesky and annoying enzyme, the damaged nerves can reconnect and the blocked signals from brain to legs can be successfully sent.

          'He, Steward and their colleagues are now asking whether the PTEN-deletion treatment leads to restoration of motor function in mice with spinal cord injury. While the finding of anatomical connections between regenerating nerves and nerve cells beyond the lesion site is encouraging, in order for nerve regeneration to result in restoration of motor function the anatomical connections must represent real sites of information transfer.'

Basically, the nerves must not only be physically connected but also transmit the correct message. God speed, researchers!

Whoops!

The worst miss you'll ever see.

Adventures of Bo SuperDog Episode 8

At a recent family function, Bo encountered many strange people, prompting him to gallantly defend our home turf.