Iggy the Iguana by Melissa M Williams

Iggy recognized the aroma of sautéed spinach and mushrooms coming from downstairs as he nervously washed his face and combed his spines. On this particular morning, Iggy would have much rather crawled back in bed! For some reason, he had lost his appetite for his favorite meal of the day.

As the tired iguana tiptoed down to the kitchen, he carefully held his long, clumsy tail in one hand. Waking up his little sister, Molly, on the wrong side of the bed would be a morning tragedy. Molly was known for throwing major temper tantrums. Iggy sat down and stared hopelessly at his breakfast.

“What’s wrong, son?” asked his mother, when she noticed Iggy hadn’t touched his favorite dish. “Aren’t you feeling well?”

“Mom, what if I’m the only iguana in my class?” “Honey, are those butterflies fluttering around in your tummy again?”

“Uh, I guess,” admitted the shy lizard.

“It’s natural to be nervous about your first day at a new school,” Mrs. Green said, trying to comfort her son.

“I know, but what if everyone is bigger than me? What if I’m allergic to furry animals?”

“Sweetie, you can’t go to an all-lizard school forever!” his mom laughed.

“Why not?”

“Because, it’s time for you to meet animals who are different than you. Now try to eat some breakfast so you will have enough energy to concentrate on your lessons.”

Iggy had attended the same elementary school all his life in a suburban area outside of Houston, called Harris County. He never had to worry about making new friends because he attended school with the same twelve lizards ever since Pre-K. Iggy considered this group of lizards to be more like family than friends. The idea of making new friends was terrifying for the reserved iguana.

As Iggy began to eat his green meal, the back door swung wide open. Iggy perked up to the sight of his dad bouncing in with a huge, open-mouthed smile on his face.

“Good morning, Champ,” said his dad.

“Hi Dad, how was your morning run?”

“It was nice, but a bit humid. I think I got bit.”

“By a mosquito?” Iggy asked.

“Yeah, but I can’t complain. I can take the

Houston humidity and bugs for these flat trails any day. Besides son, we’re lizards. We like this heat.” Mr. Green was a professional runner. Iguanas are known for their speed and great running legs. Mr. Green’s daily life revolved around racing. He trained at Memorial Park and coached other runners on the side. The Green family had to move into the city so that he could be closer to the training grounds. Iggy wanted to be an athlete just like his dad one day.

Just as Iggy started to forget his butterfly problem, his mom walked over to the table and said, “I bet your dad was nervous on the day of his first race,” as she handed her husband a glass of water.

“I’ll say! Nervous and excited at the same time,” chuckled Mr. Green.

Yep, the butterflies were back. “I’m just nervous, Dad.”

“Well, of course you’re going to be a little skittish. It’s that fear of the unknown. But it’s a good fear. It means you’re alive and full of healthy energy, son!”

Fear of the unknown? It sounded like Iggy’s dad was talking about a mission to space or something, not fourth grade! Dad’s words just weren’t helping this time.

After breakfast, Iggy’s mom dropped him off at school, which was right down the street. “Just be yourself, honey. You are such a likeable lizard!” It really did pain Iggy’s mom to watch her son in such an uncomfortable situation.

“MEMORIAL ELEMENTARY,” Iggy read across the front of the school door as he slowly crept through the entrance. Due to the slowness of his creeping, Iggy didn’t have enough time to get his long tail all the way inside before the door

closed. “Ouch!” screamed Iggy. He turned around, trying to shake his tail loose before someone noticed his clumsy move.

“Are you okay?” asked a voice from behind.

Great. He did have a witness. Iggy slowly looked up to see a beautiful lime green and tan lizard.

“Hi,” she said, “I’m Lizibeth. I know how it feels to get your tail stuck in the door!”

Iggy was a bit tongue-tied as he searched for something to say back. “That wasn’t my first time, either,” he shrugged. “I’m Iggy. Iggy the Iguana.”

“Whoa! Your tail is sooo long!” Lizibeth gasped as she looked down to see if his tail was hurt.

Iggy self-consciously pulled his tail close to his body, trying to hide its length. “I hate dragging this useless thing around all day!”

“I hear yah!” laughed Lizibeth. “So what grade are you in, Iggy?”

“Me? Um ... ” he paused, “fourth.”

“Me too!” she smiled.

Iggy quickly added, “And today is my first day at this school.”

Lizibeth tried to put the fidgety iguana at ease. “Oh, you’ll love it here. Everyone is so nice!”

As Iggy looked around, he noticed the clock on the wall. “We don’t want to be late on the first day of school!”

“It’s okay, we don’t have to walk far,” Lizibeth reassured him.

Both lizards started walking toward the fourth grade classroom. Iggy was happy that he had already made a new friend, and she was a lizard. It was nice to have something in common. Hopefully the rest of the animals would be just as friendly.

Chapter 1 - Cafe Tempest: Adventures on a Small Greek Island by Barbara Bonfigli

“Welcome to Pharos. Laugh and dance in the hammock—not the cradle—of Western civilization,” says author, lyricist, and theatrical producer Barbara Bonfigli. “I’ve been falling in love with Greece since I was old enough to drink retsina. But if Sarah hadn’t captured my imagination you’d never know how I feel about friendship, feta, and the abundance of grace that turns friends into lovers and fishermen into kings.”

Synopsis

When Sarah, a thirty-something American theatrical producer, is asked to direct the locals in their summer show, she picks Shakespeare’s play The Tempest. What follows is a hilarious adventure in casting, rehearsing, and consuming. Her neighbors are excited about acting but delirious about eating. Their rehearsals in a deconsecrated church become a feast in four acts.

Armed with a sizzling wit, a dangerously limited Greek vocabulary, and a pitch-perfect ear for drama, Sarah navigates the major egos and minor storms of a cab driver Caliban, a postmaster Prospero, and a host of fishermen dukes and knaves.

When she falls in love, there are even trickier seas to navigate. Her own offstage romance provides an exhilarating, unpredictable counterpoint to Shakespeare’s story of magic, intrigue, and the power of love.

Chapter 1

No one else’s behavior makes any sense.

That’s it! The end of a continuous struggle for meaning since the third grade. That’s when I took a long look at the Brownie pledge. “On my honor I will try . . .” noble and uplifting; “. . . to God and country . . .” I feel like saluting. But then the ending . . . “especially those at home.” Sappy and rambling. I sent off my rewrite to National Headquarters and told them they could use it gratis—a word I may have misspelled. No reply yet, but you can’t expect an organization that sounds like chocolate cake to make snap decisions.

The site of this revelation is the charter terminal at Heathrow, where we’re spending the morning en route to Athens. Icarus Air warns you there’s a price to pay for flying on a shoestring. “Be there three hours before takeoff,” they command. Three hours! Whatever happened to “catching a plane? (I have a little problem with time, which I blame on skipping first grade. “She can already read,” they told my parents. They forgot to mention that first grade is where you learn to tell time, and maybe even understand it.) Nor am I thrilled to be flying with a company named for the only air disaster in Greek mythology. Icarus was the fearless god who flew so close to the sun his wax wings melted. I’m not afraid of flying either. Landing, maybe.

