Stem cells recovered from cloned human embryos

This undated image made available by the Oregon Health & Science University in May 2013 shows developing cloned human embryos. Scientists have finally recovered stem cells from cloned human embryos, a longstanding goal that could lead to new treatments for such illnesses as Parkinson's disease and diabetes. In the Wednesday, May 15, 2013 edition of the journal Cell, scientists at the Oregon Health & Science University report harvesting stem cells from six embryos. Shoukhrat Mitalipov, who led the research, said the success came not from a single technical innovation, but from revising a series of steps in the process. (AP Photo/Oregon Health & Science University)

This undated image made available by the Oregon Health & Science University in May 2013 shows developing cloned human embryos. Scientists have finally recovered stem cells from cloned human embryos, a longstanding goal that could lead to new treatments for such illnesses as Parkinson's disease and diabetes. In the Wednesday, May 15, 2013 edition of the journal Cell, scientists at the Oregon Health & Science University report harvesting stem cells from six embryos. Shoukhrat Mitalipov, who led the research, said the success came not from a single technical innovation, but from revising a series of steps in the process. (AP Photo/Oregon Health & Science University)

This undated image made available by the Oregon Health & Science University in May 2013 shows a stem cell colony developed from cloned human embryos. Scientists have finally recovered stem cells from cloned human embryos, a longstanding goal that could lead to new treatments for such illnesses as Parkinson's disease and diabetes. In the Wednesday, May 15, 2013 edition of the journal Cell, scientists at the Oregon Health & Science University report harvesting stem cells from six embryos. Shoukhrat Mitalipov, who led the research, said the success came not from a single technical innovation, but from revising a series of steps in the process. (AP Photo/Oregon Health & Science University)

NEW YORK (AP) ? Scientists have finally recovered stem cells from cloned human embryos, a longstanding goal that could lead to new treatments for such illnesses as Parkinson's disease and diabetes.

A prominent expert called the work a landmark, but noted that a different, simpler technique now under development may prove more useful.

Stem cells can turn into any cell of the body, so scientists are interested in using them to create tissue for treating disease. Transplanting brain tissue might treat Parkinson's disorder, for example, and pancreatic tissue might be used for diabetes.

But transplants run the risk of rejection, so more than a decade ago, researchers proposed a way around that: Create tissue from stem cells that bear the patient's own DNA, obtained with a process called therapeutic cloning.

If DNA from a patient is put into a human egg, which is then grown into an early embryo, the stem cells from that embryo would provide a virtual genetic match. So in theory, tissues created from them would not be rejected by the patient.

That idea was met with some ethical objections because harvesting the stem cells involved destroying human embryos.

Scientists have tried to get stem cells from cloned human embryos for about a decade, but they've failed. Generally, that's because the embryos stopped developing before producing the cells. In 2004, a South Korean scientist claimed to have gotten stem cells from cloned human embryos, but that turned out to be a fraud.

In Wednesday's edition of the journal Cell, however, scientists in Oregon report harvesting stem cells from six embryos created from donated eggs. Two embryos had been given DNA from skin cells of a child with a genetic disorder, and the others had DNA from fetal skin cells.

Shoukhrat Mitalipov of the Oregon Health & Science University, who led the research, said the success came not from a single technical innovation, but from revising a series of steps in the process. He noted it had taken six years to reach the goal after doing it with monkey embryos.

Mitalipov also said that based on monkey work, he believes human embryos made with the technique could not develop into cloned babies, and he has no interest in trying to do that. Scientists have cloned more than a dozen kinds of mammals, starting with Dolly the sheep.

The new work was financed by the university and the Leducq Foundation in Paris.

Dr. George Daley, a stem cell expert at Children's Hospital Boston who didn't participate in the work, called the new results "one landmark step in a very long journey" toward creating DNA-matched transplant tissue.

