Category Archives: Stem Cell Research

Public release date: 17-Sep-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ] Contact: Nicole White nicole.white@cshs.org 310-423-5215 Cedars-Sinai Medical Center LOS ANGELES Sept. 17, 2012 Leading scientists and clinicians from across the nation will discuss the latest findings on potential stem cell treatments for diabetes and eye diseases at the second Cedars-Sinai Regenerative Medicine Scientific Symposium. WHO: Stem cell scientists, clinicians and industry leaders. The symposium is being hosted by the Cedars-Sinai Regenerative Medicine Institute, led by Clive Svendsen, PhD. The institute brings together basic scientists with specialist clinicians, physician scientists and translational scientists across multiple medical specialties to convert fundamental stem cell studies to therapeutic regenerative medicine. FEATURED RESEARCH: The symposium's morning session will feature an overview of the current state of stem cells and diabetes, including efforts to start the first clinical trials with stem cells for the treatment of diabetes. Other research to be presented includes an update on regenerative medicine approaches to treating macular degeneration, a progressive deterioration of the eye that causes gradual loss of vision. This will include an update from Gad Heilweil , MD, on a key, stem-cell clinical trial on macular degeneration at the University of California Los Angeles. WHEN: Sept. 21, 2012 8:30 … Continue reading →

NEW HAVEN, Conn. (WTNH) -- The impact of millions of dollars in stem cell research is going on in CT. News 8 Medical Reporter Jocelyn Maminta found out there has been significant progress in the studies underway at Yale. Connecticut was the first state to invest money into stem cell research. That drew scientists from all over to come here. At Yale, researchers say they've made a major breakthrough that could unlock how tissues grow, and perhaps solve that old age problem of losing hair. "Understanding the basic principles that govern tissue regeneration will allow us to understand how to cure diseases," said Dr. Valentina Greco, Yale School of Medicine. Dr. Greco has discovered there are stem cells that grow tissue not just by increasing their numbers, but by expanding their size. This could lead to finding out how to keep organs functioning and avoid disease. For more information on stem cell research at Yale, visit the Greco Lab website . Excerpt from: Stem cell research underway at Yale … Continue reading →

Andrew Duff, MEP Proposals to restrict stem cell research have been opposed by a Cambridge-based MEP. Liberal Democrat Andrew Duff voted against a report in the European Parliament which he said would result in stricter requirements on voluntary and unpaid donations of tissues and cells for medical research. Afterwards, he said: The report swings the debate on stem cell research in the wrong direction, allowing individual EU member states to stop important medical science in its tracks. It is unhelpful to call for further restrictions on the donation of tissues and cells in the EU at a time when the number of patients in need of treatment based on stem cells is growing exponentially. The report was drawn up by a Conservative MEP. Mr Duff added: Cambridge is a world leader on life sciences. The European Parliaments restrictive conservative philosophy usually driven by ill-judged ethical motives puts our research centres at risk and could drive away high quality science abroad, for example to India. Regenerative medicine relies on a steady supply of stem cells. More: MEP fights European proposal to restrict stem cell research … Continue reading →

Featured Article Academic Journal Main Category: Genetics Also Included In: Heart Disease;Stem Cell Research Article Date: 17 Sep 2012 - 4:00 PDT Current ratings for: DNA Blueprint Maps How A Heart Becomes A Heart 3.8 (5 votes) 2.33 (3 votes) The researchers write about their work in the 13 September online issue of Cell. The findings bring hope of new treatments for people born with life-threatening heart defects like irregular heart beat (arrhythmia) and hole in the heart (ventricular septal defect). Senior investigator Benoit Bruneau, associate director of cardiovascular research at Gladstone, an independent, nonprofit biomedical research group, tells the press in a statement: "Congenital heart defects are the most common type of birth defects -- affecting more than 35,000 newborn babies in the United States each year." "But how these defects develop at the genetic level has been difficult to pinpoint because research has focused on a small set of genes. Here, we approach heart formation with a wide-angle lens by looking at the entirety of the genetic material that gives heart cells their unique identity," he explains. For this part of the experiment they extracted DNA from developing and mature heart cells, because they contain the epigenetic signatures … Continue reading →

NOKOMIS, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Rainbow Biosciences, the biotechnology subsidiary of Rainbow Coral Corp. (RBCC), announced today that it will expand its focus on technology capable of culturing 3D cell clusters to include adult stem cells, as well. According to a report published last year by analysts as GIA, global investments in adult stem-cell research are forecast to reach $2.4 billion by 2015. That growth is being driven by technological advancements, the rising number of research groups engaged in stem cell research activities, broadening research activities and substantial investments from governments in leading global markets. A rising incidence of life-threatening diseases, un-met needs in the area of medicine, and costs associated with drug development also contribute to the market expansion. RBCC aims to help develop and market advanced new technologies capable of growing adult stem cells for research that more closely resemble those found in the body, said RBCC CEO Patrick Brown. Demand from the worlds growing elderly population is making continued stem-cell research a necessity, and we intend to position our company and our shareholders to capitalize on that need by providing the best stem-cell technology in the world. RBCC plans to develop technology to compete in the stem-cell research industry … Continue reading →

