Category Archives: Stem Cell Research

LOS ANGELES (AP) The creation of California's stem cell agency in 2004 was greeted by scientists and patients as a turning point in a field mired in debates about the destruction of embryos and hampered by federal research restrictions. The taxpayer-funded institute wielded the extraordinary power to dole out $3 billion in bond proceeds to fund embryonic stem cell work with an eye toward treatments for a host of crippling diseases. Midway through its mission, with several high-tech labs constructed, but little to show on the medicine front beyond basic research, the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine faces an uncertain future. Is it still relevant nearly eight years later? And will it still exist when the money dries up? The answers could depend once again on voters and whether they're willing to extend the life of the agency. Several camps that support stem cell research think taxpayers should not pay another cent given the state's budget woes. "It would be so wrong to ask Californians to pony up more money," said Marcy Darnovsky of the Center for Genetics and Society, a pro-stem cell research group that opposed Proposition 71, the state ballot initiative that formed CIRM. Last December, CIRM's former … Continue reading →

Shinan Govani Mar 17, 2012 7:30 AM ET | Last Updated: Mar 16, 2012 5:35 PM ET How many scientific breakthroughs does one man need to make to get a plus-one around here? That small little matter one thats foiled lesser men constituted one of the lighter moments in the way-serious commemoration that took place last week at the inaugural Renew the World Gala. Guest of honour Dr. James Till known to some as one of the fathers of stem-cell research had, we were told, demurely inquired beforehand if it was, oh, OK if his wife tagged along for the big black-tie. I think we know what the answer was. (This wasnt one of those admit one kind of thingies.) In the words of my sometime party proxy Pasquale Casullo: There were scientists. There were celebrities. There were philanthropists. And, oh, luxury automobiles, too! Attending the dinner that went down at the Mercedes-Benz dealership in the east end, he took in a night effectively marking the made-in-Toronto 50th anniversary of the landmark discovery of Dr. Till and his colleague, the late Ernest McCulloch. Swirling amongst the cell-supporters and humble-as-pie lab-coat set, Im told, were the likes of Chantal Kreviazuk, Robert … Continue reading →

South Korean Hwang Woo Suk was long regarded as a cloning pioneer - until he was charged with having faked much of his stem cell research. Now, he is back with a new project: he wants to clone a woolly mammoth. South Korean researcher and cloning pioneer Hwang Woo Suk hasn't been in the scientific spotlight ever since he claimed to have successfully created human embryonic stem cells by cloning six years ago, and that research turned out to be fake. Now, the controversial veterinarian and researcher is in the headlines again. He wants to use frozen tissue samples to recreate an animal that last walked the earth some 10,000 years ago: a woolly mammoth. Hwang Woo Su successfully cloned Snuppy in 2005 The scientist recently signed an accord to that effect with a university in Russia's Sakha Republic. Vast areas of the republic are covered in permafrost that has begun to thaw over the years due to climate change, uncovering the well-preserved remains of several mammoths that had lain frozen in the ice for more than 10.000 years. To clone new life from the remains, Hwang needs an intact cell nucleus that he hopes could contain the animal's entire … Continue reading →

A research report published earlier this week suggests a possible connection between the use of stem cells and a treatment for Huntingtons disease. Su-Chun Zhang, a UW-Madison professor, is the senior author of the new study, which shows embryonic stem cells may be used to reinstate the neural circuit needed for motor control that is destroyed in Huntingtons patients. There is no cure for Huntingtons, a terminal disease in which patients lose control of muscle coordination. The key to the study is the use of GABA neurons, which are responsible for creating the network the brain uses to coordinate motor function, but are reduced in Huntingtons patients. According to the report, researchers found a way to manufacture large quantities of GABA neurons from embryonic stem cells, which they implanted in mice to test how well they would integrate in to the mouses brain. The cells not only integrated in the mouses brain, but also projected to the corresponding target and reestablished the neural circuit, which restored muscle coordination. This result suggests a possible treatment for a previously incurable disease, as well as discovering that the human brain may be more resilient than originally thought. While the findings are optimistic, researchers … Continue reading →

Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development (QF) has signed a research collaboration agreement with Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC), driven by a shared desire for further advancement in stem cell research, with the ultimate goal of preventing cancer from evolving to a life- threatening stage. The world loses millions of people to cancer, which is why Qatar Foundation strives to combat this disease, Faisal Mohammed al-Suwaidi, president, research and development, QF, said, adding: The use of stem cells in researching new treatments has begun to prove its effectiveness, so we are undertaking more studies in this field. This will undoubtedly contribute to building a better future for mankind. The agreement was signed by al-Suwaidi and Edward Hillhouse, HMCs senior policy adviser for academic health systems and acting medical director. Abdelali Haoudi, QF vice-president of research and deputy director of Qatar Biomedical Research Institute (QBRI), commented: QF, through the QBRI, has established a new research collaboration agreement with HMC, which has the potential to deliver major advances in the field of stem cell therapy applied to cancer. Our joint efforts will not only work to discover treatments designed to destroy cancer cells, but revolutionise the scientific approach to fighting disease … Continue reading →

