In 2006 Ryan Wilson, a healthy 20 year old Londoner, volunteered for a first-in-human clinical trial to help test the safety of a new drug, TGN1412, intended to treat rheumatoid arthritis and leukemia. The cash he’d get in exchange for his time would help fund his upcoming vacation. Instead, he nearly died. Even though the … Continue reading Avoiding drug trial tragedies: new stem cell-based test predicts dangerous drug toxicity
Author: Todd Dubnicoff
Cartilage Repair using Embryonic Stem Cells: A Promising Path to Treating Millions of Osteoarthritis Sufferers
Bone scraping on bone — you can practically feel the excruciating pain just thinking about it. Sadly, that’s what happens to people suffering with osteoarthritis (OA), a degenerative joint disease. Except for joint replacement surgery, no cure exists and the available medicines only work on the symptoms, pain and swelling, and not the underlying cause. … Continue reading Cartilage Repair using Embryonic Stem Cells: A Promising Path to Treating Millions of Osteoarthritis Sufferers
Heroic three-year study reveals safe methods for growing clinical-grade stem cells
Imagine seeking out the ideal pancake recipe: should you include sugar or no sugar? How about bleached vs. unbleached flour? Baking power or baking soda? When to flip the pancake on the skillet? You really have to test out many parameters to get that perfectly delicious light and fluffy pancake. Essentially that’s what a CIRM-funded … Continue reading Heroic three-year study reveals safe methods for growing clinical-grade stem cells
Clearing up chemobrain: cancer therapy-induced memory problems reversed by stem cells
You'd think receiving a cancer diagnosis and then suffering through chemo and/or radiation therapy would be traumatic enough. But as many as 75% of cancer survivors are afflicted by memory and attention problems long after their cancer therapy. This condition, often called “chemobrain”, shouldn’t be misunderstood as being confined to cancers of the brain. A … Continue reading Clearing up chemobrain: cancer therapy-induced memory problems reversed by stem cells
Newly Identified Stem Cells Breathe Life into Lung Disease Therapy
Breathing. So crucial to life yet so easy to take for granted—maybe because it’s one of the few functions our bodies control both unconsciously and consciously. But I imagine people with lung disease, such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) are all too aware as their continual struggle to breathe worsens over time. COPD, the third … Continue reading Newly Identified Stem Cells Breathe Life into Lung Disease Therapy
Our Tainted Food Supply: Its Lasting Effects on Stem Cells May Explain Declines in Sperm Counts
In the science fiction film, Children of Men, humans in the year 2027 face extinction due to decades of infertility. This premise doesn’t seem all that far-fetched when you consider studies in the U.S., Japan, and Europe over the past two decades that point to declining sperm counts. A 2013 study, for instance, that followed … Continue reading Our Tainted Food Supply: Its Lasting Effects on Stem Cells May Explain Declines in Sperm Counts
Tick-Tock: How our daily body clock protects our stem cells
In our world of tweets, tablets, smartphones and social media, it’s hard to disengage from the always-on pace of modern life. This is in stark contrast to a camping trip. After a few days in the wilderness, you adjust to a more natural sync – waking at sunrise and heading to bed at sundown. Many … Continue reading Tick-Tock: How our daily body clock protects our stem cells
CIRM-Funded UC-Irvine Team Set to Launch Stem Cell Trial for Retinitis Pigmentosa in 2015
Rosalinda Barrero has often been mistaken for a rude snob. She has the habit of not saying hello or even acknowledging the presence of acquaintances that she passes around town. But in fact this kind, loving mom of three has been steadily losing her vision over a lifetime. And she doesn’t seem blind because people … Continue reading CIRM-Funded UC-Irvine Team Set to Launch Stem Cell Trial for Retinitis Pigmentosa in 2015
‘Tis the Season to Talk Science
And just like that another holiday season is upon us. It’s that time of year when scientists across the nation sit down for their family holiday dinner and attempt to answer the following question without triggering blank stares around the dining room table: “So dear, tell me again, what is it that you do in … Continue reading ‘Tis the Season to Talk Science
CIRM-Funded Scripps Team Replicates Pain in a Lab Dish; Seeks New Treatments for Chronic Sufferers
Pain hurts but it also protects. Thanks to nerve cells called sensory neurons, which weave their nerve fibers throughout our skin and other tissues, we are alerted to dangerous events like touching a hot plate or even to the sense of having a full bladder. However, trauma such as a spinal cord injury or diseases … Continue reading CIRM-Funded Scripps Team Replicates Pain in a Lab Dish; Seeks New Treatments for Chronic Sufferers
The Stem Cellar 