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.

Herb rosemary fights free radical damage in the brain

Rosemary not only tastes good in culinary dishes such as Rosemary chicken and lamb, but scientists have now found it is also good for your brain.

31 Oct 2007

New brain cells listen before they talk

Newly created neurons in adults rely on signals from distant brain regions to regulate their maturation and survival before they can communicate with existing neighboring cells - a finding that has important implications for the use of adult neural stem cells to replace brain cells lost by trauma or neurodegeneration, Yale School of Medicine researchers report in The Journal of Neuroscience.

31 Oct 2007

New Jersey appellate court rules referendum asking voters to approve $450M for stem cell research should remain on ballot

A three-judge panel of a New Jersey appellate court on Friday unanimously ruled that a Nov. 6 referendum that would allow the state to borrow $450 million over 10 years to fund stem cell research in the state should not be removed from the ballot, the New York Times reports (Peters, New York Times, 10/27).

30 Oct 2007

A new source of islet cells

The shortage of islet cells limits the development of islet transplantation. One new approach was reported in the October 21 issue of the World Journal of Gastroenterology because of its great significance in enhancing the output of islet cells.

25 Oct 2007

piRNAs play an important role in controlling gene function

A study by researchers at the Yale Stem Cell Center for the first time demonstrates that piRNAs, a recently discovered class of tiny RNAs, play an important role in controlling gene function, it was reported this week in Nature.

25 Oct 2007

Public not so sure about 'personalized medicine'

Ordinary people worry about the extra, and often burdensome, responsibilities which could come with scientists' promises of 'personalised medicine', according to evidence to be presented at a major two-day showcase of groundbreaking social science research into the whole field of genomics, funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC).

25 Oct 2007

Researchers find crucial signal that switches on eye development

Researchers at the University of Warwick, funded by Wellcome Trust, have uncovered a crucial signal that switches on eye development.

24 Oct 2007

Researchers discover important tool in understanding differentiation in human embryonic stem cells

Researchers at the University of Minnesota's Stem Cell Institute have described how an existing genetic tool can be used to study how human embryonic stem cells differentiate.

24 Oct 2007

Advances in drug screening

With the discovery of suitable molecular targets - cellular molecules along pathways crucial for sustaining the life of cancer cells - comes the perplexing dilemma of where to find the next therapeutics that will bind to and disable those targets.

23 Oct 2007

Stem cells from a person's own umbilical cord effectively treat blood and immune disorders, juvenile diabetes

Two separate data abstracts displayed at the annual scientific meeting of the AABB - an international association of medical professionals and institutions focused on transfusion, transplantation and cellular therapy - highlight the increasing therapeutic use of autologous (one's own) cord blood stem cells for transplant and regenerative medicine, including treatments for blood and immune disorders, juvenile diabetes and neurological repair.

22 Oct 2007

Novel therapeutic device captures and treats cells as they flow through the blood stream

MIT and University of Rochester researchers report important advances toward a therapeutic device that has the potential to capture cells as they flow through the blood stream and treat them.

22 Oct 2007

Illumina launches MicroRNA assay for gene expression profiling

Illumina, Inc. today launched a MicroRNA Assay for Gene Expression profiling. Priced at $95 per sample, this assay is the only solution available to allow rapid and reproducible miRNA expression profiling at a price less than half that of other commercially available methods.

From Illumina, Inc. 22 Oct 2007

Stem cells to treat damaged eyes and a rare skin disorder

Doctors and scientists in Italy have shown how stem cells can be used to treat damaged eyes and, in combination with gene therapy, a rare and debilitating skin disease.

22 Oct 2007

Researcher identify specific cell that causes eye cancer, disproving long-held theory

Investigators at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital have identified the cell that gives rise to the eye cancer retinoblastoma, disproving a long-standing principle of nerve growth and development.

19 Oct 2007

New stem cells by reprogramming

Researchers are discovering new ways to help ‘de-program' specialised cells so that they can be re-programmed to form a range of different types of tissue, an international meeting of stem cell biologists was told.

18 Oct 2007

The genetics of MLL leukemogenesis

In the November 1st issue of G&D, Dr. Michael Cleary (Stanford University School of Medicine) and colleagues identify the gene Meis1 as a critical player in the establishment of leukemia stem cells, and the development of MLL leukemia.

17 Oct 2007

Research shows how stem cells decide to become either skeletal or smooth muscle

Researchers have discovered a key protein that controls how stem cells "choose" to become either skeletal muscle cells that move limbs, or smooth muscle cells that support blood vessels, according to a study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).

11 Oct 2007

New understanding of stem cell aging

The Stowers Institute's Xie Lab has published recent findings that reveal some of the factors underlying the aging of stem cells.

11 Oct 2007

Researchers reveal repressor protein blocks neural stem cell development

A protein known to repress gene transcription at the molecular level in a variety of processes also blocks embryonic neural stem cells from differentiating into neurons, according to a study by University of California, San Diego and Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) researchers published online October 10 in Nature.

10 Oct 2007

Rare bone marrow transplant procedure as University of California, San Diego Medical Center

Patients living with Myasthenia Gravis (MG) may breathe easier thanks to a rare bone marrow transplant procedure performed at The Bone Marrow Transplant Program at University of California, San Diego Medical Center, the only program in the western United States that has attempted this procedure.

10 Oct 2007