http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stem_cell
Stem cell
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Mouse embryonic stem cells with fluorescent marker.
Human Embryonic Stem cell colony on mouse embryonic fibroblast feeder layer.Stem cells are cells found in most, if not all, multi-cellular organisms. They are characterized by the ability to renew themselves through mitotic cell division and differentiating into a diverse range of specialized cell types. Research in the stem cell field grew out of findings by Canadian scientists Ernest A. McCulloch and James E. Till in the 1960s.[1][2] The two broad types of mammalian stem cells are: embryonic stem cells that are found in blastocysts, and adult stem cells that are found in adult tissues. In a developing embryo, stem cells can differentiate into all of the specialized embryonic tissues. In adult organisms, stem cells and progenitor cells act as a repair system for the body, replenishing specialized cells, but also maintain the normal turnover of regenerative organs, such as blood, skin or intestinal tissues.
As stem cells can now be grown and transformed into specialized cells with characteristics consistent with cells of various tissues such as muscles or nerves through cell culture, their use in medical therapies has been proposed. In particular, embryonic cell lines, autologous embryonic stem cells generated through therapeutic cloning, and highly plastic adult stem cells from the umbilical cord blood or bone marrow are touted as promising candidates.[3]
Contents [hide]
1 Properties of stem cells
1.1 Potency definitions
1.2 Identifying stem cells
2 Embryonic stem cells
3 Adult stem cells
4 Lineage
5 Treatments
6 Controversy surrounding human embryonic stem cell research
7 Key stem cell research events
8 Stem cell funding & policy debate in the US
9 See also
10 References
11 External links
Properties of stem cells
The classical definition of a stem cell requires that it possess two properties:
Self-renewal - the ability to go through numerous cycles of cell division while maintaining the undifferentiated state.
Potency - the capacity to differentiate into specialized cell types. In the strictest sense, this requires stem cells to be either totipotent or pluripotent - to be able to give rise to any mature cell type, although multipotent or unipotent progenitor cells are sometimes referred to as stem cells.
Potency definitions
Pluripotent, embryonic stem cells originate as inner mass cells within a blastocyst. The stem cells can become any tissue in the body, excluding a placenta. Only the morula's cells are totipotent, able to become all tissues and a placenta.Potency specifies the differentiation potential (the potential to differentiate into different cell types) of the stem cell.
Totipotent stem cells are produced from the fusion of an egg and sperm cell. Cells produced by the first few divisions of the fertilized egg are also totipotent. These cells can differentiate into embryonic and extraembryonic cell types.
Pluripotent stem cells are the descendants of totipotent cells and can differentiate into cells derived from any of the three germ layers.
Multipotent stem cells can produce only cells of a closely related family of cells (e.g. hematopoietic stem cells differentiate into red blood cells, white blood cells, platelets, etc.).
Unipotent cells can produce only one cell type, but have the property of self-renewal which distinguishes them from non-stem cells (e.g. muscle stem cells).
Identifying stem cells
The practical definition of a stem cell is the functional definition - the ability to regenerate tissue over a lifetime. For example, the gold standard test for a bone marrow or hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) is the ability to transplant one cell and save an individual without HSCs. In this case, a stem cell must be able to produce new blood cells and immune cells over a long term, demonstrating potency. It should also be possible to isolate stem cells from the transplanted individual, which can themselves be transplanted into another individual without HSCs, demonstrating that the stem cell was able to self-renew.
Properties of stem cells can be illustrated in vitro, using methods such as clonogenic assays, where single cells are characterized by their ability to differentiate and self-renew.[4][5] As well, stem cells can be isolated based on a distinctive set of cell surface markers. However, in vitro culture conditions can alter the behavior of cells, making it unclear whether the cells will behave in a similar manner in vivo. Considerable debate exists whether some proposed adult cell populations are truly stem cells.
Embryonic stem cells
Main article: Embryonic stem cell
Embryonic stem cell lines (ES cell lines) are cultures of cells derived from the epiblast tissue of the inner cell mass (ICM) of a blastocyst or earlier morula stage embryos.[6] A blastocyst is an early stage embryo—approximately four to five days old in humans and consisting of 50–150 cells. ES cells are pluripotent and give rise during development to all derivatives of the three primary germ layers: ectoderm, endoderm and mesoderm. In other words, they can develop into each of the more than 200 cell types of the adult body when given sufficient and necessary stimulation for a specific cell type. They do not contribute to the extra-embryonic membranes or the placenta.
Nearly all research to date has taken place using mouse embryonic stem cells (mES) or human embryonic stem cells (hES). Both have the essential stem cell characteristics, yet they require very different environments in order to maintain an undifferentiated state. Mouse ES cells are grown on a layer of gelatin and require the presence of Leukemia Inhibitory Factor (LIF).[7] Human ES cells are grown on a feeder layer of mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEFs) and require the presence of basic Fibroblast Growth Factor (bFGF or FGF-2).[8] Without optimal culture conditions or genetic manipulation,[9] embryonic stem cells will rapidly differentiate.
A human embryonic stem cell is also defined by the presence of several transcription factors and cell surface proteins. The transcription factors Oct-4, Nanog, and SOX2 form the core regulatory network that ensures the suppression of genes that lead to differentiation and the maintenance of pluripotency.[10] The cell surface antigens most commonly used to identify hES cells are the glycolipids SSEA3 and SSEA4 and the keratan sulfate antigens Tra-1-60 and Tra-1-81. The molecular definition of a stem cell includes many more proteins and continues to be a topic of research.[11]
After nearly ten years of research[12], there are no approved treatments or human trials using embryonic stem cells. ES cells, being pluripotent cells, require specific signals for correct differentiation - if injected directly into another body, ES cells will differentiate into many different types of cells, causing a teratoma. Differentiating ES cells into usable cells while avoiding transplant rejection are just a few of the hurdles that embryonic stem cell researchers still face.[13] Many nations currently have moratoria on either ES cell research or the production of new ES cell lines. Because of their combined abilities of unlimited expansion and pluripotency, embryonic stem cells remain a theoretically potential source for regenerative medicine and tissue replacement after injury or disease.
Adult stem cells
Main article: Adult stem cell
Stem cell division and differentiation. A - stem cell; B - progenitor cell; C - differentiated cell; 1 - symmetric stem cell division; 2 - asymmetric stem cell division; 3 - progenitor division; 4 - terminal differentiationThe term adult stem cell refers to any cell which is found in a developed organism that has two properties: the ability to divide and create another cell like itself and also divide and create a cell more differentiated than itself. Also known as somatic (from Greek Σωματικóς, "of the body") stem cells and germline (giving rise to gametes) stem cells, they can be found in children, as well as adults.[14]
Pluripotent adult stem cells are rare and generally small in number but can be found in a number of tissues including umbilical cord blood.[15] A great deal of adult stem cell research has focused on clarifying their capacity to divide or self-renew indefinitely and their differentiation potential.[16] In mice, pluripotent stem cells are directly generated from adult fibroblast cultures. Unfortunately, many mice don't live long with stem cell organs [17]
Most adult stem cells are lineage-restricted (multipotent) and are generally referred to by their tissue origin (mesenchymal stem cell, adipose-derived stem cell, endothelial stem cell, etc.).[18][19]
Adult stem cell treatments have been successfully used for many years to treat leukemia and related bone/blood cancers through bone marrow transplants.[20] Adult stem cells are also used in veterinary medicine to treat tendon and ligament injuries in horses.[21] The use of adult stem cells in research and therapy is not as controversial as embryonic stem cells, because the production of adult stem cells does not require the destruction of an embryo. Additionally, because in some instances adult stem cells can be obtained from the intended recipient, (an autograft) the risk of rejection is essentially non-existent in these situations. Consequently, more US government funding is being provided for adult stem cell research.[22]
Lineage
Main article: Stem cell line
To ensure self-renewal, stem cells undergo two types of cell division (see Stem cell division and differentiation diagram). Symmetric division gives rise to two identical daughter cells both endowed with stem cell properties. Asymmetric division, on the other hand, produces only one stem cell and a progenitor cell with limited self-renewal potential. Progenitors can go through several rounds of cell division before terminally differentiating into a mature cell. It is possible that the molecular distinction between symmetric and asymmetric divisions lies in differential segregation of cell membrane proteins (such as receptors) between the daughter cells.[23]
An alternative theory is that stem cells remain undifferentiated due to environmental cues in their particular niche. Stem cells differentiate when they leave that niche or no longer receive those signals. Studies in Drosophila germarium have identified the signals dpp and adherins junctions that prevent germarium stem cells from differentiating.[24][25]
Main article: Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell
The signals that lead to reprogramming of cells to an embryonic-like state are also being investigated. These signal pathways include several transcription factors including the oncogene c-Myc. Initial studies indicate that transformation of mice cells with a combination of these anti-differentiation signals can reverse differentiation and may allow adult cells to become pluripotent.[26] However, the need to transform these cells with an oncogene may prevent the use of this approach in therapy.
