Category Archives: Stem Cell Research

ScienceDaily (Aug. 7, 2012) Scientists from The Scripps Research Institute have identified a new stem cell population that may be responsible for giving birth to the neurons responsible for higher thinking. The finding also paves the way for scientists to produce these neurons in culture -- a first step in developing better treatments for cognitive disorders, such as schizophrenia and autism, which result from disrupted connections among these brain cells. Published in the August 10, 2012 issue of the journal Science, the new research reveals how neurons in the uppermost layers of the cerebral cortex form during embryonic brain development. "The cerebral cortex is the seat of higher brain function, where information gets integrated and where we form memories and consciousness," said the study's senior author Ulrich Mueller, a professor and director of the Dorris Neuroscience Center at Scripps Research. "If we want to understand who we are, we need to understand this area where everything comes together and forms our impression of the world." In the new study, Mueller's team identified a neural stem cell in mice that specifically gives rise to the neurons that make up the upper layers of the cerebral cortex. Previously, it was thought that … Continue reading →

By Makiko Kitamura - 2012-08-08T23:01:00Z The University of Cambridge will receive 8 million pounds ($12.5 million) to create a new stem- cell research center, joining those established at the University of Oxford and Harvard University. The institute, which will unite 30 research teams, will be funded by the U.K. Medical Research Council and Wellcome Trust, the council said in a statement today. It will eventually be housed in an 8,000 square-meter facility to be constructed at the Cambridge Biomedical Research Campus. Cambridge, England, is home to the largest cluster of biotechnology companies in Europe, according to the statement. Stem cells can reproduce themselves and can develop into any of the 200 or so cell types in the body. They are being explored as possible treatments for conditions such as liver disease, diabetes, blindness, spinal cord injury and neurodegenerative disorders such as Parkinsons disease. Our aim is to close the knowledge gap and drive stem-cell research forward towards clinical applications, Austin Smith, director of the new Wellcome Trust-MRC Cambridge Stem Cell Institute, said in the statement. The world-class facilities will attract the best international talent from the fields of stem-cell biology and regenerative medicine to pursue this goal. Similar research organizations … Continue reading →

CARLSBAD, CA--(Marketwire -08/08/12)- International Stem Cell Corporation (ISCO) http://www.internationalstemcell.com, a California-based biotechnology company focused on therapeutic and research products, announced today that it will host a conference call on Friday, August 10, 2012 at 11:00 am ET to discuss its financial results for the three months ended June 30, 2012. Dr. Simon Craw, Executive Vice President of Business Development, and Ms. Linh Nguyen, Chief Financial Officer, will host the conference call. To attend the call, please use the dial in information below: Date: Friday, August 10, 2012 Time: 11:00 am Eastern Time Conference Line (U.S.): 1-877-317-6776 International Dial-In: 1-412-317-6776 Conference ID: 10017300 Webcast: http://webcast.mzvaluemonitor.com/Home/Login/7fd6c4da-37f0-472c-9f28-cd9eb1b99f87 Please dial in at least 10-minutes before the call to ensure timely participation. A playback replay of the conference call will be available for two weeks following 1 hour after the end of the conference call through end date: Aug 24, 2012 at 9:00 am ET. Teleconference Replay Details: US Domestic: 1-877-344-7529 International: 1-412-317-0088 Conference ID: 10017300 About International Stem Cell Corporation International Stem Cell Corporation is focused on the therapeutic applications of human parthenogenetic stem cells (hpSCs) and the development and commercialization of cell-based research and cosmetic products. ISCO's core technology, parthenogenesis, results in the … Continue reading →

ROCKVILLE, MD--(Marketwire -08/08/12)- MarketResearch.com has announced the addition of the new report "Global Markets for Stem Cells," to their collection of Biotechnology market reports. For more information, visit http://www.marketresearch.com/BCC-Research-v374/Global-Stem-Cells-7083022/ The global market for stem cell products was $3.8 billion in 2011. This market is expected to reach nearly $4.3 billion in 2012 and $6.6 billion by 2016, increasing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 11.7% from 2011 to 2016. The American market for stem cell products was $1.3 billion in 2011. This sector is expected to rise at a CAGR of 11.5% and reach nearly $2.3 billion by 2016. The European market for stem cell products was $872 million in 2011 and is expected to reach nearly $1.5 billion by 2016, a CAGR of 10.9%. For more information, visit http://www.marketresearch.com/BCC-Research-v374/Global-Stem-Cells-7083022/ About MarketResearch.com MarketResearch.com is the leading provider of global market intelligence products and services. With research reports from more than 720 top consulting and advisory firms, MarketResearch.com offers instant online access to the world's most extensive database of expert insights on global industries, companies, products, and trends. Moreover, MarketResearch.com's Research Specialists have in-depth knowledge of the publishers and the various types of reports in their respective industries and … Continue reading →

Shinya Yamanaka aims to produce cell lines from fetal blood cells. M. Naka/Aflo/Newscom Progress toward stem-cell therapies has been frustratingly slow, delayed by research challenges, ethical and legal barriers and corporate jitters. Now, stem-cell pioneer Shinya Yamanaka of Kyoto University in Japan plans to jump-start the field by building up a bank of stem cells for therapeutic use. The bank would store dozens of lines of induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells, putting Japan in an unfamiliar position: at the forefront of efforts to introduce a pioneering biomedical technology. A long-held dream of Yamanakas, the iPS Cell Stock project received a boost last month, when a Japanese health-ministry committee decided to allow the creation of cell lines from the thousands of samples of fetal umbilical-cord blood held around the country. Yamanakas plan to store the cells for use in medicine is a bold move, says George Daley, a stem-cell biologist at Harvard Medical School in Boston, Massachusetts. But some researchers question whether iPS cells are ready for the clinic. Yamanaka was the first researcher to show, in 2006, that mature mouse skin cells could be prodded into reverting to stem cells1 capable of forming all bodily tissues. The experiment, which he … Continue reading →

