We just concluded our Google Hangout focused on ALS. It was our first Google Hangout and I think everyone here at CIRM is breathing a sigh of relief that all technology glitches took place before the event went live. If people missed watching the event live you can see it in the video below.It was … Continue reading Webcast of CIRM’s #ALS Google hangout now available

Methyl groups added to DNA. Image by Christoph Bock (Max Planck Institute for Informatics) on Wikimedia commonsCIRM-funded researchers at UC San Francisco have discovered a surprising role for vitamin C in how stem cells turn genes on and off. The finding hints at a new role for the vital nutrient in normal embryonic development. Not … Continue reading Vitamin C affects how genes are expressed in stem cells

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. Modeling our largest organ—our skin. Before we can make major strides in improving wound healing we need to understand how our skin repairs cuts and … Continue reading Stem cell Stories that caught our eye: improving skin repair and heart repair, but avoiding the charlatans

Nancy Rene's grandson has sickle cell disease. Read her Story of Hope on our website.Combining stem cell therapy with gene therapy looks like it can dramatically improve the safety of a therapy that has cured sickle cell disease in a few patients. Currently physicians reserve that therapy for those children with the most severe symptoms … Continue reading Sickle cell disease therapy hits major milestone on path to clinical trial

Blurring at the center of vision in macular degenerationA preliminary panel of the Japanese Ministry of Health has given the green light for the first clinical tests in humans of a therapy derived from induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells to treat macular degeneration, the most common cause of blindness. Induced pluripotent stem cells are mature … Continue reading Japan to begin first human tests with induced pluripotent stem cells

Twenty five years ago today, Irv Weissman of Stanford University published a paper in Science describing the first ever stem cell isolated from an animal’s tissues. In this case it came from the bone marrow of a mouse.Ten years later he isolated the same cell from the bone marrow of people.Twenty five years later, that … Continue reading 25 year anniversary of the blood-forming stem cell discovery

The House of LordsThe English House of Lords says the UK is in danger of missing out on the health and economic benefits of regenerative medicine and points to California’s stem cell agency as an example of what they should be doing to change that.The warning comes from the Science and Technology Committee of the … Continue reading House of Lords urges UK to learn a lesson from the stem cell agency

Each month CIRM President Alan Trounson gives his perspective on recently published papers he thinks will be valuable in moving the field of stem cell research forward. This month’s report, along with an archive of past reports, is available on the CIRM website.My report this month opens with a fascinating paper that finally provided definitive … Continue reading Guest blogger Alan Trounson — June’s stem cell research highlights

For the past two summers we've run a summer internship program to bring high school students from throughout California into stem cell labs. We call this our Creativity Awards because we also ask the students to carry out some research activity in addition to just their lab work with the idea that great ideas come … Continue reading Stem cell interns show their experiences through their own lens

Skeletal muscle courtesy of Wikimedia CommonsResearchers at Stanford University have made a start in understanding why muscles in younger people heal so quickly compared to muscles in older people. Understanding these differences could help scientists find ways of helping muscles in older people heal more quickly after injuries. In a study comparing muscle stem cells … Continue reading Young stem cells’ DNA has more genes switched to "on" position than geriatric ones