Comments(0) Researchers from the African Genome Variation Project (AGVP) have published the first attempt to comprehensively characterise genetic diversity across Sub-Saharan Africa. The study of the world's most genetically diverse region will provide an invaluable resource for medical researchers and provides insights into population movements over thousands of years of African history. These findings appear in the journal Nature. "Although many studies have focused on studying genetic risk factors for disease in European populations, this is an understudied area in Africa," says Dr Deepti Gurdasani, lead author on the study and a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute. "Infectious and non-infectious diseases are highly prevalent in Africa and the risk factors for these diseases may be very different from those in European populations. "Given the evolutionary history of many African populations, we expect them to be genetically more diverse than Europeans and other populations. However we know little about the nature and extent of this diversity and we need to understand this to identify genetic risk factors for disease." Dr Manjinder Sandhu and colleagues collected genetic data from more than 1800 people including 320 whole genome sequences from seven populations to create a detailed characterisation of 18 ethnolinguistic … Continue reading →

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE: 3-Dec-2014 Contact: Veronica McGuire vmcguir@mcmaster.ca 90-552-591-402-2169 McMaster University @mcmasteru Hamilton, ON (Dec. 3, 2014) - Scientists at McMaster University have discovered that human stem cells made from adult donor cells "remember" where they came from and that's what they prefer to become again. This means the type of cell obtained from an individual patient to make pluripotent stem cells, determines what can be best done with them. For example, to repair the lung of a patient with lung disease, it is best to start off with a lung cell to make the therapeutic stem cells to treat the disease, or a breast cell for the regeneration of tissue for breast cancer patients. Pluripotency is the ability stem cells have to turn into any one of the 226 cell types that make up the human body.The work challenges the previously accepted thought that any pluripotent human stem cell could be used to similarly to generate the same amount of mature tissue cells. This finding, published today in the prestigious science journal Nature Communications, will be used to further drug development at McMaster, and potentially improve transplants using human stem cell sources. The study was led by Mick Bhatia, … Continue reading →

Released: 1-Dec-2014 1:00 PM EST Embargo expired: 3-Dec-2014 5:00 AM EST Source Newsroom: McMaster University Contact Information Available for logged-in reporters only Newswise Hamilton, ON (Dec. 3, 2014) Scientists at McMaster University have discovered that human stem cells made from adult donor cells remember where they came from and thats what they prefer to become again. This means the type of cell obtained from an individual patient to make pluripotent stem cells, determines what can be best done with them. For example, to repair the lung of a patient with lung disease, it is best to start off with a lung cell to make the therapeutic stem cells to treat the disease, or a breast cell for the regeneration of tissue for breast cancer patients. Pluripotency is the ability stem cells have to turn into any one of the 226 cell types that make up the human body.The work challenges the previously accepted thought that any pluripotent human stem cell could be used to similarly to generate the same amount of mature tissue cells. This finding, published today in the prestigious science journal Nature Communications, will be used to further drug development at McMaster, and potentially improve transplants using human … Continue reading →

NEWS 1200+ scientists, patient advocates from 40 countries in town for summit Posted YESTERDAY, 6:04 PM Updated YESTERDAY, 6:33 PM SAN ANTONIO - More than a thousand scientists, industry leaders and patient advocates from 40 countries are headed to San Antonio for the World Stem Cell Summit. Organizers are calling it the center of the universe when it comes to stem cells and regenerative medicine. On Tuesday the summit kicked off with Public Education Day, where some of the smartest scientists in the field broke the topic down into bite-sized pieces. "To be able to replenish our cells that die within a tissue on a daily basis, in order for us to be able to heal wounds, we have to have stem cells," said Elaine Fuchs, an investigator for the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. She started her research in the field in the 1970s with work on skin stem cells, and said she was fascinated with creating skin in a petri dish that could then be used for burn therapy. Fuchs spoke at Public Education Day about the most basic biology of stem cells and said that knowledge is leading to a new world in medicine. "The biology of stem … Continue reading →