L-R Alan Tan, Sid Bommakanti, Daniel Chae - prize winning science students A 3D printer, some old teeth, and some terrific science were enough to help three high school students develop a new way of growing bone and win a $30,000 prize in a national competition. The three teamed up for the Siemens Competition in … Continue reading Students use a 3D printer to sink their teeth into stem cell research
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A meeting of minds: breaking down communication barriers between patients and doctors
One of the things that has always surprised me about stem cell research, or any scientific research, is that so often the people with most at stake never meet. Researchers spend most of their time in the lab trying to develop new treatments so they don’t often get to meet the people who are depending … Continue reading A meeting of minds: breaking down communication barriers between patients and doctors
Board gives stem cell institute marching orders, and a road map
The poet T. S. Eliot once wrote: “If you aren't in over your head, how do you know how tall you are?” Well, everyone at CIRM, California’s stem cell institute, is about to find out how tall we are. Yesterday our governing Board approved a new Strategic Plan. To call it ambitious might be considered … Continue reading Board gives stem cell institute marching orders, and a road map
Doing nothing is not OK: A call for change at the FDA
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is caught between a rock and a hard place. And CIRM is going to try and help them get out from under that. As things stand today, if the FDA approves a therapy quickly and a patient later dies from it, then they are widely criticized. If they … Continue reading Doing nothing is not OK: A call for change at the FDA
Why “Right to Try” laws are more feel good than do good
L to R: Don Gibbons, CIRM; Jeanne Loring; Beth Roxland; Aaron Levine In the last few years some 24 states have approved so-called “Right to Try” laws. These are intended to give terminally ill patients faster and easier access to experimental therapies. But a panel of experts at the World Stem Cell Summit in Atlanta … Continue reading Why “Right to Try” laws are more feel good than do good
Call to Action by FDA at World Stem Cell Summit
FDA Deputy Commissioner Dr. Robert Califf talking at the World Stem Cell Summit The World Stem Cell Summit annual conference in Atlanta kicked off today with a clarion call from Dr. Robert Califf, the Deputy Commissioner for the Food and Drug Administration. He told the audience: “We want you to accelerate translation to produce safe … Continue reading Call to Action by FDA at World Stem Cell Summit
Using baking ingredient to create “nano” bombs and destroy cancer stem cells
"I am not a cook". Richard Nixon and the baking ingredient that could help win the "war on cancer" In 1971 President Richard Nixon declared a “war on cancer” and signed the National Cancer Act into law. Forty years later we’re still waging that war, and cancer is still one of the leading causes of … Continue reading Using baking ingredient to create “nano” bombs and destroy cancer stem cells
Meet the proteins that tell stem cells where to move and how
Word cloud art work which shows all the proteins identified by the researchers The environment you grow up in can have a huge influence on how you turn out. That applies to people, and to stem cells too. Now a new study has identified 60 proteins that can have a big impact on how … Continue reading Meet the proteins that tell stem cells where to move and how
Giving Thanks by Looking Forward
The CIRM Team gather to give Thanks Thanksgiving is traditionally a time of reflection, a time to look back and express gratitude for all the good things that have happened in the past year. At CIRM we have a lot to be thankful for but this Thanksgiving we are looking forward, not backward. We’re unveiling … Continue reading Giving Thanks by Looking Forward
Stem cells could offer hope for deadly childhood muscle wasting disease
Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is a particularly nasty rare and fatal disease. It predominantly affects boys, slowly robbing them of their ability to control their muscles. By 10 years of age, boys with DMD start to lose the ability to walk; by 12, most need a wheelchair to get around. Eventually they become paralyzed, and … Continue reading Stem cells could offer hope for deadly childhood muscle wasting disease
The Stem Cellar 