I look over the check-in choices and pick Anthony, sympathetic and snappy looking in a uniform that blends nicely with the ticket counter and carpet. With my French roast and Viennese beans, my pepper mill, yoga mat, and summer reading, I’m probably way overweight. As I get closer to Anthony, I do some tai chi balance shifts and practice sending waves of love in his direction. I also run my fingers through my unruly curls and drag a few over one eye in an attempt to look more vulnerable. And I pocket my sunglasses so my grandmother’s startling blue eyes can destabilize him. Meanwhile my lower mind takes in the drama unfolding between him and the slim-limbed miniskirted French bombshell in front of me.

“May I see your visa for Greece, madam?”

“See my what!?”

Anthony blushes and clears his throat. “Do you have a visa for Greece?”

“Ah . . . Oui.” She nods her blond sheaves vigorously. “I ’ave one partout!”

He smiles a weary, lost-empire smile. “You have a passport for everywhere. A visa is something else.”

“Something else?” She turns to me bewildered. “Comment?”

“Autre chose,” rises from the ruins of my eighth-grade French.

“Pourquoi something autre?” She turns back to him, impatiently clicking her fingernails in time with her stiletto heels.

He reflects, scribbles something, and announces: “I think your French driver’s license will be acceptable.”

Yes! Anthony’s my guy. What’s a little overweight compared to illegal entry?

“Accept a table?” she turns again and practically shouts at me.

“Acceptable?” I try, though I know French cognates are the undergraduate’s Waterloo.

“You are American, no?” she demands. Rude, and crushing. Lots of people think my accent is Parisian. Admittedly they all live in San Francisco.

“I just want to help you,” I say in a soft tone I reserve for crazy people.

“So do I,” Anthony chimes in, picking up my technique of short simple sentences.

“I just want to check in!” says Alex, right behind me. She turns her wheely bag around.

“Where are you going?” I ask in perfect English.

“To a line of my own.”

Alex (Alexandra, if she thinks you’re not taking her seriously) decided to come along at the last minute. But it was Julian’s idea that I take this unscheduled vacation. Julian is my partner in a West End theater company. Our affair ended the same week our play closed. I knew the play had a limited run, so that wasn’t a surprise. As for the Sarah and Julian show, I ignored the critics and willfully overlooked the dwindling returns. Which brings me to the painful conclusion that I’m better at acting than at casting.

Julian thinks it’s a happy coincidence; we can take a break from each other without hurting the business. I think it’s karma, and karma is a rolling stone; better to roll with it than stand in its path. So I’ve been planning a few weeks of uncluttered renewal on a remote Greek island. Uncluttered as in empty beach, cloudless skies, time alone to meditate, work on a novel, and finish an overdue magazine article. Renewal as in retsina. Plus I thought I’d made it clear to my friends that Pharos doesn’t rhyme with Mykonos, Jackie O never slept there, and the nearest mojito is a five-day sail. No burgers, no discos, and as for getting a torn nail repaired, claws would grow first. Whereas the incomparable charms of Pharos I’ve been keeping to myself. So I’m not sure what’s inspired Alex to come. Could it be she’s more tuned in to the state of my heart than I am? Asking would only introduce logic into our relationship—a cheap tactic I abandoned long ago. Is there any chance she’ll last the month? No way, say our friends, who’ve never agreed on anything before. I suspect they’re placing bets; I just wish there were some way to get into the pool. Thanks to Icarus Air, she now has time to plunder in Duty Free. I find her swinging a full basket.

“Why are you buying all this stuff you don’t need and so cleverly didn’t pack?”

“C’mon, Sarah. I thought this was a vacation?”

“It is.”

“Fine. See you.” She slides away.

“And raise you . . .” She doesn’t hear. It isn’t the first time I’ve talked to a wall. But it is the first time the wall replied: GIVE UP trying to understand other people.

(It’s an odd thing about revelations. I’ve meditated at the best places: Ashram in India, hot tub at Esalen, beside the lake in Pokara . . . and I can’t recall the great Aha! hitting me at any of them. Here I am at Terminal 4. Why go anywhere?)

Alex reappears, an outbreak of plastic bags blooming on her carry-on.

“Did he say Gate Fourteen?” she says, chewing on a giant duty free Toblerone bar. “I think they’re calling our flight.”

“I wish I knew,” I say, breaking a piece off the end.

Heathrow’s the summer school for places that teach English as a second language; articles are optional and, interestingly, there’s no future tense. Plus its PA system is a holdover from the Blitz. So the odds of making your plane are roughly the same as colliding with a neutrino. We find another carpet-coordinated employee who says “Leaving! Porto 14 !” Alex races me to the gate, where we stand panting in a line that takes forever to board.

#

We’re flying in Europe, a continent of smokers who’ve recently been banned from lighting up on planes. Everyone around us has the DTs; they’re desperately uploading caffeine and wishing they could just step out on the wing for a puff. The guy on our aisle is shaking his foot and studying the Icarus Air evacuation cartoon . . . In my opinion they should let people light up and drink from takeoff to landing. All this pent-up fear and deprivation would certainly mess up an orderly ditching at sea.

Give up trying to understand other people, I remind myself. Why, I wonder, has this revelation taken so long?

At thirty-nine thousand feet I look around at my fellow man with a new lightness, the enormous burden of comprehension abandoned at Duty Free. They’re all digging into a mysterious seafood starter. Icarus is an airline that serves food for revenge. Fortunately I have the picnic skills to meet this challenge.

“Alex, let’s have our banquet before the headwinds hit.”

I detect a little hostility from the guy on the aisle, sawing uselessly on his seeded roll as Alex lays out our smoked salmon, pumpernickel, Brie, and Chablis. Unless it’s an involuntary reaction to the cheese, with it’s whiff of socks left out in the rain.

“Would you like some smoked salmon?” she asks him.

“Signome?”

“No. Salmon,” says Alex, squeezing the lemon.

“Alex, signome is Greek for ‘excuse me.’ ”

“Oh.”

“Thelete ligo—would you like some . . . ?” I try. But the word for salmon escapes me. I point at it.

She looks back. “Pointing is Greek?”

“Oxi, efharisto.” No, thanks. “Eime hortophagos.”

“He’s a vegetarian,” I explain to Alex. “And the Brie is ripe enough to moo, so let’s skip that.”

“We ought to offer him something,” she says, displaying her notorious generosity. “He can have my entire Icarus lunch.” I say in an attempt to imitate her—though you could hardly call this a test.

“Oxi, efharisto—no thanks,” he smiles discerningly.

I pour him a cup of Chablis.

When dessert comes around it’s Turkish delight, in celebration of the three-thousand-year blood feud between Greeks and Turks.

“God, that looks terrible,” she says.

“Not as terrible as it tastes.”

She brings out our crème brûlée. During which I share my revelation, inspiration deleted.

“You mean to say you’ve been trying to understand everyone?”

“Well, not Charles Manson or the Spice Girls . . . but as a rule, yes.”

“What a wild idea.” Alex puts down her spoon. “How’s it turning out?”

“I’ve just given it up.”

She raises her cup of Chablis. “How do you say ‘bravo’ in Greek?”

“I think it is Greek.” And we click.

A few hours later we cross the Corinth channel and drop into the haze of Athens. The landing gear bangs into place. Moments later a stewardess comes over the speaker. “We’ll be coming through the isles to collect unwanted items. Please fasten your cups and throw away your seat belts.”

Sometimes I wish I could follow directions.

