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.

Few physicians support private banking of umbilical cord blood

A survey of physicians has found broad support for the position that parents should not bank their newborns' umbilical cord blood in a private blood bank unless another member of the family is at risk for a blood disease that will require a stem cell transplant.

8 Mar 2009

Effective stem cell treatment for strokes a step closer

Effective stem cell treatment for strokes has taken a significant step forward today (09 March) as scientists reveal how they have replaced stroke-damaged brain tissue in rats.

8 Mar 2009

Advances in stem cell research

Scientists at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston are on the forefront of stem cell research, developing novel therapies designed to generate heart cells, repair traumatic lung injuries, grow new bone and stanch the spread of cancer cells.

8 Mar 2009

Breakthrough method produces Parkinson's disease patient-specific stem cells free of harmful reprogramming genes

Whitehead Institute researchers have developed a novel method to remove potential cancer-causing genes during the reprogramming of skin cells from Parkinson's disease patients into an embryonic-stem-cell-like state.

8 Mar 2009

Virus-free embryonic-like stem cells made from skin of Parkinson's disease patients

Researchers reporting in the March 6th issue of the journal Cell , a Cell Press publication, have developed a new way to produce human embryonic-like stem cells that are free of the viruses used to insert the key ingredients.

5 Mar 2009

Important step toward in understanding the biology of stem cells

Researchers have found the factor that makes the difference between a stem cell in the intestine and any other cell.

5 Mar 2009

Stem cell breakthrough gives new hope to sufferers of myopathy and muscular dystrophy

An experimental procedure that dramatically strengthens stem cells' ability to regenerate damaged tissue could offer new hope to sufferers of muscle-wasting diseases such as myopathy and muscular dystrophy, according to researchers from the University of New South Wales (UNSW).

5 Mar 2009

Cultured stem cells and bioengineered skin used to successfully treat scleroderma

Scleroderma is an autoimmune disease that leads to thickening and severe scarring of skin as well as thickening and failure of internal organs, including the lungs, heart, kidneys and intestines.

5 Mar 2009

Better understanding of how stem cells develop into blood cells

How messages sent within stem cells through a specific communication pathway can trigger the cells to specialize and become blood cells in humans, has been discovered by scientists of the McMaster Stem Cell and Cancer Research Institute.

5 Mar 2009

Discovery of stem cells that repair injured muscles

A University of Colorado at Boulder research team has identified a type of skeletal muscle stem cell that contributes to the repair of damaged muscles in mice, which could have important implications in the treatment of injured, diseased or aging muscle tissue in humans, including the ravages of muscular dystrophy.

5 Mar 2009

Breakthrough produces Parkinson's patient-specific stem cells free of harmful reprogramming genes

Deploying a method that removes potentially cancer-causing genes, Whitehead Institute researchers have "reprogrammed" human skin cells from Parkinson's disease patients into an embryonic-stem-cell-like state.

5 Mar 2009

Brain tumor treatment may increase number of cancer stem-like cells

A new study suggests that the standard treatment for a common brain tumor increases the aggressiveness of surviving cancer cells, possibly leaving patients more vulnerable to tumor recurrence.

5 Mar 2009

Bottom up assembly of cells into 3-D microtissues

Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory can now control how cells connect with one another in vitro and assemble themselves into three-dimensional, multicellular microtissues.

5 Mar 2009

New study using combination of bioengineered skin and stem cells shows promise in treatment of non-healing wounds

Scleroderma is an autoimmune disease that leads to thickening and severe scarring of skin as well as thickening and failure of internal organs, including the lungs, heart, kidneys and intestines.

5 Mar 2009

Stem cells could halt osteoporosis, promote bone growth

While interferon gamma sounds like an outer space weapon, it's actually a hormone produced by our own bodies, and it holds great promise to repair bones affected by osteoporosis.

4 Mar 2009

Type 1 diabetes patients sought for UT Southwestern clinical drug trial

UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers are recruiting individuals newly diagnosed with type 1 diabetes for a clinical trial to gauge the effectiveness of adding an investigational stem cell product to standard insulin therapy.

3 Mar 2009

New tissue engineering technique may help stem cells generate solid organs

Stem cells can thrive in segments of well-vascularized tissue temporarily removed from laboratory animals, say researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine.

2 Mar 2009

Protein complex shown to play pivotal role in stem cell development

Scientists at the Stanford University School of Medicine have identified a protein complex important in controlling whether embryonic stem cells retain their ability to become any cell in the body - a quality called pluripotency - or instead embark on a pathway of maturation and specialization.

2 Mar 2009

Oseltamivir-resistant influenza A virus potentially serious to high-risk patients

A mutation of the influenza A(H1N1) virus that is resistant to the drug oseltamivir may pose a serious health threat to hospitalized patients who have a weakened immune system, according to a study to be published in the March 11 issue of JAMA, the Journal of the American Medical Association, and being released early online because of its public health importance.

2 Mar 2009

Why do teeth form in a single row?

A system of opposing genetic forces determines why mammals develop a single row of teeth, while sharks sport several, according to a study published in the journal Science.

26 Feb 2009