Category Archives: Stem Cell Research

Editor's Choice Academic Journal Main Category: Fertility Also Included In: Stem Cell Research Article Date: 05 Oct 2012 - 14:00 PDT Current ratings for: From Stem Cells To Mouse Eggs To Baby Mice - No Father Involved 4.4 (5 votes) 5 (1 votes) The scientists, from Kyoto University, first produced healthy mouse pups in 2011 using stem cell-derived sperm. They have now achieved the same by using eggs which were created in the same way. Scientists are describing the Kyoto team's feat as a "significant achievement" which will have a profound impact on reproductive cell biology and genetics research. In both cases, the scientists used ES (embryonic stem) cells and iPS (induced pluripotent stem) cells. ES are taken from embryos while iPS come from reprogrammed adult tissue cells that mimic stem cell behavior. Theory suggests that both ES and iPS cells can produce all the cell types in the body. However, the majority of scientists have not been able to make them turn into germ cells, which eventually become eggs or sperm. Mitinori Saitou and team hit upon a process that managed to turn stem cells into germ cells. They started off with ES and iPS cells and cultured them … Continue reading →

Editor's Choice Main Category: Parkinson's Disease Also Included In: Stem Cell Research Article Date: 04 Oct 2012 - 11:00 PDT Current ratings for: Parkinson's Disease Cure May Be In Stem Cell Research, But.. 3.5 (2 votes) An advanced stem cell growth solution that may potentially lead to a search for a Parkinson's cure, according to a communiqu released today by Rainbow Biosciences. The company is working towards having such technology on the market as soon as possible. Scientists say that ethical dilemmas and government restrictions have made stem cell research breakthrough much more difficult to achieve. Add to this the difficulty in controlling stem cell behavior in the lab, and the task seems even harder. Rainbow Biosciences says that one way to accelerate research projects and make them advance more efficiently is to increase the availability of top-quality adult stem cells for research. Rainbow says it is working on this. It is in discussions with Regenetech regarding acquiring a license to perform cell expansion using its Rotary Cell Culture System, which was originally developed by NASA. Rainbow Biosciences wrote: The company would like to bring the bioreactor to "emerging research markets" which do not face as many regulatory roadblocks. They … Continue reading →

REYKJAVIK, Iceland, October 4, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- ORF Genetics announced today that the company has added endotoxin- and animal-free human Fibroblast Growth Factor Basic (FGF basic) and mouse Leukemia Inhibitory Factor (mouse LIF) to its portfolio of growth factors for stem cell research. Most growth factors applied in stem cell research today are made in E. coli bacteria, which produce endotoxins that can have adverse effect on stem cell cultures. Other manufacturers of growth factors have various methods to remove these endotoxins, but traces inevitably remain, which can lead to increased death rate of cells and other suboptimal effects in cell cultures. Other growth factors on the market today are made by animal cells. However, most stem cell researchers prefer to use growth factors of non-animal origin to exclude risks of viral contamination and the inclusion of growth factor homologs. This has led to a market demand for alternative sources of animal-free growth factors, void of endotoxins. ORF Genetics' unique growth factors are produced in the seeds of the barley plant, which does not produce any endotoxins or other substances toxic to mammalian cells. FGF basic and mouse LIF are key growth factors for the cultivation of their respective stem … Continue reading →

Hopes of a cure for infertility in humans were raised Friday after Japanese stem cell researchers announced they had created viable eggs using normal cells from adult mice. The breakthrough raises the possibility that women who are unable to produce eggs naturally could have them created in a test tube from their own cells and then planted back into their body. A team at Kyoto University harvested stem cells from mice and altered a number of genes to create cells very similar to the primordial germ cells that generate sperm in men and oocytes -- or eggs -- in women. They then nurtured these with cells that would become ovaries and transplanted the mixture into living mice, where the cells matured into fully-grown oocytes. They extracted the matured oocytes, fertilised them in vitro -- in a test tube -- and implanted them into surrogate mother mice. The resulting mice pups were born healthy and were even able to reproduce once they matured. Writing in the US journal Science, which published the findings, research leader professor Michinori Saito said the work provided a promising basis for hope in reproductive medicine. "Our system serves as a robust foundation to investigate and further … Continue reading →

NOKOMIS, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Stem cell research may hold the key to a cure for Parkinsons disease. The only problem is, stem cell research hasnt advanced as quickly as patients need it to. Rainbow BioSciences, the biotech subsidiary of Rainbow Coral Corp. (RBCC) is working to market an advanced stem cell growth solution that could potentially energize the worldwide search for a cure. Currently, government restrictions and ethical dilemmas serve as roadblocks to fast-paced stem cell research, but even when these roadblocks are absent, controlling the behavior of stem cells in a laboratory isnt easy. One way to help speed research projects up and make them more efficient is to raise the number of high-quality adult stem cells available for that research. RBCC is working to do just that. The company has engaged Regenetech in discussions regarding the potential acquisition of a license to perform cell expansion using that companys Rotary Cell Culture SystemTM. Originally developed by NASA, the Rotary Cell Culture SystemTM is a rotating-wall bioreactor designed to facilitate the growth of human cells in simulated weightlessness. Cell cultures, including stem cells, grown inside the bioreactor look and function much closer to human cells grown within the body than the … Continue reading →

