Author: jplucas

The renewed debate over embryonic stem cells highlights the advances and complications that have arisen in the field since its controversial beginnings. Mention James Thomson, of the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

A day after a U.S. district judge halted federal funding of all research involving embryonic stem cells, the government froze about $70 million for projects that were either up for renewal or well along in the approval process, effectively shutting down one of President Barack Obama?s top scientific priorities.

In Wisconsin, the temporary injunction triggered praise from opponents of the research and anxiety from scientists who have dozens of projects and millions in federal money at stake. The ruling put at risk hundreds of millions of dollars in royalties the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation could potentially reap from its three key embryonic stem cell patents. And in the space of 24 hours, the court action thrust the issue of embryonic stem cell research into an already heated campaign for governor.

The University of Wisconsin-Madison, known around the world as the place where James Thomson isolated and grew human embryonic stem cells for the first time, now has 21 projects and about $5 million a year in federal money that depend on the use of the controversial cells. At the Medical College of Wisconsin, embryonic stem cell research accounts for federal grants of $2 million to $3 million a year.

The nation again finds itself in the weeds over embryonic stem cell research – again needlessly – after a federal judge in Washington, D.C., on Monday blocked the government?s effort to expand funding.

Blindsided by a court ruling blocking federal funding for research involving human embryonic stem cells, the U.S. government plans to freeze all new grants for scientists and impose other restrictions on this burgeoning area of science.

The head of the National Institutes of Health said Tuesday that some stem cell research would continue for a while, but new research would be stopped, in the wake of a federal judge?s ruling Monday that blocked President Obama?s order in 2009 to expand embryonic stem cell funding.

A federal judge on Monday temporarily blocked guidelines set down by the Obama administration expanding human embryonic stem cell research, throwing into doubt studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and other major universities across the nation.

“It?s broad and could have dramatic impact if the court upholds this for all funding of embryonic stem cell research,” said Timothy Kamp, director of UW?s Stem Cell & Regenerative Medicine Center.

Scientists at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have discovered 50 proteins that help plants survive in the absence of water, a crucial step toward one day engineering crops that can resist droughts.

In research that offers promise for growing crops in a warmer, drier world, scientists at UW-Madison have identified dozens of proteins that control how plants respond to drought. The findings were published Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Researchers, led by Michael Sussman, a professor of biochemistry, probed the workings of a well-known plant hormone called abscisic acid in the oft-used laboratory plant Arabidopsis.

Some immigrants in the United States may need more than translations to grasp what is involved in cancer treatment, researchers found. Tracy Schroepfer of the University of Wisconsin-Madison said cancer educators may find it difficult to explain cancer detection and prevention to people who may not even have a word for cancer.

If you ever want to be in awe of nature, take an occasional peek at this site:ge.ssec.wisc.edu.

This is a high resolution visible satellite image courtesy of NASA that is processed by the “other UW” — the Space Science and Engineering Center (SSEC) at the University of Wisconsin-Madison as part of the “MODIS” program.