Bone marrow transplants are currently the only approved stem cell-based therapy in the United States. They involve replacing the hematopoietic, or blood-forming stem cells, found in the bone marrow with healthy stem cells to treat patients with cancers, immune diseases and blood disorders. For bone marrow transplants to succeed, patients must undergo radiation therapy to … Continue reading Engineered bone tissue improves stem cell transplants
Bone/Muscle/Blood
Could revving up stem cells help senior citizens heal as fast as high school seniors?
All physicians, especially surgeons, sport medicine doctors, and military medical corps share a similar wish: to able to speed up the healing process for their patients’ incisions and injuries. Data published this week in Cell Reports may one day fulfill that wish. The study – reported by a Stanford University research team – pinpoints a single … Continue reading Could revving up stem cells help senior citizens heal as fast as high school seniors?
Stem cell stories that caught our eye: spinal cord injury trial update, blood stem cells in lungs, and using parsley for stem cell therapies
More good news on a CIRM-funded trial for spinal cord injury. The results are now in for Asterias Biotherapeutics’ Phase 1/2a clinical trial testing a stem cell-based therapy for patients with spinal cord injury. They reported earlier this week that six out of six patients treated with 10 million AST-OPC1 cells, which are a type … Continue reading Stem cell stories that caught our eye: spinal cord injury trial update, blood stem cells in lungs, and using parsley for stem cell therapies
Stem Cell Stories that Caught our Eye: stem cell insights into anorexia, Zika infection and bubble baby disease
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. Stem cell model identifies new culprit for anorexia. Eating disorders like anorexia nervosa are often thought to be caused by psychological disturbances or societal pressure. … Continue reading Stem Cell Stories that Caught our Eye: stem cell insights into anorexia, Zika infection and bubble baby disease
Mixed Matches: How Your Heritage Can Save a Life
Today we bring you a guest blog from Athena Mari Asklipiadis. She's the founder of Mixed Marrow, which is an organization dedicated to finding bone marrow and blood cell donors to patients of multiethnic descent. Athena helped produce a 2016 documentary film called Mixed Match that encourages mixed race and minority donors to register as adult donors. Due to … Continue reading Mixed Matches: How Your Heritage Can Save a Life
License to heal: UC Davis deal looks to advance stem cell treatment for bone loss and arthritis
There are many challenges in taking even the most promising stem cell treatment and turning it into a commercial product approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). One of the biggest is expertise. The scientists who develop the therapy may be brilliant in the lab but have little experience or expertise in successfully getting … Continue reading License to heal: UC Davis deal looks to advance stem cell treatment for bone loss and arthritis
Stem Cell Stories That Caught our Eye: Making blood and muscle from stem cells and helping students realize their “pluripotential”
Stem cells offer new drug for blood diseases. A new treatment for blood disorders might be in the works thanks to a stem cell-based study out of Harvard Medical School and Boston Children’s hospital. Their study was published in the journal Science Translational Medicine. The teams made induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) from the skin … Continue reading Stem Cell Stories That Caught our Eye: Making blood and muscle from stem cells and helping students realize their “pluripotential”
Curing the Incurable through Definitive Medicine
“Curing the Incurable”. That was the theme for the first annual Center for Definitive and Curative Medicine (CDCM) Symposium held last week at Stanford University, in Palo Alto, California. The CDCM is a joint initiative amongst Stanford Healthcare, Stanford Children’s Health and the Stanford School of Medicine. Its mission is to foster an environment that … Continue reading Curing the Incurable through Definitive Medicine
Stem Cell Profiles in Courage: Brenden Whittaker
It’s not often you meet someone who says one of their favorite things in the world is mowing the lawn. But then, there aren’t many people in the world like Brenden Whittaker. In fact, as of this writing, he may be unique. Brenden was born with severe chronic granulomatous disease (x-CGD), a rare genetic disorder … Continue reading Stem Cell Profiles in Courage: Brenden Whittaker
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