Today our partners Capricor Therapeutics announced that its stem cell therapy for patients who have experienced a large heart attack is unlikely to meet one of its key goals, namely reducing the scar size in the heart 12 months after treatment. The news came after analyzing results from patients at the halfway point of the … Continue reading Stem cell stories that caught our eye: update on Capricor’s heart attack trial; lithium on the brain; and how stem cells do math
Disease Areas
Kidney Disease: There’s an Organ-on-a-Chip for That
“There’s an app for that” is a well-known phrase trademarked by Apple to promote how users can do almost anything they do on a computer on their mobile phone. Apps are so deeply ingrained in everyday life that it’s hard for some people to imagine living without them. (I know I’d be lost without google … Continue reading Kidney Disease: There’s an Organ-on-a-Chip for That
Engineered bone tissue improves stem cell transplants
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
Stem cell stories that caught our eye: better ovarian cancer drugs, creating inner ear tissue, small fish big splash
Two drugs are better than one for ovarian cancer (Karen Ring). Earlier this week, scientists from UCLA reported that a combination drug therapy could be an effective treatment for 50% of aggressive ovarian cancers. The study was published in the journal Precision Oncology and was led by Dr. Sanaz Memarzadeh. Women with high-grade ovarian tumors … Continue reading Stem cell stories that caught our eye: better ovarian cancer drugs, creating inner ear tissue, small fish big splash
jCyte gets FDA go-ahead for Fast Track review process of Retinitis Pigmentosa stem cell therapy
When the US Congress approved, and President Obama signed into law, the 21st Century Cures Act last year there was guarded optimism that this would help create a more efficient and streamlined, but no less safe, approval process for the most promising stem cell therapies. Even so many people took a wait and see approach, … Continue reading jCyte gets FDA go-ahead for Fast Track review process of Retinitis Pigmentosa stem cell therapy
Stem cell-derived, 3D brain tissue reveals autism insights
Studying human brain disorders is one of the most challenging fields in biomedical research. Besides the fact that the brain is incredibly complex, it’s just plain difficult to peer into it. For one thing, it’s not practical, let alone ethical, to drill into an affected person’s skull and collect brain cells to learn about their … Continue reading Stem cell-derived, 3D brain tissue reveals autism insights
Stem cell stories that caught our eye: spinal cord injury trial keeps pace; SMART cells make cartilage and drugs
CIRM-funded spinal cord injury trial keeping a steady pace Taking an idea for a stem cell treatment and developing it into a Food and Drug Administration-approved cell therapy is like running the Boston Marathon because it requires incremental progress rather than a quick sprint. Asterias Biotherapeutics continues to keep a steady pace and to hit … Continue reading Stem cell stories that caught our eye: spinal cord injury trial keeps pace; SMART cells make cartilage and drugs
Capricor reports positive results on CIRM-funded stem cell trial for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy
Capricor Therapeutics, a Los Angeles-based company, published an update about its CIRM-funded clinical trial for patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), a devastating degenerative muscle disease that significantly reduces life expectancy. The company reported positive results from their Phase I/II HOPE trial that’s testing the safety of their cardiosphere stem cell-based therapy called CAP-1002. The trial had … Continue reading Capricor reports positive results on CIRM-funded stem cell trial for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy
Knocking out sexually transmitted disease with stem cells and CRISPR gene editing
When used in tandem, stem cells and gene editing make a powerful pair in the development of cell therapies for genetic diseases like sickle cell anemia and bubble baby disease. But the applications of these cutting-edge technologies go well beyond cell therapies. This week, researchers at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute in the UK and … Continue reading Knocking out sexually transmitted disease with stem cells and CRISPR gene editing
Scientists make stem cell-derived nerve cells damaged in spinal cord injury
The human spinal cord is an information highway that relays movement-related instructions from the brain to the rest of the body and sensory information from the body back to the brain. What keeps this highway flowing is a long tube of nerve cells and support cells bundled together within the spine. When the spinal cord … Continue reading Scientists make stem cell-derived nerve cells damaged in spinal cord injury
The Stem Cellar 