Category Archives: Stem Cell Research

SAN CARLOS, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Cellerant Therapeutics Inc., a biotechnology company developing novel hematopoietic stem cell-based cellular and antibody therapies for blood disorders and cancer, announced today that Cellerants President and CEO, Ram Mandalam, Ph.D., will be presenting at the International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR) 10th Annual Meeting held June 13 16 in Yokohama, Japan. Dr. Mandalam will be co-chairing a session Stem Cells and Cancer and will be giving a presentation, titled Antibodies Targeting Cancer Stem Cells in Hematological Malignancies, on Saturday, June 16 at 1:30 p.m. JST (Japan time). Dr. Mandalam will provide an overview of Cellerants cancer stem cell discovery approach and new data on its therapeutic antibodies demonstrating activity against acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) cancer stem cells. Cellerant scientist, Anna Sedello, Ph.D. will also be presenting Poster #1144 titled Ex vivo-Generated Mouse Myeloid Progenitor Cells Mitigate Gastrointestinal Acute Radiation Syndrome when Administered up to 5 Days after Irradiation. These results demonstrate that cryopreserved, allogeneic myeloid progenitor cells from mice prevent death from lethal radiation doses known to cause death through hematopoietic and gastrointestinal injury. These results also show that myeloid progenitor cells are one of the most promising radiation countermeasures among all therapeutics currently under … Continue reading →

CARLSBAD, Calif., June 15, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --Life Technologies Corporation (LIFE) today announced that it has deepened its commitment to stem cell research and its customers by signing a non-exclusive agreement with iPS Academia Japan for its induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cell patent portfolio. The worldwide license will enable Life Technologies, a leading provider of innovative life science solutions, to expand its range of products and services for the iPS cell research community. By leveraging its expertise in stem cell tool manufacturing and its global distribution network, Life Technologies is now positioned to develop and commercialize products designed to create iPS cells and differentiate them into any cell type for use in drug discovery and pre-clinical research. In additional to directly selling iPS cells, the license enables the company to provide iPS cell creation, differentiation and screening services for scientists around the world. "iPS Academia Japan is pleased to grant a non-exclusive license and build a relationship with Life Technologies Corporation. Because iPS cells are gaining greater attention for uses in drug discovery and disease research as well as other areas of biotechnology, distribution of iPS cell products or provision of services is important for gaining momentum in iPS cell research," … Continue reading →

Six new U-M stem cell lines now publicly available to help researchers find treatments for disease Lines in US registry will help studies on Huntingtons disease, hemophilia & more Newswise ANN ARBOR, Mich. Six new human embryonic stem cell lines derived at the University of Michigan have just been placed on the U.S. National Institutes of Healths registry, making the cells available for federally-funded research. U-M now has a total of eight cell lines on the registry, including five that carry genetic mutations for serious diseases such as the severe bleeding disorder hemophilia B, the fatal brain disorder Huntingtons disease and the heart condition called hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, which causes sudden death in athletes and others. Researchers at U-M and around the country can now begin using the stem cell lines to study the origins of these diseases and potential treatments. Two of the cell lines are believed to be the first in the world bearing that particular disease gene. The three U-M stem cell lines now in the registry that do not carry disease genes are also useful for general studies and as comparisons for stem cells with disease genes. In all, there are 163 stem cell lines in the … Continue reading →

ANN ARBOR Six new human embryonic stem cell lines derived at the University of Michigan have just been placed on the National Institutes of Healths registry, making the cells available for federally funded research. UM now has a total of eight cell lines on the registry, including five that carry genetic mutations for serious diseases such as the severe bleeding disorder hemophilia B, the fatal brain disorder Huntingtons disease and the heart condition called hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, which causes sudden death in athletes and others. Researchers at UM and around the country can now begin using the stem cell lines to study the origins of these diseases and potential treatments. Two of the cell lines are believed to be the first in the world bearing that particular disease gene. The three UM stem cell lines now in the registry that do not carry disease genes are also useful for general studies and as comparisons for stem cells with disease genes. In all, there are 163 stem cell lines in the federal registry, most of them without major disease genes. Each of the lines was derived from a cluster of about 30 cells removed from a donated five-day-old embryo roughly the size … Continue reading →

13 June 2012 Last updated at 08:31 ET Japanese stem cell scientist Dr Shinya Yamanaka has been awarded the Millennium Technology Prize. His award is for discovering how to reprogram human cells to mimic embryonic stem cells, which can become any cell in the body. Called induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells, these now aid research into regenerative medicine. He was joint-winner with Linus Torvalds, who created a new open source operating system for computers. This is the first time the prize has been shared by two scientists - they will split the 1.2m euros ($1.3m; 800,000) award. My goals over the decade include to develop new drugs to treat intractable diseases by using iPS cell technology and to conduct clinical trials using it on a few patients with Parkinson's diseases, diabetes or blood diseases. The President of the Republic of Finland, Sauli Niinisto, presented the prize at the Finnish National Opera in Helsinki. Dr Ainomija Haarla, President of Technology Academy Finland - the foundation which awards the prize every two years - said: "The International Selection Committee has to judge whether an innovation has had a favourable impact on people's lives and assess its potential for further development to benefit … Continue reading →

