An end run around sickle cell disease with CRISPR The CRISPR-based gene editing technique has got to be the hottest topic in biomedical research right now. And I sense we’re only at the tip of the iceberg with more applications of the technology popping up almost every week. Just two days ago, researchers at the Dana … Continue reading Stem cell stories that caught our eye: new CRISPR fix for sickle cell disease, saving saliva stem cells, jumping genes in iPSCs and lung stem cells.
Lung Disease
Stem cell stories that caught our eye: diabetes drug hits cancer, video stem cell tracker and quick n’ easy stem cells for fatal lung disease
Teaching an old drug new tricks. One the quickest way to get a drug to market is to find one that’s already been FDA approved for other diseases. Reporting this week in Cell Metabolism, researchers from London and Madrid identified the mechanisms that enable the anti-diabetic drug, metformin, to kill pancreatic cancer stem cells (PanCSCs). … Continue reading Stem cell stories that caught our eye: diabetes drug hits cancer, video stem cell tracker and quick n’ easy stem cells for fatal lung disease
The Stem Cell Bank is open for business
When you go to a bank and withdraw money you know that the notes you get are all going to look the same and do the same job, namely allow you to buy things. But when you get stem cells for research that’s not necessarily the case. Stem cells bought from different laboratories don’t always … Continue reading The Stem Cell Bank is open for business
Stem cell stories that caught our eye: fixing defects we got from mom, lung repair and staunching chronic nerve pain
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 ways to clean up mitochondrial defects. Every student gets it drilled into them that we get half our genes from mom and half from … Continue reading Stem cell stories that caught our eye: fixing defects we got from mom, lung repair and staunching chronic nerve pain
Stem cell stories that caught our eye; cystic fibrosis, brain repair and Type 2 diabetes
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. “Organoids” screen for cystic fibrosis drugs. Starting with iPS-type stem cells made by reprogramming skin cells from cystic fibrosis (CF) patients a team at the … Continue reading Stem cell stories that caught our eye; cystic fibrosis, brain repair and Type 2 diabetes
Newly Identified Stem Cells Breathe Life into Lung Disease Therapy
Breathing. So crucial to life yet so easy to take for granted—maybe because it’s one of the few functions our bodies control both unconsciously and consciously. But I imagine people with lung disease, such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) are all too aware as their continual struggle to breathe worsens over time. COPD, the third … Continue reading Newly Identified Stem Cells Breathe Life into Lung Disease Therapy