It’s traditional to end the year with a look back at what you hoped to accomplish and an assessment of what you did. By that standard 2016 has been a pretty good year for us at CIRM. Yesterday our governing Board approved funding for two new clinical trials, one to help kidney transplant patients, the … Continue reading California’s stem cell agency rounds up the year with two more big hits
Blindness
How stem cells are helping change the face of medicine, one pioneering patient at a time
One of the many great pleasures of my job is that I get to meet so many amazing people. I get to know the researchers who are changing the face of medicine, but even more extraordinary are the people who are helping them do it, the patients. Attacking Cancer It’s humbling to meet people like … Continue reading How stem cells are helping change the face of medicine, one pioneering patient at a time
CIRM-funded stem cell trial for retinitis pigmentosa makes progress
A CIRM-funded clinical trial for retinitis pigmentosa (RP), a degenerative eye disease that causes blindness, recently reached its next milestone and announced the completion of its patient enrollment for a phase I/IIa study testing a stem cell derived therapy. This is a major step forward in determining whether this approach is both safe and effective … Continue reading CIRM-funded stem cell trial for retinitis pigmentosa makes progress
Advancements in gene editing make blind rats see light
Gene editing is a rapidly advancing technology that scientists are using to manipulate the genomes of cells with precision and accuracy. Many of these experiments are being conducted on stem cells to genetic mutations in an attempt to find cures for various diseases like cancer, HIV and blindness. Speaking of blindness, researchers from the Salk Institute … Continue reading Advancements in gene editing make blind rats see light
A patient perspective on how stem cells could give a second vision to the blind
October is Blindness Awareness month. In honor of the patients who suffer from diseases of blindness and of the scientists and doctors who work tirelessly to develop treatments and cures for these diseases, we are featuring an interview with Kristin Macdonald, a woman who is challenged by Retinitis Pigmentosa (RP). RP is a genetically inherited … Continue reading A patient perspective on how stem cells could give a second vision to the blind
CIRM-funded stem cell clinical trial for retinitis pigmentosa focuses on next stage
How retinitis pigmentosa erodes normal vision The failure rate for clinical trials is depressingly high. A study from Tufts University in 2010 found that for small molecules – the substances that make up more than 90 percent of the drugs on the market today – the odds of getting from a Phase 1 trial to … Continue reading CIRM-funded stem cell clinical trial for retinitis pigmentosa focuses on next stage
Why is a cell therapy that restores sight to the blind against the law?
A lot of people are frustrated with the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and its woefully slow process for approving stem cell therapies. That’s one of the reasons why we started the CIRM Stem Cell Champions campaign, to gather as many like-minded supporters of stem cell research as possible and help to change the … Continue reading Why is a cell therapy that restores sight to the blind against the law?
In the Race to Cure Blindness, Who Will Cross the Finish Line First Optogenetics or Stem Cells?
Before you read this blog, I wanted to share a photo that I took (yes with my iPhone 6…) last week of a beautiful sunset at Ocean Beach in San Francisco. I’m showing you this picture not to gloat that I live by the ocean, but to make a point. You’re able to enjoy this … Continue reading In the Race to Cure Blindness, Who Will Cross the Finish Line First Optogenetics or Stem Cells?
Five Cool Stem Cell Technologies to Tell Your Friends
As a former stem cell scientist turned science communicator, I love answering science questions no matter how complicated or bizarre. The other day my friend asked me about what CRISPR was and how scientists were using it on stem cells to help people. This got me thinking that it would be cool to do a … Continue reading Five Cool Stem Cell Technologies to Tell Your Friends
From Science Fiction to Science Fact: Gene Editing May Make Personalized Therapies for Blindness
Have you seen the movie Elysium? It’s a 2013 futuristic science fiction film starring one of my favorite actors Matt Damon. The plot centers on the economic, social and political disparities between two very different worlds: one, an overpopulated earth where people are poor, starving, and have little access to technology or medical care, the … Continue reading From Science Fiction to Science Fact: Gene Editing May Make Personalized Therapies for Blindness