To learn about Barbara Bonfigli and Café Tempest, feel free to visit any of these sites.

Order Café Tempest directly from the publisher - http://www.tellmepress.com/pub_ct.php or from Amazon http://www.amazon.com/Café-Tempest-Adventures-Small-Island/dp/0981645313

To see the complete tour schedule visit http://virtualblogtour.blogspot.com/2009/05/cafe-tempest-by-barbara-bonfigli-summer.html

Barbara Bonfigli’s website – www.cafetempest.com

Chapter 1 - The Mind of a Genius by David Snowdon

Chapter One

The phone began to ring and freelance MI4 agent, Jason Clay reluctantly disengaged himself from the girl he was kissing and reached for the phone.

“Hello,” he said, grabbing the receiver.

“Is that Clay?” said the voice at the other end.

It was a posh, home county voice and Clay thought it sounded vaguely familiar. But at that very moment, he couldn’t place it.

“It is,” he said frowning. “You sound familiar, who’s that?” Clay spoke with a mildly posh London accent.

“You’ve got a poor memory. It’s Colin Shooter.” Clay smiled.

Shooter was the assistant head of the MI4 and he knew that Shooter never called him just to say hello. Whenever Shooter called, there was always a reason, and a very good reason at that.

“Hello you,” said Clay cheerfully.

He was grinning now, and the girl sitting beside him on the sofa, a tall, slim blonde with lovely blue eyes, and who was about 24-years of age, was staring at him, a curious expression in her eyes.

“Long time, no see.”

“Listen, Clay,” said Shooter, “I’ve got something that might wet your appetite. “You haven’t got anything on, have you?”

“Only the shirt on me back,” said Clay smiling. “And that’s coming off very soon.” The girl chuckled.

Just like the girl sitting beside him on the sofa, Clay was tall, slim and Handsome with blonde hair, and lovely blue eyes. He was 34-years-old and had a smile that made the girls go wild. All he had to do was smile and within minutes, they’d be telling him the story of their life.

Tonight, he was wearing a white silk shirt and a pair of white cotton trousers.

“I’ve got something that’s right up your alley,” said Shooter. “This one’s irresistible. You’ll love it.”

“Will I?” said Clay jokingly, wondering what it was, and what was in it for him.

“I know you will,” said Shooter, at the other end of the line.

“You know my terms, don’t you?” said Clay, smiling. “I won’t even contemplate getting out of bed for anything less than ten thousand a day.”

“You’d be lucky to get half of that for this one,” said Shooter. “But come and see me tomorrow morning in my office at ten, and we’ll talk business, okay?”

Clay continued to smile. “Ten thousand a day plus expenses or no deal.”

“I’ll see you in my office at ten sharp tomorrow,” said Shooter. “And don’t be late.” And the line went dead.

“That guy,” said Clay, dropping the receiver, shaking his head and turning sideways to stare at the girl sitting beside him. “He drives a hard bargain, but he’s all right.” The girl smiled invitingly, but didn’t say anything.

“Now where were we?” said Clay smiling, as they started to kiss passionately, again.

The time was now 20.47 and they were sitting on a beige leather sofa in Clay’s spacious, luxurious living-room. The TV was on, but the volume had been turned down low. As they continued to kiss, they could hear it raining hard outside, and there was the occasional rumble of thunder. But that didn’t bother them, as they were now in paradise.

At 10.00am the following day, Colin Shooter sat in a conference room, at a conference table, in the MI4 head office in Vauxhall, overlooking the River Thames and worked on his laptop.

At 56, Shooter was tall, well-built, and had light brown hair. He was an ex-banker.

Today, he wore a brown suit, a yellow shirt and a brown tie.

Also in the room, sitting around the conference table was Special Agent, Paul Hudson and Special Agent, Janet Bond.

Hudson was 38, tall, dark and lean with handsome features and dark brown curly hair.

He wore a well-cut, navy blue Italian Suit, a white shirt and a black and blue stripped tie. He was an ex-solicitor, and a very good one, and it was his track record more than anything else that had impressed the M14 into employing him.

Janet Bond was 32, 5-foot-7, slim with a nice curvy figure, and blonde with blue eyes, and Scandinavian features.

She was a beauty, but she was also very intelligent. And it was the combination of beauty and brains that had attracted Shooter to her.

The phone started to ring, and Shooter snatched the receiver.

“Colin Shooter,” he said, speaking into the receiver.

“Mr Shooter, I have Mr Jason Clay here to see you.” The receptionist’s voice came clearly through the receiver.

“Give him a cup of tea,” said Shooter. “I’ll let you know when we’re ready to see him.”

“No worries,” said the receptionist.

And Shooter put the phone down. As he put the phone down, he continued to work on his laptop, and both Hudson and Bond sat in silence, with a blank expressions on their faces. They knew that whatever Shooter was doing on his laptop had to be vital, as Shooter was always very punctual.

Ten minutes later, Shooter finished working on his laptop and reached for the receiver.

“Send him in,” he said, when he got through to the receptionist. And he put the receiver down.

Three minutes later, there came a knock on the door.

“Come in,” said Shooter.

The door slid open and Clay wandered into the room. He wore a beige coloured suit, a beige coloured shirt and a red tie. He was looking very smart and there was a cheeky smile on his face, as he wandered into the room, and walked towards the conference table.

“Morning, all,” he said, aware that everyone was watching him.

The others returned his greeting.

“Take a seat,” said Shooter, waving him to a chair.

Clay moved towards the chair and sat on it.

“Thanks for coming,” said Shooter. “This one’s a beauty and you’re gonna love it.”

“That remains to be seen,” said Clay, smiling at him. “Let’s have the details and we’ll take it from there.”

Shooter stared at Clay.

He didn’t like Clay’s cocky attitude. Come to think of it, he wasn’t too fond of Clay. But Clay had his uses.

“Malcolm Prince, the scientist, remember him?”

Clay thought for a moment, then he remembered.

“He died a few months ago, didn’t he?”

Shooter nodded. “And that’s why you’re here.”

“Come off it,” said Clay, his smile turning into a grin as he looked from Shooter to Hudson, from Hudson to Bond and from Bond back to Shooter.

“I didn’t kill him. You’ve got the wrong guy.”

“I wouldn’t put it past you,” said Shooter, smiling at Clay. “You’d do anything for money, wouldn’t you? But if you’ve got your facts right, you’ll know that Prince died of a heart attack.”

“I could have told you that,” said Clay, smiling at him.

Shooter continued to talk. “Malcolm Prince was one of the finest scientist in the world. And at the time of his death, he had just completed a major project; a project that could change the world; a project that could benefit the world.” There was a pause, then Shooter continued to talk.

“We don’t know what the project was about. It was a well-kept secret, but we do know that the project was completed shortly before he died. Shortly before he died, he was on the verge of revealing the project to the world. But now he’s dead, and nobody really knows what that project was based on.”

“That’s sad,” said Clay.

Shooter continued to talk. “We’d like you to try and find out what that project was about.”

“And how do you expect me to do that?” said Clay, changing his position on his chair. Shooter smiled at him.

“Prince has a very lovely wife, and rumour has it that he was very fond of her. We have a feeling that she might have some vital information. Your task is to seduce her and to find out what that project was about.”

Clay gaped at him. “I thought you said I was gonna to love it.”

