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.Roller coaster ride for a breakthrough. News that scientists in Oregon had finally made embryonic stem cells from cloned embryos ricocheted around the globe last week. … Continue reading Stem cell stories that caught our eye: ups and downs of cloning, another windpipe, and the value of fat

Dr. Claire Pomeroy, Dean of the UC Davis Medical School, receiving her proclamation at her final CIRM Board meetingI’m never bored at our Board meetings. There’s always something fascinating going on, and this time was no exception. I’m not just talking about the fact that at our meeting this week the Board approved $36 million … Continue reading Attracting the brightest, and saying goodbye to the best: Farewell to Claire Pomeroy

The words “breakthrough” and “revolutionary” are overused in the media for many stories, and particularly for medical ones, but it’s hard not to search for something powerful and descriptive when you hear how doctors in Ohio used a 3D printer to create a new windpipe that saved the life of a baby boy. (Here's a … Continue reading Doctors use 3D printer to create windpipe and save baby’s life

Periodically we feature "Tales from the bench" stories of life in the lab from our grantees. Jacqueline Ward is a graduate student in the lab of Albert La Spada at the University of California, San Diego, where she has a CIRM training grant to use stem cells to better understand and treat forms of blindness.I’m … Continue reading Tales from the bench: The puzzling nature of research

Today, the Italian government approved an untested use of stem cells that advocates say could be the last hope for some critically ill people. However, despite a lot of hope on the part of families—and some celebrities—there’s no evidence that the cells work or are even safe. Lawrence Goldstein of UCSD wrote about the issue … Continue reading Italians allow untested use of stem cells

Fred Fisher, President and CEO of the ALS Association Golden West Chapter, in a video spreading awareness for ALSIn 2003, I joined the fight against Lou Gehrig’s Disease. During my time as the President and CEO of The ALS Association Golden West Chapter, I have personally seen the devastation that ALS causes. We have lost … Continue reading Breaking the isolation; raising awareness for #ALS

Back in 2001, early hints that stem cells from bone marrow may help repair the heart led, a few years later, to several clinical trials testing the idea. Thirty three trials and 1,765 patients later and, as Ed Yong writes for the BBC, "Their results were underwhelming."On average, injected stem cells improved the heart’s pumping … Continue reading Where are we with stem cells for #heartdisease? Great summary from the BBC

Image by Leonard John MatthewsFor those of us with painful stiff knees caused by osteoarthritis a new theory on what causes it doesn’t excite us much if the news is followed by the usual retort in this field: but there is nothing we can do about it. This time, a group at John’s Hopkins has … Continue reading New stem cell culprit in osteoarthritis points to potential therapy

Karen Aboody at City of Hope is already an expert at engineering stem cells to treat cancer. She has a grant from CIRM to develop a way of getting stem cells to deliver chemotherapy directly to tumor cells in the brain, sparing the surrounding tissue.Now, she's published a new paper showing that neural stem cells … Continue reading Stem cells carrying gold nanoparticles could treat tumors, spare healthy tissue

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. Putting cloning into perspective. There has been much written the past few days about the first ever creation of embryonic stem cells from a cloned … Continue reading Stem cell Stories that caught our eye: perspectives on cloning, alligator teeth, power of patient advocates