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.

FDA approves first transplant of fetal stem cells into human brains

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved the first transplant of fetal stem cells into human brains, a procedure that if successful could pave the way to treating a host of neural disorders.

24 Oct 2005

New treatments suggest that cancer is on the run!

People suffering from cancer will be encouraged by a cluster of recent reports on successful new treatments for several different forms of cancer.

24 Oct 2005

Researchers discover the presence of functional ion channels in human embryonic stem cells

These ion channels act like electrical wires and permit ESCs, versatile cells that possess the unique ability to become all cell types of the body, to conduct and pass along electric currents.

20 Oct 2005

Menin is a key player in the development of some forms of acute leukemia

Tumor-suppressor proteins work to inhibit tumor growth in our bodies and when they win, they spare us a battle with cancer. But one such protein, menin, appears to have a split personality.

20 Oct 2005

Researchers learn to rapidly rebuild immunity in immune-suppressed cancer patients

Patients with multiple myeloma suffer from a malignant proliferation of plasma cells in their bone marrow. The standard treatment for this form of cancer is high-dose chemotherapy and transplantation of one's own blood-producing adult stem cells; however, this aggressive treatment wipes out the mature immune-system cells of patients – leaving them vulnerable to infection.

20 Oct 2005

South Korea opens controversial international stem cell bank

South Korea has opened a bank in Seoul that will create and supply new lines of embryonic stem cells for research around the world.

19 Oct 2005

Discovery increases the yield of stem cells from umbilical cord blood

A team of bioengineers led by the University of Toronto has discovered a way to increase the yield of stem cells from umbilical cord blood, to an extent which could broaden therapeutic use of these cells.

18 Oct 2005

New findings on brain tumors called ependymomas

Brain tumors called ependymomas that occur in different parts of the central nervous system appear to arise from subpopulations of stem cells called radial glia cells (RGCs), according to investigators at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. The discovery explains why some identical-looking ependymomas are actually distinctly different diseases, the researchers said.

17 Oct 2005

1G8 antibody signals prostate cancer cells to stop growing and die

Researchers at UCLA's Jonsson Cancer Center have uncovered the mechanism by which an antibody blocks the growth of prostate cancer in animal models, a discovery that could pave the way for development of a new molecularly targeted therapy.

17 Oct 2005

Alternative methods to create stem cells successful in mice-studies

According to researchers in the U.S. two alternative methods for making embryonic stem cells, work in mice and could lead to a less controversial way to grow them.

16 Oct 2005

New public survey on stem cells

Stem cells are unique among human cells in that they possess the uncanny ability to develop into virtually any other cell of the body, offering a hypothetical tool kit for repairing diseased hearts, mending broken spinal cords, or correcting genetic diseases, among other hoped-for benefits.

13 Oct 2005

Natural cancer killing cells from the human embryonic stem cells

For the first time, stem cell researchers at the University of Minnesota have coaxed human embryonic stem cells to create cancer-killing cells in the laboratory, paving the way for future treatments for various types of cancers (or tumors).

11 Oct 2005

Tissue engineering used to reconstruct defective tracheas (windpipes) in fetal lambs

Researchers at Children's Hospital Boston report using tissue engineering to reconstruct defective tracheas (windpipes) in fetal lambs, first using cells from the amniotic fluid to grow sections of cartilage tube, and then implanting these living grafts into the lambs while still in the womb.

9 Oct 2005

Cells inside the hair follicle are true multipotent stem cells

Using an animal model, a research team led by Yann Barrandon at the EPFL (Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne) and the CHUV (Lausanne University Hospital) has discovered that certain cells inside the hair follicle are true multipotent stem cells, capable of developing into the many different cell types needed for hair growth and follicle replacement.

5 Oct 2005

Immature stem cells that proliferate to form brain tissues in mice can function for at least a year

New studies in mice have shown that immature stem cells that proliferate to form brain tissues can function for at least a year -- most of the life span of a mouse -- and give rise to multiple types of neural cells, not just neurons.

5 Oct 2005

Somatic adult stem cell niches - key regulators of stem cell activity in mammary tissue

Researchers at Georgetown's Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center have found that the onset of breast cancer may be due to defects in somatic adult stem cell niches that exist long before tumors develop.

4 Oct 2005

High blood glucose levels early in pregnancy deprive the embryo of oxygen

The babies of women with diabetes are two to five times more likely to develop birth defects than offspring of women without the disease.

4 Oct 2005

Ischemic brain injury - another promising avenue for stem cell therapy

Adult stem cell therapy quickly and significantly improves recovery of motor function in an animal model for the ischemic brain injury that occurs in about 10 percent of babies with cerebral palsy, researchers report.

4 Oct 2005

Johns Hopkins awarded $12 million to study how stem cell therapies can be used to treat hearts damaged by heart attack

Heart specialists at Johns Hopkins Heart Institute have been awarded more than $12 million from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) to study how stem cell therapies can be used to treat hearts damaged by heart attack or heart failure.

4 Oct 2005

Stem cells help regenerate cartilage and bone

UK scientists are working on new methods to regenerate cartilage and bone by delivering genes to stem cells within the body to instruct them to turn into bone cells.

28 Sep 2005