Treatments
Main article: Stem cell treatments
Medical researchers believe that stem cell therapy has the potential to dramatically change the treatment of human disease. A number of adult stem cell therapies already exist, particularly bone marrow transplants that are used to treat leukemia.[27] In the future, medical researchers anticipate being able to use technologies derived from stem cell research to treat a wider variety of diseases including cancer, Parkinson's disease, spinal cord injuries, Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and muscle damage, amongst a number of other impairments and conditions.[28][29] However, there still exists a great deal of social and scientific uncertainty surrounding stem cell research, which could possibly be overcome through public debate and future research, and further education of the public.
Stem cells, however, are already used extensively in research, and some scientists do not see cell therapy as the first goal of the research, but see the investigation of stem cells as a goal worthy in itself.[30]
Controversy surrounding human embryonic stem cell research
Main article: Stem cell controversy
There exists a widespread controversy over human embryonic stem cell research that emanates from the techniques used in the creation and usage of stem cells. Human embryonic stem cell research is controversial because, with the present state of technology, starting a stem cell line requires the destruction of a human embryo and/or therapeutic cloning. However, recently, it has been shown in principle that adult stem cell lines can be manipulated to generate embryonic-like stem cell lines using a single-cell biopsy similar to that used in preimplantation genetic diagnosis that may allow stem cell creation without embryonic destruction.[31] It is not the entire field of stem cell research, but the specific field of human embryonic stem cell research that is at the centre of an ethical debate.
Opponents of the research argue that embryonic stem cell technologies are a slippery slope to reproductive cloning and can fundamentally devalue human life. Those in the pro-life movement argue that a human embryo is a human life and is therefore entitled to protection.
Contrarily, supporters of embryonic stem cell research argue that such research should be pursued because the resultant treatments could have significant medical potential. It is also noted that excess embryos created for in vitro fertilization could be donated with consent and used for the research.
The ensuing debate has prompted authorities around the world to seek regulatory frameworks and highlighted the fact that stem cell research represents a social and ethical challenge.
Key stem cell research events
1908 - The term "stem cell" was proposed for scientific use by the Russian histologist Alexander Maksimov (1874-1928) at congress of hematologic society in Berlin. It postulated existence of haematopoietic stem cells.
1960s - Joseph Altman and Gopal Das present scientific evidence of adult neurogenesis, ongoing stem cell activity in the brain; their reports contradict Cajal's "no new neurons" dogma and are largely ignored.
1963 - McCulloch and Till illustrate the presence of self-renewing cells in mouse bone marrow.
1968 - Bone marrow transplant between two siblings successfully treats SCID.
1978 - Haematopoietic stem cells are discovered in human cord blood.
1981 - Mouse embryonic stem cells are derived from the inner cell mass by scientists Martin Evans, Matthew Kaufman, and Gail R. Martin. Gail Martin is attributed for coining the term "Embryonic Stem Cell".
1992 - Neural stem cells are cultured in vitro as neurospheres.
1997 - Leukemia is shown to originate from a haematopoietic stem cell, the first direct evidence for cancer stem cells.
1998 - James Thomson and coworkers derive the first human embryonic stem cell line at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.[32]
2000s - Several reports of adult stem cell plasticity are published.
2001 - Scientists at Advanced Cell Technology clone first early (four- to six-cell stage) human embryos for the purpose of generating embryonic stem cells.[33]
2003 - Dr. Songtao Shi of NIH discovers new source of adult stem cells in children's primary teeth.[34]
2004-2005 - Korean researcher Hwang Woo-Suk claims to have created several human embryonic stem cell lines from unfertilised human oocytes. The lines were later shown to be fabricated.
2005 - Researchers at Kingston University in England claim to have discovered a third category of stem cell, dubbed cord-blood-derived embryonic-like stem cells (CBEs), derived from umbilical cord blood. The group claims these cells are able to differentiate into more types of tissue than adult stem cells.
August 2006 - Rat Induced pluripotent stem cells: the journal Cell publishes Kazutoshi Takahashi and Shinya Yamanaka, "Induction of Pluripotent Stem Cells from Mouse Embryonic and Adult Fibroblast Cultures by Defined Factors".
October 2006 - Scientists at Newcastle University in England create the first ever artificial liver cells using umbilical cord blood stem cells.[35][36]
January 2007 - Scientists at Wake Forest University led by Dr. Anthony Atala and Harvard University report discovery of a new type of stem cell in amniotic fluid.[5] This may potentially provide an alternative to embryonic stem cells for use in research and therapy.[37]
June 2007 - Research reported by three different groups shows that normal skin cells can be reprogrammed to an embryonic state in mice.[38] In the same month, scientist Shoukhrat Mitalipov reports the first successful creation of a primate stem cell line through somatic cell nuclear transfer[39]
October 2007 - Mario Capecchi, Martin Evans, and Oliver Smithies win the 2007 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine for their work on embryonic stem cells from mice using gene targeting strategies producing genetically engineered mice (known as knockout mice) for gene research.[40]
November 2007 - Human Induced pluripotent stem cells: Two similar papers released by their respective journals prior to formal publication: in Cell by Kazutoshi Takahashi and Shinya Yamanaka, "Induction of Pluripotent Stem Cells from Adult Human Fibroblasts by Defined Factors", and in Science by Junying Yu, et al., from the research group of James Thomson, "Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell Lines Derived from Human Somatic Cells": pluripotent stem cells generated from mature human fibroblasts. It is possible now to produce a stem cell from almost any other human cell instead of using embryos as needed previously, albeit the risk of tumorigenesis due to c-myc and retroviral gene transfer remains to be determined.
January 2008 - Robert Lanza and colleagues at Advanced Cell Technology and UCSF create the first human embryonic stem cells without destruction of the embryo[41]
January 2008 - Development of human cloned blastocysts following somatic cell nuclear transfer with adult fibroblasts[42]
February 2008 - Generation of Pluripotent Stem Cells from Adult Mouse Liver and Stomach: these iPS cells seem to be more similar to embryonic stem cells than the previous developed iPS cells and not tumorigenic, moreover genes that are required for iPS cells do not need to be inserted into specific sites, which encourages the development of non-viral reprogramming techniques. [43][44]
March 2008-The first published study of successful cartilage regeneration in the human knee using autologous adult mesenchymal stem cells is published by Clinicians from Regenerative Sciences[45]
October 2008 - Sabine Conrad and colleagues at Tübingen, Germany generate pluripotent stem cells from spermatogonial cells of adult human testis by culturing the cells in vitro under leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF) supplementation. [46]
Stem cell funding & policy debate in the US
1993 - As per the National Institutes of Health Revitalization Act, Congress and President Bill Clinton give the NIH direct authority to fund human embryo research for the first time.[47]
1995 - The U.S. Congress passes an appropriations bill attached to which is the Dickey Amendment which prohibited federally appropriated funds to be used for research where human embryos would be either created or destroyed. This predates the creation of the first human embryonic stem cell lines. The bill is signed into law by President Clinton.
