Decades-Old Mystery of Red Blood Cell Production Finally Solved

Amazing stuff! This could be a breakthrough! 

Remember famous professional road racing cyclist Lance Armstrong winning the Tour de France seven times? Perhaps, we can all get doped soon? 😊

"To get life-giving oxygen into every cell, the human body produces two to three million oxygen-carrying red blood cells, or erythrocytes, each second – about one-quarter of all the new cells that are produced in the body at any one time. This process is controlled by the hormone erythropoietin, commonly known as EPO, which works by binding to cells in the bone marrow that are poised to become erythrocytes, promoting their proliferation. Erythropoietin was discovered decades ago, but the identity of the cells that make this hormone remained unknown – until now.
In a new paper, ... scientists ... have identified a rare subset of kidney cells that are the main producers of EPO in the human body. The researchers named them Norn cells, after the mythological Norse creatures believed to spin the threads of fate. The discovery has transformative potential for patients with anemia....
EPO is probably most famous – or infamous – for its illegal use as a doping agent in sports, most notably by the cyclist Lance Armstrong, who took a synthetic version of the hormone to cheat his way to seven consecutive Tour de France wins. ..."

From the abstract:

"Erythropoietin (Epo) is the master regulator of erythropoiesis and oxygen homeostasis. Despite its physiological importance, the molecular and genomic contexts of the cells responsible for renal Epo production remain unclear, limiting more-effective therapies for anemia. Here, we performed single-cell RNA and transposase-accessible chromatin (ATAC) sequencing of an Epo reporter mouse to molecularly identify Epo-producing cells under hypoxic conditions. Our data indicate that a distinct population of kidney stroma, which we term Norn cells, is the major source of endocrine Epo production in mice. We use these datasets to identify the markers, signaling pathways and transcriptional circuits characteristic of Norn cells. Using single-cell RNA sequencing and RNA in situ hybridization in human kidney tissues, we further provide evidence that this cell population is conserved in humans. These preliminary findings open new avenues to functionally dissect EPO gene regulation in health and disease and may serve as groundwork to improve erythropoiesis-stimulating therapies."

Decades-Old Mystery of Red Blood Cell Production Finally Solved - Life Sciences | Weizmann Wonder Wander - News, Features and Discoveries Identifying the cells producing the hormone EPO may lead to the development of new therapies for treating anemia resulting from kidney disease and other conditions

The transcriptional and regulatory identity of erythropoietin producing cells (no public access)

Kidney tissue of a person who died of smoke inhalation (carbon monoxide poisoning), viewed under a microscope. Markers reveal the kidney cell nuclei (blue), EPO (green) and fibroblasts (purple). On the right: The combination of different markers points to EPO-producing Norn cells (white arrows) that were discovered in the study

Lance Armstrong - A Pyrrhic Victory By The Anti Doping Crusaders

 Prior Blog Posts On This Subject

I wrote previously about Lance Armstrong (here, here) and Doping.

Armstrong Finally Confessed

Now so many people came out in the media to say what a miserable character Mr. Armstrong is after he confessed in public having taken performance enhancing drugs etc.

A Pyrrhic Victory By The Anti Doping Zealots

To summarize what I have written before the Anti Doping Crusaders had zeroed in and targeted this superstar of bicycling for many years. They were out there to set an example. Given the presumed widespread use of doping in professional bicycling and being targeted by anti doping zealots, I kind of understand Mr. Armstrong’s position of denial.

Anti Doping Is A Grand Delusion

Like Prohibition! Humans have always tried to improve their performance by whatever means in order to achieve their goals or to be more competitive. Humans don’t take it well when they are being told to change their lives by an authority.

We expect professional athletes to be flawless role models. We expect them to compete pure and untainted like Adam and Eve. We idealize them like the Noble Savage.

What Is Wrong With Doping?

Provocatively, I would say nothing as long as performance enhancing is done voluntary and by mutual consent of adults under the rule of law.

We all may very well one day benefit when athletes reasonably experiment with performance enhancement.

Human Bodies & Brains Will Go Far Beyond Biological Evolution

I expect tremendous changes coming to the human body and brain beginning in a few years as we continue our journey of unprecedented exponential scientific and technological advances. Human bodies and brains will soon be unrecognizable compared to what nature and biological evolution provided in the past.

Lance Armstrong: A Victim Of Presumption Of Guilt

I have previously written a blog on Lance Armstrong’sdoping accusations.

Executive Summary

According to the antidoping vigilantes of our time an exceptional athlete like Lance Armstrong could not have won without doping. Period! All they have to do is to prove it no matter what it takes and how long it takes.

