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
A Tale of Two Stem Cell Treatments for Growing New Bones
Got Milk? If you grew up during the 90’s, you most certainly will remember the famous “Got Milk?” advertising campaign to boost milk consumption. The plug was that milk was an invaluable source of calcium, a mineral that’s essential for growing strong bones. Drinking three glasses of the white stuff a day, supposedly would help … Continue reading A Tale of Two Stem Cell Treatments for Growing New Bones
If you want to accelerate stem cell therapies then create an Accelerating Center
“You can’t teach fish to fly,” is one of the phrases that our CIRM President & CEO, Randy Mills, likes to throw out when asked why we needed to create new centers to help researchers move their most promising therapies out of the lab and into clinical trials. His point is that many researchers are … Continue reading If you want to accelerate stem cell therapies then create an Accelerating Center
CREATE-ing tools that deliver genes past the blood-brain barrier
Your brain has a natural defense that protects it from infection and harm, it’s called the blood-brain barrier (BBB). The BBB is a selectively permeable layer of tightly packed cells that separates the blood in your circulatory system from your brain. Only certain nutrients, hormones, and molecules can pass through the BBB into the brain, … Continue reading CREATE-ing tools that deliver genes past the blood-brain barrier
Stem cell stories that caught our eye: watching tumors grow, faster creation of stem cells, reducing spinal cord damage, mini organs
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. Video shows tumors growing. A team at the University of Iowa used video to capture breast cancer cells recruiting normal cells to the dark side … Continue reading Stem cell stories that caught our eye: watching tumors grow, faster creation of stem cells, reducing spinal cord damage, mini organs
From Science Fiction to Science Fact: Gene Editing May Make Personalized Therapies for Blindness
Have you seen the movie Elysium? It’s a 2013 futuristic science fiction film starring one of my favorite actors Matt Damon. The plot centers on the economic, social and political disparities between two very different worlds: one, an overpopulated earth where people are poor, starving, and have little access to technology or medical care, the … Continue reading From Science Fiction to Science Fact: Gene Editing May Make Personalized Therapies for Blindness
New drug kicks the cancer stem cell addiction
Did you know that cancer stem cells have an addiction problem? This might sound bizarre, but the science checks out. Cancer stem cells are found in many different types of cancer tumors. They have the uncanny ability to survive even the most aggressive forms of treatment. After weathering the storm, cancer stem cells are able … Continue reading New drug kicks the cancer stem cell addiction
Super stem cell exhibit opens in San Diego
The best science museums are like playgrounds. They allow you to wander around, reading, watching and learning and being amazed as you go. It’s not just a feast for the mind; it’s also fun for the hands. You get to interact with and experience science, pushing buttons, pulling levers, watching balls drop and electricity spark. … Continue reading Super stem cell exhibit opens in San Diego
Protective cell therapy could mean insulin independence for diabetic patients
This has already been a productive year for diabetes research. Earlier this month, scientists from UCSF and the Gladstone Institutes successfully made functional human pancreatic beta cells from skin, providing a new and robust method for generating large quantities of cells to replace those lost in patients suffering from type 1 diabetes. Today marks another … Continue reading Protective cell therapy could mean insulin independence for diabetic patients
Stem cell stories that caught our eye: colon cancer relapse and using age, electricity and a “mattress” to grow better hearts
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 yield markers for relapse in colon cancer. Some colon cancer patients do fine after surgery without any chemotherapy, but it has been hard … Continue reading Stem cell stories that caught our eye: colon cancer relapse and using age, electricity and a “mattress” to grow better hearts
The Stem Cellar 