“You’re a very impatient man,” said Shooter, smiling at Clay.

He was thoroughly enjoying himself. “Patience is a virtue, Clay. Agent Bond has a present for you.”

Special Agent, Janet Bond produce an envelope and slid it across the table towards Clay. Clay opened the envelope, removed a glossy photograph and stared at it.

A beautiful, middle-aged, blonde woman with blue, friendly eyes, wearing a navy blue shirt stared at him.

Clay studied the woman in the picture and a wave of excitement swept through him.

The woman in the photograph looked classy, exciting and sexy. A combination that Clay considered to be irresistible. Shooter was right. He had a feeling that he was going to love this assignment. Here was an opportunity to have a good time, and at the same time, to make some decent money.

Clay smiled as he studied the photograph. It was a passport photo that had been enlarged into a 6 x 4 photograph.

Shooter and the others watched him, as he studied the photograph, and Shooter had a feeling that Clay was hooked.

“Nice girl,” said Clay, dropping the photograph on the table in front of him and smiling at Shooter.

“Laura Prince,” said Janet Bond. “45-years-old, 36-26-36 and an ex-secretary. She has a penchant for handsome toy boys. Had a few lovers when Prince was alive, but isn’t seeing anyone at present.”

“Very nice,” said Clay smiling and looking around the table.

“I told you,” said Shooter. “I wouldn’t lie to you.”

“But what makes you think she gonna fall for me?” said Clay.

“You fit the bill perfectly,” said Hudson, in his posh accent “You have a way with women. You can charm the birds out a tree. We’re sure you can swing it.”

“I can try,” said Clay. “But I can’t guarantee success.”

“That’s good enough for me,” said Shooter. “We don’t know for sure if she knows anything. She may be none the wiser, but all we can do is try.”

“That’s fine,” said Clay. “Ten thousand a day plus expenses, and I’ll see what I can do.”

“I don’t think so,” said Shooter, shaking his head. There was a crafty, little smile on his face. “Five thousand a day plus expenses, and you can take it or leave.”

Clay smiled at him.

“I’ve got a feeling we’re wasting each others time. Ten thousand a day plus expenses, or you can get someone else to do it.”

Shooter stared at him.

There were other agents that he could use, and who would work out a lot cheaper than Clay. But he realized that if anyone could pull this one off, it was Clay. And this assignment was far too vital to be bungled.

“Seven thousand a day plus expenses. Not a penny more, not a penny less. And that’s my final offer.”

“Done,” said Clay.

“Money, that’s all you ever think about, isn’t it?” said Shooter.

“What else is there to think about?” said Clay, smiling at him. “Money makes the world go round. And where would we be without it.”

“Sometimes I wonder why we pay you so much money,” said Shooter resentfully. We’re wasting hard-earned taxpayers money on you.”

“I’m value for money and you know it,” said Clay with his cheeky smile.

“I can get three good agents for what I’m paying you,” said Shooter.

“That’s three for the price of one. But you’re one of my best guys, and I’ve got a soft spot for you.”

“Come off it,” said Clay jokingly. “You haven’t got a soft spot for your own mother, let alone a guy like me.”

Shooter smiled at him, but this time the smile didn’t reach his eyes.

“Watch what you say, Clay. You shouldn’t speak about anyone’s mother like that.”

They regarded each other for a moment, then Shooter continued to talk.

“An advance payment of £70,000 will be paid into you’re account. Spend it wisely. Agent Bond will give you all the necessary details.”

“Cool,” said Clay, grinning at Shooter.

Money was very essential to him and he never got tired of talking about it. The more money he could lay his hands on, the better.

“Has Prince got any other relatives that you know of?”

“He’s got a grown up daughter and a grown up son from a previous marriage,” said Hudson.

“I hope so,” said Clay, looking down at Laura Prince’s photograph. “He was old enough to be this chick’s father.”

“She was his second wife,” said Hudson.

Clay regarded Hudson.

He had been so busy concentrating on Shooter that there had been times when he had forgotten that Hudson was also in the room.

“Can’t Pretty boy, Hudson handle this job?”

“I haven’t got your knack with women,” said Hudson, smiling at Clay.

“You’re tailor-made for the job.”

Agent Janet Bond smiled.

“And why is Agent Bond smiling?” said Clay teasingly.

Janet Bond lost her smile and stared at him. There was something about Clay that she didn’t like.

“I wasn’t smiling at you.”

What a chick, thought Clay giving her his dazzling smile. She reminded him of the girl that he had spent the night with. They both had blonde hair and blue eyes, but Bond was undoubtedly the better looking of the two.

“One of these days, we’ll go for a curry.”

“I don’t like curries and I don’t like you,” said Janet Bond.

“One of these days, you’re gonna love me,” said Clay teasingly.

Bond’s eyes flashed angriliy.

“One of these days, Clay, I’m gonna…”

She suddenly stopped without finishing her sentence, aware that Shooter was watching her with interest. She would have loved to have given Clay a piece of her mind. She would have loved to have told him exactly what she thought of him. But she didn’t want to lose her composure in front of her boss.

“Enough of that,” said Shooter, sensing it was time that he intervened.

“Now Agent Bond will give you the details.”

Special Agent, Janet Bond regained her composure and started to talk in her posh accent.

The Mind of a Genius by David Snowdon

(The Formula That Could Change The World)

Special Agent, Jason Clay from the MI4 is hired to find a secret formula that was invented by the famous British scientist, Malcolm Prince. The only weak element in Clay’s strategy to accomplish his mission is Laura Prince, the beautiful wife of the scientist, who Clay has to seduce in order to obtain the formula.

But the CIA, the Denmark Intelligence, the Australian Intelligence and many other very determined individuals are also after that formula, and can’t wait to get their hands on it. The competition is fierce, but who’s going to win?

The story develops as a travel through the world; with the action starting in London, then moving onto Copenhagen, Hong Kong and Australia.

Clay appears to be the right man for the job; extremely handsome and a natural charmer, nothing could be easier for him than seducing a beautiful woman in order to obtain a top secret.

For more information visit www.the-mind-of-a-genius.com

About the book:

The Mind of a Genius by David Snowdon

ISBN: 978-0-9552650-1-3

Publisher: Pentergen Books

Pages: 288

S.R.P £6.99/ $13.56

Available from Waterstone’s, Blackwells, Amazon.co.uk Amazon.com and from the author at his website http://www.the-mind-of-a-genius.com/order.html

About David Snowdon -

British thriller writer, David Snowdon was born in London, and lives in London. He started writing in 1983, and wrote his first book, which hasn’t been published in 1984. His first published work, Too Young To die, was published in August 2006. And his second novel, The Mind of a Genius, was published in November 2007.

To learn more about David Snowdon and The Mind of a Genius, visit http://www.the-mind-of-a-genius.com and to learn more about his virtual tour in early 2009, http://virtualblogtour.blogspot.com/2008/12/mind-of-genuis-by-david-snowdon.html

Post comments on any of the blog tour stops and be entered in a drawing for a copy of The Mind of a Genius.

