No organ in the human body is as resistant to study as the brain. Whereas researchers can examine living cells from the liver, lung and heart, taking a biopsy of the brain is, for many reasons, more problematic.

The inability to watch living human brain cells in action has hampered scientists in their efforts to understand psychiatric disorders. But researchers have identified a promising new approach that may revolutionize the study and treatment of conditions such as schizophrenia, autism and bipolar dis­order. A team led by researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in La Jolla, Calif., took skin cells from a patient with schizophrenia, turned them into adult stem cells and then grew those stem cells into neurons. The resulting tangle of brain cells gave neuroscientists their first real-time glimpse of human schizophrenia at the cellular level. Another team, from Stanford University, converted human skin cells directly into neurons without first stopping at the stem cell stage, potentially making the process more efficient. The groups published their results recently in Nature ( Scientific American is part of Nature Publishing Group).

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"Even if your mother says it is true, check it out," an old saying goes. So we did.

The case in point was the new financial arrangement for the $3 billion California stem cell agency.

CIRM Chairman Jonathan Thomas laid out the plan last month for the California Stem Cell Report in the wake of a state bond issue that provided only $51 million for the agency, which fell far short of its needs over the next year or so. He said, however, a new arrangement was in place that amounted to a win-win for the state and the stem cell agency. The plan minimizes the amount of state bond borrowing immediately needed and instead provides, if necessary, short-term commercial paper, also backed by the state, but at less interest cost.

Thomas said both the state treasurer and the Brown Administration, through its state Department of Finance, were on board.

But -- keeping the admonition about mothers in mind -- we routinely asked the Finance Department and the state treasurer's office about the arrangement. What happened then provides some insight into how difficult it is sometimes to verify even what appear to be simple facts. It also tells a story about the responsiveness of state agencies and their dedication to openness and transparency.

Let's start with CIRM and Thomas. After we raised questions by email following the state bond sale Oct. 19, he offered a telephone interview about the situation and persisted despite dropped cellular signals and several callbacks from our post here in the bay off Panama City.

After we filed our item on the interview, we queried on Oct. 24 the other two agencies involved. The state treasurer's office responded quickly. The state Department of Finance, on the other hand, has remained silent on the subject to this day, despite three emailed queries.

Unfortunately, the state treasurer office's initial response was off the mark. "We haven’t seen any agreement.  We were not aware of the reported agreement until we read about it in your blog.  So, we have no comment about the reported agreement," the treasurer's office said initially.

That raised eyebrows a bit. So we renewed our queries to the Finance Department, even suggesting that a failure to respond could be construed as an indication that the Brown Administration is not fully behind CIRM.

Ten days after our initial query to the two agencies, we sent an email to Thomas briefly describing what we had planned to write and asking him if he would like to comment. He did not respond. But the next day, Steve Cooney, chief deputy state treasurer, said in an email that the earlier comment from the treasurer's office was incorrect. Cooney said,

"Our office DOES (Cooney's capitalization) and DID know that CIRM and the Department of Finance reached an understanding about future funding.

"The Treasurer’s Office has been aware since before last month’s sale of GO (general obligation) bonds that the Department of Finance and CIRM are in general agreement that the state will take necessary action to ensure that CIRM has adequate funds to meet its operational, grant funding and reserve needs, including the use of the state’s commercial paper line in the event the state cannot timely access the bond market.  It is neither necessary nor usual for our office to be informed of the specifics, if any, of any future commitment made by the Administration to any other state agency, including CIRM, and this case is no exception."

Cooney additionally re-affirmed the commercial paper arrangements for CIRM as laid out in the initial response from the treasurer's office.

The response said,

"The issuance of commercial paper has always been a part of our bond financing program.  The size of the CP line is about $1.5 billion, and it is available for use by all infrastructure programs, including stem cell research.  When we issue commercial paper to finance infrastructure projects, including CIRM, the paper is repaid with bond-sale proceeds.  So, if CIRM received funds from the issuance of commercial paper, the 'loan' would be retired not by CIRM, but by the proceeds of a subsequent bond sale."

