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

Stories of Hope: Leukemia

This week on The Stem Cellar we feature some of our most inspiring patients and patient advocates as they share, in their own words, their Stories of Hope. Stem cells create life. But if things go wrong, they can also threaten it. Theresa Blanda found that out the hard way. Fortunately for her, CIRM-funded research … Continue reading Stories of Hope: Leukemia

Revealing the Invisible: Scientists Uncover the Secret Ingredient to Making Blood-Forming Stem Cells

They are among the most versatile types of stem cell types in the body. They live inside bone marrow and in the blood of the umbilical cord. They can be used to treat deadly cancers such as leukemia (Leukemia Fact Sheet) as well as many blood disorders. But no one really understood the details of … Continue reading Revealing the Invisible: Scientists Uncover the Secret Ingredient to Making Blood-Forming Stem Cells

Clever Stem Cells Withstand Chemo Drug’s Harmful Side Effects

For some conditions, it seem that the treatment can cause almost as many problems as than the disease itself. That’s often the case with some forms of cancer, such as acute lymphoblastic leukemia. The most common type of cancer to affect children, treatment usually involves chemotherapy with the drug methotrexate (MTX). And, while effective at … Continue reading Clever Stem Cells Withstand Chemo Drug’s Harmful Side Effects

Stem cell stories that caught our eye: fingering chemical cancer cause, treating leukemia and getting better ID on cells

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. Stem cells model environmental damage. Using human embryonic stem cells to generate prostate tissue in mice, a team at the University of Illinois has shown … Continue reading Stem cell stories that caught our eye: fingering chemical cancer cause, treating leukemia and getting better ID on cells