  Gamma-Beams at the HIgS facility in the USA and anticipated at the ELI-NP
facility, now constructed in Romania, present unique new opportunities to
advance research in nuclear astrophysics; not the least of which is resolving
open questions in oxygen formation during stellar helium burning via a precise
measurement of the 12C(a,g) reaction. Time projection chamber (TPC) detectors
operating with low pressure gas (as an active target) are ideally suited for
such studies. We review the progress of the current research program and plans
for the future at the HI{\gamma}S facility with the optical readout TPC (O-TPC)
and the development of an electronic readout TPC for the ELI-NP facility
(ELITPC).
