Prostate cancer, which currently affects 3 million men in the United States, is no longer a death sentence if caught early. The five-year survival rate is very high (~98%) because of effective treatments like hormone therapy, chemotherapy, surgery, and radiation—and for many men with slow progressing tumors, the wait-and-watch approach offers an alternative to treatment. … Continue reading UCLA scientists find new targets for late-stage prostate cancer
Disease Areas
Smoking out Leukemia Cells to Prevent Cancer Relapse
Ninety-five percent of all patients with chronic myeloid leukemia (CML), carry a Frankenstein-like gene, called BCR-ABL, created from an abnormal fusion of two genes normally found on two separate chromosomes. Like a water faucet without a shutoff valve, the resulting mutant protein is stuck in an “on” position and leads to uncontrolled cell division and … Continue reading Smoking out Leukemia Cells to Prevent Cancer Relapse
Meet the proteins that tell stem cells where to move and how
Word cloud art work which shows all the proteins identified by the researchers The environment you grow up in can have a huge influence on how you turn out. That applies to people, and to stem cells too. Now a new study has identified 60 proteins that can have a big impact on how … Continue reading Meet the proteins that tell stem cells where to move and how
Type 1 Diabetes Trial Explained Whiteboard Video Style
There’s a saying, a picture is worth a thousand words. With complicated science however, pictures don’t always do these topics justice. Here’s where videos come to the rescue. Today’s topic is type 1 diabetes and a CIRM-funded clinical trial headed by the San Diego company ViaCyte hoping to develop a cure for patients with this disease. Instead of writing an entire … Continue reading Type 1 Diabetes Trial Explained Whiteboard Video Style
CIRM’s clinical trial portfolio: Two teams tackle blindness, macular degeneration and retinitis pigmentosa
More than seven million people in the US struggle to see. While most are not completely blind they have difficulty with, or simply can’t do, daily tasks most of us take for granted. CIRM has committed more than $100 million to 17 projects trying to solve this unmet medical need. Two of those projects have … Continue reading CIRM’s clinical trial portfolio: Two teams tackle blindness, macular degeneration and retinitis pigmentosa
Eyeing Stem Cell Therapies for Vision Loss
Back by popular demand (well, at least a handful of you demanded it!) we’re pleased to present the third installment of our Stem Cells in Your Face video series. Episodes one and two set out to explain – in a light-hearted, engaging and clear way – the latest progress in CIRM-funded stem cell research related … Continue reading Eyeing Stem Cell Therapies for Vision Loss
Stem cell stories that caught our eye: making vocal cords, understanding our brain and the age of donor cells matters
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. Tissue engineered vocal cords. A report from the University of Wisconsin that researchers there had grown new vocal cords got quite a bit of play … Continue reading Stem cell stories that caught our eye: making vocal cords, understanding our brain and the age of donor cells matters
New type of diabetes caused by old age may be treatable
I’m going to tell you a secret: I love sugar. I love it so much that as a little kid my mom used to tell me scary stories about how my teeth would fall out and that I might get diabetes one day if I ate too many sweets. Thankfully, none of these things happened. … Continue reading New type of diabetes caused by old age may be treatable
A Fishy Tale: A gene that blocks regeneration in fish blocks cancer in humans
Evolution is a fascinating thing. Over time, the human race has evolved from cavemen to a bustling civilization fueled by technology, science, and economics. While we’ve gained many abilities that separate us from other mammals and our closest ancestors, the apes, we’ve also lost a number of skills along the way. One of them is … Continue reading A Fishy Tale: A gene that blocks regeneration in fish blocks cancer in humans
Gene editing in blood stem cells just got easier
Genome editing is a field of science that’s been around for awhile, but has experienced an explosion of activity and interest in recent years. Chances are that even your grandmother has heard about the recent story where for the first time, gene editing saved a one-year-old girl from dying of leukemia. Microsoft word versus genome … Continue reading Gene editing in blood stem cells just got easier
The Stem Cellar 