Immune fluorescence of HIP cardiomyocytes in a dish; Photo courtesy of UCSF Transplanting cells or an entire organ from one person to another can be lifesaving but it comes with a cost. To avoid the recipient’s body rejecting the cells or organ the patient has to be given powerful immunosuppressive medications. Those medications weaken the … Continue reading A new way to evade immune rejection in transplanting cells
organs
CIRM-funded kidney transplant procedure progresses
Kidney transplant surgery. Medeor Therapeutics, which is running a CIRM-funded clinical trial to help people getting kidney transplants, just got some really good news. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has just granted their product Regenerative Medicine Advanced Therapy (RMAT) designation. That’s a big deal because it may allow them to apply for faster … Continue reading CIRM-funded kidney transplant procedure progresses
The Most Important Gift of All
Photo courtesy American Hospital Association There are many players who have a key role in helping make a stem cell therapy work. The scientists who develop the therapy, the medical team who deliver it and funders like CIRM who provide the money to make this all happen. But vital as they are, in some therapies … Continue reading The Most Important Gift of All
Machine learning used to pattern stem cells – a vital step in organ modeling
Gladstone researchers discovered a method to control the patterns stem cells form in a dish. The work was led by Senior Investigator Todd McDevitt (left) and his team, including (pictured) David Joy and Ashley Libby. When someone thinks of machine learning, the first thing that comes to mind might be the technology used by Netflix … Continue reading Machine learning used to pattern stem cells – a vital step in organ modeling
Transplanted stem cells used to grow fully functional lungs in mice
Illustration of a human lung According to organ donation statistics from the Health Resources & Services Administration, over 113,000 men, women, and children are on the national transplant waiting list as of July 2019. Another person is added to the waiting list every 10 minutes and 20 people die each day waiting for a transplant. … Continue reading Transplanted stem cells used to grow fully functional lungs in mice
Tracking and mapping the health of damaged organs
Tissue engineering Medical treatments for a variety of diseases have advanced dramatically in recent decades, but sometimes they come with a cost; namely damage to surrounding tissues and organs. That’s where stem cell research and regenerative medicine come in. Those fields seek to develop new ways of repairing the damage. But how do you see … Continue reading Tracking and mapping the health of damaged organs
Salk scientists discover new findings related to the age of organs
Dr. Rafael Arrojo e Drigo (left) and Dr. Martin Hetzer (right) at the Salk Institute in San Diego It has been a long held belief in the scientific community that nerve cells, or possibly the heart, are the oldest cells in the body. This is due to the fact that the brain and heart are … Continue reading Salk scientists discover new findings related to the age of organs
From organs to muscle tissue: how stem cells are being used in 3D
A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte by Georges-Pierre Seurat When most people think of stem cells, they might conjure up an image of small dots under a microscope. It is hard to imagine these small specs being applied to three-dimensional structures. But like a pointillism painting, such as A Sunday Afternoon … Continue reading From organs to muscle tissue: how stem cells are being used in 3D
New findings about muscle stem cells reveals the potential for growing replacement organs
Chrissa Kioussi’s group at Oregon State University has made exciting advances in further unraveling the scientific mysteries of stem cells. In work detailed in Scientific Reports, this group found that muscle-specific stem cells actually have the ability to make multiple different cell types. Initially, this group was interested in understanding how gene expression changes during … Continue reading New findings about muscle stem cells reveals the potential for growing replacement organs