Until recently, “bespoke” meant one thing to me: a custom suit from London’s Savile Row. They’re beautiful—and expensive—so I assumed I’d never own anything bespoke. A tailored approach I was wrong. CIRM is now part of a bespoke effort far more important than clothing. This group aims to create tailor‑made gene therapies for rare diseases. … Continue reading Bespoke approach to rare diseases
Spinal muscular atrophy
Making stem cell and gene therapies available and affordable for all California patients
THIS BLOG IS ALSO AVAILABLE AS AN AUDIO CAST Developing a new therapy: Photo courtesy UCLA There is no benefit in helping create a miraculous new therapy that can cure people and save lives if no one except the super-rich can afford it. That’s why the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) has made creating … Continue reading Making stem cell and gene therapies available and affordable for all California patients
You can’t take it if you don’t make it
Biomedical specialist Mamadou Dialio at work in the Cedars-Sinai Biomanufacturing Center. Photo by Cedars-Sinai. Following the race to develop a vaccine for COVID-19 has been a crash course in learning how complicated creating a new therapy is. It’s not just the science involved, but the logistics. Coming up with a vaccine that is both safe … Continue reading You can’t take it if you don’t make it
Organoids revolutionize approach to studying a variety of diseases
Organoids Microscopes limit how well we can study cells. To understand complex processes, we must observe cells in conditions that mimic the body. Organoids have transformed this research. Organoids and "mini-brains" Organoids are three‑dimensional structures grown from stem cells that mimic real organs. Recent studies have used this method to explore a wide range of … Continue reading Organoids revolutionize approach to studying a variety of diseases