Stock image of a dual tone brain by Getty Images The California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) awarded nearly $26 million to support clinical research, funding projects that included treatments for bipolar disorder and depression. The awards included funding for advancing a spinal cord injury therapy. These awards support four projects in CIRM’s clinical program. … Continue reading CIRM invests $26 million in clinical-stage research, including for bipolar disorder and depression
Depression
It’s all about the patients
Ronnie, born with a fatal immune disorder now leading a normal life thanks to a CIRM-funded stem cell/gene therapy: Photo courtesy of his mum Upasana Whenever you are designing something new you always have to keep in mind who the end user is. You can make something that works perfectly fine for you, but if … Continue reading It’s all about the patients
Stem Cell Roundup: The brain & obesity; iPSCs & sex chromosomes; modeling mental illness
Stem Cell Image of the Week: Obesity-in-a-dish reveals mutations and abnormal function in nerve cells Our stem cell image of the week looks like the work of a pre-historic cave dweller who got their hands on some DayGlo paint. But, in fact, it’s a fluorescence microscopy image of stem cell-derived brain cells from the lab … Continue reading Stem Cell Roundup: The brain & obesity; iPSCs & sex chromosomes; modeling mental illness
Measuring depression with non-invasive imaging of new brain cells
For most of the 20th century, scientists thought you’re basically stuck with the brain cells you’re born with. “Everything may die, nothing may be regenerated”, is how Santiago Ramón y Cajal, the father of modern neuroscience, described nerve cells, aka neurons, in the adult brain. But, over the past few decades, it’s become clear that … Continue reading Measuring depression with non-invasive imaging of new brain cells