On Wednesday the CIRM governing board heard from the external review panel that evaluated CIRM’s activities. (You can read their report and bios here.)One especially interesting portion of the conversation had to do with outreach: how do we let the people of California know about our progress? The panel and several board members mentioned our … Continue reading CIRM looking for a few good ambassadors
California funds the most stem cell research not eligible for federal funding
Aaron Levine from Georgia Tech published a letter in Nature Biotechnology assessing state funding for stem cell research, and he came to a conclusion that matches our own. In a press release he said:"There's no question that these state programs drew a lot of scientists into the field."That’s good news; Given the difficulty of generating … Continue reading California funds the most stem cell research not eligible for federal funding
CIRM grantees at UCI collaborate on Swiss spinal cord injury trial
More good news for people with spinal cord injury out of the University of California, Irvine: two CIRM grantees collaborated with Palo Alto-based StemCells Inc. to develop a neural stem cell therapy that has been approved for a trial in Switzerland.Brian Cummings and Aileen Anderson did the preclinical work on the possible treatment, which will … Continue reading CIRM grantees at UCI collaborate on Swiss spinal cord injury trial
Oral arguments made in federal stem cell case
Yesterday a three judge panel of the U.S. Appeals Court heard oral arguments in the legal case that has threatened federal funding for human embryonic stem cell research since August.Nature has an excellent piece with excerpts from the arguments. The central issue is whether funding for research using human embryonic stem cells is in violation … Continue reading Oral arguments made in federal stem cell case
Run down on CIRM’s quest for the next chair
The purpose of this blog is to talk about the advances in stem cell science, and the progress being made by CIRM grantees. However, sometimes CIRM itself is a focus of news that warrants us updating readers about our own activities.There has been much speculation in the news about the person who will become the … Continue reading Run down on CIRM’s quest for the next chair
Protein Linked to Normal Prostate Stem Cells and to Cancer
When I was the editor of a national magazine for physicians, I told my writers to do any story they found on prostate issues, with our overwhelming male audience then, I knew those stories would get high readership scores. My readers back then would have loved today’s news out of UCLA. The team there, led … Continue reading Protein Linked to Normal Prostate Stem Cells and to Cancer
HIV/AIDS video for World AIDS Day
World AIDS Day seems like a good time to revisit a video we made this year featuring CIRM board member Jeff Sheehy, who is a long-time advocate for HIV/AIDS research:CIRM is funding two teams of researchers working on different approaches to treating HIV/AIDS (one at UCLA and one at City of Hope). Both involve replacing … Continue reading HIV/AIDS video for World AIDS Day
ACT files to test embryonic stem cell-based therapy for macular degeneration
Advanced Cell Technology has filed an application with the FDA to begin an early phase trial of an embryonic stem cell-based therapy for macular degeneration. If the company name sounds familiar, that’s because it’s the same company that on November 22 received FDA approval to begin a trial for Stargardt’s macular degeneration. Both trials are … Continue reading ACT files to test embryonic stem cell-based therapy for macular degeneration
A stem cell by any name
This past year has brought a number of advances in creating reprogrammed iPS cells and in directly reprogramming mature cells into a different cell type. With each advance comes the question: Where does this leave embryonic stem cells? And each time, stem cell scientists remind us that the advances are great and could potentially lead … Continue reading A stem cell by any name
Sherley vs. Sebelius and the redefinition of “research”
The Sherley vs. Sebilius case that has put human embryonic stem cell research on pause throughout the country has an interesting new twist. According to ScienceInsider the Boston Biomedical Research Institute, which employs James Sherley, one of the two scientists who sued to block federal funding for human embryonic stem cell research, has joined the … Continue reading Sherley vs. Sebelius and the redefinition of “research”
The Stem Cellar 