There is power in a single voice. I am always reminded of that whenever I meet a patient advocate and hear them talk about the need for treatments and cures – and not just for their particular disease but for everyone. The passion and commitment they display in advocating for more research funding reflects the … Continue reading Share your voice, shape our future
Disease Areas
Not all reprogrammed stem cells are the same—an eye-catching example
Scientists can take any adult tissue whether skin, blood or nerve and use genetic factors to reprogram them into embryonic-like stem cells. But the Nobel Prize-winning technique does not produce stem cells with equal ability to mature into various tissues needed to repair damage from disease or injury. A team at St. Jude Children’s Research … Continue reading Not all reprogrammed stem cells are the same—an eye-catching example
Stem cell stories that caught our eye: Immune therapy for HIV, nerves grown on diamonds and how stem cells talk
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. Trendy CAR T therapy tried on HIV. The hottest trend in cancer therapy today is using CAR-T cells to attack and rid the body of … Continue reading Stem cell stories that caught our eye: Immune therapy for HIV, nerves grown on diamonds and how stem cells talk
Protein Revs Up Bone Stem Cells; Points Toward Future Osteoporosis Drug
Take a moment to feel your arm and wrist bones. They’re a lot more like solid rock than the soft stretchy skin that covers them. But bone is very much a living tissue continually being broken down and built back up in a process called bone remodeling. In people with osteoporosis, this balance tips toward … Continue reading Protein Revs Up Bone Stem Cells; Points Toward Future Osteoporosis Drug
Stem cell stories that caught our eye: Parkinson’s in a dish, synthetic blood, tracking Huntington’s and cloning
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. 3D nerve model for Parkinson’s. The wave of successes in making more complex tissues in three dimensional lab cultures continues this week with a team … Continue reading Stem cell stories that caught our eye: Parkinson’s in a dish, synthetic blood, tracking Huntington’s and cloning
Hed: Stem cell stories that caught our eye: the why’s of heart failure, harnessing stem cells’ repair kits 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. Stem cell model sheds light on heat failure. Pretty much everyone who has heart failure due to cardiomyopathy—where the heart muscle doesn’t work as effectively … Continue reading Hed: Stem cell stories that caught our eye: the why’s of heart failure, harnessing stem cells’ repair kits and growing organs
Building a Bridge to Therapies: Stem Cell-Derived Neurons Restore Feeling to Injured Limbs
It’s been a great week for spinal cord injury-related stem cell research – and it’s only Tuesday. In case you missed it, Asterias Biotherapeutics announced yesterday that they had treated their first clinical trial participant with an embryonic stem cell-based therapy for complete spinal cord injury. “Complete” refers to injuries that cause a total loss … Continue reading Building a Bridge to Therapies: Stem Cell-Derived Neurons Restore Feeling to Injured Limbs
Desperate patients and false hope: a troubling trend for stem cell-based therapies
A gambler’s odds are usually stacked against them but the possibility, however slim, of hitting the jackpot keeps bringing them back to the table. Now imagine, unbeknownst to them, the system is rigged so there’s a zero percent chance of any winnings. They’d essentially be giving their money away based on a false hope. Sadly, … Continue reading Desperate patients and false hope: a troubling trend for stem cell-based therapies
One man’s story points to hope against a deadly skin cancer
One of the great privileges and pleasures of working at the stem cell agency is the chance to meet and work with some remarkable people, such as my colleagues here at CIRM and the researchers we support. But for me the most humbling, and by far the most rewarding experience, is having a chance to … Continue reading One man’s story points to hope against a deadly skin cancer
Genes+Cells: Stem cells deliver genes to make T cells resistant to HIV
This summer the first patients will be enrolled in a clinical trial using a form of genetic scissors to alter the DNA in their stem cells to give their immune systems a desired trait—resistance to HIV. The procedure will alter the patients’ blood-forming stem cells so that they can permanently make immune system T cells … Continue reading Genes+Cells: Stem cells deliver genes to make T cells resistant to HIV
The Stem Cellar 