The results are in folks. Though it’s too early to declare a winner, it looks very likely that sickle cell disease is going to be soundly defeated by CRISPR-Cas9. Reporting in Nature on Monday, Stanford researchers devised a method to efficiently correct the sickle cell mutation in human blood stem cells using the super-popular, user-friendly … Continue reading With CRISPR-Cas9, Stanford Team Looks for Landslide Victory over Sickle Cell Disease
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Meeting the scientists who are turning their daughter’s cells into a research tool – one that could change her life forever
There’s nothing like a face-to-face meeting to really get to know someone. And when the life of someone you love is in the hands of that person, then it’s a meeting that comes packed with emotion and importance. Last week Gay and Steve Grossman got to meet the people who are working with their daughter … Continue reading Meeting the scientists who are turning their daughter’s cells into a research tool – one that could change her life forever
Meat the future of stem cells. And I do mean “meat”.
Over the years there have been a lot of interesting, odd ball, even a few really rather crazy stories about stem cell research that have made the news. So in honor of Halloween, we thought we’d look back at a few of them to remind ourselves that not all science is worthy of pursuit. Celebrity … Continue reading Meat the future of stem cells. And I do mean “meat”.
Ingenious CIRM-funded stem cell approach to treating ALS gets go-ahead to start clinical trial
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), better known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, was first identified way back in 1869 but today, more than 150 years later, there are still no effective treatments for it. Now a project, funded by CIRM, has been given approval by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to start a clinical trial that … Continue reading Ingenious CIRM-funded stem cell approach to treating ALS gets go-ahead to start clinical trial
Know Your Stem Cell History with Gladstone’s Interactive Timeline Tool
Stem cell biology is such a young area of research. It was only in 1998 that the first human embryonic stem cell line was generated by Jamie Thomson. A dizzying amount of breakthrough research has occurred in that short span of time, including the Nobel Prize winning work of Shinya Yamanaka for devising a method … Continue reading Know Your Stem Cell History with Gladstone’s Interactive Timeline Tool
Creating a “Pitching Machine” to speed up our delivery of stem cell treatments to patients
When baseball players are trying to improve their hitting they’ll use a pitching machine to help them fine tune their stroke. Having a device that delivers a ball at a consistent speed can help a batter be more consistent and effective in their swing, and hopefully get more hits. That’s what we are hoping our … Continue reading Creating a “Pitching Machine” to speed up our delivery of stem cell treatments to patients
Trash talking and creating a stem cell community
Imilce Rodriguez-Fernandez likes to talk trash. No, really, she does. In her case it’s cellular trash, the kind that builds up in our cells and has to be removed to ensure the cells don’t become sick. Imilce was one of several stem cell researchers who took part in a couple of public events over the … Continue reading Trash talking and creating a stem cell community
Using skin cells to repair damaged hearts
When someone has a heart attack, getting treatment quickly can mean the difference between life and death. Every minute delay in getting help means more heart cells die, and that can have profound consequences. One study found that heart attack patients who underwent surgery to re-open blocked arteries within 60 minutes of arriving in the … Continue reading Using skin cells to repair damaged hearts
Funding stem cell research targeting a rare and life-threatening disease in children
If you have never heard of cystinosis you should consider yourself fortunate. It’s a rare condition caused by an inherited genetic mutation. It hits early and it hits hard. Children with cystinosis are usually diagnosed before age 2 and are in end-stage kidney failure by the time they are 9. If that’s not bad enough … Continue reading Funding stem cell research targeting a rare and life-threatening disease in children
Asterias’ stem cell clinical trial shows encouraging results for spinal cord injury patients
When researchers are carrying out a clinical trial they have two goals: first, show that it is safe (the old “do no harm” maxim) and second, show it works. One without the other doesn’t do anyone any good in the long run. A few weeks ago Asterias Biotherapeutics showed that their CIRM-funded stem cell therapy … Continue reading Asterias’ stem cell clinical trial shows encouraging results for spinal cord injury patients
The Stem Cellar 