Obama Nominates Pro-Abort Radical to Run America's Health and Human Services

President Barack Obama campaigned on the noble promise of bringing the country together and uniting citizens around common goals. Yet, with just two months in office under his belt, he has made some radical decisions. The most prominent of his extreme choices are those surrounding the issue of abortion, personified by his recent selection of Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius to be Secretary of Health and Human Services.

The liberals in Congress are praising this nomination and are hoping to confirm her quickly and without fuss. Sadly, it seems that some pro-life Republicans are unconcerned about placing a strident pro-abortion activist in charge of the federal government's largest department.

Sometimes in the political realm, compromise is necessary and, as many a cynical voter will note, politicians like to make their deals. Yet no politician should compromise his core beliefs and oppose what a significant majority of Americans believe with the speed that Senate Republicans did recently. What I see taking place in the nation's capitol is congressmen putting short-sighted political goals over long-term and very grave policy decisions.

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is the largest department in the Cabinet and receives the most funding. It contains numerous agencies, offices and programs that regulate and promote issues, both foreign and domestic. As secretary of HHS, Gov. Sebelius would have control of such bodies as the President's Council on Bioethics and the Food and Drug Administration. The Office of International Health Affairs would fall under the governor's care as would the Office of the Surgeon General.

All of these and many other HHS organizations have a direct bearing on decisions related to domestic and international family planning, abortion services, embryonic stem cell research and contraception. .

Supporters of Gov. Sebelius' nomination point to bills she signed into law in Kansas that supposedly display her support for pregnant women and their families. The most prominent of these bills being Alexa's Law, which recognized the murder of an unborn child as a crime. The law arose from a horrific case in which a pregnant teenager was murdered at the hands of her boyfriend. The case resulted in a public outcry and, under pressure from a Republican-controlled legislature, Gov. Sebelius was forced to sign it into law.

Unfortunately, such safeguards will not be in place if she is confirmed as HHS secretary. There will be a Democratic administration and Congress to encourage her efforts. She will be able to craft health care regulations and budget priorities that reflect her pro-abortion rights convictions, with little oversight as to their implementation.

There will be no pro-life Congress to hold a Secretary Sebelius in check. Much of the minutiae policy-making that takes place in Washington, D.C. attracts virtually no public scrutiny. A Sec. Sebelius would be able to advance her radical pro-abortion agenda with little accountability and largely behind the scenes.

This nomination shows that President Obama's comments on finding common ground on abortion are disingenuous at best. The claim that abortion rates dropped during Kathleen Sebelius' tenure as governor is disputed by statistics from the Kansas Department of Health. It is only through pro-life representatives in the Kansas legislature that life-saving measures have been passed. In fact, when she was a representative in the Kansas State house, she consistently voted against pro-life measures, such as parental notification and waiting measures.

Putting a pro-abortion advocate in charge of this nation's healthcare system is unjustifiable. Governor Sebelius' loyalty to the abortion industry has been rewarded by Planned Parenthood, which has endorsed her and put its powerful fundraising machine to work for her. President Obama has also rewarded her campaign support for him and for his pro-abortion agenda with this promotion to the national stage.

It would be a great shame if our congressional leaders also went to work on her behalf. If the president wants to reunite America, he will withdraw Kathleen Sebelius's name. (frc.org)

Eminent DOMAin?

In 2004, a younger Barack Obama sat down with a reporter from the Windy City Times and made no secret of his disgust over laws that protect traditional marriage. "When Members of Congress passed the Defense of Marriage Act, they were not interested in strengthening family values or protecting civil liberties. They were only interested in perpetuating division... Despite my own feelings about an abhorrent law, the realities of modern politics persist."