1999 - After the creation of the first human embryonic stem cell lines in 1998 by James Thomson of the University of Wisconsin, Harriet Rabb, the top lawyer at the Department of Health and Human Services, releases a legal opinion that would set the course for Clinton Administration policy. Federal funds, obviously, could not be used to derive stem cell lines (because derivation involves embryo destruction). However, she concludes that because human embryonic stem cells "are not a human embryo within the statutory definition," the Dickey-Wicker Amendment does not apply to them. The NIH was therefore free to give federal funding to experiments involving the cells themselves. President Clinton strongly endorses the new guidelines, noting that human embryonic stem cell research promised "potentially staggering benefits." And with the guidelines in place, the NIH begins accepting grant proposals from scientists.[47]
02 November, 2004 - California voters approve Proposition 71, which provides $3 billion in state funds over ten years to human embryonic stem cell research.
2001-2006 - U.S. President George W. Bush signs an executive order which restricts federally-funded stem cell research on embryonic stem cells to the already derived cell lines. He supports federal funding for embryonic stem cell research on the already existing lines of approximately $100 million and $250 million for research on adult and animal stem cells.
5 May, 2006 - Senator Rick Santorum introduces bill number S. 2754, or the Alternative Pluripotent Stem Cell Therapies Enhancement Act, into the U.S. Senate.
18 July, 2006 - The U.S. Senate passes the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act H.R. 810 and votes down Senator Santorum's S. 2754.
19 July, 2006 - President George W. Bush vetoes H.R. 810 (Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act), a bill that would have reversed the Dickey Amendment which made it illegal for federal money to be used for research where stem cells are derived from the destruction of an embryo.
07 November, 2006 - The people of the U.S. state of Missouri passed Amendment 2, which allows usage of any stem cell research and therapy allowed under federal law, but prohibits human reproductive cloning.[48]
16 February, 2007 – The California Institute for Regenerative Medicine became the biggest financial backer of human embryonic stem cell research in the United States when they awarded nearly $45 million in research grants.[49]
04 November, 2008 - The people of the U.S. state of Michigan passed Proposal 08-2, allowing Michigan researchers to make embryonic stem cell cultures from excess embryos donated from fertility treatments.[50]
See also
The American Society for Cell Biology
California Institute for Regenerative Medicine
Genetics Policy Institute
Cancer stem cells
Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell (iPS Cell)
Odontis
Meristem
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External links
General
Tell Me About Stem Cells: Quick and simple guide explaining the science behind stem cells
Stem Cell Basics
Nature Reports Stem Cells: Introductory material, research advances and debates concerning stem cell research.
Understanding Stem Cells: A View of the Science and Issues from the National Academies
Scientific American Magazine (June 2004 Issue) The Stem Cell Challenge
Scientific American Magazine (July 2006 Issue) Stem Cells: The Real Culprits in Cancer?
National Institutes of Health
Stem Cell Research Forum of India
Ethics of Stem Cell Research entry in the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy by Andrew Siegel
Isolation of amniotic stem cell lines with potential for therapy
Peer-reviewed journals
STEM CELLS®
Cytotherapy
Cloning and Stem Cells
Stem Cells and Development
Regenerative Medicine
Stem Cell Research
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Stem cell
World first as woman gets organ made from stem cells
http://news.scotsman.com/latestnews/World-first-as-woman-gets.4706821.jp
Date: 19 November 2008
By TANYA THOMPSON
A WOMAN has become the first patient in the world to receive an organ created in a laboratory, in a pioneering operation that could change transplant surgery, doctors said yesterday.
Claudia Castillo's body part was grown using her own stem cells harvested from bone marrow.
Professor Anthony Hollander, part of the team behind the breakthrough, described it as an example of "stem cell science becoming stem cell medicine".
UADVERTISEMENTsing Ms Castillo's stem cells to create a new airway for her means there are none of the tissue-rejection problems that are a major issue for transplant surgery and which usually mean recipients have to take powerful drugs for the rest of their lives.
Researchers from the UK, Italy and Spain worked together in the extraordinarily complex procedure to grow tissue from the 30-year-old mother of two to fashion a new bronchus – a branch of the windpipe – and carry out the transplant operation.
Scientists believe the same approach will be used in years to come to create engineered replacements for other damaged organs. In five years, they hope to begin clinical trials in which laboratory-made voice boxes are implanted into patients with cancer of the larynx.
Professor Martin Birchall, a member of the team from the University of Bristol, said: "What we're seeing today is just the beginning. This is the first time a tissue-engineered whole organ has been transplanted into a patient.
"I reckon in 20 years' time, it will be the commonest operation surgeons will be doing. I think it will completely transform the way we think about surgery, health and disease."
He predicted the technique could be applied to other hollow organs similar in structure, such as the bowel, bladder and reproductive tract.
Colombian-born Ms Castillo, from Barcelona, Spain, had suffered a serious tuberculosis infection that ravaged her airways, leaving her short of breath and unable to carry out the simplest tasks.
Disease had caused her windpipe, or trachea, to collapse at the point where it entered her left lung.
A series of complex steps pushing the boundaries of medical science led to the transplant operation, performed on 12 June by Professor Paolo Macchiarini at the Hospital Clinic of Barcelona.
A section of windpipe was taken from a female donor who had died and the trachea was stripped of its cells, leaving only connective tissue. Stem cells from Ms Castillo's bone marrow were then grown in the laboratory. Next, the donor trachea had to be "seeded" with two different kinds of cells – those made in the laboratory and those derived from tissue taken from Ms Castillo's nose and healthy airways.
The trachea graft was placed into a rotating "bioreactor" and the machine allowed the cells to migrate to the correct locations, where they began to grow naturally.
Finally the trachea, now covered in cartilage and lined with cells all bearing the patient's own genetic hallmark, was cut to shape and slotted into place. Without the pioneering operation, the lung would have had to be removed.
Today, Ms Castillo is living an active, normal life, and is once again able to look after her children, Johan, 15, and Isabella, four. Yesterday, she said: "I was scared at the beginning because I was the first patient but had confidence and trusted the doctors. I am now enjoying life and am very happy that my illness has been cured."
So far, doctors have seen no sign of her immune system rejecting the transplanted organ, even though she received no immunosuppressive drugs.
Prof Birchall admitted the decision to turn to tissue engineering to help Ms Castillo had been a "leap of faith" and the same procedure had only been attempted on pigs before.
Details of the transplant were described in a online edition of The Lancet journal.
Prof Macchiarini said: "We are terribly excited by these results. Just four days after transplantation, the graft was almost indistinguishable from adjacent, normal bronchi."
Dr Allan Kirk, from the American Society of Transplantation, said: "They have created a functional, biological structure that can't be rejected."
However, Dr Josh Brickman, from the Institute for Stem Cell Research in Edinburgh, urged caution. "It is fantastic that they have been able to do this with her own stem cells, which means there is no risk of auto-immune rejection. However, the application to other organs could be difficult," he said.
Sue Pearson, from the Transplant Trust, said: "This is great news, but we don't want to give false hope to people who are waiting for organs. We're sure that this will come to fruition in the future. In the meantime, we would encourage people to sign on to the organ donor register and talk to their next of kin."
Scientists are already looking to the future and seeking European Union funding and commercial sponsors for the more ambitious larynx trials.
Up to 60,000 people a year are diagnosed with cancer of the larynx in Europe, about half of whom may be suitable for tissue engineering transplants.
