Today is an exciting day for diabetes research and patients. For the first time, scientists have succeeded in making functional pancreatic beta cells from human skin. This new method for making the insulin-producing cells of the pancreas could produce a new, more effective treatment for patients suffering from diabetes. Researchers at the Gladstone Institutes and … Continue reading A Win for Diabetes: Scientists Make Functional Pancreatic Cells From Skin
Disease Areas
While You Were Away: Gene Editing Treats Mice with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy
Welcome back everyone! I hope you enjoyed your holiday and are looking forward to an exciting new year. My favorite thing about coming back from vacation is to see what cool new science was published. Because as you know, science doesn’t take a vacation! As I was reading over the news for this past week, … Continue reading While You Were Away: Gene Editing Treats Mice with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy
HIV/AIDS: Progress and Promise of Stem Cell Research
Our friends at Americans for Cures and Youreka Science have done it again. They’ve produced another whiteboard video about the progress and promise of stem cell research that’s so inspiring that it would probably make Darth Vader consider coming back to the light side. This time they tackled HIV. If you haven’t watched one of … Continue reading HIV/AIDS: Progress and Promise of Stem Cell Research
Stem cell stories that caught our eye: back repair, stem cell aging, babies for same sex couples, chimeras
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. Getting the right cells for back repair. We often write that stem cells found in fat tissue can form bone, cartilage and other connective tissue. … Continue reading Stem cell stories that caught our eye: back repair, stem cell aging, babies for same sex couples, chimeras
Four Challenges to Making the Best Stem Cell Models for Brain Diseases
Neurological diseases are complicated. A single genetic mutation causes some, while multiple genetic and environmental factors cause others. Also, within a single neurological disease, patients can experience varying symptoms and degrees of disease severity. And you can’t just open up the brain and poke around to see what’s causing the problem in living patients. It’s … Continue reading Four Challenges to Making the Best Stem Cell Models for Brain Diseases
A step forward for Parkinson’s disease?
Imagine how frustrating it would be to not know whether you could physically sit through a dinner with friends or to worry about getting stuck in the grocery isle, fighting against a body that refuses to move. These nightmare-like experiences are what many Parkinson’s disease (PD) patients deal with on a daily basis. PD affects … Continue reading A step forward for Parkinson’s disease?
The Critical Role of Patient Advocates in Accelerating Stem Cell Cures
At CIRM, our goal is to bring stem cell therapies to patients with unmet medical needs, and we do that by funding the most promising and innovative research in regenerative medicine. A critical component of this goal is to support our patient advocates and make sure that their voices are heard. At this year’s World … Continue reading The Critical Role of Patient Advocates in Accelerating Stem Cell Cures
To modify, or not to modify: Experts discuss human germline modification at WSCS15
The question of whether human germline modification, or the genetic modification of human reproductive cells, should be allowed or banned was discussed by a panel of experts in the Ethics, Law and Society session during Day 1 of the World Stem Cell Summit. On the panel were Aubrey de Grey, Chief Science Officer of the … Continue reading To modify, or not to modify: Experts discuss human germline modification at WSCS15
Bringing down the gatekeeper for a stem cell-based Parkinson’s cure
On the surface, a stem cell-based cure for Parkinson’s disease seems pretty straight-forward. This age-related neurodegenerative disorder, which leads to progressively worsening tremors, slowness of movement and muscle rigidity, is caused by the death of a specific type of nerve cell, or neuron, that produces the chemical dopamine in a specific region of the brain. … Continue reading Bringing down the gatekeeper for a stem cell-based Parkinson’s cure
CIRM Scholar Spotlight: Berkeley’s Maroof Adil on stem cell transplants for Parkinson’s disease
Stem cell therapy has a lot of potential for Parkinson’s patients and the scientists that study it. One of our very own CIRM scholars, Maroof Adil, is making it his mission to develop stem cell based therapies to treat brain degenerating diseases like Parkinson’s. Maroof got his undergraduate degrees from MIT in both Chemical Engineering … Continue reading CIRM Scholar Spotlight: Berkeley’s Maroof Adil on stem cell transplants for Parkinson’s disease
The Stem Cellar 