If the latest reports are any indication, those "realities" are about to face their biggest test yet. Two federal appeals court judges in California have launched a fierce strike on DOMA, ordering the federal government in two separate cases to disregard its own law and provide health benefits for the same-sex partners of federal employees. The rulings, which smack of judicial activism, are a direct challenge to the Defense of Marriage Act which defines the word "spouse" as a person of the opposite sex. Initially, Uncle Sam's HR department--the federal Office of Personnel Management (OPM)--fired back, directing insurers not to comply with the court orders because they violate federal law. Now, the decision to act may have fallen in President Obama's lap, leaving him to choose between ignoring the court and implementing his extreme social policy.

Although the President's tone may have drastically changed since 2004, his agenda has not. Even the White House website hints at where the administration will lean. "Obama also believes we need to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act and enact legislation that would ensure that the 1,100+ federal legal rights and benefits currently provided on the basis of marital status..."

With John Berry, the first openly homosexual Director of OPM, on one side and dipping approval ratings on the other, Obama will have to decide if he's willing to make such a high-stakes gamble with the public's goodwill. Of course, there are plenty of reasons not to tamper with DOMA. Apart from being morally challenged, the idea is bad on economic grounds. Estimates put the cost of federal same-sex partner benefits at roughly $670 million over the next decade.

If the President wants to avoid a messy political battle and steer clear of violating the grassroots' trust, the White House has plenty of precedent to lean on in refusing the order. In 2007, the Department of Labor withstood a similar assault and won the right to refuse these same benefits on the grounds that DOMA bars the government from recognizing same-sex "marriage." At its heart, the debate over what constitutes marriage should be a matter of congressional and voter review-not judicial fiat. Laws like DOMA cannot be subject to the whims of two liberal judges, else--like marriage--those laws would soon hold no meaning.

To voice your concerns, call the White House switchboard at 202-456-1111 and ask President Obama to respect the values of mainstream America. (frc.org)

More on Stem Cells

Where President Obama would not draw ethical lines, some states have not hesitated. In the wake of the executive order to approve federal funds for embryonic stem cell (ESC) research, three states are refusing to have their convictions steamrolled. Georgia, Mississippi, and Oklahoma are all staging their own protest of the President's decision by passing bills that either ban the funding of ESC or promote real progress through adult stem cells.

In response to Monday's White House ceremony, the Georgia Senate rallied to ban ESC research by a 34-22 vote. Down in Mississippi, State Rep. Tommy Reynolds pushed for a ban on research that destroys the lives of human embryos in the latest budget bill and passed it through the House. Just yesterday, nearby Oklahoma passed a bill 99-0 that would direct more than $1 million toward the real progress of adult stem cells.

This week's good news was multiplied by the announcement of the miraculous spinal cord treatment out in California at DaVinci Biosciences where researchers successfully treated patients with their own bone marrow stem cells. "It is important to note that all of our patients with acute injuries improved significantly with no signs of deterioration..." said team leader Dr. Francisco Silva. Those results should make the administration's investment in expensive embryonic failures all the more scandalous. As Charles Krauthammer points out in today's Washington Post, even he, as a supporter of ESC research, couldn't stomach the President's "morally unserious" explanation.

Obama's address was... populated, as his didactic discourses always are, with a forest of straw men. Such as his admonition that we must resist the 'false choice between sound science and moral values.'... Is he so obtuse as not to see that he had just made a choice of ethics over science? ...Obama did not even pretend to make the case why some practices are morally permissible and others are not. This is not just intellectual laziness. It is...moral arrogance. ...Dr. James Thompson, the pioneer of embryonic stem cells, said 'if human embryonic stem cell research does not make you at least a little bit uncomfortable, you have not thought about it enough.' Obama clearly has not. (frc.org)

The 912 Project

Last Friday on the Fox News Channel, Glenn Beck put together a big event in which he started the 912 Project and launched a website. The website is www.the912project.com. This was a big event that was intended to bring together many people, no matter where you are on the political spectrum. Glenn's movement was to bring people together with a set of principles and values that everyone can agree on. Instead of having people that are democrat or republican, liberal or conservative, we can all be American. From my previous post about Glenn Beck you'll found the 9 Principles and 12 Values. These principles and values are based on our founding fathers beliefs and what they intended us to be as Americans. Here are some words from them:

God “The propitious smiles of Heaven can never be expected on a nation that disregards the external rules of order and right which Heaven itself has ordained.” from George Washington’s first Inaugural address.

