HIV-infected cell: photo by AJC1Up until recently the notion of talking about finding a cure for HIV would have been ridiculed. After all, it wasn’t so long ago that an HIV diagnosis was considered a death sentence. Now we have powerful medications that can keep the virus in check, but even those just manage the … Continue reading Thinking the unthinkable, and saying it out loud: curing HIV
Stem cell stories that caught our eye: ethics of little brains, heart repair, and tracking transplanted cells
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. The ethics of brain clumps in a dish. Late last week and through the weekend headlines around the world proclaimed that scientists had created little human … Continue reading Stem cell stories that caught our eye: ethics of little brains, heart repair, and tracking transplanted cells
Improved way of tracking stem cells after transplantation
Glioma image by Mikhail Kalinin, Wikimedia CommonsKaren Aboody faced the same problem as many scientists developing stem cell-based therapies for various diseases: How to know where the cells go after she transplants them into a patient.Aboody, who is an associate professor at City of Hope in Los Angeles, has a CIRM disease team award to … Continue reading Improved way of tracking stem cells after transplantation
Engineered stem cells become myelin super-producers
Just as good insulation is critical for getting electricity through the cord that powers your computer (or tablet battery) so you can read this blog post, it’s also critical for neurons transmitting electrical signals down their long axons. That insulation is a fatty substance called myelin that forms a tube or sheath around the length … Continue reading Engineered stem cells become myelin super-producers
Synthetic patch helps speed heart repair in mice
We write a lot about scientists testing various types of stem cells as a way of repairing hearts damaged by heart attack (here's one recent post). But the heart is more than just a bunch of muscle tissue, which is what stem cell scientists are usually trying to replace.With that in mind, CIRM grantees at … Continue reading Synthetic patch helps speed heart repair in mice
Informing patients about tissue donation for stem cell banking
Geoff Lomax is CIRM's Senior Officer to the Standards Working Group CIRM is creating a stem cell bank designed to make high-quality patient stem cell lines available to scientists who need them (here's more about that banking initiative). Before embarking on this initiative, CIRM’s Medical and Ethical Standards Working Group, along with other funding organizations, … Continue reading Informing patients about tissue donation for stem cell banking
Understanding Alzheimer’s by watching errant neuron proteins in real-time
Alzheimer's patients often have neurofibrillary tangles caused by build-up of tau proteins. Image via Wikimedia Commons Researchers at Gladstone Institutes recently used stem cell techniques to peer into living neurons getting a glimpse of how cellular processes go awry and cause diseases like Alzheimer’s. Tau Proteins The research team focused on understanding how a group … Continue reading Understanding Alzheimer’s by watching errant neuron proteins in real-time
Through their lens: Nancy Tran sees the scientific method at work in daily life
This summer we're sponsoring high school interns in stem cell labs throughout California. We asked those students to contribute to our Instagram photos and YouTube videos about life in the lab, and write about their experiences.Nancy Tran did a stem cell research internship this summer in the laboratory of Gerhard Bauer at UC Davis. Part of the Creativity Award … Continue reading Through their lens: Nancy Tran sees the scientific method at work in daily life
Through their lens: Ryan Fong learns the role of science and innovation in life as well as in the lab
This summer we're sponsoring high school interns in stem cell labs throughout California. We asked those students to contribute to our Instagram photos and YouTube videos about life in the lab, and write about their experiences.Ryan Fong did a stem cell research internship this summer in the laboratory of Gerhard Bauer at UC Davis. Part of the Creativity Award … Continue reading Through their lens: Ryan Fong learns the role of science and innovation in life as well as in the lab
Through their lens: Yimin Yang learns about the role science plays in the arts
This summer we're sponsoring high school interns in stem cell labs throughout California. We asked those students to contribute to our Instagram photos and YouTube videos about life in the lab, and write about their experiences.Yimin Yang did a stem cell research internship this summer in the laboratory of Gerhard Bauer at UC Davis. Part of the Creativity Award … Continue reading Through their lens: Yimin Yang learns about the role science plays in the arts