Retigabine, an approved epilepsy drug that may offer hope for ALS patients Today’s blog is the third in as many days about amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) research and this one may be the most tantalizing. Earlier this morning, the Harvard Stem Cell Institute (HSCI) announced the publication of two reports that point to an already … Continue reading Epilepsy drug may offer hope for ALS treatment, Harvard stem cell researchers report

Motor neurons control our muscle movements. In ALS, these cells die. In 2012, CIRM’s Board awarded over $17 million to a Cedars-Sinai Medical Center team to help bring a stem cell based therapy for ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis) to clinical trials in people. Yesterday, the Department of Defense (DoD) got into the act by announcing … Continue reading Military Marches in Step with Stem Cell Agency By Helping Bring ALS Research at Cedars-Sinai to Clinical Trials

Motor neuron progenitors made from embryonic stem cellsThe best scientists are, in many ways, like great chefs. It’s not the ingredients that they use that make a great meal, but how they blend them together. In the same way scientists often have the same basic elements but it’s the way they work with those that … Continue reading Building more nerves of the brain and spinal cord, faster and more efficiently

I look at my son a lot and feel like he’s trapped inside his own brain. Circuits are going crazy. He can’t figure it out. Of course, I can’t figure it out. And I think he deserves to have a voice…He’s never said I love you. He’s never said “Mom” with any meaning…I feel like … Continue reading Video: Reversing autism in the lab with help from stem cells and the tooth fairy

One of the reasons cancer experts have been able to make big advances in recent years is because they can take a tumor and biopsy it and understand its makeup. With bipolar disorder – and indeed with any brain condition – we haven’t been able to do that because it’s considered bad form to biopsy … Continue reading Stem cells helping unlock some of the mysteries of bipolar disorder

What does a Koala bear have to do with finding more effective treatments for leukemia? Well, Dr. Catriona Jamieson says the connection is really quite simple and she explained it in our Google Hangout on Leukemia yesterday. It's quite a fun story.Dr. Jamieson is the Director of Stem Cell Research at the Moore Cancer Center … Continue reading Koala bears and cancer cells – how our Hangout had good news in the fight against leukemia

A CIRM-funded team at the University of California at Davis has developed an efficient method for coaxing early-stage stem cells known as pluripotent cells into becoming the specialized tissue that lines our bladders and protects them from the acid in urine. Because the bladder is one of our simpler organs it has been one of … Continue reading iPS type stem cells pushed to become replacement tissue for bladder repair, possibly after cancer

Progress in science can take time, and it can seem like a really long slog when so many people are looking to you for breakthroughs that could save their life or the life of someone they love. But progress is being made in stem cell research with a growing number of promising therapies moving out … Continue reading Progress you can see – how CIRM-funded projects are heading to clinical trials

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 cells from a drop of blood. One reason Shinya Yamanaka won the Nobel Prize in 2012 was his discovery of iPS type stem cells … Continue reading Stem cell stories that caught our eye: iPS cells from drop of blood, leukemia and stem cell backer Jim Stowers

Put this day and time in your diary. Tuesday, March 25 from noon till 1pm PT. That’s when we’ll be holding our next Google Hangout and the topic this time is leukemia.We’ll be bringing together three great scientists to talk about their work and experience in finding cures or more effective therapies for leukemia, when … Continue reading Do you have questions about how stem cells could help people with leukemia? We have answers