Honesty “I hope that I shall always possess firmness and virtue enough to maintain what I consider to be the most enviable of all titles, the character of an honest man.” George Washington

Marriage/Family “It is in the love of one’s family only that heartfelt happiness is know. By a law of our nature, we cannot be happy without the endearing connections of a family.” Thomas Jefferson

Justice “I deem one of the essential principles of our government… equal and exact justice to all men of whatever state or persuasion, religious or political.” Thomas Jefferson

Life, Liberty, & The Pursuit of Happiness “Everyone has a natural right to choose that vocation in life which he thinks most likely to give him comfortable subsistence.” Thomas Jefferson

Charity “It is not everyone who asketh that deserveth charity; all however, are worth of the inquiry or the deserving may suffer.” George Washington

On your right to disagree “In a free and republican government, you cannot restrain the voice of the multitude; every man will speak as he thinks, or more properly without thinking.” George Washington

Who works for whom? “I consider the people who constitute a society or a nation as the source of all authority in that nation.” Thomas Jefferson


If we all look back and remember that terrifying day of September 11, 2001, we were shock as a nation, but on next day, Sept 12, we were united as Americans. Today there is many people that are back to acting as 9/10 people, hating people on the left and right, putting blame on others. We need to come back to the status we were on 9/12. We were true Americans then, united with a common mission and vision. I know that everyone can unite under this 9 Principles and 12 Values. The unique aspect is that even Atheists can unite under them. Even if you don't believe in a God as the majority of Americans believe in, you believe a certain center force that controls your life. Whether that be these principles and values, or even a certain object or thought. I respect anyone's belief, they have the absolute right to believe in anything they want to believe in. That is what made this country great. Here we can unite regardless of what political view you have, or religion you believe in.

I love my nation, and I don't want it to fall from what our Founding Fathers fought with their own blood to bring to pass. This Nation is greatly blessed with many freedoms that people who live outside of this country would die to have in their lives. It is these freedoms we can take for granted sometimes. It makes me sad to see our politicians in Washington forgoing their own principles and values in order to receive more power. Another reason there should be a change in the term of our nation's senators and representatives. The longer they stay in office, the longer they seek reelection and power, instead of focusing on serving the people that live in their state or district. Here some words from a Great Man who didn't drop his principles and values when he got to Washington.

"One thing our Founding Fathers could not foresee...was a nation governed by professional politicians who had a vested interest in getting reelected. They probably envisioned a fellow serving a couple of hitches and then looking...forward to getting back to the farm."

"Every once in a while, somebody has to get the bureaucracy by the neck and shake it loose and say "stop what you're doing.""

"In some dim beginning, man created the institution of government as a convenience for himself. And, ever since that time, government has been doing its best to become an inconvenience."

"Together, let us make this a new beginning. Let us make a commitment to care for the needy, to teach our children the values and the virtues handed down to us by our families, to have the courage to defend those values and the willingness to sacrifice for them. Let us pledge to restore, in our time, the American spirit of voluntary service, of cooperation, of private and community initiative, a spirit that flows like a deep and mighty river through the history of our nation. "

"Live each day to the fullest. Live each day with enthusiasm, optimism and hope. If you do, I am convinced that your contribution to this wonderful experiment we call America will be profound."

"Don't let anyone tell you that America's best days are behind her - that the American spirit has been vanquished. We've seen it triumph too often in our lives to stop believing in it now."

"There is no institution more vital to our Nation's survival than the American family. Here the seeds of personal character are planted, the roots of public virtue first nourished. Through love and instruction, discipline, guidance and example, we learn from our mothers and fathers the values that will shape our private lives and our public citizenship."

