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.

Reovirus kills cancer stem cells

Dalhousie Medical School cancer researcher Dr. Patrick Lee has proven that a common virus can infect and kill breast cancer stem cells.

8 Apr 2009

Stem cells from bone marrow used to grow new blood vessels

Research led by David Hess of the Robarts Research Institute at The University of Western Ontario has identified how to use selected stem cells from bone marrow to grow new blood vessels to treat diseases such as peripheral artery disease.

6 Apr 2009

Stem cell innovation in UK at risk

Despite great hopes for stem cell therapy, major structural and cultural changes within the NHS are needed if it is to succeed in the UK.

6 Apr 2009

Hidden pancreatic stem cells revealed

Wanted: stems cells. Just like those absconders chased by police all over the world, everybody can tell about their good deeds but none really knows how to recognize them.

6 Apr 2009

Rak gene helps protect tumor suppressor in breast cancer

Scientists at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center have discovered a gene that protects PTEN, a major tumor-suppressor that is reduced but rarely mutated in about half of all breast cancers.

6 Apr 2009

Stem cell innovation at risk

Despite great hopes for stem cell therapy, major structural and cultural changes within the NHS are needed if it is to succeed in the UK. Currently the chances of getting effective treatments into routine use in the short-term are small and the industry is at serious risk of 'market failure'.

6 Apr 2009

Human embryonic stem cells may revolutionize the treatment of oral diseases

Human embryonic stem cells (hESC) provide a potentially unlimited source of oral mucosal tissues that may revolutionize the treatment of oral diseases.

6 Apr 2009

Possible new treatments options for triple-negative breast cancer

Brian Rowan, Ph.D., professor of Cancer Research for the Tulane Cancer Center, is studying treatment options for an aggressive type of breast cancer that is prevalent in New Orleans among African-American women - triple-negative breast cancer.

5 Apr 2009

Alzheimer's disease linked to mitochondrial damage

Investigators at the Burnham Institute for Medical Research (Burnham) have demonstrated that attacks on the mitochondrial protein Drp1 by the free radical nitric oxide-which causes a chemical reaction called S-nitrosylation-mediates neurodegeneration associated with Alzheimer's disease.

5 Apr 2009

Researchers discover structure-building role for 2 non-coding RNAs

Most of the DNA in the nucleus of each of our cells is converted into RNA, but only a small fraction of these RNA molecules serve as coding templates for the synthesis of proteins.

2 Apr 2009

What are the next steps for embryonic stem cell research?

A new report on embryonic stem cell research from The George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services (SPHHS) reviews key issues likely to be debated in the coming months as Congress and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) determine how the research will move forward.

1 Apr 2009

Researchers delve into blood cell generation process

These new insights represent an important contribution to future clinical therapeutic approaches.

1 Apr 2009

Researchers develop mouse models of leukemia that predict response to chemotherapy

Being able to accurately predict how a given cancer will respond to chemotherapy would spare patients with non-responsive tumors the burden of undergoing toxic and ultimately unhelpful treatment.

1 Apr 2009

Amniotic fluid may be a new source of stem cells

For the first time, scientists have shown that amniotic fluid (the protective liquid surrounding an embryo) may be a potential new source of stem cells for therapeutic applications. The study was prepublished online on February 12, 2009, in Blood, the official journal of the American Society of Hematology.

31 Mar 2009

Genetic engineering breakthrough

In a genetic engineering breakthrough that could help everyone from bed-ridden patients to elite athletes, a team of American researchers - including 2007 Nobel Prize winner Mario R. Capecchi - have created a "switch" that allows mutations or light signals to be turned on in muscle stem cells to monitor muscle regeneration in a living mammal

30 Mar 2009

Eye cells believed to be retinal stem cells are misidentified

Cells isolated from the eye that many scientists believed were retinal stem cells are, in fact, normal adult cells, investigators at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital have found.

30 Mar 2009

Post heart attack, bone marrow stem cells increase blood flow within heart

Patients treated with their own bone marrow stem cells after a heart attack experienced increased circulation within the heart, a study by Emory University School of Medicine physicians has found.

30 Mar 2009

ArunA Biomedical to commercialize human embryonic stem cell derived mesenchymal cells

ArunA Biomedical, Inc., has announced that it will make its CELL-EZ brand hMC human mesenchymal progenitor cells commercially available to the research community in mid 2009.

29 Mar 2009

Scientists create vector, exotic genes from induced stem cells

A team of University of Wisconsin-Madison researchers reports that it has created induced human pluripotent stem (iPS) cells completely free of viral vectors and exotic genes.

29 Mar 2009

Salk Institute forms strategic alliance agreement with sanofi-aventis

The Salk Institute has announced that it has signed a strategic alliance agreement with sanofi-aventis, establishing a joint program that supports cutting-edge research and promotes an exchange of discoveries focused on scientific advances and therapeutic applications.

29 Mar 2009