Last week, researchers from Cedars-Sinai Medical Center added a new piece to the complex puzzle of what causes neurodegenerative disorders like amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). The team discovered that the tiny blood vessels in our brains do more than provide nutrients to and remove waste products from our brain tissue. It turns out that these … Continue reading Tiny blood vessels in the brain can spur the growth of spinal motor neurons
stem cell research
Stem Cell Roundup: hESCs turn 20, tracking cancer stem cells, new ALS gene ID’d
Stem Cell Image of the Week This week’s stunning stem cell image is brought to you by researchers in the Brivanlou Lab at Rockefeller University. What looks like the center of a sunflower is actual a ball of neural rosettes derived from human embryonic stem cells (ESCs). Neural rosettes are structures that contain neural stem … Continue reading Stem Cell Roundup: hESCs turn 20, tracking cancer stem cells, new ALS gene ID’d
Cold temps nudge stem cells to boost “good” fat, may point to obesity remedies
Newborn babies may not be able to walk or talk but they can do something that makes adults very jealous: burn extra calories without exercising. This feat is accomplished with the help of brown fat which is abundant in infants (and hibernating animals) but barely detectable in adults. However, a new study in Scientific Reports … Continue reading Cold temps nudge stem cells to boost “good” fat, may point to obesity remedies
Stem cell clinics make big claims but offer little evidence they can treat osteoarthritic knees
If someone says they have a success rate of close to 100 percent in treating a major health problem but offer little evidence to back that up, you might be excused for being more than a tad skeptical. And a new study says you would be right. The health problem in question is osteoarthritis (OA) … Continue reading Stem cell clinics make big claims but offer little evidence they can treat osteoarthritic knees
Stem Cell Round: Improving memory, building up “good” fat, nanomedicine
Stem Cell Photo of the Week In honor of brain awareness week, our featured stem cell photo is of the brain! Scientists at the Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Stem Cell Institute identified a genetic switch that could potentially improve memory during aging and symptoms of PTSD. Shown in this picture are dentate gyrus cells … Continue reading Stem Cell Round: Improving memory, building up “good” fat, nanomedicine
Video illustrates potential path to stem cell repair for multiple sclerosis
“Can you imagine slowly losing the ability to live life as you know it? To slowly lose the ability to see, to walk, to grab an object, all the while experiencing pain, fatigue and depression?” These sobering questions are posed at the beginning of a recent video produced by Youreka Science and Americans for Cures … Continue reading Video illustrates potential path to stem cell repair for multiple sclerosis
Stem Cell Roundup: No nerve cells for you, old man; stem cells take out the trash; clues to better tattoo removal
Stem cell image of the week: Do they or don’t they? The debate on new nerve cell growth in adult brain rages on. For the longest time, it was simply a given among scientists that once you reach adulthood, your brain’s neuron-making days were over. Then, over the past several decades, evidence emerged that the adult … Continue reading Stem Cell Roundup: No nerve cells for you, old man; stem cells take out the trash; clues to better tattoo removal
It’s World Kidney Day: Highlighting CIRM’s Investments in Treating Kidney Failure
Today is World Kidney Day. Hundreds of events across the globe are taking place “to raise awareness of the importance of our kidneys to our overall health and to reduce the frequency and impact of kidney disease and its associated health problems worldwide.” (Side note: in recognition that today is also International Women’s Day, World … Continue reading It’s World Kidney Day: Highlighting CIRM’s Investments in Treating Kidney Failure
If you’re into stem cell manufacturing, this is the conference for you!
Fulfilling CIRM’s mission doesn’t just mean accelerating promising stem cell treatments to patients. It also involves accelerating the whole field of regenerative medicine, which involves not just research, but developing candidate treatments, manufacturing cell therapies, and testing these therapies in clinical trials. Manufacturing and the pre-clinical safety evaluation of cell therapies are topics that don’t … Continue reading If you’re into stem cell manufacturing, this is the conference for you!
A shot in the arm for people with bad knees
Almost every day I get an email or phone call from someone asking if we have a stem cell therapy for bad knees. The inquiries are from people who’ve been told they need surgery to replace joints damaged by age and arthritis. They’re not alone. Every year around 600,000 Americans get a knee replacement. That … Continue reading A shot in the arm for people with bad knees
The Stem Cellar 