Photo courtesy Lindsay Fox Smoking is one of the leading causes of preventable death not just in the US, but worldwide. According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention tobacco causes an estimated seven million deaths around the world, every single year. And for every person who dies, another 30 live with a … Continue reading How quitting smoking helps your lungs regenerate; a discovery could lead to new ways to repair damaged lungs; and encouraging news in a stroke recovery trial
Basic Research
Breakthrough image could lead to better therapies
Image of a blood stem cell in its natural environment: Photo courtesy UC Merced When it comes to using stem cells for therapy you don’t just need to understand what kinds of cell to use, you also need to understand the environment that is best for them. Trying to get stem cells to grow in … Continue reading Breakthrough image could lead to better therapies
Rave reviews for new Killer-T Cell study
Anytime you read a news headline that claims a new discovery "may treat all cancer" it's time to put your skeptic's hat on. After all, there have been so many over-hyped "discoveries" over the years that later flopped, that it would be natural to question the headline writer. And yet, this time, maybe, this one … Continue reading Rave reviews for new Killer-T Cell study
Dashed Dreams and New Hope: A Quest to Cure Thymic Deficiency
By Kelly Shepard, PhD., CIRM's Associate Director, Discovery & Translation CIRM has previously blogged about advances in treating certain forms of “bubble baby” disease”, where a person is born with a defect in their blood forming stem cells that results in a deficient immune system, rendering them vulnerable to lethal infections by all manner of … Continue reading Dashed Dreams and New Hope: A Quest to Cure Thymic Deficiency
The Top CIRM Blogs of 2019
This year the most widely read blog was actually one we wrote back in 2018. It’s the transcript of a Facebook Live: “Ask the Stem Cell Team” event about strokes and stroke recovery. Because stroke is the third leading cause of death and disability in the US it’s probably no surprise this blog has lasting … Continue reading The Top CIRM Blogs of 2019
Facebook Live: Ask the Stem Cell Team
On December 12th we hosted our latest 'Facebook Live: Ask the Stem Cell Team' event. This time around we really did mean team. We had a host of our Science Officers answering questions from friends and supporters of CIRM. We got a lot of questions and didn't have enough time to address them all. So … Continue reading Facebook Live: Ask the Stem Cell Team
Brain wave of an idea is picked as one of the top science stories of the year
Dr. Alysson Muotri: Photo courtesy UC San Diego It's always gratifying when one of the projects you have funded starts to show promising results. It says your faith in the research and the researcher were well founded. But it's also fun when the project you fund turns up some really cool findings and is picked … Continue reading Brain wave of an idea is picked as one of the top science stories of the year
Researchers create a better way to grow blood stem cells
UCLA's Dr. Hanna Mikkola and Vincenzo Calvanese, lead scientists on the study. Photo courtesy UCLA Blood stem cells are a vital part of us. They create all the other kinds of blood cells in our body and are used in bone marrow transplants to help people battling leukemia or other blood cancers. The problem is … Continue reading Researchers create a better way to grow blood stem cells
Using film to break down barriers around rare disease
You can read about a disease or hear someone talking about it and be engaged and interested. But when you see and hear the people who have the disease talking about it and the impact it has on their lives, that's when a profound impact occurs. When you look into their eyes and hear them … Continue reading Using film to break down barriers around rare disease
How early CIRM support helped an anti-cancer therapy overcome obstacles and help patients
Dr. Catriona Jamieson, UC San Diego When you read about a new drug or therapy being approved to help patients it always seems so simple. Researchers come up with a brilliant idea, test it to make sure it is safe and works, and then get approval from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to … Continue reading How early CIRM support helped an anti-cancer therapy overcome obstacles and help patients
The Stem Cellar 