What is worse smart, exceptional and average athletes who use some form of performance enhancement undetectable at the time or antidoping vigilantes who do not mind using questionable or even illegal means to harass such athletes over years? This is when antidoping becomes zealotry.

Vigilantes Obsessed With Doping

What happened to Lance Armstrong is a warning to any exceptional athlete: Anti doping zealots will come after you until you surrender and admit under duress that you did it. It is a modern, high tech witch hunt.

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Mr. Armstrong underwent so many investigations into doping allegations. Over the past three years he was subjected to an inconclusive federal criminal investigation, then followed by US Anti Doping Agency (USADA). How many times or how often and over how many years does an athlete have to be subjected to this kind of treatment?

“While USADA and some independent hematologists who have seen the data say they suggest that Mr. Armstrong was doping, other experts cited by Mr. Armstrong argue that all the fluctuations in the contents of Mr. Armstrong's blood are well within the normal range for an athlete.

Although some athletes have been sanctioned and banned based on these long-term blood tests, they are open to subjective interpretation and scientists often disagree on whether to bring doping cases against athletes based on such results.” (Wall Street Journal article dated 8/25/2012. Emphasis added)

Anti Doping Zealots Used Illegal Or Questionable Methods

Lance Armstrong is reported to have passed over 500 anti doping tests or more during his career. A Swiss laboratory refused to go along …

Here is a relevant excerpt from a Wall Street Journal article dated 8/25/2012 (Emphasis added):

“The new test, … if perfected, it could detect a molecule contained in blood bags that would only be present in the system of a person who had taken a transfusion.

The scientists, who worked for various antidoping organizations around the world, approached … the Swiss-based International Cycling Union, or UCI, with a plan, … They would get a sample of Mr. Armstrong's blood during the race, freeze it at a doping lab, and after the test was perfected, use it to determine whether he had cheated.

But the Swiss lab that handles Tour drug testing declined to participate, … because the plan, which also targeted other top riders, didn't follow the drug-testing protocols set forth in the antidoping code that governs the sport”

“In 2004, researchers from a French laboratory that had performed Tour de France drug tests, working on their own, retested dozens of preserved samples from the 1999 Tour. They were testing for EPO, which hadn't been detectable at the time.  … six of the samples that belonged to Mr. Armstrong showed the presence of the blood-boosting drug.

In response …, the UCI opened an independent investigation. Less than a year later, a report commissioned by the UCI said that the tests shouldn't have been conducted at all and couldn't be acted upon because they weren't performed according to the organization's official drug-testing protocols, which are mandated for all Olympic sports by the World Anti-Doping Agency.

Mr. Armstrong vigorously denied taking the drug during the race, questioned the validity of the tests and said the samples could have been tainted.”

Lance Armstrong In His Own Words

In a statement, Mr. Armstrong called the process "one-sided and unfair," and said there was "zero physical evidence" that he had cheated. "The bottom line is I played by the rules that were put in place by the UCI, WADA and USADA when I raced"

"The idea that athletes can be convicted today without positive…samples, under the same rules and procedures that apply to athletes with positive tests, perverts the system,"

What About The Other Athletes Who Competed With Lance Armstrong?

Have his competitors received the same kind of attention by these antidoping vigilantes? Did these anti doping zealots also run the same kind of extensive and ex post facto tests on the competitors of Lance Armstrong? I doubt it. What if his competitors did about the same doping or even other kinds as Mr. Armstrong is accused of? In this case would his competitors be punished in the same way?

The Dilemma Of Performance Enhancing Drugs

Athletes & Students

The long struggle to ban and detect performance-enhancing drugs in athletes is well known. A large number of top athletes from many different countries in all kinds of disciplines have been implicated, punished, or disqualified. Olympic gold medals had to be returned. It’s a cat and mouse game.

In recent times, students were reported to take performance enhancing drugs to increase their odds to pass examinations, or to enhance their memory or concentration etc.

Is Human History Any Guidance

History is full of examples where performance enhancing drugs were involved: Soldiers since ancient times were given or have taken drugs so they lose fear or feel no pain; many artists experimented with all kinds of drugs to explore visions, emotions, perceptions etc.; shamans, or medicine men have taken drugs to have better visions or make better predictions etc. I am sure, there many more examples.

Why Do We Object?

Why do we object so strongly to such drugs? Because they provide an unfair advantage; or we want sports to be an ideal contest between pure humans, clean and untainted; are we concerned about the health of those who take the drugs; or are we concerned that young people would ruin their health etc.