Now, Daley said, scientists must compare the embryo-cloning approach with another technology that reprograms blood or skin cells directly into substitutes for embryonic stem cells. This reprogramming approach is technically simpler and doesn't involve embryos or require the donation of human eggs, and it was widely acclaimed when it was reported in 2007. Its Japanese developer shared a Nobel Prize last year.

But these substitute cells show some molecular differences compared to embryonic ones, which has led to questions about whether they can safely be used for treating patients. So it's essential to compare the cells from the two methods, Daley said.

The new results mean "we have another tool," he said. "We have to learn more about this tool."

Daley said he believed scientists will prefer using the reprogramming approach unless it can be proven "beyond a shadow of a doubt" that embryo cloning produces better cells for treating patients.

Mitalipov said he believed his technique would present a particular advantage for treating patients with a certain type of rare diseases. These are caused by mutations in genes of the mitochondria, the power plants of cells. He noted his technique, unlike the cell-reprogramming approach, would supply tissue with new mitochondrial genes that could replace defective ones. Those new genes would come from the egg.

The Rev. Tad Pacholczyk, director of education for National Catholic Bioethics Center, an independent think tank in Philadelphia, reiterated his opposition to embryo cloning, calling the approach unethical.

"It involves the decision to utilize early human beings as repositories for obtaining desired cells," he said. "You're creating them only to destroy them."

Marcy Darnovsky, executive director of the Center for Genetics and Society in Berkeley, Calif., said she was glad that Mitalipov doubted the embryos could be used to clone babies. She said the report still provides a good opportunity for the federal government to ban the use of cloning for reproduction.

___

Online:

Journal Cell: http://www.cell.com/

___ Malcolm Ritter can be followed at http://www.twitter.com/malcolmritter

Associated Press

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Jolie: From girl with tattoo to woman with a cause

FILE- In this Saturday, Dec. 3, 2011 file photo, actress Angelina Jolie poses for a portrait to promote her directorial debut of the film "In the Land of Blood and Honey" in New York. Jolie authored an op-ed for Tuesday?s May 14, 2013 New York Times where she writes that in April she finished three months of surgical procedures to remove both breasts as a preventive measure. She says she?s kept the process private but is writing about it now with hopes she can help other women. (AP Photo/Carlo Allegri, File) ITALY OUT

FILE- In this Saturday, Dec. 3, 2011 file photo, actress Angelina Jolie poses for a portrait to promote her directorial debut of the film "In the Land of Blood and Honey" in New York. Jolie authored an op-ed for Tuesday?s May 14, 2013 New York Times where she writes that in April she finished three months of surgical procedures to remove both breasts as a preventive measure. She says she?s kept the process private but is writing about it now with hopes she can help other women. (AP Photo/Carlo Allegri, File) ITALY OUT

FILE - Actress Angelina Jolie arrives for the British Gala premiere for the film 'Salt', at a central London cinema, in this Aug. 16, 2010 file photo. Jolie authored an op-ed for Tuesday?s May 14, 2013 New York Times where she writes that in April she finished three months of surgical procedures to remove both breasts as a preventive measure. She says she?s kept the process private but is writing about it now with hopes she can help other women. (AP Photo/Joel Ryan, File)

FILE - This Feb. 26, 2012 file photo shows actress Angelina Jolie, right, and actor Brad Pitt at the 84th Academy Awards in the Hollywood section of Los Angeles. Jolie says that she has had a preventive double mastectomy after learning she carried a gene that made it extremely likely she would get breast cancer. The Oscar-winning actress and partner to Brad Pitt made the announcement in an op-ed she authored for Tuesday's New York Times under the headline, "My Medical Choice." She writes that between early February and late April she completed three months of surgical procedures to remove both breasts. (AP Photo/Amy Sancetta, file)

Dr Kirsti Funk of the Pink Lotus Breast Center, makes a statement regarding Angelina Jolie's double mastectomy Tuesday May 14, 2013 in Beverly Hills, Calif. Jolie underwent the procedure after learning she had a high probability for breast cancer. ( AP Photo/Nick Ut)

