Japan's government on Friday gave its seal of approval to the world's first clinical trials using stem cells harvested from a patient's own body. Health Minister Norihisa Tamura signed off on a proposal by two research institutes that will allow them to begin tests aimed at treating age-related macular degeneration (AMD), a common medical condition that causes blindness in older people, using "induced Pluripotent Stem (iPS) cells". Stem cell research is a pioneering field that may offer a cure for conditions that are presently incurable, and scientists hope these clinical trials on a treatment for AMD may offer hope to millions of people robbed of their sight. A government committee last month approved proposals for the tests, which will be jointly conducted by the Riken Center for Developmental Biology and the Institute of Biomedical Research and Innovation (IBRI) Hospital in the western city of Kobe. Riken will harvest stem cells, using skin cells taken from patients, a spokesman said. The trial treatment will attempt to create retinal cells that can be transplanted into the eyes of six patients suffering from AMD, replacing the damaged part of the eye. The transplant may be conducted as early as the middle of next … Continue reading →

LOS ANGELES, July 19, 2013 /PRNewswire/ --Elliott Broidy attended a conference on July 12 at the Eli and Edythe Broad Center aimed to dispel misconceptions and discussed advances in the burgeoning field of stem cell research. Another prominent topic of discussion was the newly formed Early Investigator High School Program (EIHS), which is designed to ensure the future of stem cell work with internships for high school students. With the fledgling program facing constraints to admit qualified students of all economic backgrounds, the EIHS received a timely boost in support from a Los Angeles native attending the forum. Philanthropist Elliott Broidy was in attendance to discuss the opportunities and challenges facing stem cell researchers. His attendance was preceded by the announcement that he will fund scholarships to enable gifted youth from disadvantaged situations to attend the summertime EIHS. Elliott Broidy, Chairman and CEO of Broidy Capital Management, is a USC alumnus involved with various Los Angeles based charitable organizations. These groups include the Aviva Family and Children's Services, Simon Wiesenthal Center, Chai Lifeline, and the USC Marshall School of Business. EIHS leadership hopes to make the nascent field of stem cell research accessible to all, according to a letter thanking … Continue reading →

July 19, 2013 Stem cell studies are producing some of the most promising research results for replacing or regenerating damaged tissue, and a new study from a team of Spanish and American scientists has described a more flexible approach to creating the valuable cells. Nobel Prize laureate Shinya Yamanaka developed the initial formula for developing induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), or stem cells created by reverse-engineering a patients own cells. The Nobel-winning formula is a stringent recipe that allows for a narrow degree of variations in human cells. To determine the success of Yamanakas method, stem cells pluripotency or the ability to differentiate into other types of cells was evaluated by functional assays, meaning if it acts like a stem cell, then it is a stem cell. The new study, which appeared in the journal Cell Stem Cell, turned this assumption-based analysis on its head. Led by the Salk Institutes Juan Carlos Izpisua Belmonte, the team realized pluripotency is not a type of cell, but a state achieved by a balance of opposing differentiation forces. Prior to this series of experiments, most researchers in the field started from the premise that they were trying to impose an embryonic-like state on … Continue reading →

TOKYO (AFP) Japan's government on Friday gave its seal of approval to the world's first clinical trials using stem cells harvested from a patient's own body. Health Minister Norihisa Tamura signed off on a proposal by two research institutes that will allow them to begin tests aimed at treating age-related macular degeneration (AMD), a common medical condition that causes blindness in older people, using "induced Pluripotent Stem (iPS) cells". Stem cell research is a pioneering field that may offer a cure for conditions that are presently incurable, and scientists hope these clinical trials on a treatment for AMD may offer hope to millions of people robbed of their sight. A government committee last month approved proposals for the tests, which will be jointly conducted by the Riken Center for Developmental Biology and the Institute of Biomedical Research and Innovation (IBRI) Hospital in the western city of Kobe. Riken will harvest stem cells, using skin cells taken from patients, a spokesman said. The trial treatment will attempt to create retinal cells that can be transplanted into the eyes of six patients suffering from AMD, replacing the damaged part of the eye. The transplant may be conducted as early as the middle … Continue reading →

Please support our site by enabling javascript to view ads. Stem cell research has made new gains this week after a safe and easy way for them to be created was developed in China. The new breakthrough may also allow for an easier way to create organs and tissues from stem cells. The way in which the Chinese scientists developed the new method requires a familiarity with physiology and biology but suffice it to say that it involved the manipulation of certain molecules - small ones to be precise. You can read exactly what they did here. "Small molecules have advantages because they can be cell permeable, non-immunogenic, more cost-effective, and can be more easily synthesized, preserved, and standardized," researchers wrote in the paper. "Moreover, their effects on inhibiting and activating the function of specific proteins are often reversible and can be finely tuned by varying the concentrations." Using the method the researchers were able to produce several healthy mice. They believe that the findings will see the possibility of creating"functionally desirable cell types" for generating organs and tissues in humans by using drugs rather than gene manipulation. The findings were published in the journal Science. Read more here: Stem … Continue reading →