By Matthew Dublin Cycle Computing has named Victor Ruotti, a computational biologist at the Morgridge Institute for Research, as the 2011 CycleCloud BigScience Challenge. Finalists' proposals were selected based on their benefit to humanity, originality, creativity and suitability. Entrants submitted projects that focus Parkinsons disease, diabetes, organic photovoltaics, genomic diversity mapping. The finalists were judged by Jason Stowe, CEO, Cycle Computing, as well as Matt Wood, technology evangelist for Amazon Web Services, and Peter Shenkin, vice president at Schrdinger. Ruotti will be awarded $10,000 of time the equivalent of eight hours on a 30,000-core cluster on their cloud. In his submission for the contest, Ruotti proposed a knowledgebase indexing system for Human Embryonic Stem Cells and their derivatives, which usually requires hours of computational times. The high throughput computing power of CycleCloud will enable the classification of currently uncharacterized cell types, including hES cells and iPS cells from our laboratory, says Ruotti. The transcript profiles from each cell type will be analyzed and compared by aligning billions of sequencing reads in combinatorial pair wise steps. By doing so, we will create the first read level index to yield classified cellular derivatives along with methods to produce these cell types in … Continue reading →

LOS ANGELES Researchers at the UCLA stem cell center and the departments of chemistry and biochemistry and pathology and laboratory medicine have identified, for the first time, a generic way to correct mutations in human mitochondrial DNA by targeting corrective RNAs, a finding with implications for treating a host of mitochondrial diseases. Mutations in the human mitochondrial genome are implicated in neuromuscular diseases, metabolic defects and aging. There currently are no methods to successfully repair or compensate for these mutations, said study co-senior author Dr. Michael Teitell, a professor of pathology and laboratory medicine and a researcher with the Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research at UCLA. Between 1,000 and 4,000 children per year in the United States are born with a mitochondrial disease and up to one in 4,000 children in the U.S. will develop a mitochondrial disease by the age of 10, according to Mito Action, a nonprofit organization supporting research into mitochondrial diseases. In adults, many diseases of aging have been associated with defects of mitochondrial function, including diabetes, Parkinson's disease, heart disease, stroke, Alzheimer's disease and cancer. "I think this is a finding that could change the field," Teitell said. … Continue reading →

LOS ANGELES UCLA stem cell researchers have shown that insulin and nutrition prevent blood stem cells from differentiating into mature blood cells in Drosophila, the common fruit fly, a finding that has implications for studying inflammatory response and blood development in response to dietary changes in humans. Keeping blood stem cells, or progenitor cells, from differentiating into blood cells is important as blood stem cells are needed to create the blood supply for the adult fruit fly. The study found that the blood stem cells are receiving systemic signals from insulin and nutritional factors, in this case essential amino acids, that helped them to maintain their "stemness," said study senior author Utpal Banerjee, the Irving and Jean Stone Professor and chairman of molecular, cell and developmental biology in the UCLA Division of Life Sciences and a researcher with the Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regenerative Medicine at UCLA. "We expect that this study will promote further investigation of possible direct signal sensing mechanisms by mammalian blood stem cells," Banerjee said. "Such studies will probably yield insights into chronic inflammation and the myeloid cell accumulation seen in patients with type II diabetes and other metabolic disorders." The study appeared Sunday … Continue reading →

NEW YORK & PETACH TIKVAH, ISRAEL--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- BrainStorm Cell Therapeutics Inc. (OTCBB: BCLI.OB - News), a developer of adult stem cell technologies and CNS therapeutics, announces plans to initiate a preclinical study assessing the efficacy of its NurOwn stem cell technology in patients with Multiple Sclerosis (MS). Positive proof-of-concept results for MS have been confirmed in a set of in-vitro and in-vivo experiments, and the Company is working to advance MS into preclinical development in Q2 2012. Based on initial promising pre-clinical data published by the Company's Chief Scientist, Prof. Daniel Offen of Tel Aviv University, BrainStorm has decided to explore MS as an additional indication for its NurOwn technology. The Company will draw plans to initiate pre-clinical safety trials, after which it will seek a leading medical center specializing in MS for clinical trials. We have been focused on growing our pipeline of indications using our NurOwn stem-cell technology, commented Dr. Adrian Harel, Acting CEO of BrainStorm Cell Therapeutics. As we continue our ongoing trials to evaluate the safety, tolerability and therapeutic effects of NurOwn in ALS patients, we have determined through positive preliminary animal data that MS will be the next indication to pursue using our technology. About … Continue reading →

CLEARWATER, FL--(Marketwire -03/12/12)- Biostem U.S., Corporation (OTCQB: BOSM.PK - News) (Pinksheets: BOSM.PK - News) (Biostem, the Company), a fully reporting public company in the stem cell regenerative medicine sciences sector, announced today the addition of cardiothoracic surgeon Thomas W. Prendergast, M.D. to its Scientific and Medical Board of Advisors (SAMBA). Biostem CEO, Dwight Brunoehler stated, "The Company is now positioned for growth and international expansion. Adding a world class team of clinical, laboratory, and regulatory experts for our Scientific and Medical Board of Advisors to guide our pursuits is essential. Dr. Prendergast brings a wealth of experience not only in the scientific aspects of stem cell use in regenerative medicine, but also in forging research and international economic development opportunities." Dr. Prendergast is a busy clinical cardiothoracic surgeon, who performs 200-250 open-heart operations and 5 to 15 heart transplants each year. He is deeply involved in numerous clinical and research activities associated with stem cells and heart repair. He is presently Director of Cardiac Transplantation at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick, New Jersey where he holds an Associate Professorship of Surgery at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey. In addition to being an active … Continue reading →