FILE - This Feb. 14, 2012 file photo shows US actress and director Angelina Jolie addressing the audience after premiere of her movie, "In the Land of Blood and Honey," in Sarajevo, Bosnia. Jolie says that she has had a preventive double mastectomy after learning she carried a gene that made it extremely likely she would get breast cancer. The Oscar-winning actress and partner to Brad Pitt made the announcement in an op-ed she authored for Tuesday's New York Times under the headline, "My Medical Choice." She writes that between early February and late April she completed three months of surgical procedures to remove both breasts. (AP Photo/Amel Emric, file)

LOS ANGELES (AP) ? In her bad girl days, Angelina Jolie's body was a billboard for tattoos that said such things as "Billy Bob."

Now she's sharing intimate details of her anatomy to help women at risk, going public with her preventive double mastectomy to greatly reduce her high odds of breast cancer.

It's the latest peak in Jolie's turn-around from hedonist to humanitarian, party girl to inspirational poster girl. The way she went public with her medical story on her own terms, in her own time ? with a New York Times op-ed piece Tuesday that caught the media fishbowl of Hollywood completely by surprise ? reveals a woman who once seemed out of control to be one of Hollywood's most forceful and compassionate stars, using her fame with surgical precision to promote matters dear to her.

"I'm in awe of her. She remains one of the most inspiring women that I've ever encountered," said former Paramount Pictures boss Sherry Lansing, who heads the Sherry Lansing Foundation for cancer research. "By letting people know about her personal issue, she is touching countless women who have the same genetic mutations, and she is showing them that they have choices and they can be empowered and can take care of their own health. And by doing so, I believe she is going to save countless lives."

Jolie's come a long way from her wild-child days of 10 or 12 years ago. She was branded a home-wrecker when she took up with Billy Bob Thornton, who broke up with Laura Dern and married Jolie. Thornton and Jolie were a tabloid writer's dream team, an odd couple who wore lockets with a drop of each other's blood.

Back in 2000, Jolie proudly showed off the newest of her 10 tattoos, the name "Billy Bob" etched across her left shoulder. The marriage ended three years later, and new home-wrecker accusations arose after Brad Pitt left Jennifer Aniston for Jolie, his co-star in the 2005 assassin adventure "Mr. and Mrs. Smith."

But since then, while paparazzi stalk them and entertainment reporters scramble to chase the latest rumor that Jolie and Pitt are finally going to wed, they have emerged as the ultimate Hollywood power couple. They switch off on film projects so one is free to mind their six children, they travel the world talking up good deeds.

"If she wasn't one of the top actresses in Hollywood, she'd be one of the top publicists," said Howard Bragman, vice chairman of Reputation.com. "It's hard to think of a couple that has a better image in this town, both for their careers, family, humanitarian work. ... They're very good at it, and one of the reasons is they have a very intimate circle that they trust, and they don't go beyond that. It's unusual in Hollywood circles, but they're very strict about their personal life, about what gets out there. When something gets out there, it's usually planned to get out there. It doesn't leak. They don't even have publicists."

A special envoy on refugee issues for the United Nations, Jolie, 37, has become as much about causes as career.

She still makes big studio entertainment such as next year's "Maleficent," a twist on "Sleeping Beauty" in which she stars as the wicked sorceress who puts a curse on the fairy-tale princess. Yet Jolie puts her humanitarian interests on screen, too, making her directing debut with 2011's "In the Land of Blood and Honey," a war drama about two lovers ? a Bosnian Muslim woman and a Bosnian-Serbian man ? caught up in the horrors of work and rape camps.

"There is no difference between the star Angelina Jolie and the woman Angelina Jolie. The choices she made even as a director are still strong," said Thierry Fremaux, director of the Cannes Film Festival, where Jolie has been a frequent guest with films such as "Changeling" and "A Mighty Heart."

As for Jolie's op-ed piece about her mastectomy, "we all know that she didn't do that for herself but as giving an example to all the women on this planet Earth who are suffering from the same disease," Fremaux said. "We knew she was a great star, but she's a great person, as well."