"Our National Motto - 'In God We Trust' - was not chosen lightly. It reflects a basic recognition that there is a divine authority in the universe to which this nation owes homage."

"I'm just a citizen temporarily in public service."

"I'm not a politician by profession. I am a citizen who decided I had to be personally involved in order to stand up for my own values and beliefs. My candidacy is based on my record, and for that matter, my entire life."

"When you start talking about government as "we" instead of "they," you have been in office too long."

"When people tell me that I became President on January 20th, 1981, I feel I have to correct them. You don't become President of the United States. You are given temporary custody of an institution called the Presidency, which belongs to our people."

If you haven't figured it out yet, this was Ronald Wilson Reagan. To learn more about this Great Servant, Husband, Father, and American you can go to www.reagansheritage.org.

I know this nation was created under the direct inspiration from God. The further we fall from this, and lose our values, we as a Nation will fall. Whatever happens, we must continue to established a foundation within our homes and teach our family, which is the center unit of society, these principles and values, I know we will be ok. I know if everyone in this nation would followed these principles and values, then this will be the nation our founding fathers wanted it to become. Lets us go forward with enthusiasm and optimism, and fight to keep true principles and values the driving force to make this nation greater and greater everyday

President of 'Hope' Gives Patients Anything But

For eight years, President George Bush proudly displayed in the Oval Office a bust of Sir Winston Churchill on loan from Great Britain. As a gesture of goodwill, the British government offered to let President Obama keep the statue during his term as a symbol of our longstanding friendship. Obama declined, shipping the bust back to England--and with it, the reminder of Churchill's great wisdom. It was he who warned that if evil prevails "all that we have known and cared for will sink into a new Dark Age, made more sinister...by the lights of perverted science."

Today, that "perverted science" took root in America in a powerful new way, as President Obama tore down the wall between the federal government and embryonic stem cell experiments. By executive order, he took the first step in overturning the restrictions on taxpayer-funded embryonic stem cell research. His decision will allow government agencies to use federal money to encourage experiments on innocent human life, abolishing a ban that Bush put in place in 2001.

Supporters of the decision are quick to point out that Americans won't be financing the death of embryos. Although we may not be funding the killing, we are funding the killers. For now, the one law that prevents Obama from using taxpayer dollars to fund the destruction of embryos directly is still in place. The Dickey-Wicker amendment, approved by Congress every year since 1996, bans the use of federal funds to create human embryos. Unfortunately, even that safeguard could be in jeopardy under the liberal majority. As with the other pro-life riders, Dickey-Wicker must survive the appropriations process--a feat that could now be monumentally more difficult.

Obama's decision puts the government in a business which is not only unethical but also medically unnecessary. As recently as last week, researchers announced that they had successfully turned ethically created cells into the neurons that break down in Parkinson's disease. The week before, scientists produced evidence that they had treated Parkinson's in a patient with his own adult stem cells. Almost daily, researchers are celebrating new breakthroughs without compromising a single human life. Over 70 diseases and conditions have already been treated through adult stem cells, helping patients overcome everything from juvenile diabetes to heart disease. There is a common misconception that ESC research hasn't yielded these same results because it's not legal. It is. Only federal funding has been restricted. Private, commercial, and even state ESC experiments continue to no avail. That's why the ESC community is so desperate for federal funding. Many of the private ESC financiers see the method as an expensive failure. Even Dr. James Thomson, who first grew human ESC in 1998, has pulled his resources from embryos and invested in induced pluripotent (or iPS) cells, because, apart from the satisfying the moral dilemma, these cells are easier and cheaper to reproduce.

While the Obama administration and its supporters claim to be on the cutting-edge of science, the new President is pursing old technology. And thanks to the latest stimulus package, he will have at least $8 billion to do so. In a clever political move, Obama put the money in place at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) during the second "bailout," then moved ahead with rescinding Bush's restrictions. As he stated today, it will be up to NIH to decide in the next 120 days on the guidelines for ESC research.

