Most of us tend to think of art and science as being two very different subjects. They certainly were in my high school where I frequently got in trouble for doodling when I should have been paying attention to the chemistry teacher. But increasingly today we are seeing efforts to show that the two are … Continue reading The art of science, the science of art

Above: Paul Knoepfler speaks on Studio Sacramento. What secrets do stem cells hold? And how are scientists using them to better understand and treat deadly diseases such as ALS, Alzheimer’s and AIDS? Last week UC Davis resident stem cell expert Paul Knoepfler sat down with Scott Syphax of Studio Sacramento to talk about the promise … Continue reading Stem Cell Scientist Paul Knoepfler Interviewed for Studio Sacramento

It’s every cancer patient’s fear: that the drugs being used to shrink their deadly tumor stop working. Faced with this stark reality, researchers have become trapped in a molecular ‘arms race,’ trying to develop more effective therapies to attack the cancer. A better solution would be to prevent the drug resistance at the outset, but … Continue reading Tumor Cells Become Drug Resistant by Reverting to a Stem Cell-Like State, New Study Finds

Young people making Play Doh stem cells at last fall's Bay Area Science FestivalWe spend a great deal of time and effort at CIRM creating ways for the general public to stay informed about stem cell science. In particular I have an extra mandate to make sure we don’t forget about the young ones. That … Continue reading Children and parents to get a hands-on experience in stem cell science at the U.S. Science and Engineering Festival this weekend

A unique, shape-shifting property—previously only identified in man-made materials—has been discovered to also exist in stem cells. In a study published on Sunday in the journal Nature Materials, scientists at the University of Cambridge, UK, describe a strange event that occurred when observing the physical changes that occur as stem cells grow and mature into … Continue reading Shape-Shifting Stem Cells Could Inform New Wave of Absorbent Technologies

There are many different types of cells in the human body, but they all have something in common: housed within each is the complete set of genetic instructions, our genome, that give us life. It turns out that what makes cells different—what guides a blood cell to become a blood cell—depends on which parts of … Continue reading Stanford Researchers Develop New Technique that can Map a Cell’s Genetic ‘Blueprint’

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. A modest advance in therapeutic cloning. This week a Korean team announced that they had used the same techniques used by an Oregon team just … Continue reading Stem cell stories that caught our eye: therapeutic cloning, growing nerves and reprogramming cells.

Guest blogger Sergio Pistoi served with me on the Public Education Committee of the International Society for Stem Cell Research and in 1998 was a fellow in a science journalist fellowship program I directed at Harvard Med School. He writes for many major publications and consults with scientist on communicating their work. In the latter … Continue reading Is the ability of European scientists to work with human embryonic stem cells being jeopardized by DIY (do it yourself) communication

In a move that takes stem cell-based therapies for spinal cord injury one step closer in the long march from the lab bench to routine clinic use, StemCells, Inc., today announce that they have completed enrollment in a clinical trial that aims to treat chronic spinal cord injury. This Phase I/II trial will evaluate the … Continue reading Dual Clinical Trial Announcements Offers New Hope for Treating Spinal Cord Injury

Dr. Mathew Blurton-Jones of U.C. Irvine: his new study may help open new approaches to Alzheimer'sThe Holy Grail of medical research is to find a cure for deadly diseases. But in the case of diseases like Alzheimer’s, where we don’t even have any truly effective treatments, any research that offers the potential of a new … Continue reading Genetically modified stem cells offer potential new path to treating Alzheimer’s disease