Jolie wrote about her mother's death from cancer at 56 and that she carries a gene herself that, according to doctors, left her with an 87 percent chance of breast cancer and 50 percent chance of ovarian cancer. She describes in detail the procedures she underwent from early February to late April to remove tissue and reconstruct her breasts with implants.

She was treated at the Pink Lotus Breast Center in Beverly Hills, Calif. Dr. Kristi Funk, who founded the center in 2007, read a short statement to reporters Tuesday, saying "we hope that the awareness she is raising around the world will save countless lives."

The procedures reduced her risk of breast cancer to less than 5 percent, Jolie wrote.

"I wanted to write this to tell other women that the decision to have a mastectomy was not easy. But it is one I am very happy that I made," Jolie wrote. "I can tell my children that they don't need to fear they will lose me to breast cancer."

One of the most remarkable aspects of the story is how two of the most recognizable people in the world were able to make repeated incognito trips to Pink Lotus, where Jolie writes that Pitt was there for every minute of her surgeries. Jolie and Pitt are hounded by the press, so how they kept this a secret is anyone's guess.

"It's almost unspeakably amazing. In this world there is no privacy. David Petraeus couldn't keep a secret," said Hollywood publicist Michael Levine, who once represented Jolie's father, Jon Voight. "It's hard to imagine how they did it."

Announcing it in such a personal and classy way can only enhance Jolie's stature in Hollywood. With family and philanthropic work, Jolie has eased back on film projects, with future prospects including a possible sequel to her action hit "Salt," in which she played a sexy CIA agent on the run.

Will the mastectomy have any effect on Jolie's sex-symbol image?

"I feel like she is the kind of person who will do whatever it takes to still look fantastic. I think she has a discipline that is unmatched," said Dave Karger, chief correspondent for movie-ticket seller Fandango.com. "She will make sure that she looks just as great as she has in the past.

"I don't think that's going to make much of a difference, and I think a lot of people are going to have more respect. This humanizes her in a way. She's not that perfect specimen sticking her leg out at the Oscars anymore. She's a real human being with real health issues like any other human being."

A real human being, and no less of a woman, to hear Jolie tell it.

"I feel empowered that I made a strong choice that in no way diminishes my femininity," Jolie wrote.

Associated Press

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Nokia announces Smart Camera app for the Lumia 925 (updated with hands-on video!)

Here at the Nokia event in London, we've seen the Lumia 925 go from rumor to reality, and now we're hearing more about the camera software debuting on the handset. For starters, the app has improved low-light performance and noise reduction, and will burst capture at 5-megapixels, with the full 8.7-megapixels available in single-shooting mode. Sports shooters will get Action Shot, which combines several images for a slow-mo effect, and Best Shot will let you (or the camera) choose one of 10 frames that gives the best overall image. Motion focus will add a blur effect to the background while keeping moving objects in focus, with the option to adjust the level of blur later.

Burst shooting also gives the ability to selectively choose the most (or least) hammy expressions on your subjects and finally, there's an option that lets you delete moving objects that might be in the way of your subject, as shown above. Nokia announced that Smart Camera won't just be limited to the Lumia 925 either, as all of the Finnish company's Windows 8 Phone devices will get it through Nokia's Lumia Amber firmware update, arriving sometime this summer. If none of that works for you, there's always Hipstamatic, which was also just trumpeted for Windows Phone 8 at today's event.

Update: You can now see the Smart Cam in action in our hands-on video after the break. With skateboarding!

Gallery: Nokia Lumia's Smart Camera app hands-on

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Nokia

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Jay-Z Exec Produced 'Great Gatsby' Soundtrack Lands #2 Billboard Debut

Selena Gomez's 'Come & Get It' makes it onto Billboard Digital Songs chart at #8.
By Gil Kaufman

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US business stockpiles flat in March, sales fall

WASHINGTON (AP) ? U.S. businesses left their stockpiles unchanged in March for a second month while their sales fell sharply.

