According to a story in The Guardian, Japanese officials are considering blood-forming stem cell transplants in workers exposed to high radiation levels. They write:The proposal has been drawn up as a precautionary measure that could potentially save the lives of workers if they receive high doses of radiation while battling to bring the damaged nuclear … Continue reading Blood-forming stem cells for Japanese nuclear workers?

It sounds like the Minnesota senate could use a little help from CIRM's Stem Cell Basics as they debate a proposed ban on… well, they aren't really sure what it's on. Reproductive cloning? Therapeutic cloning? Stem cell research?  (Hint, reproductive cloning creates a new human — CIRM, the California constitution and all states actively supporting … Continue reading Legislating science without scientists = confusion

A group in Greece has found that transplants of blood-forming stem cells in the bone marrow can treat some patients with multiple sclerosis. That work, published in the journal Neurology, could one day help the 400,000 Americans and 2.1 million people worldwide have MS (from the National MS Society).The key here is "one day." Stem … Continue reading Blood-forming stem cells treat advanced stage of MS

At CIRM we routinely get emails and phone calls from patients desperately seeking clinical trials for themselves or for family members. With all the talk about future stem cell cures, it only makes sense that people would be looking to stem cells for help.CIRM doesn't maintain our own list of stem cell-based trials. Instead, we've … Continue reading Finding stem cell clinical trials made easier

CIRM grantees at UC Davis have begun a trial that, if successful, could help prevent some amputations caused by blockages in the blood vessels. Jan Nolta, who is director of the UC Davis Stem Cell Program and Institute for Regenerative Cures, came to CIRM offices last year and spoke about the animal studies that led … Continue reading CIRM grantees begin testing stem cells to prevent amputations

In Minnesota, legislation has been introduced that would essentially ban forms of basic stem cell research by defining nuclear transfer as "human cloning." Just to get one thing perfectly clear: CIRM plays a leadership role in opposing human reproductive cloning. The California constitution, CIRM regulations and all other states that are actively supporting stem cell … Continue reading Ban reproductive cloning not stem cell research

Our colleagues at Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute have a post today on their excellent blog about work by CIRM grantee Alexey Turskikh, published in a recent issue of PLoS ONE. The teams work is another example of how embryonic stem cells can help scientists understand early events in development. The team has been interested in … Continue reading Stem cells reveal elusive developmental steps, origins of disease

Irish stem cell scientists may be wearing a gloomy shade of green this year on St. Patrick's Day. February elections brought to power the Fine Gael party, which opposes human embryonic stem cell research.The country's scientists had been working without clear stem cell guidance when the previous government — which had been supportive of biomedical … Continue reading Not-so-happy St. Patrick’s day for Irish stem cell scientists

We've posted quite a bit about the Geron trial testing an embryonic stem cell-derived therapy for spinal cord injury. Now Palo Alto-based StemCells Inc has started a trial in Switzerland testing a tissue-specific stem cell therapy. The company announced that they'll be enrolling 12 people who have no feeling below their injury in this initial … Continue reading A second stem cell trial for spinal cord injury

This week marks Brain Awareness Week, with events worldwide to bring people up to speed on brain research. I went to the cool search tool on the Dana Foundation web site and found that several CIRM grantees are hosting events this week. That makes sense, given that roughly a quarter of our funding goes to … Continue reading Stem cell progress on brain awareness week