Of course, scientists will lobby to obtain the money without strings or congressional oversight. According to the White House, their wish may be granted in the form of a presidential memo which Obama released today that seeks to insulate scientists from political accountability. In instances like this one, a lack of transparency is unacceptable, particularly when taxpayers are footing the bill. Harold Varmus, who co-chairs the President's Council on Science and Technology, defended the idea. "This is consistent with the President's determination to use sound scientific practice... instead of dogma in developing federal policy." Is it dogma or discipline? I guess that depends on your worldview. Are they restrictions or protections? Research or experiments? In this brave new world of commodifying human life, we should all be grateful for moral restraints. Please contact your leaders and urge them to uphold the ones that still exist. Urge them to right Obama's wrong by voting for the Patients' First Act. Instead of asking taxpayers to fund the destruction of life, this bipartisan bill would promote stem cell research that is making progress on principle. (frc.org)

Glenn Beck, The True American Voice

For a couple of months now, Glenn Beck has starred on his new cable news show on Fox News. Since his start, he is the 3rd most watched cable news show. Followed by O'Reilly (#1), and Hannity (#2). Even if you combine the amount of viewers of all of the other cable news networks, they still don't beat him. The most surprising fact is that his show is at 5pm eastern time, 2pm pacific time. This is not even primetime yet, but apparently he is gets prime time ratings. If anyone of you have time weekdays around 5pm eastern, 4pm central, 3pm mountain, 2pm pacific, 1pm Alaska, or 12pm Hawaii, please tune to Fox News channel. He also gives a summary of his weeks shows on Saturday 9pm est, and Sunday 3pm est. Take a moment to find out why so many people are watch listening to this man. I have been listening to talk radio for a good while now. Interesting note, when I was in High School I would fall to sleep listen to Art Bell and George Noory on Coast to Coast AM. Since then I have tuned into famous talk show hosts Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity. Most moderate people would fine these two men a little to much for them. I fine myself a definite Conservative and from a lot a people that know me might even consider me very Conservative. Even though I still really enjoy listening to Rush and Sean, there is one talk show host I can't get enough of. His name, Glenn Beck. For those who may not know this man I will give a little back round.

Glenn started in radio when he was only 13 years old by winning a local radio contest to be a DJ for an hour. Soon after that auspicious day, Glenn had three jobs – one at a Christian station, a Rock station, and a Country station – all of which his parents had to schlep him to in their home state of Washington. He was fired from all three jobs – on the same day when he was 14 years old! After high school graduation, Glenn pursued his career as a Top 40 DJ at stations all over the country. Eventually, he landed an opportunity in Corpus Christi, Texas, as the youngest morning guy in the U.S. at 18 years old. His career was soaring and took him to Top 40 morning shows in Baltimore, Houston, Phoenix, Washington, and New Haven, Conn. He rode the wave of professional success into the 1990s when things began to change. Today, Glenn points out, “When you have that kind of success that early in life, it’s easy for you to turn into a monster. And I did! I was not a good guy.”

At the age of 30, Glenn lost his passion for radio – and everything else – as alcoholism and drug addiction took him over. Struggling to find some answers to his problem, Glenn pursued higher education. Though he was accepted by Yale as a Theology major, he lasted only one semester, faced with a divorce from his first wife and separation from his two daughters – the oldest with Cerebral Palsy. He was emotionally and financially decimated and relegated to one of the smallest radio markets. The shooting radio star had fallen to earth.

Finally, he turned to a program of recovery. Coming to terms with his past and staying sober shifted his life direction. He found a new love (his second wife, Tania), religion (he was baptized Mormon in 2000), and a new vision of his career – he would pursue talk radio.

