Nokia introduces Booklet 3G 'mini laptop'

Nokia rocked the world this morning by introducing its spin on the laptop, called the Booklet 3G. If you're the rude sort (like us) you could call it a fancy netbook, what with its Atom processor and 10.1-inch display, but that screen is higher res than your average Eee, and it also sports integrated 3G wireless and a hot-swappable SIM card, so it's definitely trying to define its own niche. It looks to be running Windows 7, which isn't particularly netbooky, and also has integrated A-GPS with a copy of Ovi Maps, HDMI output, a rated 12 hour battery life, and the usual Bluetooth and WiFi connectivity, all in a 2cm (.78 inch), 2.7lb aluminum body that's understated, sophisticated, and should make most Nokia fans very happy -- Nokia fans who are looking for a tiny laptop, anyway. There's a fancy promotional video after the break, and while we don't have any anticipated release date or price just yet, we'll be learning more at Nokia World 09 on September 2. We promise not to make too many Foleo references.

Gallery: Nokia introduces Booklet 3G 'mini laptop'

Nokia has just whipped the dust sheet off the Nokia Booklet 3G. A brand new breed of portable device for Nokia, this mini laptop PC sees the company step foot on freshly cut turf, and we’re a little dumb-struck with excitement at the prospect of the experience that this bite-size Booklet promises to deliver when it arrives. Not to mention what it means bigger picture, and how this product could affect the entire mobile landscape for the better (we’ll save that for another story), but let’s not get ahead of ourselves just yet.

First, let’s get down off our tip-toes, take a deep breath, and soak up all the initial details on what the upcoming Nokia Booklet 3G mini laptop is set to deliver when it lands on laps. Read on for every shred of info currently available on this landmark new product, and get the first close-up look at the Nokia Booklet 3G mini laptop in our photo gallery.

The new Nokia Booklet 3G will be a Windows-based machine, supported by an efficient Intel Atom processor that promises the performance of a full-function PC. It’s efficiency credentials are boldly punctuated with battery life that stretches up to 12 hours (with normal daily use, of course – don’t expect a 12-hour Quake-fest off a single hit of juice).

Turning our attention to mini matters of a tape-measure nature, the Nokia Booklet 3G comes toting a glass 10.1-inch HD display (it has an HDMI port for HD video out). This lives within its smart aluminium shell which measures in at just 2cm thin and tips the scales at around a kilogram to ensure it’s extremely portable.

Connecting at speed is crucial with a product of this nature, so the Booklet 3G has been designed with fast downloading and uploading front of mind – it’s 3G/HSPA ready for rapid mobile broadband anywhere-access on the move. Wi-Fi has also been wedged into it’s slim body. Plus, it supports hot-swappable SIM card functionality.

It’s talents don’t end there, with Nokia’s mini laptop PC also featuring onboard assisted-GPS with Ovi Maps neatly sat in the passenger seat. There’s a single front-facing camera nestled above the 10.1-inch HD screen for video chat, with Bluetooth and a built-in SD card reader also making appearances.

You may be wondering why Nokia is adding to its range of products with an ultra portable laptop PC? Well, Nokia’s Executive Vice President for Devices, Kai Oistamo, summed it up simply as follows:

“A growing number of people want the computing power of a PC with the full benefits of mobility. We are in the business of connecting people and the Nokia Booklet 3G is a natural evolution for us. Nokia has a long and rich heritage in mobility and with the outstanding battery life, premium design and all day, always on connectivity, we will create something quite compelling. In doing so we will make the personal computer more social, more helpful and more personal.”

There’s already a lot of info to digest here, but there are still more details to come at Nokia World 09 on 2 September – expect official word on where the Nokia Booklet 3G will be available, news on how much it’ll cost, along with a detailed list of specs for the number-hungry among us.

In the meantime, share your opinions on the new Nokia Booklet 3G in the comments section below, and be sure to follow all our coverage of Nokia World 09 right here on Conversations.

Bottled Up

Bottled water doesn't get much greener than Belu's. The British company's drink was the world's first to become carbon-neutral, in 2006. Its bottles, made from corn, can be composted into soil. Belu's profits, meanwhile, are poured into projects that deliver clean water to parts of the world that lack access to it. And amid the thirst for all things sustainable, this has meant Belu — pronounced Blue — has gone down rather well. Sales of just $13,000 in 2004, its launch year, rose to close to $4 million in 2008. Defying the downturn, the company even managed a modest profit.

