In 2004, when 59 percent of California voters approved the creation of CIRM, our state embarked on an unprecedented experiment: providing concentrated funding to a new, promising area of research. The goal: accelerate the process of getting therapies to patients, especially those with unmet medical needs. Having 10 potential treatments expected to be approved for … Continue reading 10 Years/10 Therapies: 10 Years after its Founding CIRM will have 10 Therapies Approved for Clinical Trials
Virology/Immunology
What everybody needs to know about CIRM: where has the money gone
It’s been almost ten years since the voters of California created the Stem Cell Agency when they overwhelmingly approved Proposition 71, providing us $3 billion to help fund stem cell research. In the last ten years we have made great progress – we will have ten projects that we are funding in or approved to … Continue reading What everybody needs to know about CIRM: where has the money gone
Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger: Scientists Work to Create Improved Immune System One Cell at a Time
The human immune system is the body’s best defense against invaders. But even our hardy immune systems can sometimes be outpaced by particularly dangerous bacteria, viruses or other pathogens, or even by cancer. But what if we could give our immune system a boost when it needs it most? Last week scientists at the Salk … Continue reading Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger: Scientists Work to Create Improved Immune System One Cell at a Time
Creaky Cell Machinery Affects the Aging Immune System, CIRM-Funded Study Finds
Why do our immune systems weaken over time? Why are people over the age of 60 more susceptible to life-threatening infections and many forms of cancer? There’s no one answer to these questions—but scientists at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), have uncovered an important mechanism behind this phenomenon. Reporting in the latest issue … Continue reading Creaky Cell Machinery Affects the Aging Immune System, CIRM-Funded Study Finds
Stem Cell Stories that Caught our Eye: Multiple Sclerosis, Parkinson’s and Reducing the Risk of Causing Tumors
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. Cell therapy for Parkinson’s advancing to the clinic. A decade-long moratorium on the transplant of fetal nerve tissue into Parkinson’s patient will end in two … Continue reading Stem Cell Stories that Caught our Eye: Multiple Sclerosis, Parkinson’s and Reducing the Risk of Causing Tumors
Stem Cells become Tool to Screen for Drugs; Fight Dangerous Heart Infections.
A Stanford study adds a powerful example to our growing list of diseases that have yielded their secrets to iPS-type stem cells grown in a dish. These “disease-in-a-dish” models have become one of the most rapidly growing areas of stem cell science. But this time they did not start with skin from a patient with … Continue reading Stem Cells become Tool to Screen for Drugs; Fight Dangerous Heart Infections.
BIO International Panel Showed Stem Cell Science Poised to Make a Difference in Medical Practice Soon
When the biotechnology trade association began holding annual conferences in 1993, they drew 1,400 to the first event. This year BIO International expected nearly 20,000 here in San Diego. Among the dozens of concurrent sessions each day of this four-day scramble, stem cells got one track on one day this year. But listening to the … Continue reading BIO International Panel Showed Stem Cell Science Poised to Make a Difference in Medical Practice Soon
BIO International Panel Showed Stem Cell Science Poised to Make a Difference in Medical Practice Soon
When the biotechnology trade association began holding annual conferences in 1993, they drew 1,400 to the first event. This year BIO International expected nearly 20,000 here in San Diego. Among the dozens of concurrent sessions each day of this four-day scramble, stem cells got one track on one day this year. But listening to the … Continue reading BIO International Panel Showed Stem Cell Science Poised to Make a Difference in Medical Practice Soon
Innovative Stem Cell Therapy for HIV Passes Milestone
Milestones are useful things. They measure how far we have come on a journey, and give us a sense that we are on the right path. One of the projects we are helping fund just passed a big milestone, and it’s given the researchers the go-ahead to move on to the next, perhaps even more … Continue reading Innovative Stem Cell Therapy for HIV Passes Milestone
Innovative Stem Cell Therapy for HIV Passes Milestone
Milestones are useful things. They measure how far we have come on a journey, and give us a sense that we are on the right path. One of the projects we are helping fund just passed a big milestone, and it’s given the researchers the go-ahead to move on to the next, perhaps even more … Continue reading Innovative Stem Cell Therapy for HIV Passes Milestone