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 includes an important review of studies using bone marrow … Continue reading Guest blogger Alan Trounson — April’s stem cell research highlights
Behind the Bench: One Student’s Mission to Fight Ataxia
Jackie Ward is a graduate student at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD), and former CIRM trainee. At UCSD uses stem cells as a model to study rare neurodegenerative diseases in the lab of Albert La Spada. My work as a PhD student focuses on a rare form of inherited neurodegeneration called spinocerebellar ataxia. … Continue reading Behind the Bench: One Student’s Mission to Fight Ataxia
Modeling Heart Disease: This Time on a Chip
Scientists at Harvard University have developed a new way to model congenital heart disease. Though researchers have previously generated heart cells derived from patients in a petri dish, this time scientists did so with groundbreaking ‘organ-on-a-chip’ technology—proving that this new type of technology can replicate a genetic disorder in the lab. The research, which was … Continue reading Modeling Heart Disease: This Time on a Chip
Stem cell stories that caught our eye: young blood, cord blood, and blood cancers
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. Pinning down young blood’s rejuvenating power. A trio of studies in the past week provided more evidence that giving older mice the blood of younger … Continue reading Stem cell stories that caught our eye: young blood, cord blood, and blood cancers
A date in time: a chronological history of stem cells
Stem cell research has advanced so rapidly in the last few years that it’s easy to forget that the field as a whole is still a relatively new one, dating back just a few decades; so the progress that’s being made is all the more remarkable for that.To illustrate how recent this area of research … Continue reading A date in time: a chronological history of stem cells
Pulling the Strings that Reprogram Cells
It was 2012, and the worldwide scientific community was laser focused on two scientists—separated by decades of research but together comprising two halves of a groundbreaking discovery: that mature, adult cells can be ‘reprogrammed’ back into a stem cell, or ‘pluripotent’ state. The scientists, John B. Gurdon and Shinya Yamanaka, were awarded the Nobel Prize … Continue reading Pulling the Strings that Reprogram Cells
The Secret to Mending a Broken Heart
When someone suffers a heart attack, part of the heart’s muscle cells are deprived of oxygen and die. They become encased in scar tissue. And they don’t come back. A top priority among researchers, therefore, has been finding a way to grownew heart muscle. But the heart is a complex organ, and even as research … Continue reading The Secret to Mending a Broken Heart
Immune System “Double Agent” Fuels Colon Cancer Stem Cells, New Study Finds
Researchers have discovered that a type of cell normally tasked with defending the body against foreign invaders actually spurs the development of colon cancer stem cells. This discovery, published in the journal Immunity, offers new insight into why some forms of cancer come back again and again—even in the face of aggressive treatment. Led by … Continue reading Immune System “Double Agent” Fuels Colon Cancer Stem Cells, New Study Finds
Stem cell stories that caught our eye: heart disease, muscle repair and cloning
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. Generating real heart muscle for repair. There was some good news last week on stem cells for heart disease despite the much-covered analysis from the … Continue reading Stem cell stories that caught our eye: heart disease, muscle repair and cloning
How I Became an Artist Ambassador for Regenerative Medicine
I have been collaborating with the Regenerative Medicine Foundation (RMF) since 2010, and I’m often asked how I became involved with them. As we prepare to gather for the RMF’s annual conference in Berkeley, CA next week, I thought this would be a good time to tell you my story, and how my art fits … Continue reading How I Became an Artist Ambassador for Regenerative Medicine
The Stem Cellar 