But getting consumers to buy is only half the battle. All the granola credentials in the world won't fund a promising business. To potential investors, it's pesky things like risk and reward that still matter most. And as an ambitious nonprofit firm surviving in a ferociously competitive sector — rivals include Coca-Cola and Nestlé — Belu has been stymied more than most. "We've struggled to get funding, as Belu is aimed at helping the environment, not lining investors' pockets," says Reed Paget, the Seattle native who is the company's chief executive and founder. "That's put a lot of strain on the company." (See pictures of Belu's plant.)

Bereft of any experience running a business, Paget actually has a pretty remarkable record at Belu: half a million bottles of its water, each emblazoned with environmentally friendly messages, are sold monthly, and it's now distributed in about 1,000 outlets in Britain. But Belu's potential would be much bigger — global — if it could get funding. With Belu's shares held by its own nonprofit, venture-capital and private-equity investors can't expect the usual juicy reward in exchange for financial backing. Offered a savings-account-like return or the chance to buy shares whose dividends accrue to organizations working in the clean-water field, VCs have balked. "I probably would have had more success robbing banks than getting funding from those sources," Paget says.

Environmental charities have been no more forthcoming. Investing in firms like Belu is "not what we're here to do," says a Greenpeace spokesman. "Our role is campaigning." That's left the firm reliant on a limited bunch of angel investors — from Body Shop co-founder Gordon Roddick to Big Issue Invest, experts in backing social enterprises — willing to stomach little or no return in exchange for long-term benefits to the environment. With $2.5 million raised through 32 painstaking rounds of funding, "the business is massively undercapitalized," says Ben Goldsmith, a London-based philanthropist and VC who's among Belu's creditors. "And that's a challenge."

Why not go the capitalist route and use the profits that a conventionally funded expansion would bring to increase his good works? Pointing to the small profit he's made on modest means, Paget is confident Belu can grow without more serious money. But for the chance to scale up his business, "if we can get it, we would definitely love it," he says.

Paget is adamant, though, that it should be on Belu's terms, not those of a traditional investor. He says it was important "to remove the 'We must maximize profit' from our management system." Sure, Belu needs to be able to sell for more than the cost of production, but, he says, if it came down to more profit vs. more environmental benefit, VCs may suddenly decide they don't want to be that deep a shade of green after all.

But with Belu being unwilling to accept that risk, the cost to the company may be the sustainable growth of a clearly good business.

5 Tips for Raising Your Girl Geek

As geek parents, we often have rosy colored notions about our children growing up. We actually want them to be geeks. From the earliest of ages we dress them in WoW gear, teach them to quote Star Wars and wonder when is too early to start reading The Hobbit. We nurture them in the way of the Geek, hoping that, when the time comes for them to choose their path, they won’t stray far.

But being a geek kid isn’t easy; and being a geek girl might even be harder. Here are some things to keep in mind if you are raising a geek girl that might help her–and you–get through the school years.

The Book Factor
Problem: My geekiness manifested, first and foremost, in books. At a very young age I had a proclivity for reading science-fiction and fantasy books. While most girls were reading the Babysitters Club books, I was devouring Madeleine L’Engle and C.S. Lewis, soon followed by a host of others. Geek girls often discover a great method escape in SF/F, mystery, horror, and other non-realist genres at early ages, which unfortunately, can make them stick out like a sore thumb during study hall. I remember getting teased for reading King Lear for fun, and seriously contemplated hiding the book under a cover, or not reading it at all. Which would have been a mighty shame.

Suggestion: Try to get involved in your daughter’s reading, if you’re not already. I was born to non-geeks, so my parents really had no interest in what I was reading. If you can’t be involved, look into reading clubs–or start one–that support the genres your daughter is into. Look to libraries and gaming stores if there’s nothing available at school. And above all, even if you don’t get the stuff she reads, reiterate that reading is awesome.

 

The Pop Culture Factor
Problem: Geek girls don’t watch the right shows. They don’t go to the right movies. They don’t listen to the right music. And unfortunately, pop culture provides the clues by which kids sort each other out; it’s almost as obvious as the clothes they wear. When I was younger, I loved “The X-Files”, Westerns and They Might Be Giants. I quoted Monty Python and the Holy Grail with my handful of guy friends, but certainly didn’t win points in the cool crowd. Often girl geeks fall into this odd no-man’s land. We are passionate about the things we like, but share them with very few. Especially in a high school or junior high-school setting. That can lead to teasing, isolation, and ultimately, depression.

