UPI NewsTrack Health and Science News

3,000-year-old Hebrew text found in Israel

KHIRBET QEIYAFA, Israel, Oct. 31 (UPI) -- An Israeli archaeologist says he discovered the oldest known Hebrew text on a pottery shard dating from the time of biblical King David 3,000 years ago.

Yossi Garfinkel of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem says the 6-inch-square curved pottery shard -- known as an ostracon -- was found by a teenage volunteer during excavations of a fortress from the 10th century B.C.

The discovery is being hailed as one of the most important biblical finds in Israel since the Dead Sea scrolls, penned on parchment a millennium later, Arutz Sheva, an Israeli media network reported.

The script, which Garfinkel suggests might have been part of a letter, includes roots of words written in Proto-Canaanite, a precursor of the Hebrew alphabet, tentatively identified as "judge," "slave" and "king," the university said.

The writing suggests the ancient Israelites were literate and could chronicle events centuries before the Bible was written, adding credence to arguments biblical accounts of events are more than myth, Garfinkel said.

The Elah Fortress site, where the shard was found, is in the larger archaeological site of Khirbet Qeiyafa, thought to be the ruins of the dug-over biblical town of Azekah, about 20 miles southwest of Jerusalem, near the Valley of Elah, where the Bible describes the Israelites as encamping when David fought Goliath.

While generally called Khirbet Qeiyafa, Rabbi Barnea Selavan of the Foundation Stone organization says "the local Bedouins refer to it as -- are you sitting down? -- Khirbet Daudi," or David's Ruins.

New process increases stem cell potential

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Oct. 31 (UPI) -- Stem cells greatly improve their therapeutic effectiveness in replacing damaged tissue when a molecule is added to their surface, U.S. researchers said Friday.

By attaching a molecule called SLeX, known to play a vital role in cell-to-cell recognition processes, to the surface of stem cells, researchers changed the stem cells from passive bloodstream travelers to active therapeutic contributors that migrate out of the vessels into the surrounding tissue, a study published in the journal Bioconjugate Chemistry said.

"Delivery remains one of the biggest hurdles to stem-cell therapy," explained senior author Jeffrey Karp, an instructor at the Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology.

"The bloodstream offers a natural delivery vehicle, but stem cells don't move through blood vessels normally after being expanded in culture," he said. "Our procedure promises to overcome this obstacle."

Adult stem cells "resemble couch potatoes if they hang out and divide in a dish for too long," a statement from the researchers said.

"They get fat and lose key surface proteins, which interferes with their movement and reduces their therapeutic potential," the statement said.

But by adding SLeX, or Sialyl LewisX, the researchers found a way to "get these cells off the couch and over to their therapeutic target," their statement said.

First true blue roses unveiled in Tokyo

TOKYO, Oct. 31 (UPI) -- The world's first true blue roses were unveiled at a Tokyo flower show after 20 years of research and a $30 million investment, flower show officials say.

The blue flowers, which traditionally signify mystery or attaining the impossible, go on sale next fall, the company that developed them said.

The blooms are genetically modified and implanted with a gene that simulates the synthesis of blue pigment pansies, The Daily Telegraph reported.

The creation of blue roses -- long thought impossible -- was masterminded by the Melbourne, Australia, Florigene biotechnology subsidiary of Suntory Ltd., a Japanese brewing and distilling company.

The company hopes to open up a global market for blue flowers worth more than $300 million, the Telegraph said.

In 1991, the team won an intense global race to isolate the gene responsible for blue flowers and has since developed a range of genetically modified flowers expressing colors in the blue spectrum, as well as breakthroughs extending the vase life of cut flowers.

Previous blue roses have been created by dyeing white roses, since roses lack a gene to produce delphinidin, the primary plant pigment that produces true blue flowers.

Other so-called blue roses have been bred by conventional hybridization methods, but they have been more lilac in color, flower experts say.

Besides blue roses, highlights at the International Flower Expo Tokyo include glow-in-the-dark roses that have been genetically modified to light up in the dark, the Telegraph said.

Wealth coach: Stop abusing money

LOS ANGELES, Oct. 31 (UPI) -- People's individual relationships with money must improve for the world economic crisis to end, a U.S. wealth-creation coach and author said Friday.

"It's no wonder we're in the state we're in. From Lehman Brothers and AIG to people who lied on their mortgage applications to buy homes they couldn't afford, we abused and manipulated money -- and then were surprised when it left," Morgana Rae, author of "Financial Alchemy: Create a New Relationship with Money," told United Press International.

People's relationships with money are "as real and dynamic as if they were with another person," said Rae, owner of Charmed Life Coaching in Los Angeles.

Our relationships are often filled with hidden beliefs that cause us to unconsciously push money away, she told UPI.

"Those beliefs may be that money is evil or untrustworthy -- beliefs that cause us to abuse, manipulate or unconsciously 'protect' ourselves from wealth," she said.

"If you were continually abused and manipulated in a relationship, you might take it for a while, but you'd eventually leave. That's the way it is with money," Rae said.

By contrast, if you felt cared for and valued, you'd give more of yourself to the relationship, she said.

"Money is like any other relationship," Rae said. "It comes where it's invited and appreciated. It rarely comes when it's chased. The more you care for this relationship, the more money you will attract."