David Stephan, convicted in son’s death, removed from “wellness” expo lineup
A new, cheaper microscope developed at a university in British Columbia has the potential to rapidly accelerate research on molecules, scientists say.
The mini-radio centrifuge force microscope is designed to test the strength of molecules and can complete a decade’s worth of experiments in a matter of days, said Nancy Forde, a physics professor at Simon Fraser University in Burnaby.
It also comes with an appealing price tag. The new microscope costs only $500 to build, compared with $150,000 for similar devices.
“There are just so many questions we’re able to answer now at a much faster rate,” Forde said. “It’s phenomenal.”
Forde’s research focuses on DNA and collagen molecules, the building block of tissue and skin.
Better understanding collagen allows researchers to develop solutions for health issues involving the molecule, Forde said.
But experiments for her research have long been onerous tasks, with previous equipment only allowing for the testing of two molecules per day.
Now that’s changing, thanks to the new microscope built by Mike Kirkness, a molecular biology and biochemistry PhD student at Simon Fraser University.
A study published this month in Biophysical Journal shows Kirkness was able to do 10,000 experiments in a matter of days with the new device.
The hand-sized portable and wireless microscope is much easier to work with than table-sized devices it was designed to emulate, Kirkness said.
Unlike microscopes most people imagine in science labs or classrooms, the mini-radio centrifuge force microscope doesn’t use light and slides because molecules are too small to see with that type of technology.
Instead, researchers place their choice molecule into a chamber in the device and add microscopic beads of other chemicals that tether the molecule to the glass chamber like a ball and chain, Kirkness explained.
The microscope is then placed in a centrifuge, a machine found in most labs that has a bucket that spins samples at a rapid speed.
A wireless camera built into the microscope sends an image to a computer so researchers can watch in real time the effect of applying force from the spinning and how the molecules are pulled apart, Kirkness said.
The device will have a big impact on researchers’ ability to do new screening tests on molecules and cells, Forde said.
In order for these experiments to work, scientists need a clear image of the molecule as the force applied to it increases, she said.
“What the microscope is really excellent at is maintaining this imaging plane even at extremely high forces,” Forde explained.
The images generated don’t have the same high-quality resolution that table-sized devices offer, but the new microscope’s efficiency and cost make up for the shortcomings, Kirkness said.
“The benefit is that it’s quite reasonably easy to use and we can do a lot of multiplex experiments ... at the same time,” he said.
Instructions on how to build the microscope have been published in Biophysical Journal and Kirkness said all of the parts required for it are relatively easy to buy.
The researchers said they have already been contacted by scientists across North America who are interested in building their own devices.
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Natural Resources Minister Jim Carr says the government will not entertain any attempts by British Columbia to stall or stop the expansion of the Trans Mountain pipeline.
Carr is responding to a Conservative motion calling on the government to use every tool at its disposal to get the pipeline built and report to Parliament on its plans by Feb. 15.
Carr says the Conservatives are trying to manufacture a crisis and that B.C. is very aware Canada can and will do what it takes to exert its authority to have the pipeline built.
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A national grocery chain said Sunday that it’s no longer a sponsor of a series of “wellness” expositions where a man convicted in the death of his toddler was listed as a featured speaker.
Sobeys had been sponsoring the Health and Wellness Expos of Canada, which on Sunday morning listed David Stephan as a speaker at events this month and next in Saskatoon, Winnipeg, Calgary and Edmonton.
In an emailed statement, a spokeswoman said the company couldn’t support the organizers’ decision to host Stephan as a speaker.
By Sunday afternoon, his name
Conservative natural resources critic Shannon Stubbs, however, says the government has been all talk and no action to this point and fears the government is happy to let the project die.
Kinder Morgan’s proposal to triple the capacity of the AlbertaB.C. pipeline hit a new snag last month when the B.C. government suggested it planned to restrict the flow of additional oil while it studies its oil-spill readiness.
Carr says all B.C. has done thus far is announce a plan to consult its residents about whether more research is needed, and that nothing has been done that should stop the construction of the $7.4-billion pipeline expansion. was removed from the expo’s website and links to the events’ schedules no longer worked.
“He’s no longer involved with our company in any way, shape or form,” said Rick Thiessen, the expo’s owner, when reached by phone on Sunday.
In 2016, Stephan and his wife were both found guilty of failing to provide the necessaries of life in their son Ezekiel’s 2012 death from bacterial meningitis.
Their trial in Lethbridge, Alta., heard they treated the 19-monthold boy with garlic, onion and horseradish rather than taking him to a doctor. The Stephans eventually called 911, but the little boy died in hospital.
Stephan was sentenced to four months in prison. The Alberta Court of Appeal upheld the couple’s conviction in November, but because the ruling wasn’t unanimous they had an automatic right to have the Supreme Court hear arguments in the case.
Their case is scheduled to be heard by the Supreme Court of Canada in May.
Some people took to Twitter to call on Sobeys to pull its support of the expo, given Stephan’s involvement.
Sobeys spokeswoman Cynthia Thompson said the company won’t be associated with any future Health and Wellness Expo events. The expo website previously said that Stephan works for a “research-based” organization that offers “nutrient supplementation” in an effort to improve brain and thyroid function.
Thiessen said he had no knowledge of the Stephans’ conviction until Saturday, when a post on the expo company’s Facebook page criticized his inclusion.
Stephan, who now lives in Nelson, B.C., took to Facebook on Sunday and posted a 25-minute video where he linked the online attacks to “trolls” he said were supported by the pharmaceutical industry.
He also said facts about his son’s death, including how it was caused, were falsely reported by the media during the trial.
“I don’t know if it has anything to do with the fact the pharmacetical industry is a major funder of the media because of adver-