Suggestion: If you are a geek, yourself, it’s fine for you to reach out. I mean, it is your fault she’s the way she is, right? But don’t be too pressing, because even if your geeklet gal speaks Klingon fluently, she needs to find her own brand of geek. If she’s into medieval stuff, consider the SCA. If she’s got a sci-fi lean, consider taking her to a convention. Maybe she’s a budding film-maker? Enroll her in film classes. Not to mention, there’s always the Internet. For me, that was my saving grace, discovering like-minded people, even if they were far away. And if teasing is a problem, help to equip her with witty ripostes and bolster her self esteem with praise.

The Boy Factor
Problem: There are more boy geeks than girl geeks. At least, that was my experience. And many geek girls discover more friends among guys than girls. This can lead to feeling of self-consciousness and a lack of connection with other girls. While this isn’t always a bad thing, I definitely had trouble making gal friends as I got older, and assumed there were so few geek girls that it wasn’t worth the trouble. Good, enduring relationships between girls are important, not just for your daughter’s social growth, but emotionally as well. Not to mention, having tons of guy friends can be an issue when dating starts…

Suggestion: Start with family. I had some great gal cousins growing up, and though they weren’t exactly geeks, our friendships were strong. If you’re daughter doesn’t have gal friends as school, you can encourage her to meet people at your church or other extended network. Also, teach her about all the wonderful girl geeks in history, like Ada Lovelace, Marie Curie and Felicia Day. Go fictional, too. There are plenty of geek gals in literature and movies, like Agatha Clay, Meg Murryand Kaylee Frye. Help make her proud to be a girl geek!

The Smart Factor
Problem: Many young geeklets tend to be smart. Whether it’s math, science, English or art (or all of the above), young girl geeks will excel in something. And coupled with the geeky tendencies and often bookish nature, this doesn’t exactly contribute to popularity (not that they want to be popular, but you know what I mean). Personally, I recall the utter mortification as my English teacher in ninth grade read aloud my essay to the whole class as an example of excellence. I melted down into my seat, withering from the stares and snickers.

Solution: You know you’re on shaky ground when your girl geek starts to be embarrassed of being smart. If grades and enthusiasm are waning, it’s time for parental intervention. But not too much. And not too little. Really, you know your daughter best, and it’s important to talk about what’s going on at school. While the “grades will help you in college” argument won’t always work, home incentives–like movies or gadgets–might. And nothing replaces flat-out support. If you sucked at a subject in school it might worth dragging out your report card to share, and let her know you wish you had worked harder. Either way, just continuing support and praise of her performance will help steer her in the right direction.

The Self-Image Factor
Problem: There wasn’t always a culture of geek girls. We didn’t always have pride, solidarity and ironic 16-bit graphic t-shirts. And even some girls don’t realize they’re geeks at all. As such, they feel like they never fit in. Even though they assert they don’t want to be the crowd, they can’t help but feel on the outskirts. This can lead to a poor self-image, which is never a good thing. While popularity isn’t important, self-worth always is.

Solution: Encourage your geek gal to get involved, even if the interests aren’t up her alley. You never know: she might love homecoming. She might take to soccer, or softball. I enjoyed being on the Yearbook committee when I was in high school, which had a great cross-section of folks, geek and non-geek. Geek doesn’t mean you have to shun what everyone else does; it just means that you have your own slant on it. And it also means you’re smart enough to think outside the social box. If anything, being a geek means the rules don’t apply!

No matter how geeky your daughter is, fostering her sense of self-worth is the most important thing. Every girl is different; every girl responds differently to parental intervention. But just being there, however corny that might seem, makes all the difference in the world. I know, even though my mom wasn’t a geek, she always took the time to talk to me when I was having a tough time at school. Even when I begged her to be homeschooled, she kept encouraging me to stick with public school. In the end, I wouldn’t change my school years for anything. Every step I made along the way made me who I am today, after all: a very proud geek gal.

Roger Federer

Google Latitude on your iPhone

Earlier this year we announced Google Latitude, a service that lets you and your friends share your locations with each other. You control who gets to see your location and where on the map you appear to others. Today, we're releasing Google Latitude for iPhone and iPod touch, available in the Safari browser.

