Here are some stem cell stories that caught our eye this past week. Some are groundbreaking science, others are of personal interest to us, and still others are just fun.Role of blood vessels in diabetes. I have been a skeptic of the few reports that have come out suggesting mesenchymal stem cells, the second type … Continue reading Stem cell stories that caught our eye: diabetes, Down Syndrome and the long road to gene therapy

Early this year our Governing Board approved funding for nine awards to create a stem cell bank to be located at the Buck Institute for Research on Aging just north of San Francisco (here's our press release). The San Francisco Chronicle’s Erin Allday recently wrote about the bank, which will eventually contain 9,000 stem cell … Continue reading California stem cell bank will save time, speed research

The axolotl's ability to regrow limbs make it widely studied by scientists hoping to understand regeneration and perhaps mimic the process for healing injuries in people. (Photo: wikimedia commons)Yes, it’s true; the axolotl is an oddly adorable salamander but it is its ability to regrow complex structures like the legs, tail, retina and spinal cord … Continue reading Does the immune system hold the key to re-growing limbs? Ask the axolotl

Blurring at the center of vision in macular degenerationThe very first time a potential therapy gets tested in people it’s part of what’s called a phase 1 trial, which is very small and is mostly just testing to make sure the drug, cells or device are even safe. Until the start of a trial the … Continue reading Early phase stem cell trials show promise in stroke and blindness

Image from the NIHNature ran a great profile of our grantee Karl Deisseroth, who has a New Faculty Award to develop ways of controlling neurons derived from stem cells. He's the Stanford bioengineer who recently made such a splash with his see-through brain (that's the technology on display in this most awesome video ever). Deisseroth's … Continue reading Karl Deisseroth profile: using light to control neurons, understand brain diseases

CIRM President Alan TrounsonPatt Morrison of the L.A. Times had a wide-ranging conversation with CIRM President Alan Trounson, which appears in today's paper. The conversation included cell lines generated from cloning, personal attacks during his work developing IVF technology and conflicts of interest, among other topics.One of the things they discussed was the alpha clinic … Continue reading Alan Trounson on stem cell progress, new clinics and the pace of research

A three-dimensional, reconstructed magnetic resonance image (upper) shows a cavity caused by a spinal injury nearly filled with grafted neural stem cells, colored green. The lower image depicts neuronal outgrowth from transplanted human neurons (green) and development of putative contacts (yellow dots) with host neurons (blue). CIRM grantees at University of California, San Diego have … Continue reading CIRM grantees at UCSD use stem cell injections to improve spinal cord injuries in rats

Here are some stem cell stories that caught our eye this past week. Some are groundbreaking science, others are of personal interest to us, and still others are just fun.Roller coaster ride for a breakthrough. News that scientists in Oregon had finally made embryonic stem cells from cloned embryos ricocheted around the globe last week. … Continue reading Stem cell stories that caught our eye: ups and downs of cloning, another windpipe, and the value of fat

Dr. Claire Pomeroy, Dean of the UC Davis Medical School, receiving her proclamation at her final CIRM Board meetingI’m never bored at our Board meetings. There’s always something fascinating going on, and this time was no exception. I’m not just talking about the fact that at our meeting this week the Board approved $36 million … Continue reading Attracting the brightest, and saying goodbye to the best: Farewell to Claire Pomeroy

The words “breakthrough” and “revolutionary” are overused in the media for many stories, and particularly for medical ones, but it’s hard not to search for something powerful and descriptive when you hear how doctors in Ohio used a 3D printer to create a new windpipe that saved the life of a baby boy. (Here's a … Continue reading Doctors use 3D printer to create windpipe and save baby’s life