PUBLIC RELEASE DATE: 28-Apr-2014 Contact: David McKeon dmckeon@nyscf.org 212-365-7440 New York Stem Cell Foundation NEW YORK, NY (April 28, 2014) Using somatic cell nuclear transfer, a team of scientists led by Dr. Dieter Egli at the New York Stem Cell Foundation (NYSCF) Research Institute and Dr. Mark Sauer at Columbia University Medical Center has created the first disease-specific embryonic stem cell line with two sets of chromosomes. As reported today in Nature, the scientists derived embryonic stem cells by adding the nuclei of adult skin cells to unfertilized donor oocytes using a process called somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT). Embryonic stem cells were created from one adult donor with type 1 diabetes and a healthy control. In 2011, the team reported creating the first embryonic cell line from human skin using nuclear transfer when they made stem cells and insulin-producing beta cells from patients with type 1 diabetes. However, those stem cells were triploid, meaning they had three sets of chromosomes, and therefore could not be used for new therapies. The investigators overcame the final hurdle in making personalized stem cells that can be used to develop personalized cell therapies. They demonstrated the ability to make a patient-specific embryonic stem … Continue reading →

Since being the site of the first place to isolate stem cells in non-human primates, the University of Wisconsin has continued to pave the way for scientific research in the field. Stem cells are a type of undifferentiated cell most commonly found in embryos and fetuses that have the ability to develop into different, more specialized cells. Norman Fost, UW Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine Center, said scientists speculate that stem cells could be used for understanding of normal and abnormal development, testing of drugs for efficacy and safety and tissue transplants. James Thompson, director of regenerative biology at UW, first proposed the creation of human embryonic stem cells in 1998 after being a part of the first group to isolate stem cells in 1995. At the time, Thompson was the chair of the UW Health Sciences Institutional Review Board, Fost said. Two UW committees developed the first guidelines for human embryonic stem cell research, which became the basis for the current U.S. guidelines created by an Institute of Medicine committee, Fost said. According to a 2010 Harris Interactive poll, 72 percent of American adults believe that embryonic stem cell research, which uses stem cells harvested from in vitro fetuses, … Continue reading →

Scientists have used cloning technology to make stem cells from a woman with Type 1 diabetes that are genetically matched to her and to her disease. They hope to someday use such cells as tailor-made transplants to treat or potentially even cure the disease, which affects millions and which now has few treatment options other than careful diet and regular use of insulin. Its the second report his month of success in using cloning technology to make human embryonic stem cells the cells that eventually create a complete human being and that scientists hope to harness to treat diseases ranging from diabetes to Parkinsons and injuries that cause paralysis or organ damage. I think this is going to become reality, Dr. Dieter Egli of the New York Stem Cell Foundation, whose report is published in the journal Nature on Monday, told reporters. It may be a bit in the future but it is going to happen. The technique they use is called somatic cell nuclear transfer the same method used to make Dolly, the sheep who was the first mammal to be cloned, in 1996. Scientists remove the nucleus from a normal cell, clear the nucleus from a human egg … Continue reading →

Researchers hope stem cells could one day treat chronic conditions like diabetes and Parkinsons disease. Healthy bloom: Insulin, shown in red, is being produced by cells that started as embryonic stem cells derived from a patient with type 1 diabetes. A series of breakthroughs in cloning technology over the last year and a half are stoking hopes that cells could be used as treatments for patients with chronic, debilitating diseases such as diabetes and Parkinsons. In January 2013, researchers at the Oregon Health and Science University reported that they had successfully created embryonic stem cells from a human embryo formed when the nucleus of one persons cell was transferred into another persons egg that had its original nucleus removed (see Human Embryonic Stem Cells Cloned). That was the first time stem cells had been made from such a cloned embryo, and the advance provides a potential route by which scientists could create various kinds of replacement cells based on a patients own genome. Many other research teams are pursuing another method of creating stem cells from a patients own cells, but some believe cells made with the cloning technique could be more likely to develop into a wide variety of … Continue reading →