Visit google.com/latitude from your device to start using Latitude. Add a bookmark to your home screen to quickly launch Latitude. Just open Latitude in Safari and tap the + icon > Add to Home Screen > Add. For more details, check out the Google Mobile Blog.

Happy Birthday Nelson Mandela

Early Life

Mandela belongs to a cadet branch of the Thembu dynasty, which reigns in the Transkeian Territories of South Africa's Cape Province.He was born in Mvezo, a small village located in the district of Umtata, the Transkei capital. His patrilineal great-grandfather Ngubengcuka (who died in 1832), ruled as the Inkosi Enkhulu, or king, of the Thembu people. One of the king's sons, named Mandela, became Nelson's grandfather and the source of his surname. However, because he was only the Inkosi's child by a wife of the Ixhiba clan (the so-called "Left-Hand House"), the descendants of his branch of the royal family were not eligible to succeed to the Thembu throne.

Mandela's father, Gadla Henry Mphakanyiswa, served as chief of the town of Mvezo.However, upon alienating the colonial authorities, they deprived Mphakanyiswa of his position, and moved his family to Qunu. Despite this, Mphakanyiswa remained a member of the Inkosi's Privy Council, and served an instrumental role in Jongintaba Dalindyebo's ascension to the Thembu throne. Dalindyebo would later return the favour by informally adopting Mandela upon Mphakanyiswa's death. Mandela's father had four wives, with whom he fathered a total of thirteen children (four boys and nine girls).Mandela was born to his third wife ('third' by a complex royal ranking system), Nosekeni Fanny. Fanny was a daughter of Nkedama of the Mpemvu Xhosa clan, the dynastic Right Hand House, in whose umzi or homestead Mandela spent much of his childhood.His given name Rolihlahla means "to pull a branch of a tree", or more colloquially, "troublemaker".

Rolihlahla Mandela became the first member of his family to attend a school, where his teacher Miss Mdingane gave him the English name "Nelson". 

When Mandela was nine, his father died of tuberculosis,and the regent, Jongintaba, became his guardian. Mandela attended a Wesleyan mission school located next to the palace of the regent. Following Thembu custom, he was initiated at age sixteen, and attended Clarkebury Boarding Institute. Mandela completed his Junior Certificate in two years, instead of the usual three.Designated to inherit his father's position as a privy councillor, in 1937 Mandela moved to Healdtown, the Wesleyan college in Fort Beaufort which most Thembu royalty attended.At nineteen, he took an interest in boxing and running at the school.

After enrolling, Mandela began to study for a Bachelor of Arts at the Fort Hare University, where he met Oliver Tambo. Tambo and Mandela became lifelong friends and colleagues. Mandela also became close friends with his kinsman, Kaiser ("K.D.") Matanzima who, as royal scion of the Thembu Right Hand House, was in line for the throne of Transkei, a role that would later lead him to embrace Bantustan policies. His support of these policies placed him and Mandela on opposing political sides.[6] At the end of Nelson's first year, he became involved in a Students' Representative Council boycott against university policies, and was told to leave Fort Hare and not return unless he accepted election to the SRC. Later, while imprisoned, Mandela studied for a Bachelor of Laws from the University of London External Programme.

Shortly after leaving Fort Hare, Jongintaba announced to Mandela and Justice (the regent's son and heir to the throne) that he had arranged marriages for both of them. The young men, displeased by the arrangement, elected to relocate to Johannesburg. Upon his arrival, Mandela initially found employment as a guard at a mine. However, the employer quickly terminated Mandela after learning that he was the Regent's runaway ward. Mandela later started work as an articled clerk at a law firm through connections with his friend and mentor, realtor Walter Sisulu. While working at the law firm, Mandela completed his B.A. degree at the University of South Africa via correspondence, after which he began law studies at the University of Witwatersrand, where he first befriended fellow students and future anti-apartheid political activists Joe Slovo, Harry Schwarz and Ruth First. During this time Mandela lived in Alexandra township, north of Johannesburg

Nelson Mandela - Favourite Quotation

I have fought against white domination, and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve. But if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die.

World's Youngest CEOs

 

Thr r many types of people on  this earth, I have meet many people, but here is two ppl who changed my lifestyle and ideas, here in this list thr r two little ppl, vishnu is my best friend and i come to know abt sreelakshmi from vishnu.

I m Happy, that youngistan (indian youths) boom themselves, to catch their Position in Valley, Pray for More....

