The Canadian Stem Cell Network posted an interesting item on their blog today about the relationship between stem cells and our sleep/wake cycle (also called the circadian rhythm). David Kent, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Cambridge, writes about the work, which was published online in Nature November 9:The group of Salvador Aznar Benitah … Continue reading Mess with the body’s clock, mess with stem cells

Geoff Lomax is CIRM's Senior Officer to the Standards Working Group The history of technology tells us that the first strategy is rarely the one that sticks. One of my favorite examples involves the English clock maker John Harris, whose many iterations of marine chronometers revolutionized sea travel. (His story is recounted in Dava Sobel’s … Continue reading Clocks & stem cells: Time and tinkering to develop the best embryonic stem cells

Each month CIRM President Alan Trounson gives his perspective on recently published papers he thinks will be valuable in moving the field of stem cell research forward. This month’s report, along with an archive of past reports, is available on the CIRM website. This month’s literature produced a number of studies that can be glibly … Continue reading Guest blogger Alan Trounson — November’s stem cell research highlights

Jeff Sheehy is director for communications at the AIDS Research Institute at UCSF, and a member of the CIRM governing board. Two articles in major newspapers—the New York Times and London's Financial Times—are highlighting the growing movement advocating for research towards a cure for HIV in the lead up to World AIDS Day on December … Continue reading World AIDS Day 2011 — Buzz about a Cure for HIV, CIRM Leading

In La Jolla, stem cell scientists, companies and investors are engaging in a series of CIRM-sponsored get-to-know-you meetings as part of the first ever partnering forum in conjunction with the annual Stem Cell Meeting on the Mesa. These meetings are part of CIRM's ramped-up efforts to help scientists overcome obstacles on the path to clinical … Continue reading CIRM helping stem cell scientists and investors pair up