Chris Stiehl; photo courtesy UCSDThe recent Google Hangout on Diabetes sparked what I thought was a great conversation about the status of research on diabetes today. The topics dealt primarily with type 1 diabetes, but there were implications for type 2 as well. We packed a lot into the one-hour Hangout, but there were so … Continue reading Defying the odds – living with diabetes for more than half a century

In the first clinical trial using iPS type stem cells the stem cells will be matured into retinal cells like these.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. Nanotubes provide support for stem … Continue reading Stem cell stories that caught our eye: clues on Lou Gehrig’s, first iPS patients and spacey stem cells

Courtesy: Filipe Matos FrazaoFor the third time in as many weeks another company we fund got a very nice financial boost on its way to clinical trials.  The latest news involves ViaCyte, a San Diego-based company that has developed a device to help patients with type 1 diabetes. Over the years we have given ViaCyte … Continue reading Third time is certainly charming – CIRM-funded company gets financial boost

cell division - happening right now somewhere in your body Cell division is an amazing biological process that’s very easy to take for granted during the day-in, day-out work of biomedical research. Keeping your dividing cells healthy in their petri dishes becomes just a necessary task, a means to an end, in order to multiply … Continue reading UCSD study of cell division in blood stem cells reveals potential new path to fight leukemia

3D image of breast cancer cells It’s one of cell biology’s Catch-22s: To observe a cell’s behavior, researchers often have to expose it to a dye or some other chemical. However, dyes change a cell’s behavior, making the observations less reliable. But now, researchers at the University of Illinois have developed a technique that provides … Continue reading Observing Cells by Leaving them Alone

As a former journalist I’m always fascinated by what stories the media choses to pick up on. Last week was a prime example. When a study was published showing that scientists in the US and Japan had managed to create a new kind of pluripotent stem cell by “shocking” an ordinary cell with acid, the … Continue reading Talking to the “shocking” scientist who made headlines around the world

As a former journalist I’m always fascinated by what stories the media choses to pick up on. Last week was a prime example. When a study was published showing that scientists in the US and Japan had managed to create a new kind of pluripotent stem cell by “shocking” an ordinary cell with acid, the … Continue reading Talking to the "shocking" scientist who made headlines around the world

Bone marrow transplantCan you imagine a world where every man, woman or child who needed a bone marrow transplant could receive one on demand?Bone marrow transplantation is a true success story in the field of regenerative medicine. In this procedure, healthy blood stem cells, or hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs), are transferred to a patient with … Continue reading Solving the bone marrow transplant bottleneck – new approaches that could save lives

Blood cells were genetically modified to glow with green fluorecence when they converted to stem cellsHere 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 new type of stem cell and a new moniker: … Continue reading Stem cell stories that caught our eye: caveats on acid-bath stem cells, 3-D printing and lung disease