Hope i won't get into that list, but try some big.

Here is a person in below pics, you ppl already know this gentleman

Suhas Gopinath (born November 4, 1986) is an Indian enterprenuer. He is the founder, CEO, and President of Globals Inc, an IT company.

nothing but, SUHAS GOPINATH got a name in valley, But VISHNU is a unidentified Super Hero will be a star @ valley soon, but join hands for vishnu 

   Sreelakshmi Suresh, the Youngest Web Designer Girl

 

Sreelakshmi Suresh is the Youngest Web Designer Girl of the World. Designing websites is a passion for Sreelakshmi. At the age of eight she is an expert web designer and created the World Record by designing and developing the official website of her school (www.presentationhss.com).And now she is the Youngest CEO (eDesign) also. She has won several national & international awards for her excellence in web designing. 

 Sreelakshmi Suresh is the Youngest Ever Member of the Association of American Webmasters and has already bagged about 26 National and International honours including the prestigious Global Internet Directories Gold Award and Golden Web Awards. 

"Sreelakshmi Suresh is not your average eight year old. When children her age have to be torn away from the television to their homework,  she is spinning grand web designs" Hindustan Times".  "I must say our school is blessed to have such a talent" says Sr. Roselit, Head Mistress of her school.

 Sreelakshmi Suresh is now appointed as the Brand Ambassador ofInfoGroup and she is the Director of YGlobes Technologies Inc.

Now, 5th standard student of Presentation Higher Secondary School, Kozhikode, Kerala. Just eight-years old, Sreelakshmi Suresh has designed and developed a website for her school and created new world record.

Sreelakshmi had been devoting a lot of time on the computer even before she started school. However, the same has not stopped her from pursuing her studies and her extra curricular activities. All her holidays were spent before the computer creating and modifying the website designs. 

The school website, though officially launched on the 15th of January, 2007, was actually available on the web from September 2006 onwards. Accolades and tributes started pouring in from all sources since the site became available on the web. 

Initially, she used to draw pictures using Paint and slowly started preparing web pages in MSWord. Then started using FrontPage to develop web pages, which is more equipped and user friendly. Now she has started using DreamWeaver and animation softwares for Web Designing. 

Sreelakshmi Suresh is the only child of Adv. Suresh Menon and Mrs. Viju Suresh. She is residing at Chevayoor of Kozhikode district in Kerala.

when  children of her age are glued to the TV, eight-year-old Sreelakshmi Suresh is busy exploring web designing.

The fourth standard student of Presentation High Secondary School in Kozhikode, Kerala, has proved her mettle by designing her school website, to be launched on January 15, 2007.

The Association of American Webmasters has honoured her with its official membership, a rare honour for a girl so young.

Daughter of Suresh Menon, an advocate and Viju Suresh, a schoolteacher, Sreelakshmi’s brush with the digital world began at the age of four.Initially, a little prodding was needed. But once she took off it was a flight to the glory. “After studies I used to spend hours before the terminal. Since my school did not have an official site, I took it as a challenge to design one,” explains Sreelakshmi.

For students of her school, she is a role model.

“She is an inspiration for even grown up students… our school is blessed with such a talented girl,” school headmistress Sister Roselit praises her.

THE NEXT ONE IS MY BEST FRIEND

 Vishnu Prasad Naidu

This is an interview on him by a leading newspaper in India, THE HINDU

For a student of class X, young Vishnu Prasad’s understanding of the Internet is amazing. Listen to him for five minutes and you realise that the lad aims to emerge a business tycoon in the not too distant future.

Prasad, however, has had no formal education in .Net technology or networking techniques. He hails from a middle-class family. His father is a Central Government employee while his mother is a homemaker. Prasad himself is a product of a State Board institution in Coimbatore.

The family bought a computer when the lad was studying in class VIII. “I had always yearned to make money online. I surfed the Net, gathered information and created my first blog ‘dvishnu123.blogspot.com.”

“I was enthused by the number of visitors to my blog. I went ahead and registered in social networking sites such as Orkut and managed to reach out to a wider group. That was in January 2008. Around that time I first got the feel of earning online from the Ads on my Web site,www.dvishnu.com. I earned $60,” recalls Prasad.

Today, when most youngsters in his age group think of relaxing a bit after writing the Class X examination, he is busy giving tips to bloggers on how to make money, how to get traffic to one’s site, and so on.

