Public release date: 21-May-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ] Contact: Lori J. Schroth ljschroth@partners.org 617-534-1604 Brigham and Women's Hospital Boston, MA New research from Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH) finds that a genetic risk factor for pulmonary fibrosis, an uncommon but deadly lung disease, may be effective in identifying individuals at risk for this disease. These findings will be presented at the American Thoracic Society International Conference and publish online simultaneously at the New England Journal of Medicine on May 22 and will appear in the July 4, 2013 print edition. "While this variant of the MUC5B gene is fairly common, pulmonary fibrosis is not. Our findings suggest that pulmonary fibrosis may be a part of a much more common, but likely less severe, syndrome and could potentially be predicted on the basis of the MUC5B genetic variant," said Gary M. Hunninghake, MD, MPH, a physician researcher in the pulmonary and critical care division at BWH and co-corresponding author of the research paper. "While too early to tell how important this variant may be in clinical practice, this finding could open new research avenues into this disease." Researchers looked at a common variant of the gene for mucin-5B, a … Continue reading →

Italian lawmakers on Wednesday gave their final approval to a law that allows limited use of a controversial type of stem cell therapy which has been condemned by many scientists but has given hope to families of terminally-ill children. The law gives the go-ahead for therapy being carried out by the Stamina Foundation on dozens of patients to continue, and allows for an 18-month period of clinical trials for the procedure, which had previously been blocked by Italian authorities. The bill was amended from an earlier version and states the therapy must be carried out under regulatory oversight and using cells made according to the Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) which the Stamina Foundation has not adhered to. The Stamina Foundation says its treatment is based on mesenchymal stem cells and could treat diseases like spinal cord injury and motor neurone disease. But leading scientists have warned that there is no evidence to suggest the treatment could work and no way to know that it will not cause harm. Umberto Galderisi from the University of Naples and president of Stem Cell Italy, is among critics of the bill. He said the clinical trials would "never have been allowed" if scientific accepted … Continue reading →

BALTIMORE, MD--(Marketwired - May 23, 2013) - Goldman Small Cap Research, a stock market research firm focused on the small cap and microcap sectors, believes that a slew of recent activity which has occurred in the nanomedicine, or nanobiotechnology industry, bodes well for Nuvilex Inc. (OTCQB: NVLX). The Company is an international firm engaged in live-cell encapsulation technology to treat pancreatic cancer along with the development and study of the use of medical marijuana for the treatment of oncology patients. According to a recent Reuters article, nanomedicine is defined as: "The ability to encapsulate potent drugs in tiny particles measuring billionths of a meter in diameter is opening up new options for super-accurate drug delivery, increasing precision hits at the site of disease with, hopefully, fewer side effects." It sounds very much like the definition for Nuvilex's Cell-in-a-Box technology. In the past two months alone, privately held nanobiotechnology leader Bind Therapeutics has closed 3 development deals with drug giants Pfizer, Amgen, and AstraZeneca.Significant upfront dollars have been paid and if all of the proposed drugs under development were to receive approval, it could be worth at least several hundred million dollars to Bind Therapeutics. It is apparent that the methodology … Continue reading →

Stem-Cell Cloning Breakthrough SOURCEFED SHIRTS!!! http://dft.ba/-4EpA Our Sources: http://usat.ly/143blke More stories at: http://www.sourcefed.com or check out: http://youtube.com/source... By: SourceFed … Continue reading →

US breakthrough in stem cell research http://www.euronews.com/ Scientists at the Oregon Health and Science University and the Oregon National Primate Research Centre(ONPRC) have announced that th... By: Euronews … Continue reading →

An expert panel of scientists and clinicians is warning people against going overseas for costly and unproven stem cell treatment for cerebral palsy. A forum held in Sydney last night heard from leading researchers in the field and a parent who sought treatment in the United States for his young son. The Cerebral Palsy Alliance estimates as many as 500 Australians have sought stem cell therapies overseas. But the alliance last night urged families to hold out for the possibility that Australia will undertake its own clinical trials of the treatment as early as this year. "We're very worried about families travelling overseas for treatment," Associate Professor Iona Novak, from the alliance, said. "A lot of these stem cell tourism companies don't even describe what type of cells they're giving, so first we don't even know if they're human cells... so, of course, it is a very risky procedure. "There has been a couple of cases internationally of children actually dying from these treatments." The alliance estimates a child in Australia is born with cerebral palsy every 15 hours, making it the most common disability in childhood. The condition is caused by damage to the child's brain during pregnancy, birth … Continue reading →