A world of dark Imagine if you woke up one day and couldn’t see. Your life would change drastically, and you would have to painfully relearn how to function in a world that heavily relies on sight. While most people don’t lose their sight overnight, many suffer from visual impairments that slowly happen over time. … Continue reading The Ogawa-Yamanaka Prize Crowns Its First Stem Cell Champion
Month: September 2015
Patching up a Broken Heart with FSTL1
How do you mend a broken heart? It’s a subject that songwriters have pondered for generations, without success. But if you pose the same question to a heart doctor, they would give you a number of practical options that focus on the prevention or management of the physical symptoms you are dealing with. That’s because … Continue reading Patching up a Broken Heart with FSTL1
CIRM-funded team traces molecular basis for differences between human and chimp face
So similar yet so different Whenever I go to the zoo, I could easily spend my entire visit hanging out with our not-so-distant relatives, the chimpanzees. To say we humans are similar to them is quite an understatement. Sharing 96% of our DNA, chimps are more closely related to us than they are to gorillas. And … Continue reading CIRM-funded team traces molecular basis for differences between human and chimp face
The best scientists always want to know more
Some years ago I was in the Wren Library at Trinity College, Cambridge in England when I noticed a display case with a cloth over it. Being a naturally curious person, downright nosy in fact, I lifted the cloth. In the display case was a first edition of Sir Isaac Newton’s Principia Mathematica and in … Continue reading The best scientists always want to know more
Stem cell stories that caught our eye: diabetes drug hits cancer, video stem cell tracker and quick n’ easy stem cells for fatal lung disease
Teaching an old drug new tricks. One the quickest way to get a drug to market is to find one that’s already been FDA approved for other diseases. Reporting this week in Cell Metabolism, researchers from London and Madrid identified the mechanisms that enable the anti-diabetic drug, metformin, to kill pancreatic cancer stem cells (PanCSCs). … Continue reading Stem cell stories that caught our eye: diabetes drug hits cancer, video stem cell tracker and quick n’ easy stem cells for fatal lung disease
Using satellites to build bigger biceps
There are several ways you can build bigger, stronger muscles. You can take the approach favored by our former Governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and pump iron till your biceps are as inflated as a birthday balloon. Or you could follow the lead of a research team we are funding and try to use stem cells to … Continue reading Using satellites to build bigger biceps
CIRM CAP Kickoff to New Clinical Trials
Alisha Bouge is the project manager for CIRM's Clinical Advisory Panels (CAPs) On the cusp of the official kickoff to football season, CIRM has had its own kickoff to celebrate. The first Clinical Advisory Panel (CAP) meeting took place on August 18, 2015 in Irvine, CA with Caladrius Bioscience, Inc. And just as every NFL … Continue reading CIRM CAP Kickoff to New Clinical Trials
Brain Stem Cells in a Dish to the Rescue
The best way to impress your friends at the next party you attend might be to casually mention that scientists can grow miniature brain models in a dish using human stem cells. Sure, that might scare away some people, but when you explain how these tiny brain models can be used to study many different … Continue reading Brain Stem Cells in a Dish to the Rescue
Stem cell stories that caught our eye: our earliest days, cell therapy without the cells and unproven therapies
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. Mapping our earliest days—as an embryo. We have some 23,000 genes in every cell of our body, but on day two after fertilization just 32 … Continue reading Stem cell stories that caught our eye: our earliest days, cell therapy without the cells and unproven therapies
Watch Spinal Cord Cells Take a Hike!
What exactly goes on inside the human body? If you asked this question to the children’s book character Ms. Frizzle, she would throw you into her Magic School Bus and take you on a wild ride “Inside the Human Body” to get you up close and personal with the different organs and structures within our … Continue reading Watch Spinal Cord Cells Take a Hike!
The Stem Cellar 