Embryonic Stem Cell News and Research

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Sister stem cells display considerable differences despite having identical DNA

Scientists have used a brand new technique for examining individual stem cells to uncover dramatic differences in the gene expression levels - which genes are turned 'up' or 'down'- between apparently identical 'sister' pairs.

27 Sep 2013

Stem cell lines are ideal research tools for designing models to understand disease progression

Scientists from King's College London have announced that 16 human embryonic stem (hES) cell lines have been approved by the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) and placed on their Stem Cell Registry, making them freely available for federally-funded research in the USA.

25 Sep 2013

Biologists identify two pathways via which chromosomes are rearranged

Biologists reported today in Nature that they have identified two pathways through which chromosomes are rearranged in mammalian cells. These types of changes are associated with some cancers and inherited disorders in people.

10 Sep 2013

Scientists identify RNA regulator that plays critical role in proper functioning of hESCs

Scientists at A*STAR's Genome Institute of Singapore, in collaboration with their counterparts from Canada, Hong Kong and US, have discovered a protein mediator SON plays a critical role in the health and proper functioning of human embryonic stem cells. This finding was reported on 8th September 2013 in the advanced online issue of the prestigious science journal Nature Cell Biology.

10 Sep 2013

Two Pathways Found Through Which Chromosomes Are Rearranged

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9 Sep 2013

Researchers develop method for purifying cardiac muscle cells using molecular beacons

Pure cardiac muscle cells, ready to transplant into a patient affected by heart disease. That's a goal for many cardiology researchers working with stem cells. Having a pure population of cardiac muscle cells is essential for avoiding tumor formation after transplantation, but has been technically challenging.

6 Sep 2013

UCLA researchers receives $13M Early Translational grants to advance innovative discoveries using stem cells

Four researchers from UCLA's Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research have received Early Translational Research Awards totaling approximately $13 million from the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, the state's stem cell agency. The UCLA researchers received four of the 12 total awards; no other institution received more than one.

4 Sep 2013

Scientists develop complex human brain tissue in 3D culture system

Complex human brain tissue has been successfully developed in a three-dimensional culture system established in an Austrian laboratory. The method described in the current issue of NATURE allows pluripotent stem cells to develop into cerebral organoids - or "mini brains" - that consist of several discrete brain regions.

29 Aug 2013

Scientists develop method to generate functioning brain cells that produce myelin

Stem cell technology has long offered the hope of regenerating tissue to repair broken or damaged neural tissue. Findings from a team of UC Davis investigators have brought this dream a step closer by developing a method to generate functioning brain cells that produce myelin - a fatty, insulating sheath essential to normal neural conduction.

29 Aug 2013

Research findings lay foundation for regenerating damaged heart muscle

In the aftermath of a heart attack, cells within the region most affected shut down. They stop beating. And they become entombed in scar tissue. But now, scientists at the Gladstone Institutes have demonstrated that this damage need not be permanent-by finding a way to transform the class of cells that form human scar tissue into those that closely resemble beating heart cells.

23 Aug 2013

New technique may convert cells from heart disease patients into heart muscle cells

Researchers have developed a new technique that might one day be used to convert cells from heart disease patients into heart muscle cells that could act as a personalized treatment for their condition.

23 Aug 2013

Researchers create an efficient technique to target and repair defective genes

Using human pluripotent stem cells and DNA-cutting protein from meningitis bacteria, researchers from the Morgridge Institute for Research and Northwestern University have created an efficient way to target and repair defective genes.

13 Aug 2013

High mobility group (HMG) genes and cancer: an interview with Dr. Linda Resar, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine

High mobility group A genes are highly expressed in all aggressive cancers studied to date. These genes encode the high mobility group A (HMGA) proteins. In other words, these genes provide the genetic “code” necessary to produce HMGA proteins.

8 Aug 2013

Researchers identify stem cells in urine can be directed to become multiple cell types

Could harvesting stem cells for therapy one day be as simple as asking patients for a urine sample? Researchers at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center's Institute for Regenerative Medicine and colleagues have identified stem cells in urine that can be directed to become multiple cell types.

31 Jul 2013

Graduate student receives NIH fellowship of more than $90,000 to study e-cigarette use

Ever since e-cigarettes hit the market in 2004, they have been advertised as an aid for cigarette smoking cessation. The aerosols produced by e-cigarettes, however, have yet to be screened for potential health risks.

30 Jul 2013

New way of looking at DNA

Stem cell genes seek each other in the cell nucleus. So a study by the Hubrecht Institute in Utrecht, the Netherlands, has found, published this week in Nature. “It’s a new way of looking at DNA.”

26 Jul 2013

Astrocytes can protect brain tissue and reduce disability due to stroke

One of regenerative medicine's greatest goals is to develop new treatments for stroke. So far, stem cell research for the disease has focused on developing therapeutic neurons - the primary movers of electrical impulses in the brain - to repair tissue damaged when oxygen to the brain is limited by a blood clot or break in a vessel. New UC Davis research, however, shows that other cells may be better suited for the task.

24 Jul 2013

Smokers who seem healthy have damaged airway cells similar to cells found in aggressive lung cancer

Smokers who've received a clean bill of health from their doctor may believe cigarettes haven't harmed their lungs. However, researchers at Weill Cornell Medical College have found that even smokers who seem healthy have damaged airway cells, with characteristics similar to cells found in aggressive lung cancer.

17 Jul 2013

Magnets could be used for directing stem cells, may help treat heart and vascular diseases

Magnets could be a tool for directing stem cells' healing powers to treat conditions such as heart disease or vascular disease.