Cooney also said,

"If you still need further clarification on the issue of future CIRM funding beyond the proceeds of the recent bond sale, the best place to get that information continues to be the Department of Finance."

Silence, however, has only been heard from the state Department of Finance.

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The president of the California stem cell agency, Alan Trounson, popped up in a recent article in Scientific American dealing with a method for creating pluripotent stem cells from unfertilized human eggs.

The piece by Julia Galef said that "many investigators remain frustrated" that the method "remains offlimits" for federal funding, a barrier that does not apply to financing from the $3 billion California stem cell agency.

Galef wrote that one California firm, International Stem Cell Corp., of Carlsbad, is using the method to develop products. She said the firm's work involves "a process called parthenogenesis, in which researchers use chemicals to induce the egg to begin developing as if it had been fertilized. The egg—called a parthenote—behaves just like an embryo in the early stages of division. Because it contains no genetic material from a father, however, it cannot develop into a viable fetus."

Trounson was quoted as saying, nonetheless, that "proving that unfertilized eggs will produce stable tissues in humans remains an obstacle." He said other labs need to replicate the work.

International Stem Cell has applied unsuccessfully several times for research funding from the California stem cell agency.

The Scientific American article said,

"International Stem Cell scientists have converted them into liver cells and plan to convert them into neurons for treating Parkinson’s disease, pancreatic cells for diabetes, and other tissues. Meanwhile teams at the Massachusetts-based Bedford Stem Cell Research Foundation are working to improve the efficiency of methods of deriving stem cells from parthenotes."

As researcher interest in parthenotes gains attention, the NIH is being urged to change its negative position. Late last year, Teresa Woodruff, founder and director of the Institute for Women's Health Research at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, and others called for a lifting of the NIH ban on funding for parthenotes.

California is not constrained by NIH limitations. One of the key reasons, if not the only reason, that voters approved in 2004 the ballot initiative that created the $3 billion stem cell agency was to fund research that the federal government did not. At the time, the focus was on the Bush ban on financing hESC research.

Ken Aldrich, co-chairman of International Stem Cell, circulated the Scientific American article, touting its significance.

We found this posting on the Stem Cell Pioneers web site in which Aldrich said,

“We at International Stem Cell Corporation (ISCO.OB) are finding it increasingly gratifying that mainstream and highly respected publications like Scientific American are now beginning to take notice of the fact that our parthenogenetic stem cells may well turn out to be a viable alternative to the embryonic stem cells that have dominated research and headlines for the last 10 years.

"Like embryonic stem cells, our parthenogenetic stem cells can be converted into almost any kind of cell that might ever be needed for therapy, but can also provide a solution to the two biggest issues that have surrounded embryonic stem cell research: 1) the ethics of destroying a fertilized embryo, which our process never does, and 2) the problem of immune rejection by the patient. We hope you enjoy the attached article." 

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Description and use for different types of stem cells: Multipotent

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The Power of Stem Cells - Video

Promoting an excellent show! http://www.coasttocoastam.com Author and researcher Christian Wilde reported on alternative approaches to treating heart disease. In the third hour, he was joined by holistic expert Gabriel Cousens, MD, and raw food authority David Wolfe. Wilde noted that turmeric has been shown to have strong anti-inflammatory properties in the body, and the arteries in particular.

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Stem Cell Research

Human pluripotent stem cell derived cardiomyocytes (cardiac tissue), produced and grown with proprietary processes, self-organizing to form large 3-dimensional tissues visible to the unaided eye. The interaction and role of the cardiomyocytes, and other heart-related cells that differentiate in these cultures in the formation of stable functional adult cardiac tissues, are being studied.

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Insight into the world of stem cell research. This 15-minute film uses innovative hand-drawn animation, beautiful cell photography and documentary interviews to capture the fascination and complexity of this cutting-edge area of science.