Since the larynx is a complex organ containing the vocal cords, engineering one from stem cells will be a major challenge. But Prof Birchall said the first trials could take place in about five years.
Professor Martin Birchall - 'I think it will completely transform the way we think about surgery, health and disease'
How the procedure works
1 A section of windpipe, or trachea, was taken from a 51-year-old woman donor who had died, to provide the scaffold or "matrix" around which the new bronchus would be built.
2 Using a pioneering technique involving detergent and enzymes, the trachea was stripped of its cells, leaving connective tissue. The process removed almost all the material that could trigger an adverse immune reaction.
3 Stem cells from the patient's own bone marrow were then grown and multiplied in the laboratory, and treated with "growth factor" chemicals to turn them into cartilage cells called chondrocytes.
4 Stem cells are immature cells with the ability to develop into many kinds of tissue given the right chemical instructions.
5 The 7cm-long donor trachea had to be "seeded" with two kinds of cells – the chondrocytes made in Bristol and specialised epithelial cells derived from tissue taken from the patient's nose and healthy airways. The epithelial cells line the inside of the tracheal tube and carry tiny hairs or cilia for moving debris out of the airway.
6 The seeding process was carried out by placing the trachea graft into a rotating "bioreactor" developed at the Polytechnic of Milan in Italy. The machine allowed the cells to migrate to the right locations, where they began to grow naturally.
7 Finally the trachea, now covered in cartilage and lined with epithelial cells all bearing the patient's genetic hallmark, was cut to shape and slotted into the gap left by the diseased and collapsed bronchus.
Overcoming the problems of immune rejection by using a patient's own cells is a major breakthrough
THIS work is important because it demonstrates how tissue engineers can work together with stem-cell biologists to produce material from a patient's own cells that will not be rejected by their immune system.
To produce something that can be surgically implanted and – so far as we know – not suffer any complications is really quite remarkable.
To get over the problem of immune rejection by being able to use the patient's own cells is a major breakthrough in its own right in terms of transplant.
At the moment, this cannot be used on a huge scale because it is such a patient-specific treatment, but it is a wonderful demonstration of the fact that stem cells can be used in this way and to the benefit of patients.
I can see a time when a treatment like this will be used on the NHS in specific disease cases.
The research is a major step forward to realising regenerative medicine. It is certainly important and one more step along the way. We are not yet where we aim to be in regenerative medicine, but this is helping us get there.
In terms of the developments being made in stem-cell research at the moment, we have a number of clinical trials using treatments based on adult stem cells under way in the UK. There are even more under way in the United States.
The theory has always been there to use adult stem cells and expand them into more than just blood stem cells.
It will lead to potentially more surgeons trying this sort of surgery and using tissue engineers alongside stem-cell biologists to create parts of organs that can be transplanted. This is a procedure that is risky. It does not have any guarantees, and no doubt this patient has been very bold and gone through with it because she has confidence in the doctors and the surgeons.
Patients who are suffering from chronic conditions should be able to look at this piece of work and make their own mind up based on the risk.
If they see in the longer term, as I hope it turns out, that this patient has improved quality of life and for a long period of time, then that ought to encourage others to try this sort of surgery through their own doctors.
It is always important that we have patients who are willing to take part in clinical trials.
One issue in progressing with stem-cell research is having the patients who will enter into this kind of work. This is one of the issues that the network will be discussing at a meeting in London next week.
Though we may be cautious while we await the longer-term results, all the signs are there that this is a tremendous piece of research and surgery.
I think it is a major advance and hugely encouraging in our aim to develop regenerative medicine further.
• Ben Sykes is co-ordinator of the UK National Stem Cell Network.
လြတ္လပ္မႈ-(၈)-ဆရာေတာ္ဦးေဇာတိက
ကိုယ့္ရဲ့မေက်နပ္မႈေတြ မုန္းတီးမႈေတြကို ေသေသခ်ာခ်ာ သိျပီးေတာ့ လြတ္ေျမာက္သြားတဲ့အေျခအေနမ်ိဳးကို
မေရာက္ပဲနဲ ့ တကယ္ လြတ္လပ္တဲ့လူ၊ တကယ္ အက်င့္စာရိတၱနဲ ့ စိတ္ထား ေကာင္းတဲ့လူ၊ တကယ္ခ်စ္နိုင္တဲ့လူ
မျဖစ္နိုင္ဘူး။ ဒါေႀကာင့္ တကယ္ခ်စ္တဲ့လူ၊တကယ္စိတ္ထားေကာင္းတဲ့လူ၊
တကယ္ လြတ္လပ္တဲ့လူတေယာက္ျဖစ္ခ်င္တယ္ဆိုရင္ ကိုယ့္ရဲ့မေက်နပ္မႈေတြ၊ ကိုယ့္ရဲ့
ုမုန္းတီးမႈေတြကို ျမင္ျပီးေတာ့ သိျပီးေတာ့ အဲဒါေတြကို လြန္ေျမာက္သြားေအာင္ လုပ္ဖို ့လိုတယ္။
ကိုယ့္လြတ္လပ္မႈ မေပ်ာက္ခ်င္ရင္ သဘာဝ မက်တာ အေႀကာင္းအက်ိဳး မကိုက္တာကို ဘယ္ေတာ့မွ
မယုံဘူးလို ့ ျပတ္ျပတ္သားသား ခိုင္ခိုင္မာမာ သတိၱရိွရိွ ဆုံးျဖတ္ထားရမယ္။
ၤFreedom and reason make us men;
Take these away,what are we then?
Mere animals, and just as well
The beasts may think of heaven or hell.
လြတ္လပ္မႈနဲ ့ အေႀကာင္းအက်ိဳးကိုက္ေအာင္ စဥ္းစားေတြးေခၚနိုင္စြမ္းက ဒို ့ကို လူျဖစ္ေအာင္ လုပ္ေပးတယ္။
အဲဒါေတြကို ဖယ္ရွားလိုက္ရင္ ငါတို ့ဟာ ဘာေတြလဲ။ တိရစၦာန္မ်ွပဲ။ ေကာင္းကင္ဘုံ သို ့မဟုတ္ ငရဲဘုံကို ေတြးေကာင္း
ေတြးမယ့္ တိရစၦာန္အရိုင္းပဲ။
လြတ္လပ္မႈဆိုတာ သတိရိွတဲ့သူ ဥာဏ္ရိွတဲ့သူ အတြက္ပဲ။ သတိမရိွတဲ့သူ ဥာဏ္မရိွတဲ့သူဟာ မလြတ္လပ္တဲ့
ဘဝမွာပဲ ေနရမယ္။
အသိဥာဏ္ပိုင္းမွာ ကၽြန္မခံတဲ့သူ၊ အေမြခံလာတဲ့ အယူအဆေတြကို ေက်နပ္မေနတဲ့သူ၊ အမွန္တရားဆိုတဲ့
အလင္းေရာင္ကို ဘက္မလိုက္ပဲ ရင္ဖြင့္ ႀကိဳဆိုတဲ့သူ၊ မနက္ေစာေစာ ေနထြက္လာတာကို ဝမ္းေျမာက္ ဝမ္းသာ
ႀကိဳဆိုသလုိ မွန္ကန္တဲ့ အသိသစ္ အျမင္သစ္ေတြကို လိႈက္လိႈက္လွဲလွဲ ႀကိဳဆိုတဲ့သူမွာသာ လြတ္လပ္တဲ့စိတ္ဓါတ္
ရိွတယ္။
ကိုယ့္မွာ ရိွသေလာက္ဥာဏ္နဲ ့ စဥ္းစားရမွာ ကိုယ့္အခြင့္အေရးနဲ ့ ကိုယ့္တာဝန္ပဲ။ ဒီအခြင့္အေရးကိုလည္း
လက္လြတ္ဆုံးရံႈး မခံနိုင္ဘူး။ ဒီတာဝန္ကိုလည္း ဘယ္သူံကိုမွမလႊဲနိုင္ဘူး။ ဒီတာဝန္ကို သူမ်ားကိုလဲႊလိုက္ရင္
ကိုယ့္ဘဝကို သူမ်ားကိုလဲႊလိုက္တာနဲ ့ တူတူပဲ။ ဒီတာဝန္ကို သူမ်ားကို လဲႊလိုက္တာဟာ ကိုယ့္ရဲ့ လြတ္လပ္မႈကိုပါ
သူမ်ား လက္မွာ အပ္နွံထားလိုက္တာနဲ ့ အတူတူပဲ။
ေထာင္ထဲမွာ တိုက္ပိတ္ခံထားရျပီး ေနရမွာ ေႀကာက္ႀကတယ္။ ဒါေပမဲ့ အသိဥာဏ္ တိုက္ပိတ္ ခံထား
ရတာကိုေတာ့ သိေတာင္မသိႀကဘူး။
Myanmar: Courts Imprison Ethnic Minority Activists
http://www.mysinchew.com/node/18478?tid=37
Foreign 2008-11-19 10:08
YANGON, MYANMAR: A court in military-ruled Myanmar has sentenced three ethnic minority activists and a well-known Buddhist monk to prison, continuing a crackdown that began last week with pro-democracy activists.
