Photo by Simon PearsonAnyone who has spent time working in print journalism knows most headlines are not written by the people who wrote the story. I hope several of the authors of the stories the past two days about teeth grown from stem cells in urine are pissed off (har har) at the headline writers. … Continue reading Dear headline writers: Teeth did not grow from stem cells in urine

Back in 2010, we shot a video about a project to find a stem cell-based therapy for Huntington’s disease. In addition to scientists at UC Davis, the video featured patient advocate Chris Furbee, who has a family history of Huntington’s: he lost his great grandmother, grandfather, aunt and mother to the incurable disease. Chris himself … Continue reading 18 years in the making, Huntington’s Disease film reaching finish line

Cells becoming neurons (red) in mice lacking FOXO3. Image courtesy of Ashley Webb.Our grantee Anne Brunet at Stanford University has known for a while now that a protein called FOXO3 has something to do with longer lifespan in both lab animals and people. She and members of her lab also knew that FOXO3 is found … Continue reading The key to longer life: a gene that preserves neural stem cells

Virginia Hughes wrote for the July-August issue of Smithsonian about the recent work by our grantee Thea Tlsty, who discovered cells in the adult body that can form all tissue types. (We wrote about that work here.)All previously identified stem cells in adult tissues could only go on to form the cell types found in … Continue reading Smithsonian discusses new stem cells discovered by CIRM grantee Thea Tlsty

In a much-anticipated move, the CIRM Governing Board gave the green light to a concept plan to develop a statewide network of Alpha stem cell clinics at yesterday’s Board meeting. The proposed plan will allocate $70 million to set up five clinics and a central coordinating center. The network will add momentum to the growing … Continue reading CIRM’s Board approves Alpha clinics network to smooth road to stem cell clinical trials

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.A stem cell hide and seek with Vatican financing. One of the hallmarks of good science is the ability of other labs to reproduce the results. … Continue reading Stem cell Stories that caught our eye: Vatican-backed stem cells, epilepsy and stroke.

CIRM Chair Jonathan Thomas presents Dr. Philip Pizzo with a resolution honoring his service It’s never easy to say goodbye to a friend, particularly when it’s someone who has been a part of your organization since the very beginning. But when it’s someone so universally liked as Dr. Philip Pizzo it’s even harder.The stem cell agency’s … Continue reading Hello and Goodbye – new arrivals and heartfelt farewell

Image by Sanford-Burnham Medical Research InstituteToday we bring you a story about proteins that help stem cells decide when they should divide to create more specialized cells. Those same proteins also have a role in cancer. Sound like yesterday’s entry? The difference is that today’s stem cells are in the brain while yesterday’s were in … Continue reading CIRM grantees find network of proteins that control neural stem cells