The good news is you’re cancer free, the bad news is you need a heart transplant. It almost sounds like the punchline to a joke, but it’s no laugher matter because the scenario is real for some cancer patients. Chemotherapy is a life saver for many but certain doses can be so toxic that it’s often hard … Continue reading Chemo-Induced Heart Failure: Using Stem Cells to Identify Those at Risk
iPS Cells
New study says stem cells derived from older people may have more problems than we thought.
Ever since 2006 when Japanese researcher Shinya Yamanaka showed that you could take an adult cell, such as those in your skin, and reprogram it to act like an embryonic stem cell, the scientific world has looked at these induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells as a potential game changer. They had the ability to convert … Continue reading New study says stem cells derived from older people may have more problems than we thought.
Diabetes’ demise? Master Switch Identified for Turning Stem Cells into Functional Insulin-Producing Cells
It’s been a good week for diabetes researchers and the over one million Americans with type 1 diabetes who are hoping for an eventual stem cell-based treatment for this incurable disease. Published a day apart, two studies reported on achieving an elusive goal for the field: creating functional insulin-producing cells in a lab dish from induced … Continue reading Diabetes’ demise? Master Switch Identified for Turning Stem Cells into Functional Insulin-Producing Cells
Stem cells from “love-handles” could help diabetes patients
Love handles usually get a bad rap, but this week, a study from Switzerland claims that stem cells taken from the fat tissue of “love handles” could one day benefit diabetes patients. The study, which was published in Nature Communications, generated the much coveted insulin-secreting pancreatic beta cells from human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS … Continue reading Stem cells from “love-handles” could help diabetes patients
Stem cell stories that caught our eye: more data suggesting iPS cells may be safe, repairing radiation damage, better gene editing and growing organs
Here are some stem cell stories that caught our eye this past week. Some are groundbreaking science, others are of personal interest to us, and still others are just fun. More evidence suggesting iPS cells safe. Ever since we learned to reprogram adult cells into embryonic-like stem cells called induced Pluripotent Stem Cells (iPSCs) researchers … Continue reading Stem cell stories that caught our eye: more data suggesting iPS cells may be safe, repairing radiation damage, better gene editing and growing organs
Stem cells provide promising skin in the game for treating burn victims
For severe burn victims and others in need of skin transplants, current treatments using artificial skin grafts made from sheets of lab-grown skin cells aren’t ideal because they lack the complex structures needed to fully restore many of the skin’s critical functions. For example, artificial skin doesn’t contain oil-producing sebaceous glands and forces burn victims … Continue reading Stem cells provide promising skin in the game for treating burn victims
Stem cell stories that caught our eye: the future of iPS cells, a biopen for arthritis, shistosomiasis and early embryos
Here are some stem cell stories that caught our eye this past week. Some are groundbreaking science, others are of personal interest to us, and still others are just fun. Discoverer predicts bright clinical future for iPSCs. Shinya Yamanaka, who won the Nobel Prize in 2012 for figuring out how to reprogram adult cells into … Continue reading Stem cell stories that caught our eye: the future of iPS cells, a biopen for arthritis, shistosomiasis and early embryos
In the Race to Cure Blindness, Who Will Cross the Finish Line First Optogenetics or Stem Cells?
Before you read this blog, I wanted to share a photo that I took (yes with my iPhone 6…) last week of a beautiful sunset at Ocean Beach in San Francisco. I’m showing you this picture not to gloat that I live by the ocean, but to make a point. You’re able to enjoy this … Continue reading In the Race to Cure Blindness, Who Will Cross the Finish Line First Optogenetics or Stem Cells?
Five Cool Stem Cell Technologies to Tell Your Friends
As a former stem cell scientist turned science communicator, I love answering science questions no matter how complicated or bizarre. The other day my friend asked me about what CRISPR was and how scientists were using it on stem cells to help people. This got me thinking that it would be cool to do a … Continue reading Five Cool Stem Cell Technologies to Tell Your Friends
Taking Steps Toward Personalized Heart Transplants
Over five million Americans have heart failure (HF), a condition in which the heart muscles become too weak to pump an adequate amount of blood, oxygen and nutrients to the body’s other organs. People with heart failure suffer from shortness of breath, chronic weakness and a fifty percent chance of dying within the first five … Continue reading Taking Steps Toward Personalized Heart Transplants
The Stem Cellar 