The adaptive liquid microlens, developed by researchers at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, could lead to cheap and easy-to-make sensors, “lab-on-chip” devices used for testing biological and chemical substances in a fluid, and even “camera pills” that photograph the intestines after being swallowed.
Gay marriage isn’t what it used to be, and Democrats may have found something — stem cell research — that trumps it. Ballot initiatives banning gay marriage may have lured more conservative voters to the polls in 11 states, and Bush won all those states except Michigan and Oregon. But in the battleground state of Wisconsin, early polling suggests that gay marriage may be losing some of its Election Day magic — and that Democrats have found a wedge issue of their own with as much or more drawing power.
Quoted, cited: Kathy Cramer Walsh, associate professor of political science at the University of Wisconsin, and the UW-Madison Survey Center
Q: Why do fireflies glow?
A: Fireflies, also known as lightning bugs, light up, scientists believe, because they are advertising for a mate. Maybe.
Feature story about the blooming of a titan arum at Virginia Tech mentions that in 2001, scientists at the University of Wisconsin-Madison made a really big deal out of it, pollinating the plant by hand and setting a plastic tent to measure gas emissions.
Forum: Was President Bush right to veto legislation that would have expanded federal funding for human embryonic stem cell research?
A Pox on Stem Cell Research
By DEBORAH BLUM
Published: August 1, 2006
Madison, Wis.
IN vetoing legislation that would have supported medical research using embryonic stem cells, President Bush described his decision as moral rather than scientific, an act of conscience opposed to the taking of the ââ?¬Å?innocent human lifeââ?¬Â represented by embryonic stem cells. The potential of using these cells to develop life-saving medical cures, Mr. Bush said, was a temptation to be resisted.
In Wisconsin, we know a thing or two about snowflakes. We also know a really lame snow job when we see one.
Whether you are the president of the United States or a candidate for governor of Wisconsin, when you take a political position contrary to the interests and wishes of more than 70 percent of the American people, you have to do some pretty fast talking to try to explain it away.
The dishonest public statements put out by both George W. Bush and Congressman Mark Green to try to justify their opposition to embryonic stem cell research didn’t even come close.
To hear the folks in California tell it, the single biggest roadblock to the development of life-saving medical treatments based on stem-cell science is — Wisconsin.
Specifically, public enemy No. 1 is the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation, which holds the patents awarded to embryonic stem cell pioneer James Thomson of UW-Madison.
They were graduate students studying a tiny worm.
But the dilemma they faced was huge: should they risk their careers by telling officials their adviser seemed to be committing fraud?
The decision by six UW-Madison graduate students to air allegations against Elizabeth Goodwin, an associate professor of genetics, led to her resignation in March.
Dear Editor: After reading the latest list of animal protection regulations that have been violated at the UW-Madison, I can’t help but wonder why the government allows this research facility to continue operating. Any sensible person can see that it’s managed by people who do not have any regard for animal welfare.
Moreover, I’m shocked that the university would agree to pay a fine, but doesn’t have to admit to doing anything wrong.
In Wisconsin lurks a force that scientists say is strangling embryonic stem cell research far more than any federal funding restrictions.
The University of Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation, generally known as WARF, holds three broad patents that essentially give it control of embryonic stem cells used in the United States.
Blowing the whistle on a professor’s alleged scientific misconduct has taken a toll on the careers of six University of Wisconsin-Madison students.
Support for cloning is an essential aspect of the movement for embryo-destructive stem cell research. This week, Gov. Jim Doyle started to run a shamelessly manipulative attack ad against his challenger, Rep. Mark Green (R-Wis.), accusing Green of wanting to “outlaw stem cell research.”
The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee wants to dramatically boost research spending in an effort to spin out more ideas into companies. One piece of the plan will face the scrutiny of the Board of Regents on Wednesday in Madison. A vote is expected two weeks later. The school suffered a setback this month when Abbas Ourmazd, a respected researcher with experience at Bell Labs and Oxford, stepped down. Nevertheless, Chancellor Carlos Santiago’s plan should move ahead. The regents should approve the school’s request for $10 million in additional state funding.
A faster magnetic resonance imaging data-acquisition technique can deliver more precise 3-D images, say researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Doctors are testing a radical new way to help smokers quit — a shot that “immunizes” them against the nicotine rush that fuels their addiction.
Q: On July 4, Takeru Ko bayashi ate 53.75 hot dogs in 12 minutes at a Coney Island contest. How do competitive eaters such as Kobayashi avoid damaging their health?
A: Counting the hot dogs and each bun half, Kobayashi consumed 161 items of food – “which is literally more than gross,” said Dale Schoeller, a UW-Madison professor of nutritional sciences.
Right or wrong? Americans have been asked in Gallup Polls whether they believe that medical research using stem cells from human embryos is:
(Link has data tables on opinion polls.)