STAMFORD, CT--(Marketwire - Oct 3, 2012) - Noble Financial Capital Markets (Noble) announced today that it has released a full high definition video catalog of its Life Sciences Exposition, BIOX, an investor exposition that was held at the University of Connecticut in Stamford, CT on September 24-25, 2012. In addition to the participation of more than two dozen biotechnology companies, the event featured world renowned key opinion leaders Dr. Mark Noble (University of Rochester), R. Phil Greenberg (Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center), Dr. Jeffrey Infante (Sarah Cannon Research Institute), and Dr. Charles Vacanti (Harvard Medical School). Opening remarks were provided by Dr. Sharon White, Director of the UCONN Stamford campus and Richard Blumenthal, United States Senator for Connecticut. "Washington is dysfunctional and broken," Blumenthal said. "The good news is that scientific advancements and research offer a real opportunity to reach across the aisle; this is an area that should inspire bipartisan cooperation." Overwhelmingly, the message coming from the Exposition was one of encouragement that we are making great strides in the effective treatment of catastrophic disease, in particular cancers. Determining genetic differences in tumors, which has posed challenges for biomarkers, has improved significantly with advancements in molecular biology. Novel and … Continue reading →

October 3, 2012 Alan McStravick for redOrbit.com Your Universe Online Ask a handful of people about their thoughts and feelings on the use of stem cells for research and therapeutic means and you will find that they each have strong and varying positions on the topic. Outside the scientific community, however, little is known about this highly complex field of research. The politicization of stem cell research accompanied the 1998 discovery that embryonic stem cells, the building blocks of organ, tissue, bone and brain cells, could be extracted for study and medical use. In 2001, with an order to limit the lines of stem cell research to those already in possession of the scientific community, President George W. Bush largely hampered the development of this field in the United States by limiting government funding for stem cell research. Adult stem cells, or somatic stem cells, were unaffected by this order, but the prevailing wisdom of the genetic community was that adult stem cells were not as dynamic and couldnt be used in the same way as their embryonic cousins. With a report published Monday in the American Journal of Pathology, that truth no longer seems to be the case. A … Continue reading →

ST. LOUIS, Oct. 3, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --Sigma-Aldrich Corporation (SIAL) announced today that Sigma Life Science, its innovative biological products and services research business, has launched Stemline Pluripotent Culture Medium, a novel human pluripotent stem cell culture medium that provides a consistent environment for the long-term maintenance and growth of healthy pluripotent stem cells. The new medium performs equivalently to the industry's leading medium and provides academic and pharmaceutical stem cell research labs with a substantially lower cost alternative to higher priced media. Additional information and sample requests of the Stemline Pluripotent Culture Medium are available at http://www.sigma.com/stemlinepsc. "The exorbitant cost of media for pluripotent stem cells is a universal complaint from the stem cell research community. Our Stemline Pluripotent Culture Medium performs equivalently to the leading medium for maintaining pluripotency and optimal growth rates, and is produced more efficiently than traditional media, resulting in lower costs. For example, a typical academic lab that consumes three 500 mL bottles of media per week could save at least $12,000 annually using our new Stemline medium. A high-throughput pharmaceutical development team that consumes 20 liters of media weekly could save more than $160,000 annually," said John Listello, Market Segment Manager for Regenerative Medicine … Continue reading →

NOKOMIS, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- In a continuing effort to expand its research into possible cures for neurological diseases gaining in prevalence, Rainbow Coral Corp.s (RBCC) biotech subsidiary, Rainbow Biosciences, is looking to China for possible partners for stem cell research. Last month, RBCC announced that it was in talks to acquire a license to use a NASA-developed bioreactor to multiply adult stem cells for research. As RBCC closes in on an agreement with the cutting-edge devices license holders, Amarantus BioSciences (AMBS), China has emerged as a logical location to set up shop conducting medical research using the powerful tool. With a massive, growing population of senior citizens and a scientific community that is receptive to advanced stem cell research, China could be an ideal choice for RBCCs work. Seniors are at the highest risk for devastating neurological disorders such as Parkinsons and Alzheimers, and the countrys number of senior citizens will hit 437 million by 2051. Right now, all signs point to China as the obvious choice for both our company and our shareholders, said RBCC CEO Patrick Brown. The cheaper labor costs there, as well as a receptive market, make China a logical location to search for potential research partners … Continue reading →

April Flowers for redOrbit.com Your Universe Online Columbia University ophthalmologists and stem cell researchers have developed an experimental treatment for blindness using the patients skin cells, which has improved the vision of blind mice in testing. The findings of this research, published online in the journal Molecular Medicine, suggest that induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS) could soon be used to improve vision in people with macular degeneration and other eye retina diseases. iPS cells are derived from adult human skin cells but have embryonic qualities. With eye diseases, I think were getting close to a scenario where a patients own skin cells are used to replace retina cells destroyed by disease or degeneration, says Stephen Tsang, MD, PhD, associate professor of ophthalmology and pathology & cell biology. Its often said that iPS transplantation will be important in the practice of medicine in some distant future, but our paper suggests the future is almost here. Scientists were very excited by the advent of human iPS cells when they were discovered in 2007, as they provide a way to avoid the ethical complications of embryonic stem cells. Another advantage is that the iPS cells are created from the patients own skin, eliminating … Continue reading →