Stem-cell research is benefiting at least one living creature in Marin County, who would otherwise be living in excruciating athritic pain. Emma -- the snow-white German shepherd. Vets at the Northbay Animal Hospital injected the dog with stem cells into 10 of her joints, according to the Marin Independent Journal. The $2,000 treatment has given the 9-year old, 80-pound dog a new lease on live, her owners say. "She doesn't limp any more," said owner Arthur Latno, in comments to the newspaper, "and she doesn't cry." Latno is "one of the first" Marin pet owners to try the cutting-edge treatment, which not every vet is willing to endorse, the newspaper reported. "This (the stem cell procedure) is incredibly promising, but on the other hand there is a lot of homework that needs to be done to determine whether these are valid therapeutic measures," John Peroni, an associate professor at the University of Georgia College of Veterinary Medicine and chairman of the North American Veterinary Regenerative Medicine Association told the newspaper. More studies, like the ones Peroni as well as counterparts at UC Davis are conducting, are neeed, he said. The rest is here: Marin Dog Receives Relief From Stem Cell … Continue reading →

Durham, NC (PRWEB) August 06, 2012 Suppose patient-specific, blood-producing stem cells could be generated in the laboratory, eliminating the need for harvesting bone marrow or finding a matching donor for patients needing a bone marrow transplant? A German research team has generated blood-forming stem cells from pluripotent stem cells in the lab without using animal serum, a technique that could pave the way for production of rejection-free adult stem cells. Researchers Bernhard Schiedlmeier and Hannes Klump led the study, which appears in the current issue of STEM CELLS Translational Medicine. Pluripotent stem cells can develop into various kinds of cells in the body, such as muscle, blood vessels, and bone cells; however, there are several barriers to culturing adult stem cells in a petri dish. It has been especially difficult to generate blood stem cells in the lab without using animal serum, which can carry viruses that interfere with cell reproduction and create other complications. Schiedlmeier and Klump used mouse embryonic stem cells to grow blood-forming stem cells in low-oxygen conditions in the lab without using any serum or supportive cells known as stroma. When they transplanted the blood-forming cells into mice, they found the cells were capable of rebuilding … Continue reading →

By Mark Prigg and Sam Adams PUBLISHED: 11:14 EST, 3 August 2012 | UPDATED: 11:15 EST, 3 August 2012 Stem cell therapies offer the promise of radical new treatments for everything from Parkinson's to heart disease. However, researchers have so far struggled to control the cells, the master cells of the body which can be turned into any other cell. A US team now believes have have made a major step towards potential treatments for cardiac disease with the discovery of a molecule than can turn a stem cell into a heart cell. Growing hearts: Researchers have found a molecule than can turn a stem cell into a heart cell Researchers at Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute, the Human BioMolecular Research Institute, and ChemRegen, Inc. have been searching for molecules that convert stem cells to heart cells for about eight years -- and now they've found one. The researchers use a robot to sift through a large collection of drug-like chemicals and uncovered ITD-1, a molecule that can be used to generate unlimited numbers of new heart cells from stem cells. 'Heart disease is the leading cause of death in this country,' said Mark Mercola, director of Sanford-Burnham's Muscle Development and … Continue reading →

Public release date: 3-Aug-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ] Contact: Ian Michaels Ian.Michaels@mountsinai.org 212-241-9200 The Mount Sinai Hospital / Mount Sinai School of Medicine Researchers at Mount Sinai School of Medicine, the University of Manchester, and the MD Anderson Cancer Center have found a new role for an oncogenic signaling pathway in embryonic stem cell (ESC) self-renewal and in reprogramming adult cells into an ESC-state, which will aid in the development of future cancer therapies. The findings promote the understanding of the self-renewal mechanism in embryonic stem cells and provide insight into the role of Aurka, an oncoprotein that is amplified in several human cancers. The research is published in the August 3rd issue of the journal Cell Stem Cell. Embryonic stem cells (ESCs) and, more recently, induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) hold great promise for biomedicine as a major source of differentiated cells for developing new ways to study disease etiology, the development of more effective drugs and diagnostic methodologies, and for future transplantation-based therapies. Cancer cells and ESCs can both proliferate indefinitely and show some similarities. The researchers, a team at Mount Sinai School of Medicine led by Ihor Lemischka, PhD, Director of the Black Family Stem … Continue reading →

SAN DIEGO - Researchers at a pair of San Diego-based life scienceorganizations announced Thursday the discovery of a molecule that converts stemcells into healthy heart cells, ending a 15-year hunt. The finding, published in Friday's issue of the journal Cell Stem Cell,could lead to new treatments for heart disease. The study was performed atSanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute, the Human BioMolecular ResearchInstitute, and ChemRegen Inc. The molecule known as ITD-1 is able to generate an unlimited supply ofheart cells, which would give scientists more heart cells to study in theirresearch, and give physicians healthy cells to use to treat diseased hearts,according to the study. Mark Mercola, director of Sanford-Burnham's Muscle Development andRegeneration Program, said heart disease is the leading cause of death in theU.S., but doctors can't replace damaged heart muscle. "The only way to effectively replace lost heart muscle cells -- calledcardiomyocytes -- is to transplant the entire heart," said Mercola, the seniorauthor of the study. "Using a drug to create new heart muscle from stem cellswould be far more appealing than heart transplantation." Stem cells were targeted for the study because they can self-replicateand convert to other, specialized types of cells. The challenge for scientistsis to discover the signals … Continue reading →