The Unsung Patriot by Virginia Vassallo

Unsung Patriot: Guy T. Viskniskki

How The Stars and Stripes Began

By Virginia G. Vassallo

THE STARS AND STRIPES

THE CIVIL WAR EDITION

The story of The Stars and Stripes newspaper begins in Missouri during the Civil War. On November 2, 1861, Brigadier General U. S. Grant issued orders to Colonel Richard J. Oglesby, commanding officer of the 8^th Illinois Infantry Regiment, which was stationed in a small Missouri village across the Mississippi River from Cairo, Illinois. Colonel Oglesby was to command an expedition to destroy rebel forces under the command of Brigadier General M. Jeff Thompson stationed in Stoddard County, Missouri.

Colonel Oglesby began to organize the forces, consisting of about twenty-two hundred men from his regiment and those of the 11^th, 18^th and 29^th Illinois Infantry Regiments. On Tuesday, November 5, the Union forces started for Bloomfield, Missouri, the county seat of Stoddard County. They traveled by the most direct route - crossing a seven-mile wide swamp on November 7. “The ground was covered with black moss four inches deep and so thick that tis like a carpet. That was an awful gloomy road and I was glad enough to land at a nice clean stream and have orders to pitch tents.”

While Colonel Oglesby's command was on the move, General Grant also issued orders for his troops at Cape Girardeau and Ironton to converge on Bloomfield. Troops were converging on the town from the east, northeast and northwest. The Confederate commander realized his predicament and withdrew his forces to the south.

On November 7, the 10^th Iowa Regiment was the first of the Union forces to enter Bloomfield. They occupied the town until Colonel Oglesby's forces arrived the next day. At that time, the Iowa forces were ordered to Belmont, Missouri, where a battle had been fought the day before.

The Illinois troops arrived in Bloomfield about 9:00 a.m. on November 8 and were to spend that day and night camped in town. During the day some of the troops started looting Bloomfield; Colonel Oglesby sent a police force to stop it.

Other Union troops noticed the abandoned office of the Bloomfield Herald newspaper, whose editor, a New Jersey native, had fled with the Confederate troops. During the evening of November 8, 1861, ten of the soldiers entered the Herald's office and, as Captain Daniel H. Brush of Company K, 18^th Illinois Infantry Regiment, wrote, “Some printers belonging to our regtt. and the others have taken possession of the printing office and design publishing a paper tonight.” The newspaper was christened The Star and Stripes. The paper was distributed on Saturday, November 9, to the Union troops in and around Bloomfield. It is uncertain how many copies of this first issue were printed, but it seems likely that the word was “Read it and pass it on.”

Of the first ten Stripers, three were from Carmi, Illinois, and three were from Fairfield, Illinois:

Benson T. Atherton was a recruit in Company G, 18^th Illinois Infantry Regiment. He was a resident of Fairfield. Discharged from the army on November 1, 1862, due to wounds, he was the publisher of the Prairie Pioneer.

James T. Boseman was a recruit in Company G, 18^th Illinois Infantry Regiment. A resident of Carmi, he was later transferred to the Regimental Band.

Theodore Edmonson was a Corporal in Company G, 18^th Illinois Infantry Regiment. A resident of Fairfield, he was publisher of the Illinois Patriot. According to the 1860 census, he was a seventeen-year-old printer with assets of $1,900.

Walter A. Rhue was a recruit in Company G, 18^th Illinois Regiment. Another resident of Carmi, he had been a publisher before the war. He was later transferred to the Regimental Band. He was discharged on March 14, 1862, due to a lingering illness caused by unhealthy water and exposure while serving in the army.

John W. Schell was another resident of Fairfield, Illinois. He was a Corporal and later was promoted to Sergeant of Company D, 8^th Illinois. In 1860 the census shows him as a twenty-two-year-old printer with assets of $150. He married and became an Alabama farmer. However, he did enlist in the Spanish-American War and served as a brigade wagon master.

Robert T. Stewart was First Sergeant of Company B, 29^th Illinois Regiment. He was also a resident of Carmi and had been an editor of the White County Advocate before the war. During the action at Fort Donelson, Tennessee, in February, 1862, he became ill and never regained his health. He lost most of his sight, yet Stewart became the editor and publisher of the Carmi Courier. His employees had to read the newspaper to him and assist him with his signature. He died on June 10, 1913.¹

How many of these soldiers made it back to Carmi, Illinois, after the war? Did they recount their story of publishing the first Stars and Stripes? Certainly their comrade in arms, Thomas Viskniskki, of Company G, 18^th Illinois Regiment, must have known of the first Stars and Stripes. He had enlisted in Fairfield, Illinois, in May of 1861. Did

Thomas know Benson Atherton, John Schell and Theodore Edmonson from his time spent in Fairfield? Or did they all meet during their training and their time spent in the army?

We will never know the answers to these questions. But we can speculate.

We know that Thomas was listed as present with his unit during November, 1861. He must have been in Bloomfield, Missouri, the day the paper was published. In later years he must have told his extended family of the excitement of that first edition of The Stars and Stripes. Maybe he even had a treasured copy of that issue, carried throughout his years of fighting for his adopted county.

¹The Stars and Stripes: The Civil War Edition

http://www.Starsandstripesmuseumlibrary.org

For much more information about Virginia Vassallo and The Unsung Patriot - visit her book tour page at http://www.inspiredauthor.com/promotion/Virginia+Vassallo

www.krazyduck.com

www.unsungpatriot.com

Link to purchase books: http://www.krazyduck.com/page/2111023.htm

Blog Tours - What Would You Like to Know

I'm doing a tele-seminar next week about blog tours and I would love input from you all.

There are many things to discuss about blog tours and I worked out some initial questions to get people thinking - they are:

Discover Ways to Promote Your Book on a Virtual Blog Tour to Gain Greater Visibility and Sales

• What are the benefits of doing a blog tour?

• Should you promote your book in a blog tour?

• Should fiction and non fiction books be promoted differently in a blog tour?

• Should you organize your own blog tour?

• Why hire a publicist to organize your tour?

• If you hire a publicist, will you still need to work on the tour?

• Can you use a blog tour to promote anything besides books?

• Is there a new option in book blog tours?

But, now I need to create a couple of handouts and I'd love your input. Is there any specific info about blog tours that any of you think would be most helpful? Some folks here have done tours, some have hosted touring authors and I bet some of you have thought about doing a tour. So, since many of the people here are authors, I figured it would be a great place to pose the question. What information would you suggest I offer in handouts? Thank you all for your thoughts. There will be plenty of blog tour info coming very soon .

Nikki Leigh

PS - The answer to the last question is - most definitely. Stay tuned for much more information about that option - SOON. Or, contact me to be added to the mailing list - nikki_leigh22939@yahoo.com with Mailing List in the subject line.

Yvonne Perry - Right to Recover

I have a treat for you today -- two excerpts from two great authors and two very different books. I submit both chapters for your reading enjoyment and remember to post a comment to each author for a chance to win a copy of their books.


CHAPTER ONE:
BASIC OVERVIEW OF STEM CELL RESEARCH

Stem cell research is being actively conducted around the world for both scientific and medical reasons. Scientifically, stem cell biology provides excellent information about what is normal and abnormal regarding how cells develop. Understanding what causes cells to become diseased helps scientists find ways to prevent genes from becoming dysfunctional. It also helps them produce drugs and treatments to cure illnesses. Medically, adult stem cells from bone marrow and human umbilical cord blood have been proven to repair and regenerate diseased cells when transplanted into animals and humans. Never in history has one technology held such strong potential to help a majority of people live a healthier life as does the science of stem cell biology. Likewise, never in history has such a remarkable science been so ethically debated.

