Mashable, the online go-to source for information on digital and social media, has declared today, June 30, to be social media day. We're celebrating with a who's who of those promoting stem cell science through social media and a comment on why social media is such a valuable tool for science education. First, why social … Continue reading Happy social media day, stem cell fans

Amidst the political and media back and forth on the ethics and value of human embryonic stem cell research there's been little information available about what people actually think — For what purposes they find the use of embryonic stem cells appropriate and how they form those opinions. This month a group of researchers from … Continue reading Majority of Americans support using stem cells to treat serious disease

Last December CIRM grantee Renee Reijo Pera spoke to the CIRM governing board about her work identifying which in vitro fertilization embryos were most likely to result in a successful pregnancy (you can watch that video here). That work has resulted in a patent to Stanford University, with an exclusive license to Menlo Park-based Auxogyn, … Continue reading In vitro fertilization technique receives patent

Last week's big news at CIRM was the election of Jonathan Thomas as the new governing board chair, as we announced late Wednesday night. He will be replacing Robert Klein, who has served the agency since its inception in 2004. Not that anyone can replace Klein, exactly, but Thomas seems eager to step in and … Continue reading Origin of lung mucus glands found, insights for cystic fibrosis, asthma

Last week my three year old scraped up the entire left side of his face. Today, there's barely a trace of the injury. That's the glory of three year old skin, or more precisely, the glory of three year old stem cells.Erin Allday at the San Francisco Chronicle had a story last week about the … Continue reading On stem cells, aging and hopes for spryer golden years

This past year, CIRM scientists made significant progress toward new therapies. Several disease teams showed that their approach is likely to be effective and they are likely to be reaching clinical trials on target in the next few years. Other groups made progress in understanding how embryonic stem cells form adult cells and tissues and … Continue reading Stories of hope and scientific progress in the CIRM Annual Report

CIRM grantee Robert Blelloch of the University of California, San Francisco won the 2011 Outstanding Young Investigator Award from the International Society for Stem Cell Research. The society's annual meeting is taking place now in Toronto. Blelloch presented his research June 15 at 6pm and will participate in a press briefing at noon June 16. … Continue reading CIRM grantee Robert Blelloch wins ISSCR Outstanding Young Investigator Award

The annual meeting of the International Society for Stem Cell Research is Mecca for the hardcore stem cell research community. The next four days will be filled with intense and detailed discussions of all of the molecular details of how stem cells work--details we need to understand to move stem cells into the clinic effectively … Continue reading ISSCR public symposium: Hope, passion and restraint for stem cell clinical trials

Today stem cell scientists and patient advocates are descending on Toronto for the annual meeting of the International Society for Stem Cell Research. Among those registering and preparing for three days of science is Don Reed, who is one of 20 patient advocates who received a CIRM stipend to attend.  On his blog today, Reed … Continue reading CIRM sends Patient advocates to international stem cell meeting

Last week The Scientist carried a story addressing a topic near and dear to the heart of anyone trying to develop a therapy based on transplanting stem cells, whether they are embryonic, adult, or iPS cells: Where do the cells go once they are transplanted?The problem is this — if you, as a scientist, transplant … Continue reading Techniques for tracking stem cells necessary for possible therapies