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. Stem cell fashion for a cause. Science and art are not mutually exclusive subjects. I know plenty of scientists who are talented painters or designers. … Continue reading Stem cell stories that caught our eye: fashionable stem cells, eliminating HIV, cellular Trojan horse fights cancer
Stem cells
Easier, Cheaper Stem Cell-Based Heart Muscle Sets Stage for Large-Scale Drug Development
The great inventions – like the automobile, the Internet or aviation – are marked as important turning points in human history. But it’s usually the additional tinkering that goes on in the ensuing years after the initial invention that makes the technology feasible in terms of cost, reproducibility and mass production. The same holds true … Continue reading Easier, Cheaper Stem Cell-Based Heart Muscle Sets Stage for Large-Scale Drug Development
Scientists tackle aging by stabilizing defective blood stem cells in mice
Aging is an inevitable process that effects every cell, tissue, and organ in your body. You can live longer by maintaining a healthy, active lifestyle, but there is no magic pill that can prevent your body’s natural processes from slowly breaking down and becoming less efficient. As author Chinua Achebe would say, “Things Fall Apart”. … Continue reading Scientists tackle aging by stabilizing defective blood stem cells in mice
Stem cells provide promising skin in the game for treating burn victims
For severe burn victims and others in need of skin transplants, current treatments using artificial skin grafts made from sheets of lab-grown skin cells aren’t ideal because they lack the complex structures needed to fully restore many of the skin’s critical functions. For example, artificial skin doesn’t contain oil-producing sebaceous glands and forces burn victims … Continue reading Stem cells provide promising skin in the game for treating burn victims
UCSF Scientists find molecular link between brain stem cells and Zika Infection
The Zika virus scare came to a head in 2015, prompting the World Health Organization to declare the outbreak a global health emergency earlier this year. From a research standpoint, much of the effort has centered on understanding whether the Zika infection is actually a cause of birth defects like microcephaly and how the virus … Continue reading UCSF Scientists find molecular link between brain stem cells and Zika Infection
Getting On Tract: Stem Cells Regenerate Injured Spinal Cord in Rats
The spinal cord acts as a highway that transports electrical signals from your brain to the rest of your body through long bundles of nerve fibers. It allows your brain to communicate with the rest of your body to coordinate movement and reflexes and to receive sensory information. When the spinal cord is damaged, the … Continue reading Getting On Tract: Stem Cells Regenerate Injured Spinal Cord in Rats
Breast cancer: Piecing together early detection and treatment
Developing therapies for disease is kind of like trying to put together a series of incredibly complex puzzles. Scientists collect lots of “puzzle pieces”, in the form of data, through experiments in the lab and clinic or by reading up on other researchers’ results. Each piece gives researchers a tidbit of insight but the breakthroughs … Continue reading Breast cancer: Piecing together early detection and treatment
In the Race to Cure Blindness, Who Will Cross the Finish Line First Optogenetics or Stem Cells?
Before you read this blog, I wanted to share a photo that I took (yes with my iPhone 6…) last week of a beautiful sunset at Ocean Beach in San Francisco. I’m showing you this picture not to gloat that I live by the ocean, but to make a point. You’re able to enjoy this … Continue reading In the Race to Cure Blindness, Who Will Cross the Finish Line First Optogenetics or Stem Cells?
Five Cool Stem Cell Technologies to Tell Your Friends
As a former stem cell scientist turned science communicator, I love answering science questions no matter how complicated or bizarre. The other day my friend asked me about what CRISPR was and how scientists were using it on stem cells to help people. This got me thinking that it would be cool to do a … Continue reading Five Cool Stem Cell Technologies to Tell Your Friends
CIRM Alpha Stem Cell Clinics: Paving a Path to Cures
Our mission at CIRM is to accelerate stem cell treatments to patients with unmet medical needs. Over the past ten years, our agency has been tasked with carefully distributing $3 billion dollars of California state tax payer money to the best and brightest scientists in California (and outside too, providing they meet certain requirements). These … Continue reading CIRM Alpha Stem Cell Clinics: Paving a Path to Cures
The Stem Cellar 