Health Highlights – August 21st, 2007

August 21, 2007 | by

Health Highlights is a biweekly summary of particularly interesting articles from credible sources of health and medical information that we follow & read. For a complete list of recommeded sources, see our links page.

Health Highlights

Spinal Muscular Atrophy Legislation Update

August 16, 2007 | by

Back in July, I wrote that spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) legislation was going to soon be introduced in Congress.

Prior to the August recess, legislation to enhance federal support for Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA) research was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives by Congressmen Patrick Kennedy (D-RI) and Eric Cantor (R-VA). The bill, H.R. 3334, would authorize the Secretary of Health and Human Services to conduct activities to rapidly advance treatments for spinal muscular atrophy, neuromuscular disease and other pediatric diseases. More information can be found on GovTrack.us.

Discredited Stem Cells Created by Virgin Birth

August 15, 2007 | by

In 2004, Korean investigators lead by Woo Suk Hwang at Seoul National University announced the creation of the world’s first human embryonic stem cell line generated by somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT), which involves the transfer of DNA, usually from a skin cell, into an egg cell that has had its DNA-containing nucleus removed. The work, published in the prominent journal Science, was retracted in 2006 amidst evidence that the researchers had falsified their data.

somatic_stem_injection.jpgHowever, a study published online August 2nd, 2007, by the journal Cell Stem Cell reports that the Koreans unintentionally created the world’s first human embryonic stem cell derived by parthenogenesis, or virgin birth. Development is triggered spontaneously from the egg alone without the need for sperm fertilization.

Mitosis and Meiosis

August 14, 2007 | by

Mitosis is the biological process involving chromosomal duplication and nuclear division. Mitosis is usually followed by cytokinesis, whereby the watery environment inside a cell, known as the cytoplasm, and cell membrane divide. Two identical cells are generated, each having the same number of chromosomes as the parental cell. Somatic cells (meaning any cell that is not a germline cell) undergo mitosis while germ cells (cells destined to become sperm or eggs) divide by a related process called meiosis.

SCHIP Funding and Fiscal Irresponsibility

August 11, 2007 | by

$60 billion dollars in new deficit spending.

That’s the amount the Heritage Foundation, a public policy research institute based in Washington D.C., estimates the Senate bill to reauthorize the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) will have added to the U.S. budget deficit over the next decade [1-2]. Under the bill, funding will drop sharply in 2013 (see the graph below). Assuming a 6% annual spending increase will be required to maintain current enrollment from 2012-2017, the program will require $84.3 billion rather than the $25.6 billion included in the bill.

The House bill has an even greater cost. According to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) and the Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT), the U.S. House of of Representatives SCHIP bill would add $72.9 billion dollars to the U.S. budget deficit for the 2008-2017 period [3].