Embryonic Stem Cell News and Research

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Geron demonstrates hESC-derived cardiomyocytes improve heart function after myocardial infarction

Geron Corporation has reported its scientists and collaborators have demonstrated that human embryonic stem cell (hESC)-derived cardiomyocytes improve heart function when transplanted after myocardial infarction.

28 Aug 2007

Novel heart repair therapy could be in the pipeline

The success of a new and experimental stem cell treatment used in animals could lead to a novel heart repair therapy for heart attack patients.

27 Aug 2007

Discovery of new gene family essential for embryonic development

The family controls the expression of genes crucial for stem cell maintenance and differentiation, and the results may contribute sig-nificantly to the understanding of the development of cancer.

24 Aug 2007

Cancer stem cell scientists get $1.7 million to develop new leukemia drugs

"Modern cancer treatments fail to get to the root of the cancer - the stem cells - which is why many cancers recur despite aggressive treatment."

23 Aug 2007

Scientists produce functioning neurons from human embryonic stem cells

Scientists with the Institute of Stem Cell Biology and Medicine at UCLA were able to produce from human embryonic stem cells a highly pure, large quantity of functioning neurons that will allow them to create models of and study diseases such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, prefrontal dementia and schizophrenia.

8 Aug 2007

New treatment for glaucoma shows promise

Iowa State University researchers have developed a new technique that successfully treated rats for blindness caused by glaucoma.

3 Aug 2007

Discredited Korean embryonic stem cells' true origins revealed

A report from researchers at Children's Hospital Boston and the Harvard Stem Cell Institute sheds new light on a now-discredited Korean embryonic stem cell line, setting the historical record straight and also establishing a much-needed set of standards for characterizing human embryonic stem cells.

3 Aug 2007

New understanding of adult stem cell regulation

Forsyth Institute scientists have discovered an important mechanism for controlling the behavior of adult stem cells.

2 Aug 2007

Gene found that regulates blood-forming fetal stem cells

In the rancorous public debate over federal research funding, stem cells are generally assigned to one of two categories: embryonic or adult.

27 Jul 2007

New findings on gene-transcription machinery

For some time, scientists have been tracking down the sequence of biochemical steps required to attract and assemble at the head end of a gene the molecular machinery needed to transcribe that gene to put to work the information it encodes.

26 Jul 2007

ISSCR to focus on scientific, ethical and global challenges in stem cell research

The International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR) introduced the 2007-2008 Officers this June at the 5th ISSCR Annual Meeting in Cairns, Australia.

25 Jul 2007

Scientists discover human genes hover between "on"and "off" in any given cell

Biologists have long thought that a simple on/off switch controls most genes in human cells.

13 Jul 2007

Startling discovery on the development of human embryonic stem cells

In this week's Nature, researchers of the McMaster Cancer and Stem Cell Research Institute show that human embryonic stem (ES) cells can actually produce distinctive niche cells, which then release stem-cell nourishing proteins to help keep their parents ticking over.

12 Jul 2007

New insight into neural stem cells

Scientists have discovered that adult neural stem cells, which exist in the brain throughout life, are not a single, homogeneous group.

9 Jul 2007

New type of mouse embryonic stem cell discovered

Scientists have discovered a new type of mouse embryonic stem cell that is the closest counterpart yet to human embryonic stem (ES) cells, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) have announced.

28 Jun 2007

Embryonic stem cell in rodents could lead to treatment for Parkinson's

Scientists in Britain have discovered a new type of embryonic stem cell in mice and rats that could accelerate research into degenerative brain diseases such as Parkinson's.

27 Jun 2007

Many couples willing to donate unused embryos to stem cell research

In a survey of over a thousand patients who have created and frozen embryos as part of fertility treatment, 60 percent said they would be likely to donate unused embryos for stem cell research, according to a study led by researchers at Duke University Medical Center and Johns Hopkins University.

23 Jun 2007

New way to increase stem cells in blood

Researchers at Children's Hospital Boston report finding a new way to increase stem cells in blood, suggesting a possible treatment to help patients who undergo chemotherapy or bone marrow transplant for leukemia and other cancers recover their immune function more quickly.

23 Jun 2007

Senate Appropriations Committee approves spending bill that would expand federal funding for embryonic stem cell research

The Senate Appropriations Committee on Thursday voted 26-3 to approve the fiscal year 2008 Labor-HHS-Education spending bill, which includes a provision that would expand the number of human embryonic stem cell lines eligible for federal funding, CQ HealthBeat reports (CQ HealthBeat, 6/21).

22 Jun 2007

House approves bill that would allow contraceptive donations to international groups barred from funding

The House on Thursday voted 241-178 to approve a fiscal year 2008 foreign aid spending bill that would allow the federal government to give contraceptives but not money to international groups barred from receiving U.S. aid because of their abortion policies, the Washington Post reports (Williamson, Washington Post, 6/22).

22 Jun 2007