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StemCells granted UK patent covering true rat stem cells and genetically engineered rats

StemCells, Inc. announced today that the United Kingdom (UK) Intellectual Property Office has granted patent number GB2451523 with broad claims covering true (germline competent) rat stem cells and genetically engineered rats derived from these cells. The patented technology is expected to have significant utility to academic and pharmaceutical industry researchers by enabling them to create novel rat models for the study of human diseases. Both mice and rats are used by scientists to model various human diseases.

18 Mar 2010

BeaconEquity.com: STEM losses $5.2M in fourth-quarter of 2009

BeaconEquity.com announces an investment report featuring biotech company StemCells Inc. The report includes financial, comparative and investment analyses, and pertinent industry information you need to know to make an educated investment decision.

16 Mar 2010

StemCells reports net loss of $5.23M for fourth-quarter fiscal 2009

StemCells, Inc. today reported financial results for the fourth quarter and year ended December 31, 2009. The Company's results include the operations of Stem Cell Sciences Plc (SCS) since April 1, 2009.

11 Mar 2010

RainDance Technologies enters into strategic agreement with Applied Biosystems

RainDance Technologies, Inc., a leading provider of innovative microdroplet-based solutions for human health and disease research, and Applied Biosystems, part of Life Technologies Corporation, announced today they have entered into a strategic agreement to co-market the first solution that combines microdroplet PCR-based sequence enrichment with next-generation sequencing.

19 Feb 2010

Pure populations of immature cells that enable male reproduction isolated and transplanted

Reproductive researchers from the University of Pennsylvania and The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia have succeeded in isolating and transplanting pure populations of the immature cells that enable male reproduction in two species-human spermatogonia and mouse gonocytes. These germline stem cells, taken from testis biopsies, demonstrated viability following transplantation to mouse testes within a controlled laboratory setting.

15 Dec 2009

Study on fruit flies may help in understanding the root cause of stem cell diseases

The body is a battle zone. Cells constantly compete with one another for space and dominance. Though the manner in which some cells win this competition is well known to be the survival of the fittest, how stem cells duke it out for space and survival is not as clear.

5 Dec 2009

arGEN-X to develop its SIMPLE Antibody engine with completed EUR 12.5M Series A equity financing

arGEN-X BV, a biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery and development of human antibodies using its proprietary SIMPLE Antibody(TM) platform, today announced the successful second closing of its Series A equity financing round. The Company raised an additional EUR 3.0 million (~USD 4.5 million) from two leading life science investors, Credit Agricole Private Equity and VIB (the prestigious Flemish research institute).

3 Dec 2009

Diagnosing patients with syndrome similar to neurofibromatosis type 1 may be difficult

An analysis of patients with a syndrome similar to the genetic disorder, neurofibromatosis type 1, indicates that diagnosis may be difficult because of shared clinical findings, such as certain pigmentary characteristics, according to a study in the November 18 issue of JAMA.

19 Nov 2009

Scientists use new techniques to explore vocal learning at molecular level

You can learn a lot from an animal. By manipulating the DNA of mice, flies, frogs and worms, scientists have discovered a great deal about the genes and molecules behind many of life's essential processes. These basic functions often work about the same in people as they do in "model" animals.

30 Sep 2009

arGEN-X BV announces first closing of its Series A equity financing round

arGEN-X BV, a biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery and development of human antibodies using its proprietary SIMPLE Antibody platform, today announced the successful first closing of its Series A equity financing round. The Company raised EUR 9.5million (~ USD 13.6 million) from a syndicate of leading life science investors. The financing round is one of the largest of its kind in the last 12 months.

10 Sep 2009

Study on basic mechanisms that control fertility in worms may help to know how some woman regain their fertility after cancer treatment

Scientific dogma has long asserted that females are born with their entire lifetime's supply of eggs, and once they're gone, they're gone. New findings by researchers at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, published online Aug. 27 in Science, suggest that in nematode worms, at least, this does not hold true.

28 Aug 2009

Embryonic stem cells used to create human sperm

Human sperm have been created using embryonic stem cells for the first time in a scientific development which will lead researchers to a better understanding of the causes of infertility.

9 Jul 2009

Chinese scientists use mouse stem cells to grow new eggs

Scientists in China say by using stem cells from the ovaries of young and adult female mice they have been able to generate new eggs.

13 Apr 2009

microRNAs manipulate cells to one day create safe embryonic-like stem cells

A team of UCSF researchers has for the first time used tiny molecules called microRNAs to help turn adult mouse cells back to their embryonic state.

12 Apr 2009

Stem cells from human testes can change into other body tissues

Scientists at the Stanford University School of Medicine and at UC-San Francisco have succeeded in isolating stem cells from human testes.

5 Jan 2009

Some stem cells take charge of their surroundings

Adult stem cells are not pampered pushovers. O'Reilly et al. report that certain stem cells take charge of their surroundings, molding their environment to control their division and differentiation.

25 Aug 2008

Scientists discover link between DNA copy number changes and cancer risk

Scientists at The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) have discovered a link between a newly discovered form of inherited genetic alteration, termed DNA copy number variation (CNV), and cancer susceptibility.

4 Aug 2008

Stem cell chicken and egg debate moves to unlikely arena: the testes

Logic says it has to be the niche. As air and water preceded life, so the niche, that hospitable environment that shelters adult stem cells in many tissues and provides factors necessary to keep them young and vital, must have emerged before its stem cell dependents.

20 Jul 2008

Study examines association between type of genetic characteristics and cancer

Persons with a certain type of homozygosity (having two identical copies of the same gene, one inherited from each parent), may have a greater predisposition to cancer, according to a study in the March 26 issue of JAMA.

26 Mar 2008

New study confirms that PROGENSA PCA3 can improve accuracy of prostate cancer diagnosis

New clinical data from a study of 570 men published in the peer-reviewed Journal of Urology support the use of PROGENSA PCA3 as a tool for diagnosing prostate cancer. The study confirms that PROGENSA PCA3, the world's first gene-based urine test to help detect prostate cancer, can provide clinicians with valuable information that helps guide diagnosis.

20 Mar 2008