UPI NewsTrack Health and Science News

Robot legs for the paralyzed coming

SAN ANTONIO, Oct. 4 (UPI) -- An Israeli company says it hopes to have a wearable "walker" on the market by the second half of 2011 that will allow paralyzed people freedom of movement.

The ReWalk, developed by Argo Medical Technologies, consists of lightweight leg supports with motorized hip and knee joints, equipped with tilt sensors and a computer worn as a backpack, the San Antonio Express-News reported Monday.

Once strapped in, the wearer leans forward, and tilt sensors signal the computer to move the motorized joints of one "leg" and move it forward. As the wearer continues to lean, the other leg takes a step and the process of walking begins.

In an eight-week trial beginning in August, patients have spent several hours at a time three or four times a week testing the ReWalk.

One of the trial participants, Elaine Loyola, was a gymnast and cheerleader at a Texas high school when she was paralyzed from her rib cage down at age 16 in a 2008 one-car rollover accident.

She says she'd love to someday own a ReWalk. Her mother is already teasing her about planning fundraisers, she says.

"I tell friends that the ReWalk is like an early version of the cellphone," she says. "They used to be big as a brick. Today, they're small and sleek, like an iPhone."

Scientists conclude 10-year marine census

WASHINGTON, Oct. 4 (UPI) -- A decade-long Census of Marine Life by 2,700 scientists from 80 countries has been completed and revealed thousands of new species, its U.S. founders say.

The initiative launched 570 expeditions that produced more than 2,600 academic papers and collected 30 million observations of 120,000 species. Researchers found a possible 6,000 new species, 1,200 of which have been formally described, The Washington Post reported Monday.

The project has "defined what is unknown" about the ocean and shed light on how it functions, said Jesse Ausubel, program director for the funding Alfred P. Sloan Foundation and the vice president of the census.

"The oceans are richer than we imagined, more connected than we imagined, and they're more altered," he said.

The project has established a baseline for key ocean areas, including regions of the Gulf of Mexico damaged in the BP oil spill.

As of 2009, researchers had identified 8,332 species in the area of the gulf nearest to the spill, providing authorities with what Ausubel called "a checklist" from which they can compare a year or two from now.

Ian Poiner, chairman of the project's scientific steering committee said that, in the end, the census sought to answer a basic but daunting question: "What did live in the ocean, what does live in the ocean and what will live in the ocean?"

First stem cell clinical trial described

DETROIT, Oct. 4 (UPI) -- Fetal stem cells have been injected into the spines of six Lou Gehrig's disease patients as part of the first clinical trial of its kind, scientists say.

The trial, headed by Dr. Eva Feldman, a University of Michigan neurologist who is pioneering the research under way at Emory University in Atlanta, is among several being showcased at the World Stem Cell Summit in Detroit, The Detroit News reported Monday.

The treatment is being used on patients who can no longer walk, Feldman said, and it's been shown to be safe.

Other clinical trials that will be highlighted at the summit include one starting this month by Geron Corp., based in California, which began enrolling patients with spinal cord injuries in the first stem cell trial using embryonic stem cells.

The gathering will hear of clinical trials to treat diseases, regenerative medicine against aging, ethical lessons learned and more, its organizers say.

The summit is bringing together researchers, industry leaders, government officials and advocates from 30 countries, the News reported.

More than 100 experts will present findings on research efforts using adult and embryonic stem cells to treat disease to an expected 1,200 attendees through Tuesday. The conference began Sunday.

The summit opened with a public education day at the Detroit Science Center to explain the science with microscopes to peek at stem cells, educational packets for teachers and games for children, the Detroit Free Press said.

Wayne State University researcher Graham Parker helped present "Stem Cells 101" to children including his own daughter Rebecca, 7.

The summit comes amid continuing opposition to embryonic stem cell research as opponents continue efforts to stop the work with legislative attempts and a federal lawsuit seeking to ban federal funding.

Michigan was chosen to host the summit because voters in 2008 approved Proposal 2, which allowed researchers to do embryonic stem cell research.

"This is an exciting time in stem cell research," said Sean Morrison, director of the University of Michigan Center for Stem Cell Biology.

"On one hand, we are finally starting to deliver on some of the opportunities created by Proposal 2 and the world is coming to see what's happening in Michigan," he said.

"On the other hand, the federal courts could soon do serious damage to the field by blocking federal funding. It never seems like we get off the roller coaster."

High Sierra chipmunks have vanished

SACRAMENTO, Oct. 4 (UPI) -- A species of chipmunk that roamed California's Sierra Nevada Mountains for centuries has apparently vanished, wildlife experts say.

The disappearance of the Inyo chipmunk, with its button-brown eyes, striped cheeks and a bushy orange-black tail, could be a symptom of a changing mountain range, The Sacramento Bee reported Monday.

"We have not been able to find it anywhere," said James Patton, a retired University of California, Berkeley, professor of zoology who has spent the last two years searching areas of the high Sierra for the elusive species.

It's not known why the species vanished, but the leading suspect is climate change that has brought warming temperatures, earlier snow melt and changing forest conditions to the region over the past century.

"Something is going on," said Patton, adding that the abundance and distribution of other chipmunks in the Sierra have changed, sometimes dramatically, as the range has warmed.

It's still possible Inyo chipmunks could turn up somewhere, but Patton is not optimistic.

"As near as we can tell, it is gone from the Sierra," he said.