Meanwhile, five United Nations experts issued a statement Tuesday (18 Nov) in Geneva strongly condemning the "severe convictions and the unfair trials of prisoners of conscience in Myanmar." At least 70 activists were sentenced to prison terms last week, and another seven on Monday (17 Nov).
Chin leader Chin Sian Thang said a court inside Yangon's Insein Prison on Tuesday sentenced his son, Kam Lat Khaot to 33 years in prison and his nephew, Kai Kham Kwal, to eight years.
Chin Sian Thang said a member of the Arakan minority was also given 33 years. The Arakan, like the Chin, are clustered in western Myanmar.
Ashin Gambira, one of the most prominent monks leading pro-democracy protests in September 2007, was sentenced to 12 years imprisonment and still faces further charges, he said.
"The judicial system in Myanmar has collapsed and the courts are passing down sentences in contravention of the law. These secret trials are blatant violations of human rights," Chin Sian Thang said.
Chin Sian Thang is a prominent politician who won a parliamentary seat in elections in 1990, the results of which were never recognized by the ruling junta. He said he received information about the sentencing while waiting outside the prison.
The Chin leader said he was detained for about a month during last year's pro-democracy demonstrations, while his son and nephew were arrested in October. The junta's repression of the protests resulted in at least 31 people being killed and thousands detained, according to U.N. estimates.
The statement from the U.N. experts said they "strongly urge the Myanmar authorities to cease harassing and arresting individuals for peacefully exercising their internationally recognized human rights."
"They further demand that all detainees be retried in open hearings respecting fair trial standards and the immediate release of their defense counsels," it said. Three defense lawyers have been sentenced to several months imprisonment for contempt of court, while several others have been barred from representing their clients. (AP)
MySinchew 2008.11.19
UN rights experts demand fair trials for Myanmar prisoners
http://www.newkerala.com/topstory-fullnews-48142.html
United Nations, Nov 19 : Five independent United Nations experts on human rights have demanded that authorities in Myanmar hold fair and open re-trials for dozens of prisoners of conscience sentenced to lengthy prison terms and immediately release their jailed defence counsels.
Last week a dozen detainees, including several women, arrested last year in connection with peaceful demonstrations, were each jailed for 65 years and more than 20 others, including five monks, who were recently sentenced to up to 24 years. Many others still await sentencing.
''The closed-door hearings are being held inside prisons by courts which lack independence and impartiality,'' the five experts said in a joint statement issued yesterday, noting that three defence lawyers had been sentenced to several months of imprisonment for contempt of court after they transmitted their clients' complaints of unfair trials.
Since early November several other defence lawyers have been barred from representing their clients.
''The UN experts strongly urge the Myanmar authorities to cease harassing and arresting individuals for peacefully exercising their internationally recognised human rights,'' the statement added.
''They further demand that all detainees be retried in open hearings respecting fair trial standards and the immediate release of their defence counsels,'' it said.
The statement followed a call last week by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon for the release of all political prisoners in Myanmar.
Reiterating previous calls to initiate reforms for a transition to a multiparty democratic and civil government, as envisaged by the new Constitution, the experts strongly urged the authorities to immediately commence work on ensuring the indispensable pre-conditions for free and fair general elections to be held in 2010.
These include a comprehensive review of national legislation to ensure its compliance with international human rights standards, the release of political prisoners of conscience, and reform of the armed forces and the judicial system.
The five experts are: Special Rapporteur for Human Rights in Myanmar Tomas Ojea Quintana; Special Rapporteur for the independence of judges and lawyers Leandro Despouy; Special Rapporteur for freedom of opinion and expression Frank La Rue; Special Rapporteur for Human Rights defenders Margaret Sekaggya; and Special Rapporteur for freedom of religion or belief Asma Jahangir.
The special rapporteurs, who serve in an independent unpaid capacity, report to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva.
--- UNI
Thailand using royal law to suppress dissent: watchdog
BANGKOK (AFP) - Global media watchdog Reporters Without Borders has accused the Thai government of using strict laws protecting the monarchy from insults to suppress dissenting voices on the Internet.
Thailand's communications minister last month said the government was considering spending millions of dollars on a firewall to block websites it deemed insulting to the deeply-revered royal family.
"As King Bhumibol Adulyadej is very popular, being over-protective of his image is one of the ways the government is using to win over those calling for its (the government's) overthrow," Reporters Without Borders said.
"The Thai government's desire to control online content is indicative of the difficulties it is encountering in recovering some support," the Paris-based group said in the statement released late Tuesday.
The royal family's role in politics has been a touchy subject in recent months as street protests by an anti-government group claiming loyalty to the monarchy drag on. The king has not commented on the recent turmoil.
The army chief and premier have recently accused unnamed groups of defaming the royals, a grave crime in Thailand that carries a maximum jail sentence of 15 years, but which media groups say is often used as a political tool.
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Thailand made headlines around the world last year when it blocked the popular video-sharing website YouTube after clips started appearing mocking the deeply-revered King Bhumibol.
This and similar moves to implement tougher laws controlling cyberspace prompted press watchdogs to warn of increasing censorship after the coup that overthrew prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra in 2006.
Thaksin's allies returned to government in December 2007, prompting his detractors to take to the streets in May this year.
Both pro- and anti-government sides have accused each other of slighting the royals, and earlier this month Sulak Sivaraksa, a well-known academic and critic of Thaksin, was arrested on suspicion of insulting the monarchy.
Maritime group warns Somalia pirates 'out of control'
http://asia.news.yahoo.com/081119/afp/081119075438asiapacificnews.html
KUALA LUMPUR (AFP) - An international watchdog said Wednesday that piracy in Somalia was "out of control" and called on the United Nations to step in after a Saudi supertanker was hijacked with 100 million dollars of oil.
Saturday's brazen taking of the Sirius Star was one of almost 100 attacks on ships since January, and the tanker was by far the largest vessel taken by Somali pirates -- and the one taken furthest out to sea.
"The situation is already out of control," said Noel Choong, head of the piracy reporting centre at the International Maritime Bureau (IMB) in the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur.
"The United Nations and the international community must find ways to stop this menace," Choong said. "With no strong deterrent, low risk to the pirates and high returns, the attacks will continue."
Somalia is one the world's poorest and most lawless countries, and the well-armed pirates have proven to be all but unstoppable in the Gulf of Aden. Kenyan authorities say three ships have been hijacked since the Sirius Star.