BILLERICA, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- EMD Millipore, the Life Science division of Merck KGaA of Darmstadt, Germany, and iPS Academia Japan, Inc. (Kyoto, Japan) today announced a global licensing agreement for AJs induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cell patent portfolio. The non-exclusive agreement provides EMD Millipore the opportunity to continue to develop and ultimately commercialize iPS cells for research applications. Under the agreement, EMD Millipore will continue to offer its STEMCCA reprogramming kits, which provide a highly efficient, reproducible method for creating iPS cells. The iPS cell patent portfolio is a result of work by Professor Shinya Yamanaka, MD, PhD, Center for iPS Cell Research and Application at Kyoto University, Japan. Terms of the agreement are not disclosed. We are extremely honored to collaborate with AJ on furthering research in the area iPS cell technology, said John Sweeney, Head, Bioscience Business Unit, EMD Millipore.To collaborate with the founder of iPS cell discovery provides the ideal opportunity for EMD Millipore to build upon our current product offering of the STEMCCA reprogramming kits, as well as further advance our research and discovery in the area of stem cell technology, and to provide our customers with the tools necessary in this important, breakthrough area of stem … Continue reading →

WASHINGTON (AP) A federal appeals court on Friday refused to order the Obama administration to stop funding embryonic stem cell research, despite complaints the work relies on destroyed human embryos. The U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia upheld a lower court decision throwing out a lawsuit that challenged federal funding for the research, which is used in pursuit of cures to deadly diseases. Opponents claimed the National Institutes of Health was violating the 1996 Dickey-Wicker law that prohibits taxpayer financing for work that harms an embryo. But a three-judge appeals court panel unanimously agreed with a lower court judges dismissal of the case. This is the second time the appeals court has said that the challenged federal funding of embryonic stem cell research was permissible. Dickey-Wicker permits federal funding of research projects that utilize already-derived ESCs which are not themselves embryos because no human embryo or embryos are destroyed in such projects, Chief Judge David B. Sentelle said in the ruling, adding that the plaintiffs made the same argument the last the time the court reviewed the issue. Therefore, unless they have established some extraordinary circumstance, the law of the case is established and we will … Continue reading →

ScienceDaily (Sep. 13, 2012) Several years ago, biologists discovered that regular body cells can be reprogrammed into pluripotent stem cells -- cells with the ability to become any other type of cell. Such cells hold great promise for treating many human diseases. These induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) are usually created by genetically modifying cells to overexpress four genes that make them revert to an immature, embryonic state. However, the procedure works in only a small percentage of cells. Now, new genetic markers identified by researchers at MIT and the Whitehead Institute could help make that process more efficient, allowing scientists to predict which treated cells will successfully become pluripotent. The new paper, published in the Sept. 13 online edition of Cell, also identifies new combinations of reprogramming factors that produce iPSCs, according to the researchers. Led by Rudolf Jaenisch, an MIT professor of biology and member of the Whitehead Institute, the study is the first to examine genetic changes that occur in individual cells as they become pluripotent. Previous studies have only looked at gene-expression changes in large populations of cells -- not all of which will actually reprogram -- making it harder to pick out genes involved in … Continue reading →

A UK study in the journal Nature reports that deaf gerbils have had their hearing restored following a human stem cell treatment. The researchers at the University of Sheffield, including Dr. Marcelo Rivolta, aimed to replace damaged nerve cells, called spiral ganglion neurons, that are unable to convert sound waves in the air into electrical signals to your brain. Roughly one in 10 people with profound hearing loss have this auditory damage, according to the LA Times. The researchers used stem cells from a human embryo, added that to a "chemical soup," as the BBC referred to it, that converted them into cells similar to the spiral ganglion neurons. The cells were then injected into the inner ears of 18 gerbils. Over the course of the 10 week study the gerbils' hearing improved by an average of 45 percent. Rivolta told the BBC, "It would mean going from being so deaf that you wouldn't be able to hear a lorry or truck in the street to the point where you would be able to hear a conversation. It is not a complete cure, they will not be able to hear a whisper, but they would certainly be able to maintain … Continue reading →

DUBLIN--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/3vr8sm/emerging_pharmaceu) has announced the addition of the "Emerging Pharmaceutical Technologies - Stem Cells" report to their offering. Stem cell technology is set to play a significant role in the pharmaceutical industry of the future. The opportunities for using stem cells across drug discovery, disease research, drug development and treatments are wide-ranging, yet largely unproven at present. Even if companies are not interested in joining the first wave of stem cell therapy developers, they need to be monitoring this sector in order to understand future competitive threats. The impact on drug discovery & development will impact the whole industry through a range of changes, from greater understanding of diseases to improved screening of drug candidates. With R&D pipelines across the industry still under pressure, collaboration between academia, stem cell specialist companies, pharmaceutical companies and government& regulators is needed to ensure the smooth and rapid advancement of these technologies. The report, Emerging Pharmaceutical Technologies - Stem Cells has been written to support corporate strategy, new product development, business development, and R&D teams through its analysis of the trends being seen and the innovations taking place in this fast moving area. This report will support the corporate strategies … Continue reading →