Soon after his baptism, Glenn received a call from an agent who was interested in representing him. Days later, he had an offer to host his own talk radio show on WFLA-AM in Tampa, Florida, forcing him to move away from his daughters in New Haven. He and Tania decided to live in Tampa for two years and then, whether Glenn succeeded or failed, they would move closer to his girls.

He inherited the 18th placed position at WFLA-AM and took it to the #1 position in his first year, giving the station its highest ratings ever. Within 18 months, Premiere Radio Networks, the leading radio syndication company in the country, offered Glenn the opportunity to go national. In January 2002, The Glenn Beck Program launched on 47 stations.

He also kept his promise to his daughters and moved the national show to Philadelphia. The Glenn Beck Program, which airs weekdays from 9 a.m. to noon ET, is now ranked as the 3rd most listened to talk show in America among Adults 25-54. (glennbeck.com)

If you want to learn a little more about his conversion story, you can check out my You Tube Page, I have a few videos showing his conversion story. He also has a DVD out called An Unlikely Mormon: The Conversion Story of Glenn Beck. Like I said before, right now Glenn Beck is on the Fox News Channel showing a new perspective on today's issues. Instead of a more common Conservative or Liberal side of the news found on most news channels, he gives a Libertarian view. Even though I would not consider Glenn like Ron Paul by any means, in fact for a good while he has considered himself a conservative, but a libertarian by heart.

The main issue I wanted to share with all of you is the main message Glenn has been addressing in parts through-out his tv and radio show. This is where I have felt that the well majority of Americans can join in. With all of the chaotic things happening in our country right now, especially in Washington D.C., many of us are started to realize that we have changed a lot from the original spirit of our founding fathers brought to us and defined what it meant to be an American. Here are the words of Glenn.

Do you watch the direction that America is being taken in and feel powerless to stop it? Do you believe that your voice isn’t loud enough to be heard above the noise anymore? Do you read the headlines everyday and feel an empty pit in your stomach…as if you’re completely alone? If so, then you’ve fallen for the Wizard of Oz lie. While the voices you hear in the distance may sound intimidating, as if they surround us from all sides—the reality is very different. Once you pull the curtain away you realize that there are only a few people pressing the buttons, and their voices are weak. The truth is that they don’t surround us at all. We surround them. (glennbeck.com)

Glenn gives 9 Principles and 12 Values that show True American Spirit and gives us a strong foundation that any one who believes in this country, should believe in these Principles and Values. Here they are.

The Nine Principles:

1. America is good.

2. I believe in God and He is the Center of my Life.

3. I must always try to be a more honest person than I was yesterday.

4. The family is sacred. My spouse and I are the ultimate authority, not the government.

5. If you break the law you pay the penalty. Justice is blind and no one is above it.

6. I have a right to life, liberty and pursuit of happiness, but there is no guarantee of equal results.

7. I work hard for what I have and I will share it with who I want to. Government cannot force me to be charitable.

8. It is not un-American for me to disagree with authority or to share my personal opinion.

9. The government works for me. I do not answer to them, they answer to me.

The Twelve Values

• Honesty
• Reverence
• Hope
• Thrift
• Humility
• Charity
• Sincerity
• Moderation
• Hard Work
• Courage
• Personal Responsibility
• Friendship

Glenn has put together a huge moment of gathering people through-out this nation. If you believe in the majority of these Principles and Values, than you are not alone. For myself, I believe in all of these Principles and Values, and that they define the True American Spirit. I give the same invitation Glenn gives. If any of you believe in the majority of these Principles and Values than send a digital picture of yourself to wesurroundthem@foxnews.com. I have already sent my picture. I hope this will bring light and true hope to everyone that reads this.

Breakthrough makes lab-produced stem cells safer for humans

Scientists have paved the way for stem cells made from skin cells to be safely transplanted into humans – by overcoming one of the main health risks associated with previous techniques.

