Javascript is currently disabled in your web browser. For full site functionality, it is necessary to enable Javascript. In order to enable it, please see these instructions. 44 minutes ago Left column: This is the previous method for creating induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs); right column: These are iPSCs produced with the new method developed by Dr. Hanna. Top: Skin cells (red); center: iPSCs from skin cells (green); bottom: superimposed top and center images. Skin cells that have been reprogrammed into iPSCs appear light yellow. Only a small percentage of the cells on the left have been reprogrammed, in contrast with the high success rate seen with the new method on the right. Credit: Weizmann Institute of Science Weizmann Institute scientists show that removing one protein from adult cells enables them to efficiently turn back the clock to a stem-cell-like state. Embryonic stem cells have the enormous potential to treat and cure many medical problems. That is why the discovery that induced embryonic-like stem cells can be created from skin cells (iPS cells) was rewarded with a Nobel Prize in 2012. But the process has remained frustratingly slow and inefficient, and the resulting stem cells are not yet ready for … Continue reading →

Lexington, MA (PRWEB) September 18, 2013 Melson is a gifted professional boxer who donates all of the money that he earns in the ring to spinal cord injury research. His advocacy efforts have been profiled on Emmy Award winning HBO series Real Sports, ESPN.com, Sports Illustrated and Yahoo. He is a founder of the organization Team Fight to Walk (http://www.teamfighttowalk.com), which through professional boxers and other athletes raises money for JustADollarPlease (http://www.justadollarplease.org), which supports efforts to bring clinical trials of adult stem cell treatments for spinal cord injury to the United States. In the United States alone, where a spinal cord injury occurs every 43 minutes, there are 300,000 people living with the tragic after-effects, said Melson. Of those, 40,000 are US Armed Forces Veterans. The exploding field of regenerative medicine holds great promise for the treatment of these injuries. My dearest friend in this world, Christan, who is the inspiration behind my passion for all things relating to spinal cord injury treatment, lives every day with the challenges resulting from a spinal cord injury. I have experienced firsthand, in her case, how adult stem cells can improve the quality of life. I live to help Christan and others like … Continue reading →

Cancer patients or those suffering from Parkinson's disease may not have to wait for donors in future following a "huge leap" forward in stem cell production, scientists have said. Researchers have simplified and improved the laborious three-week process so that it can now be completed within days and with 100% efficiency. This means doctors could eventually treat patients much more quickly using their own cells rather than performing a risky transplant. Jacob Hanna, one of the team behind the discovery, said the procedure would remove the possibility of a transplant patient's body rejecting an organ. "We now know how to control a cell's fate and really understand exactly how to make a stem cell from a skin cell, safely and robustly," he said. "A major goal in the future, the great promise of our research, is that a patient in need of a liver transplant, for example, could go to a clinic and have a biopsy taken. Doctors could then, very quickly and efficiently, make stem cells. "They would then be able to give a patient back the liver cells he needs from his own stem cells and there would be no need to look for donors." Dr Hanna, assistant … Continue reading →