But the capture of the supertanker -- a high-tech vessel the size of three football fields, which was taken 800 kilometres (500 miles) off the coast of Kenya in the Indian Ocean -- was a sign of the reach of the pirate gangs.
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According to a recording broadcast on Al-Jazeera, a man identified as Farah Abd Jameh said his group had machines that could detect fake money in case authorities tried to pay the ransom with counterfeit bills.
The amount demanded was not disclosed, but he said the group had negotiators on board the ship as well as on land. The IMB says that at least 17 ships, with more than 250 crew on board, are still in the hands of pirates.
"They're very well armed. Tactically they are very good," Admiral Michael Mullen, the chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of staff, said this week. He said the pirate gangs were "very good at what they do."
The Gulf of Aden effectively controls access to the Suez Canal, which allows ships to go from Europe to Asia without having to take the much longer and more expensive route around the southern tip of Africa.
NATO, the United States and a number of European nations have all sent ships to the region to try to stop the piracy, which has only increased instead.
The German navy said Tuesday one of its frigates had foiled attacks on two ships in the Gulf of Aden, using a helicopter to chase off pirates who fled in their speedboats.
The Sirius Star, the Saudi supertanker, is at anchor off Puntland -- a breakaway northern state in Somalia -- where the pirates have shown they can virtually operate at will.
Many of the pirates have made small fortunes from their activities, which have broad support from many Somalis, including shopkeepers who are able to charge them higher prices for their goods in the impoverished nation.
Meanwhile shipping companies have usually decided to pay the ransom demanded, eager to get crews and goods home safely, and at least one major shipper has said it will no longer use the Suez route through the Gulf of Aden.
Norway's Odfjell said Monday its vessels would now go around Africa's Cape of Good Hope.
"The re-routing will entail extra sailing days and later cargo deliveries. This will incur significant extra cost, but we expect our customers' support and contribution" to cover the costs, CEO Terje Storeng said.
Reports: Japan police probe ex-bureaucrat attacks
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081118/ap_on_re_as/as_japan_bureaucrat_attacks;_ylt=Avqqx2tvgjLyBDW7HhjPC3oBxg8F
Tue Nov 18, 11:01 am ETTOKYO – Japanese police posted guards at the homes of former health ministry bureaucrats Tuesday after attacks on the families of ex-officials left two people dead and another wounded, reports said.
A former vice health minister and his wife were stabbed to death Tuesday in Saitama, some 40 kilometers (25 miles) northwest of Tokyo, police said.
Takehiko Yamaguchi, 66, and his wife Michiko, 61, were found dead in their home with several stab wounds to their chests, a Saitama police spokesman said, on condition of anonymity, citing department policy.
Hours later, the wife of another former vice health minister was stabbed by a man at their home in Tokyo, Kyodo News agency and public broadcaster NHK reported.
The man had pretended to be a delivery man, and when the woman opened the door he stabbed her in the chest several times before running away, NHK said.
The woman's condition was not life threatening, NHK said, adding that her husband, Kenji Yoshihara, was not home at the time of the attack.
Officials at the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department could not be reached for comment.
Following the attacks, police sent officers to guard the homes of former health ministry bureaucrats, Kyodo said.
A Missile Race in Southeast Asia?
http://www.asiasentinel.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1548&Itemid=590
Tag it:Written by Our Correspondent
Sunday, 16 November 2008
Page 1 of 2
Russia's state-owned news agency RIA Novosti reported that Malaysia and Singapore, among other countries, may be sniffing around Russia's Iskander tactical missiles systems, available from the state arms exporter, Rosoboronexport. although the Soviet arms dealer said it wasn't planning to export the missiles until Russia's own armed forces have been fully supplied with them.
A call to the Singapore Ministry of Defense elicited no answers, and some analysts said it sounded like the Russians were merely trying to talk up sales of a new weapon and irritate the United States rather than being able to make any real arms sales.
Nonetheless, Nikolai Dimidyuk, a senior Rosoboronexport official, told Novosti that a number of countries, including Syria, the United Arab Emirates, Malaysia and India had shown an interest in the missile system. Earlier, the agency said, Russia was reported to be interested in exporting the Iskander-E to Algeria, Kuwait, Singapore, Vietnam and South Korea.
According to the news agency, the Iskander-E is a tactical surface-to-surface missile complex designed to deliver high-precision strikes at a variety of ground targets at a range of up to 280 km (170 miles). It carries a single warhead with a payload of 400 kg to comply with the limits laid down by the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR).
Southeast Asia has been a child's garden of delight for the world's gunrunners. According to the publication Foreign Policy in Focus in 2005, the region, which hasn't had an external war in decades but is rich enough to spend plenty on guns, was the world's second-largest arms market after the Middle East, representing about 20 percent of the world's purchases.
Although relations between Malaysia and Singapore have occasionally been tense, over the past several years there has never been enough of a problem to actually threaten a shooting war. Singapore famously is armed to the teeth and has more combat aircraft, and better ones, than Malaysia and Indonesia combined.
Page 2 of 2
The island state is a formidable garrison that has adopted what the country's leaders call a "poisoned shrimp" defense posture – the two far bigger Muslim-Malay nations might be able to swallow up the Chinese island but, Singapore says, doing it would inflict unimaginable casualties on the aggressor.
According to a Singapore Air Force website, Singapore, less than 700 sq km in size, bristles with F-16Ds, AH-64D Apaches, CH-47SD Chinooks, Marchetti S-211s, Puma helicopters based in Australia and A-4 Super Skyhawks in France. It now has four AWACS over-the-horizon early warning aircraft. In 2003, it joined the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program, expected to be delivered in 2015. And early November, Boeing rolled out the first of 24 F-15 fighters ordered by Singapore as a replacement for some of its ageing jets. The F-15, designed 'SG' to mark its Singapore provenance, will give the country's air force a huge boost in capability by putting most of the region's capitals in striking range.
A huge flock of other aircraft, men and materiel are there to support the air wing. On the ground and in the water, Singapore is equally strong. Amazingly, in a country of 4.5 million, the country claims it can raise three fully equipped combat divisions.
Malaysia, on the other hand, fields a luckless military that has spent countless billions on ineffective weapons systems that often don't work or don't fit tactical requirements, with no coordination between systems, as generals and officials with the ministry of defence who are closely aligned with the United Malays National Organisation, fill their pockets with a vast amount of pelf.
If three separate contracts over the past several years are any yardstick, Najib Tun Razak, who became defense minister in 1999 and kept the portfolio when he became deputy prime minister, appears to have mastered the game far beyond the expectations of any previous defense leaders. Opposition figures say the three contracts, one for Russian Sukhoi jet fighters, a second for French submarines and a third for navy patrol boats, appear to have produced at least US$300 million for UMNO cronies, Najib's friends and others.
Najib relinquished the defence portfolio to Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi in mid-September, taking on finance instead -- an interesting move as it moved Najib away from the allegations over his role in defence procurement corruption and gave Abdullah some leverage over the military, which has shown signs of becoming restive as the country's political crisis threatened national stability. It also left Najib facing Malaysia's economic problems just as they moved from 'serious' to 'intractable.'
Certainly, any move to install a guided missile system on either side of the Johor strait, the narrow body of water that separates the two nations, would be a radical development that probably would not only kick off a major arms race but would undoubtedly irritate the United States, Singapore's main defense supplier and ally.
The question is moot for the moment, because Rosonbornexport said that despite the fact that several countries have shown an interest in purchasing the advanced system, the Russian President Dimitry Medvedev, in a major bout of rocket-rattling for Russia itself, said his country would deploy the Iskanders in Kalingrad, vetween NATO members Lithuania and Poland, to "neutralize if necessary" the US missile defense system that the Bush Administration is trying to install in Central Europe, according to Novosti.
