This has already been a productive year for diabetes research. Earlier this month, scientists from UCSF and the Gladstone Institutes successfully made functional human pancreatic beta cells from skin, providing a new and robust method for generating large quantities of cells to replace those lost in patients suffering from type 1 diabetes. Today marks another … Continue reading Protective cell therapy could mean insulin independence for diabetic patients
diabetes
National honor for helping “the blind see”
Those of us fortunate to have good health take so many things for granted, not the least of which is our ability to see. But, according to the World Health Organization, there are 39 million people worldwide who are blind, and another 246 million who are visually impaired. Any therapy, any device, that can help … Continue reading National honor for helping “the blind see”
A Win for Diabetes: Scientists Make Functional Pancreatic Cells From Skin
Today is an exciting day for diabetes research and patients. For the first time, scientists have succeeded in making functional pancreatic beta cells from human skin. This new method for making the insulin-producing cells of the pancreas could produce a new, more effective treatment for patients suffering from diabetes. Researchers at the Gladstone Institutes and … Continue reading A Win for Diabetes: Scientists Make Functional Pancreatic Cells From Skin
New type of diabetes caused by old age may be treatable
I’m going to tell you a secret: I love sugar. I love it so much that as a little kid my mom used to tell me scary stories about how my teeth would fall out and that I might get diabetes one day if I ate too many sweets. Thankfully, none of these things happened. … Continue reading New type of diabetes caused by old age may be treatable
The best scientists always want to know more
Some years ago I was in the Wren Library at Trinity College, Cambridge in England when I noticed a display case with a cloth over it. Being a naturally curious person, downright nosy in fact, I lifted the cloth. In the display case was a first edition of Sir Isaac Newton’s Principia Mathematica and in … Continue reading The best scientists always want to know more
Two for 2.0 and Two for us
It began as an ambitious idea; yesterday it became a reality when the CIRM Board approved two projects under CIRM 2.0, one of them a Phase 3 clinical trial for a deadly form of skin cancer. Just to recap, CIRM 2.0 was introduced by Dr. C. Randal Mills when he took over as President and … Continue reading Two for 2.0 and Two for us
Stem cell stories that caught our eye: new ways to reprogram, shifting attitudes on tissue donation, and hockey legend’s miracle questioned
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. Insulin-producing cells produced from skin. Starting with human skin cells a team at the University of Iowa has created iPS-type stem cells through genetic reprogramming … Continue reading Stem cell stories that caught our eye: new ways to reprogram, shifting attitudes on tissue donation, and hockey legend’s miracle questioned
10 Years/10 Therapies: 10 Years after its Founding CIRM will have 10 Therapies Approved for Clinical Trials
In 2004, when 59 percent of California voters approved the creation of CIRM, our state embarked on an unprecedented experiment: providing concentrated funding to a new, promising area of research. The goal: accelerate the process of getting therapies to patients, especially those with unmet medical needs. Having 10 potential treatments expected to be approved for … Continue reading 10 Years/10 Therapies: 10 Years after its Founding CIRM will have 10 Therapies Approved for Clinical Trials
Moving one step closer to a therapy for type 1 diabetes
When I was a medical journalist one word I always shied away from was “breakthrough”. There are few true breakthroughs in medicine. Usually any advance is the result of years and years of work. That’s why good science takes time; it takes hundreds of small steps to make a giant leap forward. Today we took … Continue reading Moving one step closer to a therapy for type 1 diabetes
Scientists Reach Yet Another Milestone towards Treating Type 1 Diabetes
There was a time when having type 1 diabetes was equivalent to a death sentence. Now, thanks to advances in science and medicine, the disease has shifted from deadly to chronic. But this shift, doctors argue, is not good enough. The disease still poses significant health risks, such as blindness and loss of limbs, as … Continue reading Scientists Reach Yet Another Milestone towards Treating Type 1 Diabetes
The Stem Cellar 