Linus Torvalds. Photo: Jon Snyder/Wired Question: What do Linux and stem cell research have in common? Answer: Theyre both considered life-enhancing technical innovations by the Technology Acadamy Finland, a foundation that is awarding a prestigious award called the Millennium Technology Prize in Helsinki today. Linux creator Linus Torvalds and stem cell pioneer Shinya Yamanaka are joint recipients of the 2012 prize, an honor that some call the tech equivalent of the Nobel Prize. That means they will split the 1.2 million ($1.5 million) prize money 50-50. Torvalds and Yamanaka were named as a finalists for the prize back in April, but it was assumed that one or the other would be singled out as a grand-prize winner. The joint award comes as a bit of a surprise. Other notable scientists, including Tim Berners-Lee, have won the prize since it was created in 2002, but this is the first time judges have made a joint award. The prize is awarded every two years. Yamanaka, a Gladstone Institutes researcher affiliated with the University of California, San Francisco, has developed a technique for developing stem cells that does not require the controversial practice of harvesting embryonic stem cells. Dr. Shinya Yamanakas discovery of … Continue reading →

SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. & YOKOHAMA, Japan--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Fluidigm (FLDM) today unveiled the details of its new C1 Single-Cell AutoPrep System to attendees at the International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR) meeting in Yokohama, Japan. The C1 System, based on Fluidigms innovative microfluidic technology, enables a researcher to isolate and process individual cells rapidly and reliably for genomic analysis. For the first time, a researcher can isolate cells, extract RNA, and then reverse transcribe and preamplify mRNA transcripts automatically to enable detection and analysis of cell activity. Fluidigm has become a leader in the emerging field of single-cell genomics with its widely adopted BioMark and BioMark HD Systems, enabling scientists to routinely examine previously unavailable genomic signatures generated from a single cell. The stem cell research community in Japan, and indeed around the world, has been an important early customer group exploring single cells. Stem cell, cancer and immunology research are expected to be the initial focus applications for the C1 System. As part of its activities at ISSCR, Fluidigm also announced the start of its Early Access Program for the C1 System. The C1 System has been specifically designed to work seamlessly with the BioMark HD System to … Continue reading →

June 12, 2012 The use of stem-cells building-block cells that are harvested from embryos or adults to treat heart disease could rely on faith as much as it does science, after billions of dollars in research has not produced the results that researchers have been looking for. Questions and concerns on the topic arose during the recent opening of the multi-million-dollar Scottish Center for Regenerative Medicine (SCRM) in Edinburgh, chaired by Sir Ian Wilmut, the renowned scientist whose Dolly the sheep clone in 1996, was a groundbreaking step in stem cell technology. During the opening ceremonies of the Center, Christine Mummery of the Leiden University Medical Center in the Netherlands discussed how a 2001 claim, based on mice experimentation, indicated that bone-marrow cells could mend heart damaged by coronary disease, caused a mad rush of people to the clinics looking for a cure-all. With nothing in the way of systematic research in animals, the first patients were being treated within a year, prematurely by Mummerys account. She argued that the paper that launched the mass stampede was completely wrong, and subsequent studies proved that. But despite the findings, the 2001 paper has never been withdrawn. Norwegian professor Harald Arnesen in … Continue reading →

CARLSBAD, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- International Stem Cell Corporation (ISCO) (www.internationalstemcell.com) has announced new sales and marketing initiatives for its Lifeline Skin Care products (www.lifelineskincare.com). These efforts are designed to enable Lifeline to robustly, strategically and profitably grow the business. Consumer Advertising During June and July, new integrated advertising campaigns will be launched in three marketing channelsonline, in newspapers and magazines, and through direct mail. The campaigns will feature Lifelines innovative stem cell technology and proof of the brands potential: younger looking skin. Although the ads will eventually be national in reach, the first few months will be devoted to optimizing the creative approach, targeting, frequency, timing, positioning, offer and ROI. Key Opinion Leader and Peer Group Influencer Elizabeth K. Hale, MD, one of the nation's top dermatologists, is now endorsing Lifeline Skin Care to both consumer and trade audiences. Dr. Hale is an Associate Clinical Professor of Dermatology at New York University, a private practitioner and a guest of the Doctor Oz show, the Today Show and Good Morning America. During the week of June 4 she met with beauty editors for Prevention, Health, Town and Country, Allure, FoxNews.com and InStyle, to present Lifeline Skin Care and its unique technology. The … Continue reading →

VANCOUVER--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- STEMCELL Technologies Inc. (STEMCELL) announced today its plans to release a series of new products to advance research and translational applications for human pluripotent stem cells. These novel products, which will be launched at the International Society for Stem Cell Research 2012 Conference in Japan, include: TeSR-E8: a highly defined feeder-free culture medium for human embryonic stem cells (ES cells) and human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS cells). TeSR-E8 contains only the most essential 8 components required for maintenance of ES cells and iPS cells, providing a simpler medium for the culture of pluripotent stem cells. It is based on the E8 formulation published in Nature Methods (G. Chen et al., Nature Methods 8, 424 (2011)). This lab previously developed the mTeSR1 and TeSR2 feeder-free culture media, which were licensed and commercialized by STEMCELL Technologies and are now the most widely-published feeder-free culture media for human pluripotent stem cells. TeSR-E8 can be used with a surface coating of BD Matrigel hESC-qualified Matrix or vitronectin, as described in this publication. It will be available for purchase in September 2012 under the license agreement that STEMCELL has with the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (WARF). STEMdiff Definitive Endoderm / Cardiomyocyte / … Continue reading →