Although the Iskanders have been tested successfully, apparently deliveries of operational weapons have been delayed since 2005 and there aren't enough to go around.
Most of the countries named by Dimidyuk have been hit by the global downturn. Malaysia, for instance, reportedly has decided to cancel a contract to buy 12 Cougar Ec725 helicopters, called Eurocopters because of their production by the European Union, because of falling revenues from crude and palm oil and slowing economic growth for the next few years. The contract for the Eurocopter has been criticized by opposition leader Lim Kit Siang of the Democratic Action Party as opaque and questionable. It was signed under Najib.
See also: Graft in Malaysia’s Defense Ministry
While China's Regional Influence Grows, U.S. Remains Key Security and Economic Partner in East Asia, Rand Study Finds
http://newswire.ascribe.org/cgi-bin/behold.pl?ascribeid=20081117.123051&time=12%2042%20PST&year=2008&public=0
Mon Nov 17 12:42:13 2008 Pacific Time
SANTA MONICA, Calif., Nov. 17 (AScribe Newswire) -- China is not eroding the foundations of U.S. alliances in East Asia and the United States remains the security partner of choice in the region. But consistent U.S. efforts are needed to ensure that the nation retains its influence, according to a RAND Corporation study issued today.
The study finds that America's key East Asian allies do not see China as a viable strategic alternative to the United States and that allied nations seek to broaden economic and diplomatic relations with both the United States and China.
The report, "Pacific Currents: The Responses of U.S. Allies and Security Partners in East Asia to China's Rise," examines how six countries - Australia, Japan, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea and Thailand - are reacting to China's growing involvement and influence in East Asia.
"What is not occurring in Asia is as important as what is happening," said Evan Medeiros, lead author of the report and a senior political scientist at RAND, a nonprofit research organization. "East Asia is not falling under China's dominion. U.S. allies are not climbing onto a Chinese bandwagon in expectation of its eventual hegemony."
Moreover, Medeiros says, East Asia nations are not expanding or modernizing their armed forces in order to balance Chinese power, but are watching Chinese military modernization with varying degrees of concern. Many are tightening their existing alliance links with the United States and diversifying their security relationships with each other.
China is undoubtedly gaining influence among all six East Asian nations, but in a limited way and of a certain type. China looms larger in the policy decisions of all these nations.
However, the influence China is gaining is a passive variety of influence that involves nations not taking certain actions deemed to be provocative to China. The report argues that China has not gained "offensive" influence, with which it could attenuate alliance relationships or otherwise marginalize U.S. influence. When China has tried to assert itself in such ways, its efforts often have been counterproductive, alienating its Asian interlocutors instead.
A key finding of the report is that none of America's East Asian allies want to have to choose between the United States and China, not even the United States' closest Asian security partners. They all see such a choice as a worst-case scenario, to be avoided at all costs.
America's regional allies are seeking to maximize their maneuvering room by positioning themselves to benefit from ties with both the United States and China on a range of economic and security issues.
U.S. allies see China mainly as presenting important economic opportunities and, thus, are rapidly expanding their economic links with China. There is a pervasive and compelling economic logic to these bilateral relationships. However, for some, trade with China is not an unqualified good; it has damaged certain sectors of their economies, producing both economic winners and losers.
Thus, several East Asian nations are now moving out of the honeymoon phase with China. They recognize the costs and complexities involved in managing multidimensional relationships with China. While, on balance, many view stable relations with China as central to their economic livelihood, China is not uniformly seen as reliable or predictable.
Ultimately, the study finds that China's reemergence in East Asia has made the United States more relevant in the region. Nations can confidently engage China precisely because security commitments and economic relations with the United States endure.
Key implications for the United States include:
- U.S. Asia policy remains a key variable in how U.S. allies react to China's growing regional influence. For allies, as long as the United States remains a major economic actor and security guarantor, the regional responses to the rise of China can be taken with confidence and moderation. These nations watch U.S. policy closely in calculating interactions with China and other Asian powers.
- There is consistent desire in East Asia for the United States to remain a key economic actor and security guarantor in the region; the reactions documented in the RAND study reflect a general satisfaction with the role the United States plays, albeit with differing levels of dissatisfaction about U.S. international and regional diplomacy.
- It is early in East Asia's response to China's growing weight in regional affairs. The region is still coming to terms with China's expanding involvement in Asian political, social, economic and security affairs.
- Given the historic centrality of the United States to Asian security affairs (at least in the last 50 years) and the U.S. role as a provider of critical public goods to the region, the United States has both the time and space necessary for responding effectively to the challenges posed by regional reactions to China's rise.
- There is still abundant geopolitical space for the United States to grow its Asian security relationships in support of a regional security order marked by cooperation among several regional powers, but in which none of them dominates.
- It is not in U.S. interests to take a highly competitive approach to China's security alliances and partnerships in East Asia. Washington must remain sensitive to the changing levels of cooperation between China and East Asian allies.
- A one-size-fits-all approach to East Asia will not work. The United States must tailor its policies to meet the individual needs and national interests of its allies and security partners in the region.
Other authors of the study are Keith Crane, Eric Heginbotham, Angel Rabasa and Norm Levin of RAND. The report, "Pacific Currents: The Responses of U.S. Allies and Security Partners in East Asia to China's Rise," is available at http://www.rand.org/ .
The study was prepared by RAND Project AIR FORCE, a federally funded research and development center for studies and analysis aimed at providing independent policy alternatives for the U.S. Air Force.
The RAND Corporation is a nonprofit research organization providing objective analysis and effective solutions that address the challenges facing the public and private sectors around the world. To sign up for RAND e-mail alerts: http://www.rand.org/publications/email.html .
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CONTACT: RAND Office of Media Relations, 703-413-1100 x5117 and 310-451-6913 , media@rand.org
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India Policy Toward Myanmar Focuses On China
http://theimpudentobserver.com/world-news/india-policy-toward-myanmar-focuses-on-china/
November 18th, 2008 by Fred Stopsky · No Comments
India is a democratic nation but it supports the brutal dictatorial regime of Myanmar more out of fear and selfish economic reasons than concern for upholding the principles of democracy. During the 1990s, as China began making economic inroads into Myanmar, the government of India reached out to assume a role in developing the rich resources of their neighbor to the east. A combination of fear China would become dominant on its border, a desire to tap the resources of Myanamar and concern for insurgent groups in its own northeast regions who had links to Burmese rebels led India to give whole hearted support to an oppressive regime.
However, despite this abysmal record of supporting a dictatorship, India has afforded refuge to over 50,000 Burmese refugees who fled to avoid oppression at the hands of Myanmar’s rulers. There are some reports, India quietly supports democratic opposition groups in hope one day they can gain power. The people of Burma suffer because India and China engage in power games to assert control in their land. Such is the manner in which powerful nations gain wealth.
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Next round talks in Myanmar-BANGLADESH-BURMA
Dhaka sees 'progress' Staff Correspondent
The Bangladesh-Myanmar expert-level maritime delimitation talks ended yesterday with decision to sit again in Yangon next January, only four months ahead of Myanmar's deadline for maritime demarcation claims to UN.
Under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS)-1982, Bangladesh must file its claim within July 27, 2011 to the UN, while India and Myanmar will have to claim the maritime demarcation with Bangladesh within June 29 and May 21 next year.
Sources present at the meeting say the two sides remained rigid on their stance on the methodology to be used in delimitation.
As Myanmar argues for equal-distance method, Bangladesh prefers the maritime boundaries to be drawn on the basis of equity. Though rigid in own position both the sides were cordial to settle the issue due to their bilateral interest, the sources add.
During the two-day talks, Bangladesh categorically asked the Myanmar delegation not to cross Bangladesh sea territory until a maritime delimitation deal is signed between the two countries.
However, the Bangladesh delegation termed the talks "incremental progress" as Myanmar shifted from its position and offered Bangladesh a corridor in sea territory.
