April 11th is World Parkinson’s Disease Awareness Day. To mark the occasion, we’re featuring the work of CIRM-funded researchers who are pursuing new, promising ideas to treat patients with this debilitating neurodegenerative disease. Birgitt Schuele, Parkinson’s Institute CIRM Grant: Quest Award – Discovery Stage Research Research: Birgitt and her team at the Parkinson’s Institute in … Continue reading Celebrating Exciting CIRM-Funded Discovery Research on World Parkinson’s Day
iPS Cells
Gladstone researchers tame toxic protein that carries increased Alzheimer’s risk
With a clinical trial failure rate of 99% over the past 15 years or so, the path to a cure for Alzheimer’s disease is riddled with disappointment. In many cases, candidate therapies looked very promising in pre-clinical animal studies, only to flop when tested in people. Now, a CIRM-funded Nature Medicine study by researchers at … Continue reading Gladstone researchers tame toxic protein that carries increased Alzheimer’s risk
Stem Cell Roundup: watching brain cells in real time, building better heart cells, and the plot thickens on the adult neurogenesis debate
Here are the stem cell stories that caught our eye this week. Watching brain cells in real time Our stem cell photo of the week is brought to you by the Khakh lab at UCLA Health. The lab developed a new method that allows scientists to watch brain cells interact in real time. Using a … Continue reading Stem Cell Roundup: watching brain cells in real time, building better heart cells, and the plot thickens on the adult neurogenesis debate
UC Davis researchers make stem cell-derived mini-brains that contain blood vessels
Growing neurons on a flat petri dish is a great way to study the inner workings of nerve signals in the brain. But I think it's safe to argue that a two-dimensional lawn of cells doesn’t capture all the complexity of our intricate, cauliflower-shaped brains. Then again, cracking open the skulls of living patients is … Continue reading UC Davis researchers make stem cell-derived mini-brains that contain blood vessels
East Coast Company to Sell Research Products Derived from CIRM’s Stem Cell Bank
With patient-derived induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) in hand, any lab scientist can follow recipes that convert these embryonic-like stem cells into specific cell types for studying human disease in a petri dish. iPSCs derived from a small skin sample from a Alzheimer’s patient, for instance, can be specialized into neurons – the kind of … Continue reading East Coast Company to Sell Research Products Derived from CIRM’s Stem Cell Bank
Tiny blood vessels in the brain can spur the growth of spinal motor neurons
Last week, researchers from Cedars-Sinai Medical Center added a new piece to the complex puzzle of what causes neurodegenerative disorders like amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). The team discovered that the tiny blood vessels in our brains do more than provide nutrients to and remove waste products from our brain tissue. It turns out that these … Continue reading Tiny blood vessels in the brain can spur the growth of spinal motor neurons
Stem Cell Roundup: hESCs turn 20, tracking cancer stem cells, new ALS gene ID’d
Stem Cell Image of the Week This week’s stunning stem cell image is brought to you by researchers in the Brivanlou Lab at Rockefeller University. What looks like the center of a sunflower is actual a ball of neural rosettes derived from human embryonic stem cells (ESCs). Neural rosettes are structures that contain neural stem … Continue reading Stem Cell Roundup: hESCs turn 20, tracking cancer stem cells, new ALS gene ID’d
Stem Cell Roundup: Improving muscle function in muscular dystrophy; Building a better brain; Boosting efficiency in making iPSC’s
Here are the stem cell stories that caught our eye this week. Photos of the week TGIF! We’re so excited that the weekend is here that we are sharing not one but TWO amazing stem cell photos of the week. Photo #1 is borrowed from a blog we wrote earlier this week about a new … Continue reading Stem Cell Roundup: Improving muscle function in muscular dystrophy; Building a better brain; Boosting efficiency in making iPSC’s
Stem cell-based gut-on-a-chip: a new path to personalized medicine
“Personalized medicine” is a trendy phrase these days, frequently used in TV ads for hospitals, newspaper articles about medicine’s future and even here in the Stem Cellar. The basic gist is that by analyzing a patient’s unique biology, a physician can use disease treatments that are most likely to work in that individual. This concept … Continue reading Stem cell-based gut-on-a-chip: a new path to personalized medicine
Stem Cell Roundup: Lab-grown meat, stem cell vaccines for cancer and a free kidney atlas for all
Here are the stem cell stories that caught our eye this week. Cool Stem Cell Photo: Kidneys in the spotlight I had to take a second look at this picture when I first saw it. I honestly thought it was someone’s scientific interpretation of Vincent van Gogh’s Starry Night. What this picture actually represents is … Continue reading Stem Cell Roundup: Lab-grown meat, stem cell vaccines for cancer and a free kidney atlas for all
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