It’s full steam ahead for the development of induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-derived clinical trials. That’s according to a group at the National Human Genome Research Institute in Bethesda, Maryland who report this week in PNAS that the process of reprogramming a skin cell into the embryonic stem cell-like state of an iPSC does not … Continue reading “Apples to Apples” analysis: induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) method doesn’t increase mutations
iPS Cells
Stories that caught our eye: stem cell transplants help put MS in remission; unlocking the cause of autism; and a day to discover what stem cells are all about
Stem cell transplants help put MS in remission: A combination of high dose immunosuppressive therapy and transplant of a person’s own blood stem cells seems to be a powerful tool in helping people with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) go into sustained remission. Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune disorder where the body’s own immune system … Continue reading Stories that caught our eye: stem cell transplants help put MS in remission; unlocking the cause of autism; and a day to discover what stem cells are all about
Growing a rat pancreas in a mouse with stem cells & CRISPR: a solution for the organ shortage crisis?
Right now, about 120,000 Americans are on a waiting list for an organ transplant and 22 will die today before any organs become available. The plain truth is there aren’t enough organ donors to meet the demand. And according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the number of available organ donors has … Continue reading Growing a rat pancreas in a mouse with stem cells & CRISPR: a solution for the organ shortage crisis?
Stories that caught our eye: $20.5 million in new CIRM discovery awards, sickle cell disease cell bank, iPSC insights
CIRM Board launches a new voyage of Discovery (Kevin McCormack). Basic or early stage research is the Rodney Dangerfield of science; it rarely gets the respect it deserves. Yesterday, the CIRM governing Board showed that it not only respects this research, but also values its role in laying the foundation for everything that follows. The … Continue reading Stories that caught our eye: $20.5 million in new CIRM discovery awards, sickle cell disease cell bank, iPSC insights
Has the promise of stem cells been overstated?
One of the most famous stem cell scientists in the world said on Monday that the promise of stem cell treatments has in some ways been overstated. In an interview with the New York Times, Dr. Shinya Yamanaka, one of the recipients of the 2012 Nobel Prize in Medicine for his discovery of induced pluripotent … Continue reading Has the promise of stem cells been overstated?
Stories that caught our eye: frail bones in diabetics, ethics of future IVF, Alzheimer’s
The connection between diabetes and frail bones uncovered Fundamentally, diabetes is defined by abnormally high blood sugar levels. But that one defect over time carries an increased risk for a wide range of severe health problems. For instance, compared to healthy individuals, type 2 diabetics are more prone to poorly healing bone fractures – a … Continue reading Stories that caught our eye: frail bones in diabetics, ethics of future IVF, Alzheimer’s
Eye on the prize: two stem cell studies restore vision in blind mice
For the 39 million people in the world who are blind, a vision-restoring therapy would be the ultimate prize. So far, this prize has remained out of reach, but two studies published this week have entered the ring as promising contenders in the fight against blindness. In the red corner, we have a study published … Continue reading Eye on the prize: two stem cell studies restore vision in blind mice
Using stem cells to fix bad behavior in the brain
Diseases of the brain have many different names, from Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s to ALS and Huntington’s, but they often have similar causes. Researchers at the Gladstone Institutes in San Francisco are using that knowledge to try and find an approach that might be effective against all of these diseases. In a new CIRM-funded study, … Continue reading Using stem cells to fix bad behavior in the brain
Stem cell-derived pacemaker cells could help weak hearts keep the beat
In an average lifetime, the human heart dutifully beats more than 2.5 billion times. You can thank an area of the heart called the sinoatrial node, or SAN, which acts as the heart’s natural pacemaker. The SAN is made up of specialized heart muscle cells that, like a conductor leading an orchestra, dictates the rate … Continue reading Stem cell-derived pacemaker cells could help weak hearts keep the beat
Understanding two heart problems by studying the domino effect of one gene network
Although heart muscle cells, or cardiomyocytes, are specialized to help pump blood to the organs, they nonetheless carry all the genetic instructions for becoming a nerve cell, an intestinal cell, a liver or any cell type in the body. But at the moment in time that the fetal heart begins to develop, master switch proteins, … Continue reading Understanding two heart problems by studying the domino effect of one gene network
The Stem Cellar 