"We've both exchanged our proposal but yet to reach an agreement. We'll sit again in January to reach a consensus," said MAK Mahmood, additional foreign secretary and also team leader of the Bangladesh side.
“If we accept their corridor proposal we'll be 'zone-locked' ," he added.
The sources say Myanmar did not agree to what Bangladesh asked about the hydrocarbon exploration issue.
"They say that Bangladesh's claim is very near to their coast and disagreed to honour the request," informs a meeting source.
Myanmar's Deputy Foreign Minister Maug Moyint was leading an 11-member expert team at the two-day dialogue that is fourth of its kind. The first-round talks were held on March 30 this year.
The maritime issues between the countries have remained unresolved for 22 years.
Lately, tension flared up when the Myanmar government engaged South Korean Daewoo International Corp in drilling for hydrocarbon reserves in the disputed territory.
The Myanmar ships entered Bangladesh territory marked as deep-sea blocks 8-13 early this month ignoring warnings from the Bangladesh Navy, who soon moved to regain control over the area.
Myanmar courts imprison more democracy activists
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081117/ap_on_re_as/as_myanmar_dissidents_4
Mon Nov 17, 5:31 pm ETYANGON, Myanmar – Courts in military-ruled Myanmar sentenced at least seven democracy activists to prison Monday, continuing a crackdown that saw about 70 people jailed last week.
Four student activists, two members of the opposition National League for Democracy party and a former party member who has become a prominent independent activist received jail terms of 6 1/2 to 12 1/2 years at closed-door trials inside Yangon's Insein Prison, league spokesman Nyan Win said.
Authorities last week sentenced about 70 opposition activists, writers, musicians and Buddhist monks to jail terms ranging from 2 1/2 years to 65 years, with many of them transferred to prisons in remote areas Sunday and Monday.
The courts' actions seemed designed to keep them jailed long past elections scheduled for 2010, to be held under a new constitution that critics claim is designed to perpetuate the military's dominant role in politics.
The U.S. government criticized the military junta for arresting peaceful activists and putting them on trial. "The United States strongly condemns the regime's persistent repression of its people for exercising basic freedoms," White House press secretary Dan Perino said.
Many of those sentenced were arrested following mass democracy protests that were crushed by the ruling junta in September 2007. According to U.N. estimates, at least 31 people were killed and thousands were detained. Many fled the country or went underground.
Nyan Win said Htin Kyaw, a former member of the party, was given a 12 1/2-year sentence.
Htin Kyaw, 45, who was detained repeatedly in 2007 for organizing demonstrations criticizing the government's economic policies, has been in custody since August last year, when he and another activist were about to stage a protest at a busy intersection in downtown Yangon.
Other activists sentenced Monday included economics student Sithu Maung and three members of the illegal All Burma Federation of Student Union.
Amnesty International and other human rights groups say the junta holds more than 2,100 political prisoners, up sharply from nearly 1,200 in June 2007, before the democracy demonstrations.
The prisoners include Nobel peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, head of the National League for Democracy, who has spent more than 13 of the past 19 years under house arrest.
India shifts policy on Myanmar
http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2008/11/18/india-shifts-policy-myanmar.html
Nehginao Kipgen , Rockville, Maryland | Tue, 11/18/2008 10:31 AM | Opinion
The international community keeps eyeing the political turmoil in the military ruled Myanmar. Understandably, neighbors better understand. Why India seemingly has a lukewarm interest in the Myanmarese democratic movement?
It was the 1988 uprising which brought India significantly into the Myanmar politics. This was the time when Myanmarese people contemplated on bringing down the military regime.
The failed uprising forced hundreds of refugees crossed international border into India. From 1988 to 1992, India’s policy vacillated between support for democracy movement and diplomatic isolation.
Prime Minister Narasimha Rao’s (1991-1996) “Look East” policy basically changed India’s foreign policy toward Myanmar. The dramatic policy shift, however, happened during Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s (1998-2004) administration.
There were two major factors responsible for India’s policy shift: First, to counterweight the strategic influence of the People’s Republic of China, and secondly to deal with insurgency problems in the Northeast India. Economic interest also contributed to it.
Of the two, countering China’s regional influence remains to be the number one concern for India. Having experienced a bitter war with China in 1962, India feels insecure and threatened when China’s influence is broadened.
China-Myanmar bilateral trade hit US$2.057 billion in 2007, up 40.9 percent compared with 2006. China’s exports to Myanmar took $1.686 billion, up 39.6 percent, while its import from Myanmar stood $371 million, up 46.9 percent. China enjoyed a trade surplus of $1.315 billion.
Similarly, India’s exports to Myanmar in 2007-2008 amounted to about $185 million, while its imports from Myanmar were valued at around $810 million. In addition to the Tamu-Kalay-Kalewa highway upgradation, India has made investments in projects such as energy and gas exploration. Most recent India’s assistance was the $200 million project in IT program.
All these moves and counter moves are the direct result of scrambling for power by the two Asian powers. India, at least for now, sees engaging with the military regime an effective means to narrowing the influence of China.
Another important factor for India’s foreign policy shift was due to the rise of insurgency problems in the restive Northeast India. About 20,000 insurgents from different groups of Northeast India have bases in Myanmar, mostly in the Northwestern part of the country in Sagaing Division.
Talks for coordination between India and Myanmar security forces in counter-insurgency operations have taken momentum in recent years. During his visit to New Delhi in 2004, Gen. Than Shwe assured the Indian government that he would not allow his country to be used by anti-India elements.
Sometimes, bilateral talks and agreements have not really been put into practice.
Although the Myanmarese military, in a number of occasions, has asked the Indian government to silent the Myanmarese dissidents, New Delhi so far seems to pay a wishy-washy response. Similarly, Nay Pyi Taw appears to be not fully engaged in dismantling the bases of Indian insurgents operating from Myanmar.
India apparently is not totally ignoring her support for the Myanmarese democratic movement. One evidence is the presence of more than 50,000 Myanmarese refugees (no official figure available) taking refuge in India, including some leading dissidents.
India rather acts in tandem with her national interest and security in the face of China’s influence in the region. By engaging with the military regime, India feels better served. To many, this looks if India has adopted a double-standard policy toward Myanmar.
In the event of Myanmar becoming a democratic country, India is expected to be one of the first to throw her support. Till then, India will continue to compete with China, while the western world is likely to continue with traditional sanctions.
The writer is the General Secretary of U.S.-based Kuki International Forum (www.kukiforum.com) and a researcher on the rise of political conflicts in modern Myanmar (1947-2004).
China, Myanmar to Build $2.5 Billion Pipelines, Nikkei Says
http://www.bloomber g.com/apps/ news?pid= 20601072&sid=a7TZ0v82ODSA
By Shigeru Sato
Nov. 18 (Bloomberg) -- China and Myanmar have agreed to build a $2.5 billion oil-and-gas pipeline project connecting a port on the Bay of Bengal and the southern Chinese city of Kunming, the Nikkei newspaper reported.
China National Petroleum Corp. will hold a 50.9 percent stake and manage the project and Myanmar Oil & Gas Enterprise will own the rest, the newspaper said, citing a copy of the contract between the two governments obtained by the Nikkei.
The partners will build a $1.5 billion oil pipeline and $1.04 billion gas line, the Nikkei said. Oil and gas storage tanks will also be built near the Myanmar port of Kyaukpyu, the report said.
China will import crude oil from the Middle East and natural gas from Myanmar's offshore fields via the pipelines, the newspaper said. The project will provide China with an alternative to importing fuel through the Straits of Malacca and cut transportation times by seven days, Nikkei said.
To contact the reporter on this story: Shigeru Sato in Tokyo at ssato10@bloomberg. net.
Last Updated: November 17, 2008 20:59 EST
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