Reprogrammed iPS type stem cells are lending their power to the study of evolution. They have raised the curtain on why our genes are so much more stable than our closest relatives among primates; why the genetic differences among a single chimp troop can exceed the genetic variability among all living humans. Maria Machetto, working … Continue reading Forbes picks up Salk study showing that iPS cells can explain nuances of evolution

Stem cell science can sometimes feel like Goldilocks, but instead of trying to find a bed not too hard and not too soft it is trying to find a procedure that gets the cells to do just exactly what you want.Guest blogger Alan Trounson — December’s stem cell research highlights Each month CIRM President Alan … Continue reading Guest blogger Alan Trounson — January’s stem cell research highlights

Unraveling the secrets of embryonic stem cells Everyone once in a while you come across someone who leaves you feeling somewhat in awe. I don’t mean the President or the Pope – though they are rather impressive individuals – but someone who by most definitions would be considered “ordinary” but who, it turns out, is … Continue reading Wise beyond her years – a teenager’s perspective on stem cells

The CIRM blog must be fed! (Photo: Stage and Cinema: bit.ly/1eO9ckE) Believe me when I say I don’t believe in the supernatural. But every morning when the CIRM communications team does a quick check-in about our social media plans for the day, we hear a ghostly voice from our laptops. A few years back it … Continue reading We’ve created a monster and we feel fine: the CIRM blog reaches 1000 posts

Math may help in a deeper understanding of stem cellsWhy do cells do what they do? Why does one cell become cancerous while its neighbor remains normal? What makes a stem cell ultimately change or differentiate into a nerve cell in the brain, rather a pancreatic beta cell? What influences those decisions?The fact is, even … Continue reading Math to the rescue – the formula to a better understanding of stem cells

Chris Stiehl; photo courtesy UCSDThe recent Google Hangout on Diabetes sparked what I thought was a great conversation about the status of research on diabetes today. The topics dealt primarily with type 1 diabetes, but there were implications for type 2 as well. We packed a lot into the one-hour Hangout, but there were so … Continue reading Defying the odds – living with diabetes for more than half a century

In the first clinical trial using iPS type stem cells the stem cells will be matured into retinal cells like these.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. Nanotubes provide support for stem … Continue reading Stem cell stories that caught our eye: clues on Lou Gehrig’s, first iPS patients and spacey stem cells

Courtesy: Filipe Matos FrazaoFor the third time in as many weeks another company we fund got a very nice financial boost on its way to clinical trials.  The latest news involves ViaCyte, a San Diego-based company that has developed a device to help patients with type 1 diabetes. Over the years we have given ViaCyte … Continue reading Third time is certainly charming – CIRM-funded company gets financial boost

cell division - happening right now somewhere in your body Cell division is an amazing biological process that’s very easy to take for granted during the day-in, day-out work of biomedical research. Keeping your dividing cells healthy in their petri dishes becomes just a necessary task, a means to an end, in order to multiply … Continue reading UCSD study of cell division in blood stem cells reveals potential new path to fight leukemia

3D image of breast cancer cells It’s one of cell biology’s Catch-22s: To observe a cell’s behavior, researchers often have to expose it to a dye or some other chemical. However, dyes change a cell’s behavior, making the observations less reliable. But now, researchers at the University of Illinois have developed a technique that provides … Continue reading Observing Cells by Leaving them Alone