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DOWNLOAD HERE: newsdirect.nma.com.tw US scientists have succeeded in producing embryonic stem cells using a new cloning technique. They injected genetic material from a diabetic patient's skin cell into a donor egg, and stimulated it to develop enough so stem cells could be extracted. The result is stem cells with 69 chromosomes - one set of 23 more than a normal human's 46 - meaning they cannot be used for cell replacement therapy yet.

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US scientists unveil new cloning method for embryonic stem cells - Video

VP Heather Livingston's training on DermaStem™ from the 2011 Stemtech Convention.- Part 1 ... Our breakthrough serum revitalizes the skin at the cellular level, to restore and maintain the skin's youthful vibrance. DermaStem™'s all-natural ingredients provide the ideal environment for the regenerative properties of the adult stem cells, supporting the natural process of skin renewal.

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Turning Science Into Action with Heather Livingston - Part 1 http://www.miraclecell.info - Video

Pre-Medical Society's Outstanding Service Award in Medicine Award -- This year's recipient is John F. Tisdale, Class of 1986 and the son of Belton and Sara-Gantt Tisdale, Class of 1956. After completing his degree in chemistry at the College, John received his medical degree from MUSC in 1990 and did his internship and residency at Vanderbilt in internal medicine.

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Alumni Profile: Dr. John Tisdale, NIH Researcher, Stem Cell Transplants and Sickle Cell - Video

A study appearing in the September 17, 2010 Journal of Biological Chemistry shows that wisdom teeth contain a valuable reservoir of tissue for the creation of stem cells; thus, everyone might be carrying around his or her own personal stem-cell repository should he or she ever need some. The molar-derived cells also could differentiate into many other cell types including beating cardiomyocytes (as in this YouTube video), as expected.

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Stem Cells: A smart use for wisdom teeth - Video

Transplanted adult stem cells have been found to reverse paralysis associated with spinal cord injuries in lab rats, a new study finds. youtu.be The study, headed up by Miodrag Stojkovic, deputy director and head of the Cellular Reprogramming Laboratory at Centro de Investigacion Principe Felipe in Spain, involved transplanting so-called progenitor stem cells from the lining of rats' spinal cords into rodents with serious spinal cord injuries. youtu.be The rats recovered significant motor activity one week after injury, Stojkovic and his co-authors wrote in the Jan

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Biological Physics : Stem Cells - Paralyzed Spinal Cord Injury Patient Walks Again - Video

Transplanted adult stem cells have been found to reverse paralysis associated with spinal cord injuries in lab rats, a new study finds.

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http://www.StemCellTreatment.org After a preventive medical and stem cell treatment for anti aging at the American Stem Cell and Anti Aging center, Adrienne has felt as if she is a teenager once again. Stem cell treatment anit aging can make you feel younger, healthier and mentally you will think more clearly. Anti aging stem cell therapy is an excellent preventative medicine and can do wonders for your health

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Benefits of STEM CELL THERAPY - Adipose Tissue - Video

GMP.STEMTECHBIZ.com IF WE STIMULATE OUR BODY TO PRODUCE NATURALLY MORE STEM CELLS, OUR BODY CAN REPAIR ITSELF, NEGATIVE CHANGES DUE TO ILLNESS, ACCIDENT OR SIMPLY WENT THROUGH PROCESS OF AGING. GMP.STEMTECHBIZ.COM THE MORE ADULT STEM CELLS IN THE BLOOD STREAM ARE, THE BETTER IT IS FOR THE BODY.

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StemEnhance is the Biggest Scientific Medical breakthrough of our time - World Exclusive! - Video

StemCellTV interviews Donna Quees of Lifeline Skin Care at the California Academy of Cosmetic Surgery Annual Conference in San Diego October 2011.

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Donna Queen-Lifeline Skin Care at the CACS - Video