At 15, he owns around 50 Web-based businesses, Web sites and domain names. “I am a domain reseller. I understand SEO (Search Engine Optimisation). I have 10 sites to manage,” says Prasad.

(SEO is the practice of optimising a Web site to increase the traffic the site receives from search engines).

But at 15, can a minor start a company in his own capacity, eWorld asked him. Prasad replies promptly that he is being helped by a third-year engineering student, his Orkut friend, from Kumbakonam. Also, his maternal uncle (a retired headmaster) is the guiding hand behind the show.

“My dream is to enable worldwide users benefit from my service,” he says, and cites Wikipedia as an example.

He has floated a company Silver Star Solutions and established offices in Kumbakonam, Hyderabad, Chennai and Tiruchi. He has provided employment to 12 persons.

Over the past eighteen months, Vishnu’s turnover has crossed the Rs 7-lakh mark. “I’ve managed this by selling Ads links in my site, sold a single link for $200 and so on.”

How exactly does this happen? Prasad explains that the shopping advertisements on dvishnu.com attract those visiting his site. When they shop online, he gets paid a certain amount.

Has the meltdown affected his earnings? “Definitely. For an SEO, a client paid $25,000 last year, but he is offering only $4,000 this year.”

He has created www.5co.in, which is similar to blogger.com. The beta version is up and running. “It is a site for creating blogs, optimising template.”

Asked about the need for creating a similar site, Prasad says, “I want to be the first to create the world’s smallest ID.

‘in.com’ is the smallest ID at present. To beat this, I bought ‘in.vg’. My plan is to launch the world’s smallest e-mail ID, the world’s smallest Web blog and largest online portal. The deadline for this project is April 1, 2010.”

Intrigued, eWorld looked up Prasad’s Web sites and spoke to the third-year student who helps him.

His friend, Vijayakumar, has hosted riaon.com, a site that offers tips on the latest applications and services on the Net such as twitters and knoppix.

We asked how he handles the money being generated by the business. As with other questions, Prasad has a prompt reply: he reinvests the money in establishing offices at different places, in buying domains and in paying the employees.

 

This was his interview in Hindu newspaper, he is my best friend, who thinks very innovative and wana achieve, but unauthorised. He grew up to this extent without the help or guidance of any one. Everything grew on him from his own interest and the burning desire. If u think that he can be a great man in valley, pls contact me thro email (cloudsonstreet@yahoo.com),He has more ideas,and wana get some fame and limelight very soon. I can see the burning desire in him. SUPPORT VISHNU, who will create a

 On this world of Internet.

His Webpage: Un Countable - More than 200 PR3+ and others uncountable.

Please contact him at info[at]dvishnu[dot]com if you wish to support him and give some torch!

Support young ppl !

Researchers race to strip stem cells of cancer risk

 

Researchers have unveiled a flurry of advances in recent months in the development of "induced pluripotent" stem cells. "The induced pluripotent stem cell field is probably one of the most fast-moving areas in all of biology," says researcher Leonard Zon of Children's Hospital in Boston.

Andras Nagy, left, at Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto, is working on ways to create "induced pluripotent" stem cells free of cancer genes.

RIDDING STEM CELLS OF CANCER

Induced pluripotent stem cells photographed through a microscope at Mount Sinai.

The induced cells have previously been created by taking an adult skin cell and adding four cancer-related genes. These are the only genes that can return the cell to an embryonic-like state, but they come with a deadly risk.

This year ...

1. Researchers unveiled several ways to create cancer-free versions of the induced cells by adding various factors:

     a. Removable viruses with the cancer genes.
     b. Removable DNA.
     c. Free-floating "plasmid" genes that never
         enter the nucleus of the cell.
     d. Proteins from the cancer genes that also
         don't enter the cell nucleus.

2. Once the cancer genes have done their work and the cell has returned to its unspecialized state, the viruses or DNA are removed.

3. Future generations of this cell grow into ones that mostly lack cancer genes.

Source: University of Wisconsin-Madison, Mount Sinai Hospital of Toronto, University of Edinburgh, Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research, Harvard Medical School

Genetic modifications in skin cells can induce the cells into what scientists call a pluripotent state a condition that is essentially the same as that of embryonic stem cells.

