Meet the people who are changing the future

Kristin MacDonald Every so often you hear a story and your first reaction is “oh, I have to share this with someone, anyone, everyone.” That’s what happened to me the other day. I was talking with Kristin MacDonald, an amazing woman, a fierce patient advocate and someone who took part in a CIRM-funded clinical trial … Continue reading Meet the people who are changing the future

Stem Cell All-Stars, All For You

Dr. Larry Goldstein, UC San Diego It’s not often you get a chance to hear some of the brightest minds around talk about their stem cell research and what it could mean for you, me and everyone else. That’s why we’re delighted to be bringing some of the sharpest tools in the stem cell shed … Continue reading Stem Cell All-Stars, All For You

Perseverance: from theory to therapy. Our story over the last year – and a half

Some of the stars of our Annual Report It’s been a long time coming. Eighteen months to be precise. Which is a peculiarly long time for an Annual Report. The world is certainly a very different place today than when we started, and yet our core mission hasn’t changed at all, except to spring into … Continue reading Perseverance: from theory to therapy. Our story over the last year – and a half

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

Media matters in spreading the word

Cover of New Yorker article on "The Birth Tissue Profiteers". Illustration by Ben Jones When you have a great story to tell the best and most effective way to get it out to the widest audience is still the media, both traditional mainstream and new social media. Recently we have seen three great examples of … Continue reading Media matters in spreading the word

Stem Cell Roundup: better model of schizophrenia, fasting boosts stem cells, and why does our hair gray.

Stem cell photo of the week: Recreating brain cell interactions for studying schizophrenia Our pick for the stem cell image of the week is from the laboratory of Rusty Gage at the Salk Institute. The team generated multiple types of nerve cells from stem cells to more closely represent the interactions that occur in the … Continue reading Stem Cell Roundup: better model of schizophrenia, fasting boosts stem cells, and why does our hair gray.

Researchers find connection between aging muscles and mutations in stem cells

It’s a humbling fact of life that our muscles decline as we age which is why you didn’t see any 50-year-olds competing for Olympic Gold in figure skating at the 2018 Winter Games. You can blame your muscle stem cells for this. Also called satellite cells, these adult stem cells lie mostly dormant in muscle … Continue reading Researchers find connection between aging muscles and mutations in stem cells

Stem Cell Roundup: New understanding of Huntington’s; how stem cells can double your DNA; and using “the Gary Oldman of cell types” to reverse aging

This week's roundup highlights how we are constantly finding out new and exciting ways that stem cells could help change the way we treat disease. Our Cool Stem Cell Image of the Week comes from our first story, about unlocking some of the secrets of Huntington's disease. It comes from the Laboratory of Stem Cell … Continue reading Stem Cell Roundup: New understanding of Huntington’s; how stem cells can double your DNA; and using “the Gary Oldman of cell types” to reverse aging

Stem Cell Stories that Caught our Eye: CRISPRing Human Embryos, brain stem cells slow aging & BrainStorm ALS trial joins CIRM Alpha Clinics

Here are the stem cell stories that caught our eye this week. Enjoy! Scientists claim first CRISPR editing of human embryos in the US. Here’s the big story this week. Scientists from Portland, Oregon claim they genetically modified human embryos using the CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing technology. While their results have yet to be published in … Continue reading Stem Cell Stories that Caught our Eye: CRISPRing Human Embryos, brain stem cells slow aging & BrainStorm ALS trial joins CIRM Alpha Clinics

Stem cell stories that caught our eye: developing the nervous system, aging stem cells and identical twins not so identical

Here are the stem cell stories that caught our eye this week. Enjoy! New theory for how the nervous system develops. There’s a new theory on the block for how the nervous system is formed thanks to a study published yesterday by UCLA stem cell scientists in the journal Neuron. The theory centers around axons, thin … Continue reading Stem cell stories that caught our eye: developing the nervous system, aging stem cells and identical twins not so identical