Cloning And Stem Cell News, Research and Resources

Scientists make strides toward fixing infant hearts

Thursday, February 09, 2012 00:00 MST

Researchers at Rice University and Texas Children's Hospital have turned stem cells from amniotic fluid into cells that form blood vessels. Their success offers hope that such stem cells may be used to grow tissue patches to repair infant hearts.

Researchers develop method of directing stem cells to increase bone formation and bone strength

Wednesday, February 08, 2012 00:00 MST

A research team led by UC Davis Health System scientists has developed a novel technique to enhance bone growth by using a molecule which, when injected into the bloodstream, directs the body's stem cells to travel to the surface of bones.

New procedure repairs severed nerves in minutes, restoring limb use in days or weeks

Tuesday, February 07, 2012 00:00 MST

American scientists believe a new procedure to repair severed nerves could result in patients recovering in days or weeks, rather than months or years. The team used a cellular mechanism similar to that used by many invertebrates to repair damage to nerve axons. Their results are published today in the Journal of Neuroscience Research.

Stem cells could drive hepatitis research forward

Sunday, February 05, 2012 00:00 MST

Researchers produce liver-like cells from induced pluripotent stem cells. By creating liver-like cells, scientists can study why people respond differently to Hepatitis C.

Surprise finding redraws 'map' of blood cell production

Saturday, February 04, 2012 00:00 MST

A study of the cells that respond to crises in the blood system has yielded a few surprises, redrawing the 'map' of how blood cells are made in the body.The finding, by researchers from the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute, could have wide-ranging implications for understanding blood diseases such as myeloproliferative disorders as well as used to develop new ways of controlling how blood and clotting cells are produced.

Scientists turn skin cells into neural precusors, bypassing stem-cell stage

Friday, February 03, 2012 00:00 MST

Mouse skin cells can be converted directly into cells that become the three main parts of the nervous system, according to researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine. The finding is an extension of a previous study by the same group showing that mouse and human skin cells can be directly converted into functional neurons.

Scientists lead data-sharing effort

Thursday, February 02, 2012 00:00 MST

Led by researchers at University of Oxford and the Harvard Stem Cell Institute at Harvard University, more than 50 collaborators at over 30 scientific organizations around the globe have agreed on a common standard that will make possible the consistent description of enormous and radically different databases compiled in fields ranging from genetics to stem cell science, to environmental studies.

Need muscle for a tough spot? Turn to fat stem cells

Wednesday, February 01, 2012 00:00 MST

Stem cells derived from fat have a surprising trick up their sleeves: Encouraged to develop on a stiff surface, they undergo a remarkable transformation toward becoming mature muscle cells. The new cells remain intact and fused together even when transferred to an extremely stiff, bone-like surface, which has University of California, San Diego bioengineering professor Adam Engler and colleagues intrigued. These cells, they suggest, could hint at new therapeutic possibilities for muscular dystrophy.

Ontario's first cardiac stem cell transplant performed last week

Monday, January 30, 2012 00:00 MST

Peter Munk Cardiac Centre physicians performed the first cardiac stem cell transplant in Ontario, part of the IMPACT-CABG clinical trial, to treat advanced heart failure, using stem cells derived from the patient's bone marrow, isolated within the operating room, and implanted into the heart at the time of coronary bypass surgery. Researchers hope that stem cell therapy may be developed into a novel treatment for the 50,000 Canadians diagnosed each year with advanced heart failure.

Blood-forming stem cells' growth identified in first breakthrough from new institute

Sunday, January 29, 2012 00:00 MST

Scientists with the new Children's Research Institute at UT Southwestern Medical Center have identified the environment in which blood-forming stem cells survive and thrive within the body, an important step toward increasing the safety and effectiveness of bone-marrow transplantation.

Researchers induce Alzheimer's neurons from pluripotent stem cells

Saturday, January 28, 2012 00:00 MST

Led by researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, scientists have, for the first time, created stem cell-derived, in vitro models of sporadic and hereditary Alzheimer's disease, using induced pluripotent stem cells from patients with the much-dreaded neurodegenerative disorder.

Adipose stem cell heart attack trial data published

Friday, January 27, 2012 00:00 MST

Cytori announced the publication of previously reported six-month outcomes from APOLLO, the Company's European clinical trial evaluating adipose-derived stem and regenerative cells (ADRCs) in patients with acute myocardial infarction, as Research Correspondence in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. The APOLLO trial was a 14-patient, prospective, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, feasibility trial evaluating autologous ADRCs extracted with the proprietary Celution System for the treatment of patients suffering from acute myocardial infarction.

Therapeutically useful stem cell derivatives in need of stability

Thursday, January 26, 2012 00:00 MST

It is hoped that human embryonic stem cells can be used to generate cell populations with therapeutic utility. In this context, neural derivatives of hESCs are being tested in clinical trials. However, researchers in France have now generated cautionary data that suggest that additional quality controls need to be put in place to ensure that neural derivatives of hESCs are not genomically unstable, a common characteristic of cancer cells.

Saving the snow leopard with stem cells

Wednesday, January 25, 2012 00:00 MST

The survival of the endangered snow leopard is looking promising thanks to Monash University scientists who have, for the first time, produced embryonic stem-like cells from the tissue of an adult leopard.

Saving dogs with spinal cord injuries

Tuesday, January 24, 2012 00:00 MST

Dogs with spinal cord injuries may soon benefit from an experimental drug being tested by researchers at the University of California, San Francisco and Texas AandM College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences -- work that they hope will one day help people with similar injuries.