A cardiac love triangle: how transcription factors interact to make a heart

 Here’s a heartfelt science story for all those Valentine’s day fans out there. Scientists from the Gladstone Institutes have identified how a group of transcription factors interact during embryonic development to make a healthy heart. Their work will increase our biological understanding of how the heart is formed and could produce new methods for treating … Continue reading A cardiac love triangle: how transcription factors interact to make a heart

A Tale of Two Stem Cell Treatments for Growing New Bones

Got Milk? If you grew up during the 90’s, you most certainly will remember the famous “Got Milk?” advertising campaign to boost milk consumption. The plug was that milk was an invaluable source of calcium, a mineral that’s essential for growing strong bones. Drinking three glasses of the white stuff a day, supposedly would help … Continue reading A Tale of Two Stem Cell Treatments for Growing New Bones

If you want to accelerate stem cell therapies then create an Accelerating Center

“You can’t teach fish to fly,” is one of the phrases that our CIRM President & CEO, Randy Mills, likes to throw out when asked why we needed to create new centers to help researchers move their most promising therapies out of the lab and into clinical trials. His point is that many researchers are … Continue reading If you want to accelerate stem cell therapies then create an Accelerating Center

Protective cell therapy could mean insulin independence for diabetic patients

This has already been a productive year for diabetes research. Earlier this month, scientists from UCSF and the Gladstone Institutes successfully made functional human pancreatic beta cells from skin, providing a new and robust method for generating large quantities of cells to replace those lost in patients suffering from type 1 diabetes. Today marks another … Continue reading Protective cell therapy could mean insulin independence for diabetic patients

New Stem Cell Treatment for ALS May Slow Disease Progression

Exciting news was published this week that will give patients suffering from ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, something to cheer about. The journal JAMA Neurology reported that a new stem cell treatment was successful in slowing disease progression in a small group of ALS patients in a Phase 2 clinical trial. This is … Continue reading New Stem Cell Treatment for ALS May Slow Disease Progression

National honor for helping “the blind see”

Those of us fortunate to have good health take so many things for granted, not the least of which is our ability to see. But, according to the World Health Organization, there are 39 million people worldwide who are blind, and another 246 million who are visually impaired. Any therapy, any device, that can help … Continue reading National honor for helping “the blind see”

A Win for Diabetes: Scientists Make Functional Pancreatic Cells From Skin

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

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

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

UCLA scientists find new targets for late-stage prostate cancer

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