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. A new sexual identity crisis—in our organs. With the transition from Mr. to Ms. Jenner and other transsexual news this year, it seems inevitable that … Continue reading Stem cell stories that caught our eye: sexual identity of organs, upping the game of muscle stem cells, mini guts produce insulin
Cell Type
Meet ITOP: A One Stop Shop for 3D Printing Body Parts
"They have managed to create what appears to be the goose that really does lay golden eggs!" That was how UK surgeon Martin Birchall described it to BBC News. The goose in this case is a 3D bioprinter, and the golden eggs are the human sized tissues that the bioprinter successfully constructed. This breakthrough for … Continue reading Meet ITOP: A One Stop Shop for 3D Printing Body Parts
Family ties help drive UCLA’s search for a stem cell treatment for Duchenne muscular dystrophy
April Pyle, Courtney Young and Melissa Spencer: Photo courtesy UCLA Broad Stem Cell Research Center People get into science for all sorts of different reasons. For Courtney Young the reason was easy; she has a cousin with Duchenne muscular dystrophy. Now her work as part of a team at UCLA has led to a new … Continue reading Family ties help drive UCLA’s search for a stem cell treatment for Duchenne muscular dystrophy
Stem cell stories that caught our eye: heart muscle-on-a-chip, your own private microliver, the bloody holy grail and selfish sperm
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. Two hearts beat as one, or not Sorry for the pre-Valentine’s Day buzzkill but stem cell research published this past week points to a very … Continue reading Stem cell stories that caught our eye: heart muscle-on-a-chip, your own private microliver, the bloody holy grail and selfish sperm
A cardiac love triangle: how transcription factors interact to make a heart
Here’s a heartfelt science story for all those Valentine’s day fans out there. Scientists from the Gladstone Institutes have identified how a group of transcription factors interact during embryonic development to make a healthy heart. Their work will increase our biological understanding of how the heart is formed and could produce new methods for treating … Continue reading A cardiac love triangle: how transcription factors interact to make a heart
CIRM Scholar Jessica Gluck on using stem cells to make biological pacemakers for the heart
As part of our CIRM scholar series, we feature the research accomplishments of students and postdocs that have received CIRM funding. I’d like to introduce you to one of our CIRM Scholars, Jessica Gluck. She’s currently a Postdoctoral Fellow at UC Davis working on human stem cell models of heart development. Jessica began her education … Continue reading CIRM Scholar Jessica Gluck on using stem cells to make biological pacemakers for the heart
How you derive embryonic stem cells matters
A scientist named James Thompson was the first to successfully culture human embryonic stem cells in 1998. He didn’t know it then, but his technique isolated a specific type of embryonic stem cell (ESC) that had a “primed pluripotent state”. There are actually two phases of pluripotency: naïve and primed. Naïve ESCs occur a step … Continue reading How you derive embryonic stem cells matters
CREATE-ing tools that deliver genes past the blood-brain barrier
Your brain has a natural defense that protects it from infection and harm, it’s called the blood-brain barrier (BBB). The BBB is a selectively permeable layer of tightly packed cells that separates the blood in your circulatory system from your brain. Only certain nutrients, hormones, and molecules can pass through the BBB into the brain, … Continue reading CREATE-ing tools that deliver genes past the blood-brain barrier
Stem cell stories that caught our eye: watching tumors grow, faster creation of stem cells, reducing spinal cord damage, mini 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. Video shows tumors growing. A team at the University of Iowa used video to capture breast cancer cells recruiting normal cells to the dark side … Continue reading Stem cell stories that caught our eye: watching tumors grow, faster creation of stem cells, reducing spinal cord damage, mini organs
From Science Fiction to Science Fact: Gene Editing May Make Personalized Therapies for Blindness
Have you seen the movie Elysium? It’s a 2013 futuristic science fiction film starring one of my favorite actors Matt Damon. The plot centers on the economic, social and political disparities between two very different worlds: one, an overpopulated earth where people are poor, starving, and have little access to technology or medical care, the … Continue reading From Science Fiction to Science Fact: Gene Editing May Make Personalized Therapies for Blindness
The Stem Cellar 