The team of researchers from the UK and Canada say their discovery could ultimately spell an end to the need for human embryos as a source of stem cells. Their findings are published today in two papers in Nature online.

The two teams involved, led by Dr Keisuke Kaji from the Medical Research Council (MRC) Centre for Regenerative Medicine, at the University of Edinburgh, and Dr Andras Nagy from the University of Toronto, are the first to get human skin cells to act like embryonic stem cells without needing to use viruses in the process.

Reprogramming cells using viruses modifies their DNA in such a way that they cannot be given to patients without greatly increasing their risk of cancer.

This new method avoids using these potentially harmful viruses. It also allows for the four genes inserted to affect cell reprogramming to be removed once this is complete. This should help avoid any abnormalities in how the cells develop.

The researchers were initially working separately on reprogramming. It was only after a chance encounter between Dr Kaji and Dr Nagy that they discovered they had each solved a separate half of the challenge – and their combined method was both safer and more efficient.

The group developed their techniques in both mouse and human skin cells. Tests on the reprogrammed cell lines show they behave exactly like embryonic stem cells.

MRC research fellow Dr Kaji said: “I was very excited when I found stem cell-like cells in my culture dishes. Nobody, including me, thought it was really possible. This new method will advance the field of regenerative medicine, and should help understand diseases and test new drugs.”

“It is a step towards the practical use of reprogrammed cells in medicine, perhaps even eliminating the need for human embryos as a source of stem cells,” he said.

The induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells are created by causing specialised cells to act like embryonic stem cells – and therefore have the ability to become any type of cell in the body.

Human cell reprogramming was first achieved in 2007, but the use of multiple viruses to deliver the four crucial genes - which can reverse the adult cell’s fate - into the cells’ DNA also made them liable to switch on cancer-causing genes. This has previously made them unsafe for transplantation into patients. Prior to this new study, attempts at non-viral reprogramming had only succeeded with mice cells, and were generally inefficient.

Before their chance encounter, Dr Kaji had found a non-viral method to deliver the four genes in a single fragment, and a way to remove them after reprogramming. Being able to remove the genes he inserted into the cells once reprogramming was complete overcame a significant safety hurdle as their presence could otherwise lead to subsequent growth abnormalities.

However, Dr Kaji could not find a way of removing all trace of reprogramming from the genome, and this remaining ‘footprint’ could disrupt other genes at the site of insertion.

Dr Nagy’s group, meanwhile, had developed a reprogramming system that allowed the removal of inserted genes without a trace - but because their method delivered the four genes into different parts of the genome they had not yet managed to remove all of them.

The two research teams’ breakthrough came when they combined their methods - Dr. Kaji’s system, which used just one fragment of DNA including all four genes - c-Myc, Klf4, Oct4 and Sox, and Professor Nagy’s ‘footprint-less’ removal system.

The findings show how the group have allowed delivery of genes into the cell by safer, more conventional methods, avoided the use of viruses to reprogramme the cells, and created the iPS cells without significantly modifying their genetic structure.

Dr Kaji said: “Using our method, it will be possible to remove not only the inserted genes, but all traces of our genetic modification from the human iPS cells, although we still need to improve the efficiency.”

Dr Nagy, Senior Investigator at the Samuel Lunenfeld Research Institute of Mount Sinai Hospital and Canada Research Chair in Stem Cells and Regeneration, said: “We hope that these stem cells will form the basis for treatment for many diseases and conditions that are currently considered incurable. We have found a highly efficient and safe way to create new cells for the human body which avoids the challenge of immune rejection.”

Professor Sir Ian Wilmut, Director of the MRC Centre for Regenerative Medicine, said: “It will still take time before these iPS cells can be given to patients. Crucially, we need to have a method to generate the desired cell types from these stem cells. But I believe the team has made great progress and combining this work with that of other scientists working on stem cell differentiation, there is hope that the promise of regenerative medicine could soon be met.”

(www.crm.ed.ac.uk)