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.

First Parkinson’s gene therapy patient well after 1 year suggesting that the therapy is safe and effective

The first ever patient to have undergone gene therapy for Parkinson’s appears to have come through phase I without a hitch, suggesting that the therapy is safe and effective, reports Marina Murphy in Chemistry & Industry.

2 Sep 2004

Royal Society calls for ban on human reproductive cloning

The Royal Society has called on the United Nations to introduce a ban on human reproductive cloning at its 59th General Session in October.

31 Aug 2004

Converting cells into heart muscle

This plasticity concept – the ability of bone marrow cell to transdifferentiate into heart muscle cell – is supported by experimental and clinical data. Another possibility is to replace the missing function by causing transdifferentiation of existing cells. Transdifferentiation means converting one sort of cell, e.g. fibroblast, into another, e.g. muscle cell.

30 Aug 2004

Surgeons remodel and replace man's jaw bone allowing him to eat first dinner in 9 years

“By the 4th week post-transplantation the patient enjoyed his first dinner in 9 years (bread and sausages); before reconstruction he had only been able to eat soft food and soup”.

26 Aug 2004

Study of new gene and cell therapy to better understand how genetically-engineered cells can help pace the heart

Guidant Corporation, Columbia University and Stony Brook University will collaborate to study a new gene and cell therapy that may ultimately provide better understanding of how genetically-engineered cells can help pace the heart.

26 Aug 2004

Mouse stem cells may help restore hearing loss in humans

The work is important because, in humans, inner ear sensory hair cells are a precious commodity. Humans are born with only about sixteen thousand of these sound detectors in each ear, which can be easily damaged by age, certain illnesses, exposure to loud sounds, and some medications. Once damaged, the cells do not easily grow back. And with the cell loss comes so-called irreversible hearing loss.

26 Aug 2004

StemCells issued U.S. stem cell patent

StemCells, Inc. has announced that the Company has been issued U.S. patent 6,777,233 for work done at the Company covering composition of matter claims for the human neural stem cell.

23 Aug 2004

Research offers hope for the millions of diabetics worldwide who take insulin injections

University of Toronto researchers have identified individual cells in the adult mouse pancreas capable of generating insulin-producing beta cells.

22 Aug 2004

Stem cell research may one day help cerebral palsy

Natural chemicals that assist healing may one day help transplanted adult stem cells integrate into an injured brain, helping children with cerebral palsy recover lost function, according to researchers at the Medical College of Georgia.

18 Aug 2004

Embryonic stem cell therapy show benefits in rebuilding damaged heart

Despite improvements in earlier diagnosis and treatment, cardiovascular disease is far and away the leading cause of death in the U.S. and the world.

18 Aug 2004

Organ transplant recipients infected with West Nile virus develop more severe neurological illness

West Nile virus is an infection which in the last three years has had a significant impact in the United States. The virus is spread from birds to humans via mosquito bites. Symptoms include headache, fever and disorientation, and the disease can cause serious illness in a small percentage of infected people.

18 Aug 2004

80% of cancer patients use some form of complementary or alternative therapies

Plug the terms "alternative" and "cancer" into Google and the Internet search engine returns a list of 3.27 million - yes, million - sites with information both credible and questionable about nontraditional treatments for cancer. What's a cancer patient to make of such a vast array of options?

18 Aug 2004

British team and NASA plan to take stem cells into space

The $US1 million project aims to explore ways to protect astronauts from space radiation in preparation for a manned mission to Mars in 2020.

12 Aug 2004

Stanford researchers identify leukemia stem cells

A handful of leukemia cells constantly replenish the supply of cancerous cells, according to new work by Stanford University School of Medicine researchers.

11 Aug 2004

First licence for therapeutic cloning

Britain's Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority has granted the first licence to create human embryonic stem cells using cell nuclear transfer – a technique also known as therapeutic cloning.

11 Aug 2004

Million-dollar grant to trial potential stem cell therapies to repair injured spinal cords

An Australian team headed by UNSW's Professor Phil Waite has won a million-dollar grant from the NSW Department of Health to trial potential stem cell therapies to repair injured spinal cords.

11 Aug 2004

IBM and Cellomics offer new solution to accelerate cell-based drug discovery

IBM and Cellomics have announced they have launched a customized information technology (IT) solution that allows biopharmaceutical scientists and academic researchers to better understand how potential drug candidates or targets of interest affect cellular function.

11 Aug 2004

New scientific white paper outlines why the current policy on stem cell research must be expanded

On the third anniversary of the establishment of federal support for stem cell research, the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, released a new scientific white paper today that outlines why the current policy must be expanded.

9 Aug 2004

Offical Health and Human Services line on Bush's embryonic stem cell policy

Three years ago, President Bush opened the nation’s laboratory doors for the first time to federal taxpayer funding for human embryonic stem cell research.

9 Aug 2004

New fluorescent dye technique may provide new insight into how cancerous tumors begin and grow

A technique developed by University of California, San Diego biologists, which uses bright fluorescent dyes to reveal the activity of genes in individual cells of an organism, promises to be a boon to developmental biologists, and may provide new insight into how cancerous tumors begin and grow.

6 Aug 2004

Stem Cells News and Research

Further Reading

First Parkinson’s gene therapy patient well after 1 year suggesting that the therapy is safe and effective

Royal Society calls for ban on human reproductive cloning

Converting cells into heart muscle

Surgeons remodel and replace man's jaw bone allowing him to eat first dinner in 9 years

Study of new gene and cell therapy to better understand how genetically-engineered cells can help pace the heart

Mouse stem cells may help restore hearing loss in humans

StemCells issued U.S. stem cell patent

Research offers hope for the millions of diabetics worldwide who take insulin injections

Stem cell research may one day help cerebral palsy

Embryonic stem cell therapy show benefits in rebuilding damaged heart

Organ transplant recipients infected with West Nile virus develop more severe neurological illness

80% of cancer patients use some form of complementary or alternative therapies

British team and NASA plan to take stem cells into space

Stanford researchers identify leukemia stem cells

First licence for therapeutic cloning

Million-dollar grant to trial potential stem cell therapies to repair injured spinal cords

IBM and Cellomics offer new solution to accelerate cell-based drug discovery

New scientific white paper outlines why the current policy on stem cell research must be expanded

Offical Health and Human Services line on Bush's embryonic stem cell policy

New fluorescent dye technique may provide new insight into how cancerous tumors begin and grow

Exploring the intersection of biology and proteomics

Unlocking the Secrets of Multiple Sclerosis Progression: Brain-Immune Cell Communication

Passing on Polycystic Ovary Syndrome: Health risks for male offspring of women with PCOS

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