Today is World Kidney Day. Hundreds of events across the globe are taking place “to raise awareness of the importance of our kidneys to our overall health and to reduce the frequency and impact of kidney disease and its associated health problems worldwide.” (Side note: in recognition that today is also International Women’s Day, World … Continue reading It’s World Kidney Day: Highlighting CIRM’s Investments in Treating Kidney Failure
If you’re into stem cell manufacturing, this is the conference for you!
Fulfilling CIRM’s mission doesn’t just mean accelerating promising stem cell treatments to patients. It also involves accelerating the whole field of regenerative medicine, which involves not just research, but developing candidate treatments, manufacturing cell therapies, and testing these therapies in clinical trials. Manufacturing and the pre-clinical safety evaluation of cell therapies are topics that don’t … Continue reading If you’re into stem cell manufacturing, this is the conference for you!
A shot in the arm for people with bad knees
Almost every day I get an email or phone call from someone asking if we have a stem cell therapy for bad knees. The inquiries are from people who’ve been told they need surgery to replace joints damaged by age and arthritis. They’re not alone. Every year around 600,000 Americans get a knee replacement. That … Continue reading A shot in the arm for people with bad knees
Breaking the isolation of rare diseases
How can something that affects 30 million Americans, one in ten people in the US, be called rare? But that’s the case with people who have a rare disease. There are around 7,000 different diseases that are categorized as rare because they affect fewer than 200,000 people. Less than five percent of these diseases have … Continue reading Breaking the isolation of rare diseases
Friday Roundup: A better kind of blood stem cell transplant; Encouraging news from spinal cord injury trial; Finding an “elusive” cell that could help diabetics
Cool Instagram image of the week: Chemo- and radiation-free blood stem cell transplant showing promise Bubble baby disease, also known as severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID), is an inherited disorder that leaves newborns without an effective immune system. Currently, the only approved treatment for SCID is a blood stem cell transplant, in which the patient’s defective … Continue reading Friday Roundup: A better kind of blood stem cell transplant; Encouraging news from spinal cord injury trial; Finding an “elusive” cell that could help diabetics
Gladstone scientists tackle heart failure by repairing the heart from within
Modern medicine often involves the development of a drug or treatment outside the body, which is then given to a patient to fix, improve or even prevent their condition. But what if you could regenerate or heal the body using the cells and tissue already inside a patient? Scientists at the Gladstone Institutes are pursuing … Continue reading Gladstone scientists tackle heart failure by repairing the heart from within
Researchers find connection between aging muscles and mutations in stem cells
It’s a humbling fact of life that our muscles decline as we age which is why you didn’t see any 50-year-olds competing for Olympic Gold in figure skating at the 2018 Winter Games. You can blame your muscle stem cells for this. Also called satellite cells, these adult stem cells lie mostly dormant in muscle … Continue reading Researchers find connection between aging muscles and mutations in stem cells
Scientists repair spinal cord injuries in monkeys using human stem cells
An exciting development for spinal cord injury research was published this week in the journal Nature Medicine. Scientists from the University of San Diego School of Medicine transplanted human neural progenitor cells (NPCs) into rhesus monkeys that had spinal cord injuries. These cells, which are capable of turning into other cells in the brain, survived … Continue reading Scientists repair spinal cord injuries in monkeys using human stem cells
Using the courts to protect patients from unapproved stem cell therapies
A recent article in Nature looked at using lawsuits to help rein in the activities of clinics offering "unapproved" therapies. CIRM's Geoff Lomax explains. When public health officials wanted to raise awareness about the dangers of smoking they filed lawsuits against the tobacco companies. They accused Big Tobacco of deceptive marketing and hiding the negative … Continue reading Using the courts to protect patients from unapproved stem cell therapies
Stem Cell Roundup: Improving muscle function in muscular dystrophy; Building a better brain; Boosting efficiency in making iPSC’s
Here are the stem cell stories that caught our eye this week. Photos of the week TGIF! We’re so excited that the weekend is here that we are sharing not one but TWO amazing stem cell photos of the week. Photo #1 is borrowed from a blog we wrote earlier this week about a new … Continue reading Stem Cell Roundup: Improving muscle function in muscular dystrophy; Building a better brain; Boosting efficiency in making iPSC’s
The Stem Cellar 