Acceptance In Our Daily Lifes

But do we not widely accept coffee which could also be seen as a performance enhancing drug. Do we not accept cosmetic surgery as a means to make our body look better? Do we accept laser surgery for our eyes sometimes in the hope we will have better than 20/20 vision or better visual acuity than with glasses? What about drugs to counter so called erectile dysfunction? Do men really only take this drug because they are incapable of erection?

External Vs. Internal Performance Enhancement

Do we not accept that every so often equipment or clothing of athletes become better due to advances in technology and material science? So if material things outside the body of an athlete improve they are usually approved, however we take a very different position when an athlete seeks to enhance his own body or mind even though every athlete can choose for him/herself to do the same.

What about modern prosthesis? In particular, cheetah prosthetic legs? Will there be a runner with such prosthesis at the upcoming London Olympic Games in 2012?

The Human Quest For Self Improvement

I would posit that the human quest for self-improvement is unstoppable. Competing athletes will try anything they can to win, this is part of the competition. If I do not take it, the other guy will.

If there was a drug out there that, e.g., improves memory and when taken properly was not a risk to someone’s health, why should we not take this drug. Or how about a drug that improves eyesight or physical endurance? This same argument could be extended to other drugs.

I would further posit that the advances of medicine and biology will soon deliver more drugs that can enhance our performance in much more targeted or specific ways. It is quite conceivable that in the not so distant future performance enhancing drugs will become part of everyday life.

The human-computer interface is already around the corner. How about brain interfaces with the computing cloud? Well, that is enormous performance enhancing without drugs.

What remains: Teenagers or young adults may require permits or prohibitions like alcohol. Medical guidance should probably be required for adolescents and recommended for adults.

This is a Brave New World!

The Hunt For Lance Armstrong

Nagging Questions

How many times has Lance Armstrong been accused of doping? By how many different agencies etc.?

Is there no statute of limitations for former athletes?

When is an athlete ultimately acquitted?

Notice Of Allegations

Lance Armstrong is the only athlete accused of doping in the notice of allegations dated 6/13/2012 by the U.S. Anti Doping Agency (USADA). The other five individuals named were doctors and staff of the former US Postal Service professional cycling team. As of today (6/15/12), the reportedly 15 page long notice of allegations is not yet published on the USADA website.

Does The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency Have Legal Standing?

According to their website, the USDA’s mission is “… the national anti-doping organization for the Olympic movement in the United States. The U.S. Congress recognized USADA as "the official anti-doping agency for Olympic, Pan American and Paralympic sport in the United States." (emphasis added).

Did the US Postal Service professional cycling team with Lance Armstrong ever compete in any of the above mentioned sport events? I might be wrong, but I believe this is not the case. Thus, what is the authority of the USDA regarding Lance Armstrong? I am not an attorney, but if I was one I would look into it.

Well, perhaps the USDA considers Lance Armstrong to be competing in the Paralympic sports category as a cancer survivor.

What Motivates The U.S. Anti Doping Agency?

I think, the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency is doped, duped and has ulterior motives!

Bravo! Californians Reject Tobacco Tax Increase

A Supposedly Good Cause And 
Prominent Supporters Was Not Enough

Common sense prevailed!

Reuters News reports that Californian voters narrowly rejected Proposition 29, which would have raised the current tax of $0.87 by $1 to $1.87 (a 114% increase) for each packet of cigarettes. However, final results will not be in before early July.

The revenue raised from Proposition 29, estimated to be $735 million annually, would be used to fund cancer prevention and research initiatives.

Mr. Bloomberg was reported to have donated half a million dollar to advance this proposition. Lance Armstrong, a testicular not lung cancer survivor, promoted it with about $1.5. million

Smokers As Easy Prey

As if smokers have not already been hunted like witches for decades. Even if all smoking voters (about 14% of California’s adult population) and their families had objected, the much larger majority of non-smokers could have easily defeated them (tyranny of the majority).

Why should smokers be singled out to fund cancer research?

Who will be the next group to be so targeted?

If you want to make smokers pay, e.g. raise health insurance premiums.

Timing Is Everything

The ballot took place at a minor election date, which likely contributed to low voter turnout.

Sin Taxes Are Sin

Any tax that is as narrowly defined as a tobacco tax or alcohol tax ought to be abolished. Many of them are arbitrary and the result of particular historical events.

Sin taxes are highly regressive and have little purported effect. On the contrary, e.g. high alcohol taxes promote dangerous, unhealthy moon shining.