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. 3D nerve model for Parkinson’s. The wave of successes in making more complex tissues in three dimensional lab cultures continues this week with a team … Continue reading Stem cell stories that caught our eye: Parkinson’s in a dish, synthetic blood, tracking Huntington’s and cloning
Author: Don Gibbons
Fate of our nerve stem cells determined early in embryo so the few we have as adults have very specific roles
Adult nerve stem cells fall in the category of allusive creatures. A few scientists still question their existence and most suggest they exist in small numbers only in one or two locations in the adult brain. In any case, all agree they are not particularly good at the normal function of stem cells—making repairs to … Continue reading Fate of our nerve stem cells determined early in embryo so the few we have as adults have very specific roles
Hed: Stem cell stories that caught our eye: the why’s of heart failure, harnessing stem cells’ repair kits and growing organs
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. Stem cell model sheds light on heat failure. Pretty much everyone who has heart failure due to cardiomyopathy—where the heart muscle doesn’t work as effectively … Continue reading Hed: Stem cell stories that caught our eye: the why’s of heart failure, harnessing stem cells’ repair kits and growing organs
Neat trick grows two parts of the brain and gets them to communicate
Over the past year or so, teams around the world have reported using stem cells to make increasingly complex portions of the brain. Earlier this month we wrote about a team at Stanford who had grown “organoids” that simulated the brain’s cortex with both nerves and support cells that communicated back and forth with each … Continue reading Neat trick grows two parts of the brain and gets them to communicate
Stem cell stories that caught our eye: regenerating limbs on scaffolds, self regeneration via a drug, mood stem cells, CRISPR
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. Regenerating a limb, or at least part of it. Many teams have generated organs or parts of organs in animals by starting with a dead … Continue reading Stem cell stories that caught our eye: regenerating limbs on scaffolds, self regeneration via a drug, mood stem cells, CRISPR
Genes+Cells: Stem cells deliver genes to make T cells resistant to HIV
This summer the first patients will be enrolled in a clinical trial using a form of genetic scissors to alter the DNA in their stem cells to give their immune systems a desired trait—resistance to HIV. The procedure will alter the patients’ blood-forming stem cells so that they can permanently make immune system T cells … Continue reading Genes+Cells: Stem cells deliver genes to make T cells resistant to HIV
One patient’s quest for something better
Antiretroviral therapy does a great job knocking down HIV in the body, look where it has gotten us! However, it’s not perfect and is not globally accessible with large segments of patients even in developed countries like the U.S. not receiving adequate therapy. I have been a big proponent of antiretroviral therapy, even though it … Continue reading One patient’s quest for something better
Stem cell stories that caught our eye: Spinal cord injury, secret of creating complex tissue, mini brains in a dish and funding
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. Monkey trial provides some hope for spinal cord injury. Stem cell treatments have made many mice and rats walk again after spinal cord injury, but … Continue reading Stem cell stories that caught our eye: Spinal cord injury, secret of creating complex tissue, mini brains in a dish and funding
Old brains in mice given a trait of young brains with embryonic nerve transplant
As we age our brains become less adept at making new nerve connections or repairing broken ones. A CIRM-funded team at the University of California, Irvine, restored this youthful ability, called nerve plasticity, to adult mice by transplanting embryonic nerve cells. Specifically, they worked with mice that had a form of blurred vision known as … Continue reading Old brains in mice given a trait of young brains with embryonic nerve transplant
Stem cell stories that caught our eye: sickle cell patient data, vaccine link to leukemia protection, faster cell analysis
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. Good news from sickle cell clinical trial. It is always satisfying to report positive results from human clinical trials using stem cells even when we … Continue reading Stem cell stories that caught our eye: sickle cell patient data, vaccine link to leukemia protection, faster cell analysis
The Stem Cellar 