There are two categories of stem cells: adult and embryonic. For clarification in this book, the term “adult stem cells” refers to stem cells harvested from umbilical cord blood, the placenta, amniotic fluid drawn during pregnancy, and bone marrow of a child or fully-grown adult. The term “embryonic stem cells” refers to stem cells harvested from fertilized eggs created in vitro (outside the body).

What is a Stem Cell?

Stem cells are an undifferentiated group of cells which, depending on their surrounding conditions, are capable of developing into other types of cells such as liver cells, kidney cells, brain cells, or any of the other 260 different types of cells that make up the human body.

There are three types of stem cells: totipotent, which can develop into an entire embryo; pluripotent, which undergo a process of differentiation that changes them into multipotent cells (also called unipotent); and multipotent, which give rise to cells that have a particular function. Multipotent cells (adult stem cells) are permanently differentiated or fixed. For example, multipotent blood stem cells give rise to red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets, but they cannot functionally develop into other non-blood cells such as liver cells, nerve cells, or heart muscle cells. These unique cells are with us throughout our lives and are used by the body to repair unhealthy or disabled cells of like kind.

Stem cells respond to the other cells around them, and a cell’s fate is determined by the other cells and chemicals in its environment. In their natural state, both totipotent and pluripotent stem cells are not yet any type of cell; instead, they are unassigned or blank. These “undifferentiated” cells have no specific purpose assigned to them other than to reproduce like cells while waiting for a genetic signal to tell them to develop into another type of cell. These signals are found within the environment of the body. Biologists are learning about these signals in hopes of determining the molecular method these stem cells use to differentiate and become tissues, nerves, vessels, and organs. It is believed that organs and tissues may one day be grown from pluripotent cells in laboratories to be used in lieu of, or in addition to, human organ donation. However, the main reason scientists study totipotent and pluripotent cells is to learn more about the cells’ behavior. Understanding what causes cells to become diseased will help researchers know how to produce drugs and treatments to combat or even prevent disease.

When a sperm and ovum are united (whether in vitro or inside the female body) fertilization occurs, and the two parts become a single totipotent cell. A fertilized egg is also known as a zygote. Within hours after fertilization this cell divides into two identical cells, which also divide thus forming pluripotent stem cells. By the fourth day the cell cluster has divided to reach approximately 16 cells, and it is called a morula. The division/multiplication process continues for about five days until a hollow sphere of about 32 cells is formed along with a fluid filled cavity. This sphere or cluster of primordial cells is then called a blastocyst. If the blastocyst cells are inside the womb, development continues as these stem cells begin to differentiate and form all the cells needed to make an entire human being. However, in an artificial environment outside the body (in vitro), the pluripotent stem cells from a fertilized egg will only reproduce more undifferentiated cells. They cannot produce a fully developed embryo.

Figure 1: Morula

Figure 2: Blastocyst

A blastocyst has an inner and outer layer of cells. The outer layer (called the trophectoderm) will form the placenta and other tissue needed to support development in the uterus. The inner cells are undifferentiated or unspecific in what they will become, but they are able to form any type of cell found in a human body. If the entire blastocyst is inserted into the uterus, it must implant itself and begin to draw nourishment from the mother in order to move to the next stage of development. If implantation (conception) occurs, the resulting embryo will become a fetus at eight weeks, which will develop into a human baby within nine months.

Within the womb a blastocyst automatically stops producing undifferentiated stem cells once the body parts have formed. Otherwise, a human would have multiple heads, hearts, legs, etc. However, the inner cells of the blastocyst, if separated from the trophectoderm outside the uterus, cannot form an entire organism. These inner cells can continue to make more undifferentiated stem cells if properly tended to in a lab. The blastocysts used for stem cell research are cultured in lab containers outside the human body where a single cell may continue to divide up to 100 times. These newly developed undifferentiated cells are what researchers are studying.

Scientists do not know how long a cultured line of stem cells can continue to divide or live outside the uterus. The newly divided cells are used to study what causes undifferentiated stem cells to develop into particular cells. There is great hope of being able to cause these undifferentiated stem cells to form tissue, nerve cells, and organs that can be used for patients needing heart, lung, liver, and kidney transplants. Unlike human organ donors, who must die before their parts can be used by another human, the inner cells of the blastocyst may continue to create new living cells that might be used to make new organs, nerves, and tissues. By taking only one cell from the inner mass of the blastocyst, a new cell line can be created. The remaining cells are not harmed. The blastocyst with one cell removed could theoretically be implanted into a uterus and brought to full term.

Stem Cell Technology Currently in Use

In my hope to have you accept all types of stem cell research, I’d like to show some ways that stem cell research is already benefiting society. At the top of the list are bone marrow transplants and umbilical cord blood infusions.

Bone Marrow Transplants

While its use is still in the developing stages, there are technologies available using adult stem cells to help people with heart conditions, spinal cord injuries, and orthopedic repair of bone and cartilage. Known as regenerative medicine, these techniques harness the body’s natural ability to renew and heal itself. Here are a few examples:

Here in the state of Tennessee, doctors at Vanderbilt University Medical Center commonly use bone marrow transplants in the treatment of cancer patients. More about that in just a moment.

In Germany, heart attack victims have made a rapid and remarkable recovery after receiving implants of their own bone marrow stem cells during heart surgery.
Mesoblast Limited is an Australian biotechnology company known for developing treatments through adult stem cell technology aimed at the regeneration and repair of bone and cartilage. In a pilot clinical trial at the Royal Melbourne Hospital, Mesoblast’s technology was used on a patient with a 5cm fracture of the femur that had failed to heal after nine months. Three months after specialized stem cell treatment, the gap had been filled by new bone and the patient had regained use of his leg and was walking unaided.

Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville specializes in adult stem cell transplant using either a patient’s own stem cells, the stem cells of a related or unrelated donor, or cord blood stem cells to assist patients. The donor in sixty percent of all cases is a brother, sister, or adequately matched donor; however, there are cases where stem cells from an unrelated donor are used. There are “cell banks” in the U.S. where hospitals may conduct a computerized search to locate the appropriate units and have them transported to the hospital where a patient is to receive treatment.
The blood-forming (hematopoietic) stem cells of bone marrow change into red, white, and other blood cells throughout life. The standard procedure for cancer treatment takes stem cells from the bone marrow of a patient. One way to retrieve them is to sedate the donor and stick needles in the hip bone and draw out the bone marrow. This method removes plasma, blood, and other cells, but a small population will be stem cells.

Because stem cells in the bone marrow are very small in quantity, recent technology gives the donor an injection prior to harvesting, to increase stem cell production so that it fills the marrow and spills into the blood. The blood is then drawn from a vein in one arm and pumped into a filter very much like a dialysis machine where the stem cells are spun at a certain speed causing the blood cells to separate into their components. Plasma will rise to the top, red cells will stick to the bottom, and the frothy looking layer in between is where the white cells and stem cells are trapped. The machine siphons off the stem cells and collects them before returning the rest of the blood to the vein in the donor’s other arm. The entire closed-circuit cycle takes four to five hours and does no harm to the patient. Once the stem cells are obtained, they are frozen at 220 degrees below zero Fahrenheit until time to reintroduce them to the patient once chemotherapy is complete.