Grown from adult skin, these cells are genetically transformed to have the same unspecialized function that makes embryonic cells so important. Embryonic stem cells are master cells that can grow into blood, brain, bone and every type of tissue, raising researchers' hopes of a "regenerative medicine" era in which physicians could grow organs for transplant candidates or tissue to treat spinal injuries.

In January, the Food and Drug Administration approved an experimental paralysis regimen that is the first clinical trial of an embryonic stem cell treatment. But the cells have been surrounded by controversy for the past decade because they are collected by destroying an early-stage human embryo, a reality that in 2001 led President Bush to limit federal research spending. President Obama reversed that decision in March.

Induced pluripotent stem cells sidestep that controversy but have one of their own. The only genes that can change the skin cells' function are cancer genes, so any benefit would carry a deadly risk. "What the investigators have accomplished is to discover the reset button for the cell, but the way they currently press it is by hitting it hard with a ball-peen hammer," wrote University of Wisconsin biologist P. Z. Myers in 2007 in his popular science blog, Pharyngula.

Four different methods, same result

So far this year, researchers have revealed four ways to remove the cancer genes:

•Two international teams, one led by Keisuke Kaji of the U.K.'s University of Edinburgh and the other headed by Andras Nagy of Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto, separately announced ways to insert raw DNA containing the cancer genes into the cells and then strip the DNA out once the genes have done their work, a process that leaves behind a few mutations in the cells.

•A group led by Rudolph Jaenisch of the Whitehead Institute in Cambridge, Mass., used removable viruses to deliver the cancer genes. Once the viruses were taken out, only traces of the cancer genes remained.

•A group led by embryonic stem cell pioneer James Thomson of the University of Wisconsin attached the cancer genes to free-floating plasmid genes that don't enter the nucleus of the cell. Because the cancer genes aren't in the nucleus, they disappear when the cells reproduce, neatly removing them from subsequent generations of cells.

•Last week, a group headed by Kwang-Soo Kim of Harvard Medical School reported that skin cells treated with proteins from the cancer genes, not the genes themselves, created two induced cell lines, or colonies.

About 100 times less efficient at starting the cell lines than the other methods, the process should be improved by purifying the proteins, says study co-author Robert Lanza of Advanced Cell Technology. "These cells should be completely safe because we didn't use genes to create them," he says.

Even if the cancer risk is eliminated, the scientists acknowledge there will be other questions.

"We are moving into a time for looking hard at these cells, and seeing if they really are identical to embryonic cells. We are seeing some signs of what may be subtle differences," Thomson says.

"I predict in coming months we will see a series of reports showing (iPS cells) are not quite exactly the same as embryonic stem cells in ways that might be meaningful for their therapeutic value," Zon says. "That's why it is very important to continue the embryonic stem cell work, the gold standard point of comparison for the field."

Potential for genetic errors remains

The real worry is the possibility that mutations will spring up in replacement tissues grown from induced cells that have reproduced too quickly, Thomson says. The potential for genetic errors grows with each reproduction cycle, he says.

But Zon is optimistic.

"Reprogramming cells is moving very swiftly," Zon says. "Before too long, I think we will have a very nice cocktail of factors that will create these cells without permanently changing them."

Obama links scientific research to protecting 'free thinking'

President Obama wiped out another contentious aspect of his predecessor George W. Bush's legacy by removing curbs on federal funding for embryonic stem cell research.

President Obama's orders on science and stem cell research have a symbolic importance that's even greater than their impact on science, say policy experts.

"Promoting science isn't just about providing resources — it is also about protecting free and open inquiry," Obama said Monday at a White House ceremony. The president signed an executive order lifting federal funding limits on human embryonic stem cell research and a presidential memorandum seeking to insulate scientific advisors from political interference.

 

"We view what has happened with stem cell research as one (example) of the failure to think carefully about federal support of science and the use of science," says Nobel-Prize winning virologist Harold Varmus of the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology. Obama seeks to shift science from political football to supporting evidence in upcoming debates over energy, environment and economics, says Varmus.

"The president restated the centrality of science to the issues," said Alan Leshner of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, who attended the ceremony. "I've never seen the scientific community so pleased by a presidential action," says Leshner. "It really is a historical attempt to establish the clear role of science in underlying policy."

The executive order lifts Bush's Aug. 9, 2001 decision to withhold federal support of research on newly collected colonies of embryonic stem cells, the master cells from which all tissues are formed. Bush, decrying the destruction of embryos necessary to harvest the cells, limited funding to research involving 21 stem cell colonies — called lines — already in existence.

