What if you could give people whose memories have been stolen the ability to remember again? I’m talking about curing a population of more than 5 million Americans living with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) – not a small task. Unfortunately, this number is predicted to more than triple by 2050, and with it so will healthcare … Continue reading Could We Reverse Alzheimer’s Disease with Stem Cells?
embryonic stem cells
The key to unlocking stem cell’s potential and blocking a deadly threat
Our bodies are amazingly complex systems. By some estimates there are more than 37 trillion cells in our bodies. That’s trillion with a “t”. Each of those cells engages in some form of communication and signaling with other cells which makes our bodies one heck of a busy place to be. Yet all this activity … Continue reading The key to unlocking stem cell’s potential and blocking a deadly threat
Embryonic and man-made stem cells are almost identical
For years it has been the stem cell equivalent of the feud between the Hatfields and McCoys. The dispute centered on the question of which is better for advancing scientific research and developing new therapies, embryonic stem (ES) cells or induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells? The somewhat surprising answer may be that they are both … Continue reading Embryonic and man-made stem cells are almost identical
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
CIRM-funded clinical trial for spinal cord injury reports promising results
Today, the Menlo Park-based biotech company Asterias Biotherapeutics reported positive results from the first three patients treated in its Phase 1/2a clinical study using stem cell therapy to treat patients with spinal cord injury. This trial is funded by a CIRM Strategic Partnerships Award grant of $14.3 million. Asterias has developed a stem cell therapy … Continue reading CIRM-funded clinical trial for spinal cord injury reports promising results
Study Identifies Safer Stem Cell Therapies
To reject or not reject, that is the question facing the human immune system when new tissue or cells are transplanted into the body. Stem cell-therapy promises hope for many debilitating diseases that currently have no cures. However, the issue of immune rejection has prompted scientists to carefully consider how to develop safe stem cell … Continue reading Study Identifies Safer Stem Cell Therapies
Embryonic Stem Cells Yield Insights into X Chromosome Inactivation
Bon’t be intimidated by the title of this post, read on and you’ll be well versed in X chromosome inactivation, and why it's important. Males and females are different in countless ways, but the underlying cause of these differences originates with chromosomes. Women have two X chromosomes while men have an X and a Y. … Continue reading Embryonic Stem Cells Yield Insights into X Chromosome Inactivation
CIRM-Funded Scientists Build a Better Neuron; Gain New Insight into Motor Neuron Disease
Each individual muscle in our body—no matter how large or how small—is controlled by several types of motor neurons. Damage to one or more types of these neurons can give rise to some of the most devastating motor neuron diseases, many of which have no cure. But now, stem cell scientists at UCLA have manufactured … Continue reading CIRM-Funded Scientists Build a Better Neuron; Gain New Insight into Motor Neuron Disease
I Sing the Bioelectric: Long-Distance Electrical Signals Guide Cell Growth and Repair
Genes turn on, and genes turn off. Again and again, the genes that together comprise the human genome receive electrical signals that can direct when they should be active—and when they should be dormant. This intricate pattern of signals is a part of what guides an embryonic stem cell to grow and mature into any … Continue reading I Sing the Bioelectric: Long-Distance Electrical Signals Guide Cell Growth and Repair
Key stem cell gene controlled from afar, Canadian scientists discover
Embryonic stem cells can, by definition, mature into any cell type in the body. They are able to maintain this state of so-called pluripotency with the help of a gene called Sox2. And now, researchers at the University of Toronto (U of T) have discovered the unseen force that controls it. These findings, reported in … Continue reading Key stem cell gene controlled from afar, Canadian scientists discover