Stem Cells News and Research

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Stem cells have the remarkable potential to develop into many different cell types in the body during early life and growth. In addition, in many tissues they serve as a sort of internal repair system, dividing essentially without limit to replenish other cells as long as the person or animal is still alive. When a stem cell divides, each new cell has the potential either to remain a stem cell or become another type of cell with a more specialized function, such as a muscle cell, a red blood cell, or a brain cell.

Research targets malignant glioma stem cells

Cleveland Clinic researchers have identified a cellular pathway that cancer stem cells use to promote tumor growth in malignant glioma, an aggressive brain tumor.

11 Jul 2011

Lab grown windpipe saves cancer patient

A team of doctors have replaced the cancer affected windpipe of a patient with an organ made in a lab. This is a medical breakthrough for regenerative medicine. The patient no longer has cancer and is expected to have a normal life expectancy, doctors said.

10 Jul 2011

Onconova, SymBio enter commercialization collaboration for rigosertib in Japan and Korea

Onconova Therapeutics, Inc., and SymBio Pharmaceuticals Limited announced today that they will collaborate to develop and commercialize rigosertib in Japan and Korea. Onconova is conducting late-stage clinical trials with rigosertib (ON 01910.Na) in the U.S., Europe and India for the treatment of Myelodysplastic Syndromes (MDS) and solid tumors.

8 Jul 2011

Transplants with half-matched bone marrow or cord blood are comparable to fully matched tissue

Identifying a suitable donor for leukemia and lymphoma patients who need bone marrow transplants may be far easier now that results of two clinical trials show transplant results with half-matched bone marrow or umbilical cord blood are comparable to fully matched tissue, thanks in large part to the availability of effective antirejection drugs and special post-transplant chemotherapy.

8 Jul 2011

New technique may help scientists probe mysteries of many different stem cells

Researchers at the Salk Institute have been able to genetically incorporate "unnatural" amino acids, such as those emitting green fluorescence, into neural stem cells, which then differentiate into brain neurons with the incandescent "tag" intact.

8 Jul 2011

Mesenchymal stem cells protect and heal

A stem cell that can morph into a number of different tissues is proving a natural protector, healer and antibiotic maker, researchers at Case Western Reserve University and their peers have found.

8 Jul 2011

Autologous adult stem cells reduce frequency of angina episodes

New research published online today in Circulation Research found that injections of adult patients' own CD34+ stem cells reduced reports of angina episodes and improved exercise tolerance time in patients with chronic, severe refractory angina (severe chest discomfort that did not respond to other therapeutic options).

From Baxter International Inc. 8 Jul 2011

New target could halt growth of glioblastoma

Researchers have uncovered a new target that could stop the growth of glioblastoma, a deadly form of brain cancer.

8 Jul 2011

Scientists discover way to separate neural wheat from the chaff

University of Florida scientists have discovered a way to separate the neural wheat from the chaff during the process of generating brain cells for potential patient therapies.

8 Jul 2011

AHAF awards 22 new grants to scientists worldwide for innovative vision research

The American Health Assistance Foundation (AHAF), a nonprofit organization with a history of funding cutting-edge research on age-related diseases, announced today that it has awarded 22 new grants totaling nearly $2.2 million to scientists worldwide who are studying glaucoma and macular degeneration. The two conditions are the leading causes of irreversible vision loss and blindness in the U.S.

8 Jul 2011

Researchers identify cellular origin of malignant glioma

Using a mouse genetic system co-developed by researchers at the University of Oregon and Stanford University, a research team led by UO biologist Hui Zong has isolated the cellular origin for malignant glioma, a deadly human brain cancer.

8 Jul 2011

Half-matched transplants widen donor pool for leukemia and lymphoma

7 Jul 2011

Study delineates link between social support and distress after stem cell transplants

Researchers at the John Theurer Cancer Center recently published a study delineating the connection of social support to distress after stem cell transplants.

7 Jul 2011

Freeze-dried gene therapy system safe and effective for treating brain cancer

Researchers at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine have developed a technique that delivers gene therapy into human brain cancer cells using nanoparticles that can be freeze-dried and stored for up to three months prior to use. The shelf-stable particles may obviate the need for virus-mediated gene therapy, which has been associated with safety concerns.

7 Jul 2011

Induced pluripotent cells may make embryonic stem cells unnecessary

For nearly two decades, the medical world and the American public have grappled with the lightning-rod topic of stem cells, in particular the controversy surrounding cells from human embryos. But when researchers four years ago successfully "reprogrammed" adult body cells to become stem cells, some thought the ethical debate was nearly over. Those redirected cells, known as induced pluripotent cells, or iPS cells, show potential as therapy.

6 Jul 2011

New biological insights into fat tissue

For better or worse, a popular class of anti-diabetic drugs does more than lower blood sugar. One known as rosiglitazone has been in the spotlight for its possible link to increased cardiovascular events, but it also seems to come with unexplained vascular benefits and an unwelcome tendency for weight gain.

6 Jul 2011

Cleavage stage embryo with aneuploidy can undergo genetic normalisation process

Professor William G. Kearns told the annual meeting of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology that a three-day-old embryo with an incorrect number of chromosomes was capable of undergoing "a dynamic process of genetic normalisation" so that by day five, when it had developed to the blastocyst stage, it had become euploid, with the correct number of chromosomes.

5 Jul 2011

Researchers discover crucial role of miR-206 in skeletal muscle development

Research led by the University of East Anglia has discovered the crucial role of a molecule in skeletal muscle development.

5 Jul 2011

Johns Hopkins team reconstitutes single stem cells' family tree

A Johns Hopkins team has discovered in young adult mice that a lone brain stem cell is capable not only of replacing itself and giving rise to specialized neurons and glia - important types of brain cells - but also of taking a wholly unexpected path: generating two new brain stem cells.

2 Jul 2011

New stem cell bioprinting for uniform, controlled size embryoid body formation

Ever since an ordinary office inkjet printer had its ink cartridges swapped out for a cargo of cells about 10 years ago and sprayed out cell-packed droplets to create living tissue, scientists and engineers have never looked at office equipment in quite the same way. They dream of using a specialized bio-inkjet printer to grow new body parts for organ transplants or tissues for making regenerative medicine repairs to ailing bodies.

2 Jul 2011