Each cancer disorder has its own stem cell. Some are so resilient they survive certain types of chemotherapy. There may be a pseudo cure or remission between times, but within a few years these cells may grow back and give rise to cancer again. In order to completely destroy the cancer stem cells the patient needs super high doses of chemotherapy. This concentrated dosage not only destroys cancer cells, it also destroys vital bone marrow cells in the process. It also destroys brain cells according to Dr. Mark Noble, Ph.D., an advocate in the field of stem cell research at University of Rochester Medical Center. Since this would result in death, high dosages cannot be used unless the patient’s bone marrow cells are replaced afterward. Once chemotherapy is complete, the patient’s own stem cells are reintroduced into the body where they regenerate perfectly healthy bone marrow cells and long-term health is restored to the patient. In my interview with Dr. Madan Jagasia, Assistant Professor of Medicine at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, he remarked, “We are basically rescuing patients using their own stem cells.”

Another case where stem cells might be used is to restore a patient’s heart muscle. When a patient has a heart attack, heart muscle is lost. You can balloon or stint the arteries, or do a by-pass operation, but once the heart muscle is lost it does not have the capacity to regenerate. Studies in Europe have been done where the patient’s own stem cells are collected within two or three days after a heart attack and then purified and injected directly into the heart through catheters. The data from early animal and human studies show that these stem cells in the environment of the heart should be able to turn into heart muscle cells to repair or replace damaged cells.

Vanderbilt University Medical Center was the first hospital in the state of Tennessee to perform a new therapy using bone marrow stem cells to stimulate regeneration of the heart muscle after a heart attack. Douglas Vaughan, M.D., chief of the Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, reported that John Plummer, 63, underwent the stem cell regeneration therapy on March 11, 2007, after experiencing a heart attack one week prior. More randomized-controlled trials to study the effects of cell therapy in treating cardiac disease are scheduled.

Cord Blood

An Illinois mother Mary Schneider banked her son’s cord blood when he was born. Within a year or so Ryan was showing moderate signs of cerebral palsy. By age two, the child only weighed 25 pounds and was unable to eat. His upper body strength was severely decreased, and he had only a two-word vocabulary. After nine months of speech therapy, his vocabulary consisted of 40 words, but he still had no sentence structure. Only close family members could understand him. Mary worried that her son’s condition would only get worse. Hoping that regenerative stem cells would help him, Mary began the search for a doctor or biologists who could administer her son’s cord blood CD34 stem cells back to him. Since the blood contained Ryan’s own unaltered DNA and no drugs, the infusion process does not require FDA approval. It is an intravenous procedure. It should be simple, right?

Wrong. The search proved more difficult than Mary expected because the treatment using cord blood was so new it hadn’t been tested, and many doctors were unwilling to take the risk without the support of clinical trials. After weeks of searching the Internet and making phone calls to leading stem cell researchers nationwide, Mary found little hope or information but a lot of refusals to do the transfusion. In an age when a patient can get donated blood from a stranger during surgery, no one would give this child his own cord blood! One doctor told Mary that he could give him Botox injections if Ryan’s hands got too spastic!

Mary talked with Dr. Evan Snyder who deals mostly with research using fetal and in vitro blastocyst stem cells. At the time (2005) Snyder’s research was about five years away from human clinical trials. Mary couldn’t wait that long. Upon Dr. Snyder’s advice, she arranged for a metabolic study, a chromosome work up to conclude that Ryan did indeed have mild cerebral palsy and to establish a base-line study for comparison after the infusion. Pre- and post-infusion evaluations and progress monitoring with neural behavior experts and therapists were conducted through Easter Seals Dupage County, Illinois.

Dr. Harris, head of the Cord Blood Registry bank where Ryan’s stem cells were stored, suggested Mary contact Dr. Joanne Kurtzberg, a pediatric oncologist in the Blood and Marrow Transplantation Division at Duke University, to see if she would do the infusion. Dr. Kurtzberg was willing to give the procedure a try, but she knew that, regardless of whether the treatment was successful or not, it would open the doors to a whole new dimension of the medical world, and she would be bombarded by the media and other researchers. In October 2005, just weeks prior to his third birthday, Dr. Kurtzberg introduced stem cells from Ryan’s own cord blood to his body through a 20-minute intravenous drip of stem cells in the back of his hand. This was followed by two hours of saline drip to nudge the cells through his system. The cells then instinctively knew how to find their place and begin repair and regeneration. Within a week Ryan was showing progress and continued to improve in the weeks and months afterward. Eight months after the infusion, the dexterity in Ryan’s hands and arms returned. Today the 4-year-old boy speaks clearly in coherent sentences and is at normal weight for his age group. He is testing at normal or even above average levels in motor skill tests.

Since there are so few studies on cord blood infusion, it can’t be considered a proven treatment; therefore, insurance companies typically refuse to pay for the procedure. Mary Schneider went all the way to Capitol Hill to make sure other parents could access the treatment for their own children. She volunteers her time to train parents about what to expect during the procedure and the following months. She lobbied for federal funding for all types of stem cell research, hoping to receive grant money for parents who cannot afford the infusion their children need. Making speeches with Senator Brownback, Mary was in the East Room when Bush vetoed H.R. 810. Five minutes before his announcement she had urged him not to veto the bill that would have expanded funding for blastocystic stem cell research. Then she sat in silent protest as the president vetoed the bill.

If you want to bank your child’s cord blood, you have a choice of private or public banking options. Private banks will insure (for a fee) that your child’s cord blood will be available whenever it is called for. Public banks do not charge for cord blood, but it is considered a donation to society and may be used by others who need it. Therefore, your child’s stem cells may not be available after the first year or two. Since a typical pregnancy produces more stem cells than are typically taken by private banks, some families are donating cord blood to both private and public banks. Consult your doctor to help you with this decision.

Embryonic (Blastocyst) Stem Cells

Adult stem cells contain more DNA abnormalities caused by sunlight and environmental and other toxins. Because there is a greater margin for errors when making DNA copies of adult stem cells, scientists have looked to another source of stem cells—those created in vitro (outside the body). We’ll see in a moment why the term “human embryonic stem cells” (hESC) used by the media is misleading when referring to these in vitro cultured cells.

The in vitro process is used to assist couples who have difficulty becoming pregnant through the natural method. Let’s suppose a couple goes to a lab for fertility assistance. Both partners would donate their reproductive seeds (sperm and ova). The male donates ejaculate material. The female must be heavily sedated while a needle is inserted vaginally to extract eggs from the ovary. The lab successfully fertilizes three eggs for the couple. We now have three zygotes that begin to develop into a morula, then a blastocyst.

A few days after fertilization, the blastocyst is introduced into the woman’s uterus and the other two are frozen while the couple waits to see if conception will occur. You may be wondering why the sperm and egg are not frozen separately instead of being united first. A fertilized egg has a much better chance of surviving the freezing process than an unfertilized egg.

The success rate for implantation is about 40% nationwide for women under age thirty-five. If a pregnancy is not achieved, the couple may try again at the appropriate time of the woman’s menstrual cycle using another blastocyst they have deposited. Each attempt costs approximately $10,000 to $15,000. Let’s say the couple conceives after one try and there are two blastocysts remaining in the lab. Now comes the question, “What would you like the lab to do with the leftover blastocysts?”

