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.

'Blue baby' study sheds light on basic biology

A newborn described as a "happy blue baby" because of her bluish skin color but healthy appearance made a small mark in medical history when one of her physicians discovered something new in her genes-the hemoglobin Toms River mutation.

17 Jun 2011

CTI announces positive results from Phase I-II pixantrone combination study against INHL

Cell Therapeutics, Inc. announced the publication of results posted in the online journal of Cancer of a Phase I-II study that evaluated the safety and efficacy of pixantrone when used in combination with fludarabine, dexamethasone and rituximab replacing mitoxantrone in the standard FND-R regimen with FPD-R among 28 patients with relapsed or refractory indolent non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.

17 Jun 2011

Functional vision restored after 55 years

After being hit in the eye by a stone, a detached retina left a man blind in his right eye. Despite surgery to remove a cataract when the man was 23, which temporarily restored light perception, the patient was completely blind in that eye.

17 Jun 2011

Experimental vaccine shows promise for patients with newly diagnosed brain tumors

An experimental vaccine developed by researchers at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center's Maxine Dunitz Neurosurgical Institute targets overactive antigens in highly aggressive brain tumors and improves length of survival in newly diagnosed patients, according to new data that was presented in a poster session at the 47th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology.

17 Jun 2011

Key to remove stem cells responsible for fat expansion

Researchers may have found the key to developing a method to rid the body of stem cells responsible for driving fat expansion. According to a report in the June 16 Cell Stem Cell, a Cell Press publication, they've landed the first protein marker on the surface of those so-called adipose stromal cells (ASCs), which serve as progenitors of the cells that make up fat tissue.

17 Jun 2011

Cedars-Sinai receives National Eye Institute grant to develop gene therapy for corneal disease

Cedars-Sinai stem cell researchers investigating ways to prevent eye problems in diabetic patients have been awarded a $3 million grant from the National Eye Institute to develop gene therapy in corneal stem cells to alleviate damage to corneas that can cause vision loss.

17 Jun 2011

New Australian drug shows positive response in patients with multiple myeloma blood cancer

Australian monoclonal antibody company, Immune System Therapeutics Limited (IST), today announced it would double patient recruitment in its Phase II trial for a breakthrough antibody treatment for terminal blood cancer.

16 Jun 2011

Researchers reveal why anti-androgen therapy may fail in men with prostate cancer

Cancer is crafty. When one avenue driving its growth is blocked by drugs targeting that path, the malignancy often creates a detour, finding an alternative route to get around the roadblock.

16 Jun 2011

Initial data from COMPLETE study on peripheral T-cell lymphoma presented at ICML 2011

Allos Therapeutics, Inc. today announced the presentation of initial data from COMPLETE, an international registry designed to address the urgent need for an increased understanding of the treatment patterns and outcomes for patients with peripheral T-cell lymphoma.

16 Jun 2011

Lund University professor receives Robert A. Pritzker Prize for Parkinson's research

Anders Björklund from Lund University in Sweden has been awarded the Robert A. Pritzker Prize for his many years of leadership in research on Parkinson's disease. The prize has long been an institution in American architecture and this year, for the first time, it is also being awarded to recognise cutting-edge medical research.

16 Jun 2011

Stem cell technology corrects genetic defect in rare blinding disorder

Researchers have used cutting-edge stem cell technology to correct a genetic defect present in a rare blinding disorder, another step on a promising path that may one day lead to therapies to reverse blindness caused by common retinal diseases such as macular degeneration and retinitis pigmentosa which affect millions of individuals.

16 Jun 2011

Platelet Derived Growth Factor Receptor-beta plays key role in onset of obesity

A new study from Mount Sinai School of Medicine has found that a cellular signaling pathway governs the differentiation of cells into fat tissue or smooth muscle, which lines the vascular system. Engaging this signaling pathway and its capacity to govern cell differentiation has important implications in preventing obesity and cardiovascular disease.

16 Jun 2011

ISCO discovers novel technology to produce pure hepatocyte population

International Stem Cell Corporation announces the discovery of a novel, patent-pending technology to produce unlimited numbers of liver cells (hepatocytes) that are free of contamination with potentially dangerous undifferentiated cells.

16 Jun 2011

ISSCR honors UCSF cancer scientist with 2011 Outstanding Young Investigator Award

UCSF's Robert Blelloch, MD, PhD, has received the 2011 Outstanding Young Investigator Award from the International Society for Stem Cell Research, for his pioneering research on the role of molecular tools known as microRNAs in embryonic stem cells and cancer.

16 Jun 2011

Life Technologies introduces CytoTune-iPS Reprogramming Kit

Life Technologies Corporation today announced the launch of CytoTune-iPS Reprogramming Kit -- research technology that provides far improved efficiency over standard methods to develop induced pluripotent stem cells from human somatic cells.

16 Jun 2011

Inviragen commences INV21 Phase 1 trial against Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease

Inviragen announced today the initiation of the first clinical trial of the Company's proprietary Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease (HFMD) investigational vaccine, INV21, a highly purified virus particle preparation designed to protect against HFMD caused by enterovirus 71.

16 Jun 2011

Wnt signaling may help target hair pigmentation

A new study by researchers at NYU Langone Medical Center has shown that, for the first time, Wnt signaling, already known to control many biological processes, between hair follicles and melanocyte stem cells can dictate hair pigmentation. The study was published in the June 11, 2011 issue of the journal Cell.

15 Jun 2011

Newborn neurons help create emotional context of memory

Fear burns memories into our brain, and new research by University of California, Berkeley, neuroscientists explains how.

15 Jun 2011

Study links cysteine with obesity-related diseases

People with high levels of the amino acid cysteine carry 6-10 kilograms more fat than other people. Norwegian researchers studying this phenomenon are generating knowledge which could help to prevent and treat life-threatening obesity.

15 Jun 2011

Scientists find novel form of brain plasticity

Scientists have known for years that neurogenesis takes place throughout adulthood in the hippocampus of the mammalian brain. Now Columbia researchers have found that under stressful conditions, neural stem cells in the adult hippocampus can produce not only neurons, but also new stem cells.

14 Jun 2011