The Commerce Department says business stockpiles showed no increase in March on a seasonally adjusted basis. Businesses hadn't upped their restocking in February, either.

Sales fell 1.1 percent in March compared with February when sales had risen 1 percent.

A lack of inventory building could slow economic growth because it means businesses are ordering fewer factory-made goods.

But increased restocking at a time when sales are falling can also signal trouble for the economy, if businesses react by suddenly cutting back their stockpiles.

Associated Press

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Outdated Policies on Sexual Behavior in U.S. Military Adversely Affecting Women

The Pentagon?s fear of condoning sex and logistical hurdles have prevented it from adequately providing servicewomen with adequate information and a full spectrum of contraceptive alternatives

By Erin Brodwin

Image: Wikimedia Commons

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Barriers to birth control?from policies that portray sex as taboo to restrictions on long-term medical procedures?may be contributing to unintended pregnancies among U.S. servicewomen in combat

Women in the U.S. Armed Forces have made significant inroads in the struggle for gender parity, including a recent victory that opened combat positions to women. But they face an important consideration that their male peers never have to take into account when choosing to enter the military?unintended pregnancy.

On the heels of a January study in Contraception that found women in the U.S. armed forces have difficulty obtaining birth control from military health clinics, many women have recently begun speaking out about potential solutions. The situation is of particular concern given two recent findings: one, a strikingly high number of servicewomen?as many as one in eight?get pregnant unintentionally while on duty; and two, sexual assault in the armed forces is on the rise. The problem is especially acute for those serving in combat overseas in places like Iraq and Afghanistan.

The study?s authors, global health specialist Kate Grindlay and gynecologist Daniel Grossman, surveyed 281 women who had served in combat in the U.S. Armed Forces overseas anytime since 2001. Among the team?s findings: military health professionals are not adequately informing women about the contraceptive methods available to them while in combat. As a result, more than one third of servicewomen surveyed said that while in combat zones, they did not have access to their preferred method of birth control.

Worse, military supervisors act as if sexual interaction does not occur, effectively preventing women from discussing or obtaining reliable methods of birth control, says Maricela Guzman, co-founder of civil rights nonprofit Service Women?s Action Network (SWAN) and a vocational rehabilitation specialist at the Department of Veterans Affairs. ?The military has this idea that if it provides birth control, it?s condoning sex. They think, if we give out the pill, we?re allowing it to happen,? Guzman says.

Sixty percent of servicewomen who participated in the study say they never spoke with a military medical representative before deployment about getting birth control while on tour, despite the military?s stance that pre-deployment health counseling is necessary. ?Every female service member should be counseled regarding contraception prior to deployment,? U.S. Air Force surgeon general liaison Donna Tinsley told Scientific American in an e-mail, ?Whether they see a gynecologist, nurse practitioner or primary care provider, discussion about contraception choices/use is standard in a woman's health screening examination,? she wrote.

Of the women who did manage to see a medical representative, many cited logistical problems with the conventional methods they were prescribed. Servicewomen reported difficulties carrying multiple packs of pills from base to base, problems taking pills at the same time each day while in combat and patches falling off in severe climates.

Although Tinsley contended the military provides ?the full spectrum of contraception? to female service members, the study found that servicewomen are often discouraged from using long-acting methods of birth control, such as IUDs, because some women are told they must have already given birth in order to qualify.

The problem of supply may lie with the Department of Defense, whose Basic Core Formulary, the required list of medications available at every military treatment facility, does not include most longer-acting forms of birth control. Emergency contraception, known as plan B, wasn?t added until a lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union mandated its inclusion in 2010. To guarantee access to long-term contraception, Tinsley wrote, use of longer-acting methods ?should be initiated prior to deployment.? She added that most other contraception?with the exception of the contraception ring NuvaRing, which must be refrigerated??is available through field medical facilities, but the service member should have their own 90-day supply when she deploys.?

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U.S. Obtains Wide AP Phone Records (WSJ)

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