The Zika virus scare came to a head in 2015, prompting the World Health Organization to declare the outbreak a global health emergency earlier this year. From a research standpoint, much of the effort has centered on understanding whether the Zika infection is actually a cause of birth defects like microcephaly and how the virus … Continue reading UCSF Scientists find molecular link between brain stem cells and Zika Infection
Month: March 2016
Embryos with abnormal chromosomes can repair themselves
Like an increasing number of women, Magdalena Zernicka-Goetz waited later in life to have kids and was pregnant at 44 with her second child. Because older moms have an increased risk of giving birth to children with genetic disorders, Zernicka-Goetz opted to have an early genetic screening test about 12 weeks into her pregnancy. The … Continue reading Embryos with abnormal chromosomes can repair themselves
Getting On Tract: Stem Cells Regenerate Injured Spinal Cord in Rats
The spinal cord acts as a highway that transports electrical signals from your brain to the rest of your body through long bundles of nerve fibers. It allows your brain to communicate with the rest of your body to coordinate movement and reflexes and to receive sensory information. When the spinal cord is damaged, the … Continue reading Getting On Tract: Stem Cells Regenerate Injured Spinal Cord in Rats
How do you know what patients want if you never even ask them?
Our mission at CIRM is to accelerate stem treatments to patients with unmet medical needs. But what if those needs are not just unmet, they’re also unknown? What happens when those developing treatments never even bother to ask those they are trying to help if this is what they really need, or want? The question … Continue reading How do you know what patients want if you never even ask them?
Stem cell stories that caught our eye: the future of iPS cells, a biopen for arthritis, shistosomiasis and early embryos
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. Discoverer predicts bright clinical future for iPSCs. Shinya Yamanaka, who won the Nobel Prize in 2012 for figuring out how to reprogram adult cells into … Continue reading Stem cell stories that caught our eye: the future of iPS cells, a biopen for arthritis, shistosomiasis and early embryos
How to handle CRISPR: Formulating a responsible approach to gene-editing
In February 2016, CIRM sponsored a workshop to discuss the impact of CRISPR, a gene-editing tool that is transforming stem cell research. The workshop was designed to enable the Standards Working Group (SWG) to reflect on policies governing the review and oversight of embryo research support by CIRM. After the workshop, we wrote a blog … Continue reading How to handle CRISPR: Formulating a responsible approach to gene-editing
Breast cancer: Piecing together early detection and treatment
Developing therapies for disease is kind of like trying to put together a series of incredibly complex puzzles. Scientists collect lots of “puzzle pieces”, in the form of data, through experiments in the lab and clinic or by reading up on other researchers’ results. Each piece gives researchers a tidbit of insight but the breakthroughs … Continue reading Breast cancer: Piecing together early detection and treatment
In the Race to Cure Blindness, Who Will Cross the Finish Line First Optogenetics or Stem Cells?
Before you read this blog, I wanted to share a photo that I took (yes with my iPhone 6…) last week of a beautiful sunset at Ocean Beach in San Francisco. I’m showing you this picture not to gloat that I live by the ocean, but to make a point. You’re able to enjoy this … Continue reading In the Race to Cure Blindness, Who Will Cross the Finish Line First Optogenetics or Stem Cells?
Patients are the Heroes at the CIRM Alpha Stem Cell Clinics Symposium
UCSD’s Catriona Jamieson and patient advocate Sandra Dillon at the CIRM Alpha Clinic Network Symposium Sometimes, when you take a moment to stand back and look at what you have accomplished, you can surprise yourself at how far you have come, and how much you have done in a short space of time. Take the … Continue reading Patients are the Heroes at the CIRM Alpha Stem Cell Clinics Symposium
Stem cell stories that caught our eye: New stem cell type, 3D nerves, bionic heart patches and making bone marrow donation easier
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. When half works like the whole. An international team announced this week that they had developed human stem cells able to reproduce with only half … Continue reading Stem cell stories that caught our eye: New stem cell type, 3D nerves, bionic heart patches and making bone marrow donation easier
The Stem Cellar 