Israeli Biologist Turning Tumors into Gold

Karl Skorecki, a biologist at Technion University in Haifa, Israel, is among a handful of researchers hoping to turn a certain kind of rare tumor into biological gold. Accoring to the New York Times, new research suggests that the very property that makes these teratoma tumors sinister - their ability to spawn human tissues - makes them valuable scientifically.

A tumor's encroachment is always terrifying, but teratomas, literally "monster tumors," exert a macabre hold on the imagination because they contain human elements remixed with Frankensteinian logic. It is not unusual for a teratoma to contain patches of hair, errant wedges of cartilage and even fully formed teeth. In the movie "My Big Fat Greek Wedding," Toula's Aunt Voula describes her teratoma as a mutant version of herself: "I had a lump at the back of my neck," she says. "So I go to the doctor, and inside the lump he found teeth and a spinal cord. Inside the lump was my twin."

Teratomas' most fascinating quality, Dr. Skorecki said, is their capacity to generate a smorgasbord of human tissue varieties, including bones, skin and ligaments. As a result, researchers testing a new medicine on a cancer-seeded teratoma can gauge what effects the drug will have on different cell types without enlisting human subjects. "Right now, there isn't a good way to derive primary human cells in the lab, other than a few limited types," Dr. Skorecki said. "With this model, you can see how different kinds of cells respond to the drugs."

Full Story: NY Times

Sunday in The Park - With Your Laptop

New Yorkers living in downtown Manhattan no longer need to take their laptop computers to Starbucks when they are looking for easy Internet access outside their apartment. Thanks to the Israeli company InspiAir, they can enjoy the pleasures of nature alongside some of the city's most popular piers at Hudson River Park and work on their summer tans, while they check their email and surf the Web.

InspiAir, an Israeli high tech company that provides outdoor wireless Internet, as well as voice over IP and video over IP, recently installed a wireless Internet system in the park that allows free public access without any additional software. The coverage spans from Clarkson Street to Horatio Street in Greenwich Village, the fourth of Hudson River Park's seven segments.

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