THIS BLOG IS ALSO AVAILABLE AS AN AUDIOCAST ON SPOTIFY Broken bones People say that with age comes wisdom, kindness and confidence. What they usually don’t say is that it also comes with aches and pains and problems we didn’t have when we were younger. For example, as we get older our bones get thinner … Continue reading Them bones them bones them dry bones – and how to help repair them
MSCs
Unlocking a key behind why our bones get weaker as we age
Magnified image of a bone with osteoporosis. Photo Courtesy Sciencephoto.com Getting older brings with it a mixed bag of items. If you are lucky you can get wiser. If you are not so lucky you can get osteoporosis. But while scientists don’t know how to make you wiser, they have gained some new insights into … Continue reading Unlocking a key behind why our bones get weaker as we age
Partners in health
From left to right: Heather Dahlenburg, staff research associate; Jan Nolta, director of the Stem Cell Program; Jeannine Logan White, advanced cell therapy project manager; Sheng Yang, graduate student, Bridges Program, Humboldt State University, October 18, 2019. (AJ Cheline/UC Davis) At CIRM we are modest enough to know that we can't do everything by ourselves. … Continue reading Partners in health
CIRM joins forces with US Department of Defense to fight COVID
Photo courtesy of Gabrielle Lurie / San Francisco Chronicle / Polaris Small state agencies like CIRM don’t normally get to partner with a behemoth like the Department of Defense (DOD), but these are not normal times. Far from it. That’s why we are both joining forces with the National Institutes of Health to fund a … Continue reading CIRM joins forces with US Department of Defense to fight COVID
A stepping stone for bringing stem cell therapy to patients with ALS
Imagine being told that you have a condition that gradually causes you to lose the ability to control your body movements, from picking up a pencil to walking to even breathing. Such is the reality for the nearly 6,000 people who are diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) every year, in the United States alone. … Continue reading A stepping stone for bringing stem cell therapy to patients with ALS
Starving stem cells of oxygen can help build stronger bones
We usually think that starving something of oxygen is going to make it weaker and maybe even kill it. But a new study by J. Kent Leach at UC Davis shows that instead of weakening bone defects, depriving them of oxygen might help boost their ability to create new bone or repair existing bone. Leach … Continue reading Starving stem cells of oxygen can help build stronger bones
Stem cell agency funds Phase 3 clinical trial for Lou Gehrig’s disease
At CIRM we don’t have a disease hierarchy list that we use to guide where our funding goes. We don’t rank a disease by how many people suffer from it, if it affects children or adults, or how painful it is. But if we did have that kind of hierarchy you can be sure that … Continue reading Stem cell agency funds Phase 3 clinical trial for Lou Gehrig’s disease
A TWIST in mesenchymal stem cell trials: protein predicts therapy’s potential
Mesenchymal stem cells are adult stem cells with the potential to specialize into a somewhat limited number of cell types – those responsible for making fat, bone and cartilage. But MSCs are also known for their anti-inflammatory properties which are carried out via the release of protein factors. This ability to dampen the immune system … Continue reading A TWIST in mesenchymal stem cell trials: protein predicts therapy’s potential
The Stem Cellar 