Los Angeles - biopharma business hubMagazines love to use numbers in titles to attract attention. You know the kind, “Top Ten Tips for Trimmer Hips”, “Six Ways to Slim for Swimsuits”, “Five Steps to Perfect Abs”. But here’s a headline you probably won’t see on a magazine cover in the supermarket checkout line – Top … Continue reading Nine reasons why the biotech world loves L.A.

The fact that the symptoms of advanced Parkinson’s disease patients improve after implantation of electrodes has always felt a bit like voodoo to me. But this “deep brain stimulation” works. The dyskinesias, the involuntary muscle tics, that plague these patients improve after the implants. Now, a team of scientists from the University of Florida and … Continue reading Deep brain stimulation may help advanced Parkinson’s patients by producing new stem cells

Liver disease has many causes ranging from various types of hepatitis to genetic mutations and alcohol damage. But when any of these causes lead to severe disease, the patients often find themselves on waiting lists for liver transplants. There are currently 16,000 people in the U.S. on that list and many of them will die … Continue reading Best of the blog: Progress in liver disease

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. Gene editing to create resistance to HIV. A widely written about study in this week’s New England Journal of Medicine brought smiles to many faces … Continue reading Stem cell stories that caught our eye: HIV resistance, comparing ways to edit genes and longevity

Human embryonic stem cells (nuclei in green). How do you tell which are the best quality? Read on. (credit: Julie Baker, Stanford) One of the exciting aspects of working on the cutting edge of science and technology research is that you get to build the “road” of knowledge as you drive down it. Still, at … Continue reading Paving a smooth road to stem cell therapies: Harvard team develops stem cell quality control index

Each month CIRM President Alan Trounson gives his perspective on recently published papers he thinks will be valuable in moving the field of stem cell research forward. This month’s report, along with an archive of past reports, is available on the CIRM website. This month’s report discusses two different approaches to getting our own cells … Continue reading Guest blogger Alan Trounson — February’s stem cell research highlights

Hibernating bears rely on UCP1 to stay warm. Other UCPs play roles in stem and cancer cells. (source: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service) For those of you who drive a stick shift, imagine stepping on the clutch and the gas pedal of your car at the same time. What happens? The engine revs and generates … Continue reading Secrets of hibernating bears & stem cells lead to potential path to early cancer detection

Another month, another milestone. In February I took a moment to pat ourselves on the back as the CIRM communications team surpassed 1000 entries in our Stem Cell Research Updates blog. Now, just a few days into March, we’ve topped another social media milestone: half a million views on our YouTube video channel, CIRM TV, … Continue reading Watch out Gangum Style and Miley Cyrus: CIRM’s YouTube stem cell channel tops half a million views.

Heart muscle cell made from reprogrammed skin cells“Six year old Sierra Bingham had the flu.” It’s a simple opening line to a story that quickly takes on a nightmarish twist. It’s about an Oregon family with four children. Because of a hereditary condition two of those children ended up getting heart transplants, and a third … Continue reading Fresh start for hearts – how stem cells could turn the tide against end stage heart failure

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 reveal common cause of mental retardation. In science it can be frustrating to know what defect causes a condition, but not know how … Continue reading Stem cell stories that caught our eye: fragile X syndrome, turning cancer into fat, and Parkinson’s