Bone marrow transplants are currently the only approved stem cell-based therapy in the United States. They involve replacing the hematopoietic, or blood-forming stem cells, found in the bone marrow with healthy stem cells to treat patients with cancers, immune diseases and blood disorders. For bone marrow transplants to succeed, patients must undergo radiation therapy to … Continue reading Engineered bone tissue improves stem cell transplants
Author: Karen Ring
Keeping intestinal stem cells in their prime
The average length of the human gut is 25 feet long. That’s equivalent to four really tall people or five really short people lined up head to toe. Intestinal stem cells have the fun job of regenerating and replacing ALL the cells that line the gut. Therefore, it’s important for these stem cells to be … Continue reading Keeping intestinal stem cells in their prime
Capricor reports positive results on CIRM-funded stem cell trial for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy
Capricor Therapeutics, a Los Angeles-based company, published an update about its CIRM-funded clinical trial for patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), a devastating degenerative muscle disease that significantly reduces life expectancy. The company reported positive results from their Phase I/II HOPE trial that’s testing the safety of their cardiosphere stem cell-based therapy called CAP-1002. The trial had … Continue reading Capricor reports positive results on CIRM-funded stem cell trial for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy
Scientists make stem cell-derived nerve cells damaged in spinal cord injury
The human spinal cord is an information highway that relays movement-related instructions from the brain to the rest of the body and sensory information from the body back to the brain. What keeps this highway flowing is a long tube of nerve cells and support cells bundled together within the spine. When the spinal cord … Continue reading Scientists make stem cell-derived nerve cells damaged in spinal cord injury
Stem cell stories that caught our eye: developing the nervous system, aging stem cells and identical twins not so identical
Here are the stem cell stories that caught our eye this week. Enjoy! New theory for how the nervous system develops. There’s a new theory on the block for how the nervous system is formed thanks to a study published yesterday by UCLA stem cell scientists in the journal Neuron. The theory centers around axons, thin … Continue reading Stem cell stories that caught our eye: developing the nervous system, aging stem cells and identical twins not so identical
Live streaming genes in living cells coming to a computer near you!
Christmas has come early to scientists at the University of Virginia School of Medicine. They’ve developed a technology that allows you to watch how individual genes move and interact in living cells. You can think of it as Facebook’s live streaming meets the adventurous Ms. Frizzle and her Magic School Bus. Using a gene editing … Continue reading Live streaming genes in living cells coming to a computer near you!
Could the Answer to Treating Parkinson’s Disease Come From Within the Brain?
Sometimes a solution to a disease doesn’t come in the form of a drug or a stem cell therapy, but from within ourselves. Yesterday, scientists from the Karolinska Institutet in Sweden reported an alternative strategy for treating Parkinson’s disease that involves reprogramming specific cells in the brain into the nerve cells killed off by the … Continue reading Could the Answer to Treating Parkinson’s Disease Come From Within the Brain?
Stem Cell Stories That Caught Our Eye: Plasticity in the pancreas and two cool stem cell tools added to the research toolbox
There’s more plasticity in the pancreas than we thought. You’re taught a lot of things about the world when you’re young. As you get older, you realize that not everything you’re told holds true and it’s your own responsibility to determine fact from fiction. This evolution in understanding happens in science too. Scientists do research … Continue reading Stem Cell Stories That Caught Our Eye: Plasticity in the pancreas and two cool stem cell tools added to the research toolbox
One scientist’s quest to understand autism using stem cells
April is National Autism Awareness Month and people and organizations around the world are raising awareness about a disorder that affects more than 20 million people globally. Autism affects early brain development and causes a wide spectrum of social, mental, physical and emotional symptoms that appear during childhood. Because the symptoms and their severity can … Continue reading One scientist’s quest to understand autism using stem cells
Telomere length matters: scientists find shorter telomeres may cause aging-related disease
Aging is inevitable no matter how much you exercise, sleep or eat healthy. There is no magic pill or supplement that can thwart growing older. However, preventing certain age-related diseases is a different story. Genetic mutations can raise the risk of acquiring age-related diseases like heart disease, diabetes, cancer and dementia. And scientists are on … Continue reading Telomere length matters: scientists find shorter telomeres may cause aging-related disease
The Stem Cellar 