Obama has given the National Institutes of Health 120 days to provide guidelines to stem cell scientists for applying for research grants to research the hundreds of human embryonic stem cell lines, many of them marked with genes for diabetes, Parkinson's and other ailments. Varmus said previous recommendations by the International Society for Stem Cell Research and National Academies of Science, which require informed consent from embryo donors and limit any compensation, would ground the guidelines.

In a December ABC News/Washington Post poll, 52% of respondents said Obama should lift the Bush restrictions, with 42% opposed. Opponents of lifting the restrictions, such as Rep. Eric Cantor, R-Va., says Obama should focus on the economy rather than reviving any debate over stem cells. Others, such as Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council oppose the destruction of human embryos needed to create cell lines, seeing it as the destruction of human life.

"I can tell you the controversy has overshadowed and squelched advances that could really help the desperately ill," says stem cell scientist Michael West of BioTime, Inc. in Alameda, Calif., which recently offered nearly 300 new human embryonic stem cell lines to researchers, all of them will now be eligible for funding, West says. In 2008, the NIH provided $938 million to stem cell researchers, but only $88 million went to human embryonic cells. Research is also conducted on adult and animal skin cells.

"Stem cell research pretty clearly has public support, so this is not a hard choice for Obama," says science policy expert Aaron Levine of the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta. But, he cautions, "The opponents will continue to be very vocal."

The U.S. share of stem cell research publications has dropped over the last eight years from half to about a third of the field's output, Levine says. "The Bush decision inspired some nations to invest and others to pursue what they saw as an opportunity to get ahead of us."

Q&A: Stem cell study enters new era

Stem cell research rules require donor consent

 

The new rules will primarily finance research on stem cells donated by fertility clinic patients "who gave voluntary written consent for the human embryos to be used for research purposes." Donors must not receive payment for the embryos or expect medical or financial benefits later, the rules state.

Older stem cell colonies, called "lines," including those eligible for grants during the Bush administration, will be reviewed for possible funding by a new panel of scientists and ethicists.

 

A microscopic view shows a colony of human embryonic stem cells (light blue) growing on fibroblasts (dark blue).

CERTAIN CELLS INELIGIBLE

Under new NIH rules, some types of human embryonic stem cells remain ineligble for federal money:

• Cloned cells

• Cells grown from unfertilized eggs, not embryos

• Cells that are a mix of human and animal cells

Says the NIH's Raynard Kington: "Society has not had a full discussion of the scientific and ethical implications."

In March, President Obama overturned a decision by President Bush in 2001 to limit federal funding of human embryonic stem cell research to 21 lines created before that date. Bush and other opponents of the research, such as Richard Doerflinger of the U.S. Council of Catholic Bishops in Washington, D.C., decried the destruction of embryos necessary to obtain the cells.

Obama called for new, rigorously enforced guidelines to open funding to newly established cell lines.

Human embryonic stem cells are precursors to all specialized tissues, including blood, brain, bone and all organs. Lab researchers first grew them from embryos in 1998. Medical researchers have since looked to the cells to study organ development, test drugs and, most famously, grow rejection-free replacement organs for patients with diabetes, paralysis and other ailments.

"I'm confident we'll have hundreds of additional cell lines," says George Daley of Children's Hospital Boston, a former head of the International Society for Stem Cell Research. "Coming forward, we should see great advances for stem cell science."

The NIH received roughly 49,000 comments on a draft version of the rules in April. "The comments filed by tens of thousands of Americans opposing the use of taxpayer funds for destructive embryonic stem cell research were simply ignored," Doerflinger says.

NIH spent $938 million on all stem cell research last year, and $88 million went to human embryonic cells. Other research projects involved human adult or animal cells. Kington says he hopes to fund some research grants of newly approved cell lines this year, but he expects that the bulk of newly eligible cell-line funding will start in 2010.

The guidelines draft led to complaints from researchers, including Oleg Verlinsky of the Reproductive Genetics Institute of Chicago, a pioneer in creating "disease-specific" cell lines from excess fertility-clinic embryos. The "informed consent" documentation requirements, which said donors had to sign off in a new multi-step way, effectively ruled out old embryonic stem cell lines.

Provisions in the final rules for the older lines "respond to researchers' concerns," Kington says. But, he cautions, "not all the lines put forward will receive approval."

 

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