The couple presently has four choices:

Pay to have the cells preserved for another attempt at pregnancy a few years down the road (although the shelf life of a frozen blastocyst is not eternal).
Simply throw them away if they do not plan to have any more children.
Let them be used for research in privately-funded labs.
Give them up for surrogate adoption. A couple with a low sperm count may have the donated blastocyst implanted into their fertile womb and raise the baby as their own.
Many couples actually abandon their leftover blastocysts and leave them at the fertility clinic. In such cases the clinic has no choice but to discard the leftovers.

The field of blastocyst stem cell research is yet to be fully explored due to U.S. government restrictions and the fact that it receives very little public funding due to controversy. Many believe this type of research holds even greater promise than adult stem cells due to the plasticity of the undifferentiated cells.

Ruth R. Faden, Wagley professor of biomedical ethics at Johns Hopkins University, co-wrote an essay with John D. Gearhart, C. Michael Armstrong professor at Johns Hopkins Medicine. Together they report:

As much as we might wish it to be otherwise, no non-embryonic sources of stem cells—not stem cells from cord blood or from any “adult” sources—have been shown to have anything like the potential to lead us to viable treatments for such diseases as juvenile diabetes, Parkinson’s and spinal cord injury that stem cells derived from very early embryos do. The science here is unequivocal: Access to embryonic stem cell lines is essential to rapid progress in stem cell research.1

Most scientists believe that research on these stem cells offers the most promise because these stem cells are totipotent, which means they are able to replicate themselves and become any type of cell in the body. Mouse and baboon models prove the concept of “trans-differentiation” or “plasticity” of stem cells—the ability to differentiate into multiple cell types. This is what enables stem cells to replenish themselves and repair tissues in the body. Adult stem cells do not offer the same promise because they are somatic or limited and can only develop into the type of cells found in the organ from which they are taken. Additionally, not all adult organs contain stem cells; therefore not all organs can be regenerated by using adult stem cells. Recent reports show that adult stem cells lose plasticity or shut down to avoid becoming cancerous during the aging process. The mechanisms by which older stem cells shut themselves down was better understood when a gene called ink4a was discovered. Ink4a has been found to interfere with the ability of older stem cells to transform into several different types of tissue. This explains why adult stem cells are not adequate to regenerate the parts of the body damaged by Parkinson’s or diabetes.

Science does not yet understand how individual parts form during embryogeny. For example, at a certain stage, the eye looks like a glob of skin cells, but when the tissue behind the eye comes in contact with the skin layer where the eye is going to be, there is an interaction that causes the skin cells to become an eye. We have to understand the chemical conditions, creative signals, and the precise interaction of each and every organ before we can determine why a liver becomes a liver and why a pancreas becomes a pancreas in the embryonic stages of development. There is a huge division of embryology at Vanderbilt University Medical Center that is studying this entire field because it has very important therapeutic implications. Dr. Jagasia states:

“You can’t just take a stem cell and unite it with a liver cell or kidney cell and expect it to automatically grow into a new liver. You have to study the conditions and come up with a cocktail of chemicals that are prevalent in the liver or kidney cell and make it look and act like a liver or kidney cell. That will take years and years of research to figure out. Most of the cocktails are available to make a stem cell into a nerve cell or bone marrow cell or a skin cell, but the question is, is that skin cell going to match up with the rest of the skin on the patient’s body? Is it going to form a glob or is it going to be smooth, flat skin? With precise technology, we can make a stem cell become a liver cell, but we cannot guarantee that the new liver cell will connect perfectly with the liver cell next to it. What we don’t want is a glob of liver cells because that is what we call a tumor. We want a perfectly normal organ. The making of a brain cell from a stem cell has to work in symphony with the cells around it. You can’t have a brain cell doing whatever it wants to in one part of the brain or you will have the part of the brain that controls movement, telling an arm or other part of the body to talk.

“Scientists can make frogs with three eyes by manipulating the gene so it receives a signal that cells in a certain place should become an eye. It is not the tissues or mass of cells which will become an eye; it is the interaction of the cells with the skin that will force it to become an eye. The mesoderm is the middle of the three cell layers in an embryo. The visceral organs—the liver, spleen, pancreas, intestines—as well as connective tissue, muscle, blood vessels, bone, muscle and the heart develop from this group of cells. If you look at the vascular system in its early stages, it is just one tube. Why does the tube double up and triple up to become the heart here and stay a tube elsewhere? These are fascinating questions we must be able to answer before we can do embryonic implants on humans. Since we haven’t been able to start doing human research, we don’t know what the obstacles are. We just don’t know what will happen when a manipulated cell is introduced into the human body, and we don’t have the funds for the research needed to find out. Even if stem cell research were unlimited today, it would be a couple of decades before we could reach our dream of being able to make a stem cell into a liver and insure that an organized and predictable outcome will be achieved.

“Stem cells are a fascinating group of cells. We can take a patient and blast them with marrow stem cells from a donor at age twenty and have it last a lifetime. If we have been able to perfect that technology using cord blood and bone marrow stem cells to cure cancer and other disorders, there is even more potential with embryonic stem cells that needs to be explored. The hypothesis needs to be tested and it’s very likely that if we start testing thirty things, we may get lucky in one.

“Stem cells are very robust and it’s tough to manipulate them. They don’t like to be poked on or injected and they like certain temperatures and conditions. On one hand they are finicky but on the other they are very strong. When we inject stem cells via bone marrow transplants after using chemo, the patients who survive recover to live normal lives with normal blood counts for the rest of their lives. If we have this type of success using our present technology, you have to believe that using stem cells from blastocysts or embryos would have an even greater potential to expand our ability to cure disease.

“Bone marrow transplant technology was discovered and started being used almost three decades ago. The problem with donor match and recipient rejection remains a problem today, so we are still not 100 percent successful in this technology. If we hadn’t had laboratory mice and the ability to play with stem cells thirty or forty years ago, we would not have this technology today. With embryonic stem cells, we’ve not even reached the starting block.

“If embryonic stem cell research were funded today, it would still need to be in a very controlled environment with ethical, moral, and social investigators with good oversight from protective committees involved. Since there are so many unknowns about this technology, we don’t know what to expect. We should start with larger animals. A larger animal is much more similar to a human that a rat is.”

Some people believe adult stem cells can be used in the same way as embryonic stem cells, but, as I mentioned earlier, this is not true due to the lack of plasticity of adult cells. Adult stem cells are “fixed” in what they will become and cannot develop into another type of cell. The research done on blastocyst stem cells may very well provide the solution for the shortage of organs needed for those on transplant waiting lists. And the great part is that no one has to die in the process! However, the science is still young and trials on humans have not been completed in every area.

There are still many uncertainties with blastocystic stem cell research that need to be practiced on animals before being introduced to humans. The doors for blastocystic stem cell research in the U.S. are unlocked, but the American government still has its hand on the doorknob. Without federal funds, this area of biological study will not open as quickly or as easily as the research on adult stem cells.

In no way do I suggest we abandon the research and technology for adult stem cells. Instead, the study of blastocyst stem cells should be added to the viable and advanced adult stem cell therapies, which have already proven useful in drug development and for treatment of leukemia, osteopetrosis, heart muscle restoration, and other ailments.