Ten years ago this month the voters of California overwhelmingly approved Proposition 71, creating the state’s stem cell agency, the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, and providing $3 billion to fund stem cell research in California. That money has helped make California a global leader in stem cell research and led to ten clinical trials … Continue reading Ten at ten at the stem cell agency: sharing the good news about progress from the bench to the bedside
Stem cells
Hands-on science turns kids heads
Making science fun. That was the goal of the Discovery Days event on Saturday in San Francisco, part of the Bay Area Science Festival. If numbers alone are any measure of success they certainly met their goal. The place was packed. But it was more than just the size of the crowd that demonstrated how … Continue reading Hands-on science turns kids heads
Discovery Days; bringing new life to the life sciences
Here are three words you don’t often see strung together: free, science, extravaganza. Yet that’s how Saturday’s Discovery Days at AT&T Park in San Francisco (home of the newly crowned baseball world champion Giants) is being described. The event truly is a celebration of science. It features more than 150 exhibits on everything from stem … Continue reading Discovery Days; bringing new life to the life sciences
Scientists Develop Stem Cell ‘Special Forces’ in order to Target, Destroy Brain Tumors
Curing someone of cancer is, in theory, a piece of cake: all you have to do is kill the cancer cells while leaving the healthy cells intact. But in practice, this solution is far more difficult. In fact, it remains one of the great unsolved problems in modern oncology: how do you find, target and … Continue reading Scientists Develop Stem Cell ‘Special Forces’ in order to Target, Destroy Brain Tumors
Stem Cell Stories that Caught our Eye: A Zebrafish’s Stripes, Stem Cell Sound Waves and the Dangers of Stem Cell Tourism
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. How the Zebrafish Got its Stripes. Scientists in Germany have identified the different pigment cells that emerge during embryonic development and that determine the signature-striped … Continue reading Stem Cell Stories that Caught our Eye: A Zebrafish’s Stripes, Stem Cell Sound Waves and the Dangers of Stem Cell Tourism
A Cool New Way of Raising Funds and Awareness
Raising money to help fight a disease is tough. Trying to raise awareness about the disease can be just as tough. Doing both together is positively masochistic; an experience that is often as rewarding as dumping a bucket of ice cold water over your head. And that’s precisely what a growing number of people around … Continue reading A Cool New Way of Raising Funds and Awareness
Creaky Cell Machinery Affects the Aging Immune System, CIRM-Funded Study Finds
Why do our immune systems weaken over time? Why are people over the age of 60 more susceptible to life-threatening infections and many forms of cancer? There’s no one answer to these questions—but scientists at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), have uncovered an important mechanism behind this phenomenon. Reporting in the latest issue … Continue reading Creaky Cell Machinery Affects the Aging Immune System, CIRM-Funded Study Finds
Creativity Program Students Reach New Heights with Stem Cell-Themed Rendition of “Let it Go”
This summer we’re sponsoring high school interns in stem cell labs throughout California as part of our annual Creativity Program. We asked those students to share their experiences through blog posts, photos and videos. Today, we bring you an outstanding group video from CIRM Interns at City of Hope in Los Angeles, with their own … Continue reading Creativity Program Students Reach New Heights with Stem Cell-Themed Rendition of “Let it Go”
Stem Cell Stories that Caught our Eye: Multiple Sclerosis, Parkinson’s and Reducing the Risk of Causing Tumors
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. Cell therapy for Parkinson’s advancing to the clinic. A decade-long moratorium on the transplant of fetal nerve tissue into Parkinson’s patient will end in two … Continue reading Stem Cell Stories that Caught our Eye: Multiple Sclerosis, Parkinson’s and Reducing the Risk of Causing Tumors
Stem Cells become Tool to Screen for Drugs; Fight Dangerous Heart Infections.
A Stanford study adds a powerful example to our growing list of diseases that have yielded their secrets to iPS-type stem cells grown in a dish. These “disease-in-a-dish” models have become one of the most rapidly growing areas of stem cell science. But this time they did not start with skin from a patient with … Continue reading Stem Cells become Tool to Screen for Drugs; Fight Dangerous Heart Infections.
The Stem Cellar 