There were lots of CIRM mentions in the news this week. Here are two brief recaps written by Karen Ring to get you up to speed. A third story by Todd Dubnicoff summarizes an promising finding related to heart disease by researchers in Singapore. CIRM-funded “bubble baby” disease therapy gets special designation by UK. … Continue reading Stem cell stories that caught our eye: bubble baby therapy a go in UK, in-utero stem cell trial and novel heart disease target
Author: Todd Dubnicoff
Researchers, beware: humanized mice not human enough to study stem cell transplants
A researcher’s data is only as good as the experimental techniques used to obtain those results. And a Stanford University study published yesterday in Cell Reports, calls into question the accuracy of a widely used method in mice that helps scientists gauge the human immune system’s response to stem cell-based therapies. The findings, funded in … Continue reading Researchers, beware: humanized mice not human enough to study stem cell transplants
Brain stem cells unintentionally talk with brain tumors, allowing their spread
A stem cell’s capacity to lay quiet and, when needed, to self-renew plays a key role in restoring and maintaining the health of our organs. Unfortunately, cancer stem cells possess that same property allowing them to evade radiation and chemotherapy treatments which leads to tumor regrowth. And a CIRM-funded study published today in Cell shows … Continue reading Brain stem cells unintentionally talk with brain tumors, allowing their spread
CIRM weekly stem cell roundup: minibrain model of childhood disease; new immune insights; patient throws out 1st pitch
New human Mini-brain model of devastating childhood disease. The eradication of Aicardi-Goutieres Syndrome (AGS) can’t come soon enough. This rare but terrible inherited disease causes the immune system to attack the brain. The condition leads to microcephaly (an abnormal small head and brain size), muscle spasms, vision problems and joint stiffness during infancy. Death or … Continue reading CIRM weekly stem cell roundup: minibrain model of childhood disease; new immune insights; patient throws out 1st pitch
Reprogramming cells with a nanochip, electricity and DNA to help the body to heal itself
The axolotl, a member of the salamander family, has amazing regenerative abilities. You can cut off its limbs or crush its spinal cord and it will repair itself with no scarring. A human’s healing powers, of course, are much more limited. To get around this unfortunate fact, the field of regenerative medicine aims to develop … Continue reading Reprogramming cells with a nanochip, electricity and DNA to help the body to heal itself
UC Irvine scientists engineer stem cells to “feel” cancer and destroy it
By blocking cell division, chemotherapy drugs take advantage of the fact that cancer cells multiply rapidly in the body. Though this treatment can extend and even save the lives of cancer patients, it’s somewhat like destroying an ant hill with an atomic bomb: there’s a lot of collateral damage. The treatment is infused through the … Continue reading UC Irvine scientists engineer stem cells to “feel” cancer and destroy it
Novel diabetes therapy uses stem cell “teachers” to calm immune cells
Type 1 diabetes is marked by a loss of insulin-producing beta cells in the pancreas. Without insulin, blood sugar can’t shuttle into the body’s energy-hungry organs and tissues. As a result, sugar accumulates in the blood which, over time, causes many serious complications such as kidney disease, heart disease and stroke. An over-reactive immune system … Continue reading Novel diabetes therapy uses stem cell “teachers” to calm immune cells
Stories that caught our eye: Spinal cord injury trial milestone, iPS for early cancer diagnosis, and storing videos in DNA
Spinal cord injury clinical trial hits another milestone (Kevin McCormack) We began the week with good news about our CIRM-funded clinical trial with Asterias for spinal cord injury, and so it’s nice to end the week with more good news from that same trial. On Wednesday, Asterias announced it had completed enrolling and dosing patients … Continue reading Stories that caught our eye: Spinal cord injury trial milestone, iPS for early cancer diagnosis, and storing videos in DNA
Harnessing DNA as a programmable instruction kit for stem cell function
DNA is the fundamental molecule to all living things. The genetic sequences embedded in its double-helical structure contain the instructions for producing proteins, the building blocks of our cells. When our cells divide, DNA readily unzips into two strands and makes a copy of itself for each new daughter cell. In a Nature Communications report … Continue reading Harnessing DNA as a programmable instruction kit for stem cell function
Stories that caught our eye: smelling weight gain, colon cancer & diet and diabetes & broken bones
How smelling your food could cause weight gain (Karen Ring). Here’s the headline that caught my eye this week: “Smelling your food first can make you fat…” It’s a bizarre statement, but the claim is backed by scientific research coming from a new study in Cell Metabolism by researchers at the University of California Berkeley. … Continue reading Stories that caught our eye: smelling weight gain, colon cancer & diet and diabetes & broken bones
The Stem Cellar 