Political sparring, congressional votes and a presidential veto have left embryonic stem-cell researchers right back where they started.But that doesn’t mean things haven’t changed ââ?¬â? they’re worse, proponents of the research say. Scientists say President Bush’s adherence to his stem-cell policy has cast a pall over the future of their work and dashed hopes that the divide will be closed anytime soon.
http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=477039
Many scientists believe embryonic stem cell research has great potential for healing. But because it’s controversial and not well understood by the average voter, the issue also has great potential for political mischief and spin.
http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=477039
Many scientists believe embryonic stem cell research has great potential for healing. But because it’s controversial and not well understood by the average voter, the issue also has great potential for political mischief and spin.
If Gov. Jim Doyle and Democrats have their way, the biggest issue in the campaign against Republican Mark Green will be smaller than the period at the end of this sentence.
With the hope of attracting undecided voters and driving a wedge into Green’s support, Doyle has launched a relentless effort to paint Green as an opponent of stem cell research, which is seen as holding the promise of treatments for a host of debilitating diseases.
The Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery are a risky endeavor, Carl Gulbrandsen, managing director of the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (WARF), acknowledged Tuesday.
Vitamin D is poised to strike again for Madison.
Harry Steenbock’s groundbreaking discoveries at UW-Madison early last century laid a foundation that led to vitamin D becoming by far the biggest moneymaker for the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation.
Wisconsin discovered last week that being at the point of cutting-edge biological science such as embryonic stem cell research can be a two-edged sword. Two out-of-state foundations challenged the stem cell patents held by the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation.
A new single-crystal film of semiconductor developed at UW-Madison could lead to wearable electronics or computer monitors that roll up like a window shade.
The process of developing the super-thin layer, only a couple of hundred nanometers thick, is detailed in the current issue of the Journal of Applied Physics.
Anybody know a good attorney? We’re looking for one.
At Wisconsin Public Television, we’re putting the proposed marriage amendment to the state constitution on trial. Courtroom dramas have always been popular prime time programs. We’re taking the color and excitement of the genre and turning it into a serious exercise in public policy.
Unlike the dramatic TV shows, our courtroom will be populated with real people; Wisconsinites with points of view and personal stakes in the outcome of the November marriage ballot.
STEVENS POINT — Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle says he’s taking the “life position” on embryonic stem cells.
Pat Hardyman, a citizen from Blanchardville, doesn’t buy it.
And somewhere in between their views is U.S. Rep. Mark Green, the Republican challenger for governor.
As Washington grappled last week with whether to ease restrictions on federal funding for embryonic stem cell research, two foundations launched an assault on Wisconsin’s embryonic stem cell patents.
Such a move, which was expected, is common when there are broad patents on a technology with so much potential, and it probably won’t be the last.
It also signaled increasing awareness among scientists and companies that the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation’s patents make this state the biggest interchange through which all stem cell commercialization must travel.
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) – Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich on Thursday announced he was diverting $5 million from the state budget for stem cell research, despite repeated objections from legislators.
The move came a day after President Bush vetoed federal legislation that would have expanded funding for embryonic stem cell research.
There are plenty of reasons to question the rationale for President’s Bush’s choice of the stem cell funding bill for his first presidential veto. We certainly disagree with the veto and question the message the President sends by making it his first. Never he less we respect the different opinions on this issue and feel it’s a debate worth having. And if the majority of Americans continue to support stem cell research, as polls indicate, eventually science will prevail.
Predictably, Congress couldn’t overturn President Bush’s veto of legislation that would have expanded federal funding for embryonic stem cell research.
That is unfortunate for all of the reasons that have been stated in the long debate over whether the United States will ever get serious about identifying the viable treatments for Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, spinal cord injuries, diabetes, strokes and burns that might well be found on the stem cell frontier.
Q: Were there ever any lyrics to taps — that sad melody that is usually sounded at military funerals?
A: Taps was one of many military service calls sounded on the bugle that helped structure the day for infantryman, said Susan Cook, a UW-Madison professor of music whose specialty is American music.
Madison, Wis. – Dr. Jamie Thomson and his colleagues at Madison’s WiCell Research Institute announced early this year they had developed two new lines of stem cells “fed” through a culture medium free of animal proteins. The breakthrough was hailed in scientific circles because it moved stem-cell research a step closer to clinical trials.
A Badger Poll survey released today found that women favor stem cell research slightly more than men, Democrats are more in favor of it than Republicans, and older respondents back it more than younger ones.
A new Badger Poll released Wednesday by the UW Survey Center found that, overall, Wisconsinties generally approve of stem cell research.
Wisconsin is a leader in stem cell research – UW Madison scientist James Thompson grew the first embryonic stem cells in 1998.Now, the UW says the President’s veto could shake Wisconsin’s leading status.
President Bush, in a veto Wednesday that was the first of his presidency, rebuffed legislation on human embryonic stem cell research that was passed by the Senate a day earlier and by the House more than a year ago.
http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=474319
President Bush, in a veto Wednesday that was the first of his presidency, rebuffed legislation on human embryonic stem cell research that was passed by the Senate a day earlier and by the House more than a year ago.
