"They have managed to create what appears to be the goose that really does lay golden eggs!" That was how UK surgeon Martin Birchall described it to BBC News. The goose in this case is a 3D bioprinter, and the golden eggs are the human sized tissues that the bioprinter successfully constructed. This breakthrough for … Continue reading Meet ITOP: A One Stop Shop for 3D Printing Body Parts
Scientists use cotton candy to make artificial blood vessels
Cotton candy gets a bad rap. The irresistible, brightly colored cloud of sugar is notorious for sending kids into hyperactive overdrive and wreaking havoc on teeth. While it’s most typically found at a state fair or at a sports stadium, cotton candy is now popping up at the lab bench and is re-branding itself into … Continue reading Scientists use cotton candy to make artificial blood vessels
Family ties help drive UCLA’s search for a stem cell treatment for Duchenne muscular dystrophy
April Pyle, Courtney Young and Melissa Spencer: Photo courtesy UCLA Broad Stem Cell Research Center People get into science for all sorts of different reasons. For Courtney Young the reason was easy; she has a cousin with Duchenne muscular dystrophy. Now her work as part of a team at UCLA has led to a new … Continue reading Family ties help drive UCLA’s search for a stem cell treatment for Duchenne muscular dystrophy
Stem cell stories that caught our eye: heart muscle-on-a-chip, your own private microliver, the bloody holy grail and selfish sperm
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. Two hearts beat as one, or not Sorry for the pre-Valentine’s Day buzzkill but stem cell research published this past week points to a very … Continue reading Stem cell stories that caught our eye: heart muscle-on-a-chip, your own private microliver, the bloody holy grail and selfish sperm
A cardiac love triangle: how transcription factors interact to make a heart
Here’s a heartfelt science story for all those Valentine’s day fans out there. Scientists from the Gladstone Institutes have identified how a group of transcription factors interact during embryonic development to make a healthy heart. Their work will increase our biological understanding of how the heart is formed and could produce new methods for treating … Continue reading A cardiac love triangle: how transcription factors interact to make a heart
CIRM Scholar Jessica Gluck on using stem cells to make biological pacemakers for the heart
As part of our CIRM scholar series, we feature the research accomplishments of students and postdocs that have received CIRM funding. I’d like to introduce you to one of our CIRM Scholars, Jessica Gluck. She’s currently a Postdoctoral Fellow at UC Davis working on human stem cell models of heart development. Jessica began her education … Continue reading CIRM Scholar Jessica Gluck on using stem cells to make biological pacemakers for the heart
Timing is everything: could CRISPR gene editing push CIRM to change its rules on funding stem cell research?
Talk about timely. When we decided, several months ago, to hold a Standards Working Group (SWG) meeting to talk about the impact of CRISPR, a tool that is transforming the field of human gene editing, we had no idea that our meeting would fall smack in the midst of a flurry of news stories about … Continue reading Timing is everything: could CRISPR gene editing push CIRM to change its rules on funding stem cell research?
How you derive embryonic stem cells matters
A scientist named James Thompson was the first to successfully culture human embryonic stem cells in 1998. He didn’t know it then, but his technique isolated a specific type of embryonic stem cell (ESC) that had a “primed pluripotent state”. There are actually two phases of pluripotency: naïve and primed. Naïve ESCs occur a step … Continue reading How you derive embryonic stem cells matters
Stem cell stories that caught our eye: affairs of the heart, better imaging of cells and pituitary glands in a dish
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. Matters of the heart not simple. The dozens of clinical trials using various types of stem cells to repair hearts after a heart attack have … Continue reading Stem cell stories that caught our eye: affairs of the heart, better imaging of cells and pituitary glands in a dish
Sushi Just Got Even Better: Gel Made from Seaweed Improves the Shelf-Life of Stem Cells
The beauty of pharmaceutical drugs is their stability. Those ibuprofen pills in your medical cabinet can sit there for weeks, months, even years but still dull a sudden headache. Stem cell-based therapies don’t have that luxury because, well, they’re made of living cells. Outside of the body, cells are the opposite of stable. To keep … Continue reading Sushi Just Got Even Better: Gel Made from Seaweed Improves the Shelf-Life of Stem Cells
The Stem Cellar 