Embryonic Stem Cell News and Research

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Researchers develop method for purifying cardiac muscle cells using molecular beacons

Pure cardiac muscle cells, ready to transplant into a patient affected by heart disease. That's a goal for many cardiology researchers working with stem cells. Having a pure population of cardiac muscle cells is essential for avoiding tumor formation after transplantation, but has been technically challenging.

6 Sep 2013

UCLA researchers receives $13M Early Translational grants to advance innovative discoveries using stem cells

Four researchers from UCLA's Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research have received Early Translational Research Awards totaling approximately $13 million from the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, the state's stem cell agency. The UCLA researchers received four of the 12 total awards; no other institution received more than one.

4 Sep 2013

Scientists develop complex human brain tissue in 3D culture system

Complex human brain tissue has been successfully developed in a three-dimensional culture system established in an Austrian laboratory. The method described in the current issue of NATURE allows pluripotent stem cells to develop into cerebral organoids - or "mini brains" - that consist of several discrete brain regions.

29 Aug 2013

Scientists develop method to generate functioning brain cells that produce myelin

Stem cell technology has long offered the hope of regenerating tissue to repair broken or damaged neural tissue. Findings from a team of UC Davis investigators have brought this dream a step closer by developing a method to generate functioning brain cells that produce myelin - a fatty, insulating sheath essential to normal neural conduction.

29 Aug 2013

Research findings lay foundation for regenerating damaged heart muscle

In the aftermath of a heart attack, cells within the region most affected shut down. They stop beating. And they become entombed in scar tissue. But now, scientists at the Gladstone Institutes have demonstrated that this damage need not be permanent-by finding a way to transform the class of cells that form human scar tissue into those that closely resemble beating heart cells.

23 Aug 2013

New technique may convert cells from heart disease patients into heart muscle cells

Researchers have developed a new technique that might one day be used to convert cells from heart disease patients into heart muscle cells that could act as a personalized treatment for their condition.

23 Aug 2013

Researchers create an efficient technique to target and repair defective genes

Using human pluripotent stem cells and DNA-cutting protein from meningitis bacteria, researchers from the Morgridge Institute for Research and Northwestern University have created an efficient way to target and repair defective genes.

13 Aug 2013

High mobility group (HMG) genes and cancer: an interview with Dr. Linda Resar, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine

High mobility group A genes are highly expressed in all aggressive cancers studied to date. These genes encode the high mobility group A (HMGA) proteins. In other words, these genes provide the genetic “code” necessary to produce HMGA proteins.

8 Aug 2013

Researchers identify stem cells in urine can be directed to become multiple cell types

Could harvesting stem cells for therapy one day be as simple as asking patients for a urine sample? Researchers at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center's Institute for Regenerative Medicine and colleagues have identified stem cells in urine that can be directed to become multiple cell types.

31 Jul 2013

Graduate student receives NIH fellowship of more than $90,000 to study e-cigarette use

Ever since e-cigarettes hit the market in 2004, they have been advertised as an aid for cigarette smoking cessation. The aerosols produced by e-cigarettes, however, have yet to be screened for potential health risks.

30 Jul 2013

New way of looking at DNA

Stem cell genes seek each other in the cell nucleus. So a study by the Hubrecht Institute in Utrecht, the Netherlands, has found, published this week in Nature. “It’s a new way of looking at DNA.”

26 Jul 2013

Astrocytes can protect brain tissue and reduce disability due to stroke

One of regenerative medicine's greatest goals is to develop new treatments for stroke. So far, stem cell research for the disease has focused on developing therapeutic neurons - the primary movers of electrical impulses in the brain - to repair tissue damaged when oxygen to the brain is limited by a blood clot or break in a vessel. New UC Davis research, however, shows that other cells may be better suited for the task.

24 Jul 2013

Smokers who seem healthy have damaged airway cells similar to cells found in aggressive lung cancer

Smokers who've received a clean bill of health from their doctor may believe cigarettes haven't harmed their lungs. However, researchers at Weill Cornell Medical College have found that even smokers who seem healthy have damaged airway cells, with characteristics similar to cells found in aggressive lung cancer.

17 Jul 2013

Magnets could be used for directing stem cells, may help treat heart and vascular diseases

Magnets could be a tool for directing stem cells' healing powers to treat conditions such as heart disease or vascular disease.

17 Jul 2013

Research opens door to better understanding of inner-ear development process, potential treatments

Indiana University scientists have transformed mouse embryonic stem cells into key structures of the inner ear. The discovery provides new insights into the sensory organ's developmental process and sets the stage for laboratory models of disease, drug discovery and potential treatments for hearing loss and balance disorders.

12 Jul 2013

Researchers are a step closer to producing stem cells for research and therapy

A team of Toronto-based researchers may be one step closer to a 'recipe' for large-scale production of stem cells for use in research and therapy.

6 Jul 2013

Epigenome mapping uncovers unique patterns that emerge during generation of brain circuitry

High-resolution mapping of the epigenome has discovered unique patterns that emerge during the generation of brain circuitry in childhood.

6 Jul 2013

Findings uncover epigenomic modification that occurs during brain formation

Changes in the epigenome, including chemical modifications of DNA, can act as an extra layer of information in the genome, and are thought to play a role in learning and memory, as well as in age-related cognitive decline.

5 Jul 2013

Researchers identify role of Nanog gene in embryonic stem cell differentiation

Whitehead Institute researchers have determined that the transcription factor Nanog, which plays a critical role in the self-renewal of embryonic stem cells, is expressed in a manner similar to other pluripotency markers.

4 Jul 2013

Scientists discover network for molecular communication in human embryonic stem cells

Scientists at A*STAR's Genome Institute of Singapore (GIS) and the Max Planck Institute for Molecular Genetics (MPIMG) in Berlin (Germany) have discovered a molecular network in human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) that integrates cell communication signals to keep the cell in its stem cell state.

3 Jul 2013