The US scientific community expressed frustration and disappointment yesterday at the announcement that President George W. Bush would veto bipartisan legislation to ease restrictions on embryonic stem cell research.
Madison: The Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation is facing a challenge to 3 patents it owns on stem cell technology.
A California nonââ?¬â??profit group says 3 UW stem cell patents are a bigger hindrance to research than President Bush and his veto pen.
It’s perfectly normal for parents to send their child off to the grandma’s house for a couple of days, but it’s not normal for them to be as worried as Kevin and Ruth Shelly are about their daughter Maggie.
MADISON, Wis. ââ?¬â? The nation’s first bank of embryonic stem cells is thinking about outsourcing. The bank overseen by scientists at the University of Wisconsin is considering sending two new cell lines developed here to countries such as Australia and the United Kingdom where they can more easily be studied.
Madison, Wis. – The legal challenge to stem cell patents held by the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation has escalated the war of words between two states -Wisconsin and California – with both questioning the other’s financial motivations.
MADISON, Wis. — University of Wisconsin-Madison researchers said President George W. Bush dealt a major blow to embryonic stem cell research on Wednesday.
MADISON, Wis. — There’s an effort to overturn the embryonic stem cell patents held by the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation.
WASHINGTON // President Bush’s veto yesterday of a measure that would have expanded federal funding of research involving human embryonic stem cells promises to prolong years of sparring over whether the work promotes the destruction of life. But in many important ways, ethicists, researchers and even regulators within the Bush administration have moved past the political debate.
WASHINGTON (AP) – President Bush cast the first veto of his 5 1/2-year presidency Wednesday, rejecting legislation to ease limits on federal funding for research on stem cells obtained from embryos.
“This bill would support the taking of innocent human life of the hope of finding medical benefits for others. It crosses a moral boundary that our society needs to respect, so I vetoed it,” Bush said at a White House event where he was surrounded by 18 families who “adopted” frozen embryos that were not used by other couples, and then used those leftover embryos to have children.
A California-based consumer group has filed legal challenges to three stem cell patents owned by the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation. The foundation owns the patents to discoveries made by researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
The foundation says WARF’s use of the patents restricts scientific research.
If you’ve driven through the UW Arboretum lately, you’ve probably seen them: several dozen black and white yard signs, all carrying the same message: “Protect the Arboretum. Stop the Developers.”
The developer in this case, as you may have heard, is Darren Kittleson. And the reason he’s persona non grata with members of the Arboretum Neighborhood Association is because he wants to build houses on two prime wooded lots and enlarge an old stone house on a third lot at the intersection of Arboretum Drive and Arboretum Lane.
In other words, smack dab in the middle of one of the most prized urban parklands and ecological research laboratories in America.
A California consumer watchdog group Tuesday asked the federal government to overturn three stem-cell patents held by the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation.
Reasonable voices in Congress from the left, middle and right agree on the need to encourage life-saving stem cell research.
WASHINGTON, July 18 ââ?¬â? Following two days of often personal debate, the Senate defied a veto threat by President Bush on Tuesday and approved legislation that would expand federal support of medical research using embryonic stem cells.
A bill approved by the Senate yesterday to spur stem cell research would go a long way toward removing restrictions that have slowed progress, burdened laboratories with red tape, reduced American competitiveness and discouraged young researchers from entering the field, several leading stem cell scientists said.
John Lough wants to turn embryonic stem cells into beating heart muscle cells that someday might be transplanted into the damaged hearts of people.
Clive Svendsen is working to transform embryonic stem cells into engineered cells that can protect and repair the brain cells of people suffering from the neurological disorders amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and Parkinson’s disease.
The two Wisconsin scientists and other researchers said that if legislation allowing for expanded federal funding for human embryonic stem cell research is enacted, it likely would be a boon to the promising field as well as their own research efforts.
A California-based consumer group and a stem cell scientist took action Tuesday to overturn the landmark patents on human embryonic stem cells held by the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation, claiming that the patents hinder research, drive scientists overseas and waste taxpayer money.
Yesterday’s Senate vote was the latest skirmish in an often rancorous eight-year-old battle over the science and ethics of embryonic stem cell research.
A Santa Monica-based taxpayer rights group launched a formal challenge Tuesday to three patents that it contends have had a chilling effect on embryonic stem cell research.
The move came on the day the U.S. Senate approved a bill that would expand federal funding for such research, sending it to President Bush, who has promised a veto.
Two public interest advocacy groups Tuesday petitioned the federal government to revoke three University of Wisconsin patents they claim are driving scientists overseas and could hinder California’s $3 billion stem-cell research institute.
Three patents held by a Wisconsin alumni group may throw a bigger roadblock into stem cell research in the United States than federal funding restrictions, a leading stem cell scientist said Tuesday.
