Disease in a dish, iPS, induced pluripotent cells, differentiation, Yamanaka factors, embryonic vs adult stem cells. Do you grapple with clearly understanding this stem cell jargon? Or maybe you’re a stem cell scientist who struggles to explain it? Well, then the animated video Drawn to Science: Stem Cells in Research is a must see for … Continue reading Are you jumbled up by stem cell jargon? This two minute animation is your new best friend.

Alexander RamosFile this research under “Clever uses for household junk.” In this case, that junk is in your DNA and the clever use is in building brain tissue.Our DNA contains long stretches of stuff that, because it didn’t immediately have a use, was originally classified as “junk”. This so-called junk DNA was thought to just … Continue reading Clever use for cellular junk: building the brain

Many folks in science toss around the term interdisciplinary pretty freely. But few put it into action as thoroughly as the organizers of the World Stem Cell Summit. This multi-track event will be coming to San Diego December 4-6. The official announcement is here.Now in its ninth year, the Summit has matured into a truly … Continue reading The stem cell conference designed for everyone is returning to California

Image courtesty of DBFansiteEvery week millions of people tune in to ‘American Idol’ to watch singers who have three minutes to impress Randy Jackson, Mariah Carey and the gang, and demonstrate that they have the talent to be a star. It’s tough, testing the performer’s ability to perform well in public, under pressure and still … Continue reading Move over J.Lo and Simon Cowell, scientists are the new American Idols

Diving and swooping through the neurons of an actual brain makes for what might be the most awesome video ever, created by Nature as part of their story on work by our grantees at Stanford University. Karl Deisseroth, whose work this is, has managed to preserve the intricate, intertwining mesh of connections in the brain … Continue reading Most awesome video ever dives and swoops through the structures of an actual brain

Students in the new stem cell research course at SFSU (photo from SFSU)Our friends at San Francisco State University have started a course that I wish every person could take: they are introducing non-science majors to the science and politics of stem cell biology. I love the idea of having non-scientists learn more about issues … Continue reading Non-science majors learning about stem cell research at San Francisco State @SFState_News

Clive Svendsen gives Stephen Hawking a tour of his Cedars-Sinai lab. (Photo: Cedars-Sinai, Eric Reed) Stephen Hawking’s most famous work involves black holes in the universe, but it became clear this morning that when he appears anywhere to speak, it is the opposite of a black hole. He visited the lab of a CIRM-funded team … Continue reading Physicist Hawking visits CIRM-funded lab working on ALS therapy

Alan Trounson is President of CIRMBob Edwards died April 10th in his sleep after a long illness. Bob was a friend, mentor, supporter and close associate for the vast majority of scientists interested in reproduction and infertility worldwide. He received the Nobel prize for medicine/physiology in 2010. Robert G. Edwards, father of IVF, 1925-2013 (Photo: … Continue reading Fond memories of working with Bob Edwards, the father of IVF

An international team of researchers recently reported a tantalizing, if very distant, possibility of being able to reset the appetite control switch in our brains. With an estimated 1.4 billion people overweight worldwide this could be a major boon to health and health care costs. In the U.S. alone weight related health issues cost more … Continue reading Stem cells discovered that might lead to on-off switch for appetite

We recently pulled together all our beautiful images of stem cells, patient advocates and snazzy science shots and created a virtual scrapbook on Pinterest. Pinterest has mainly been used as a way of collecting ideas for home projects or crafts, but in the past year it’s been picked up by scientific groups as a way … Continue reading Stem cell agency images and information now on Pinterest