Featured Article Academic Journal Main Category: Stem Cell Research Also Included In: Neurology / Neuroscience;  Biology / Biochemistry Article Date: 31 Jan 2012 - 2:00 PST email to a friend   printer friendly   opinions   Current Article Ratings: Patient / Public: 5 (1 votes) Healthcare Prof: Bypassing the stem cell stage, researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine in California converted mouse skin cells directly into neural precursor cells, the cells that go on to form the three main types of cell in the brain and nervous system. They write about their findings in the 30 January early online issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The findings of this and an earlier study question the idea that pluripotency (the ability to become virtually any other cell in the body, a key characteristic of stem cells) is a necessary stage in the conversion of one cell type to another. In the earlier study, the same team transformed mouse and human skin cells directly into functional neurons. But this study is a substantial advance on the earlier one for two reasons. First, neural precursor cells can not only differentiate into neurons, they can also become either of … Continue reading →

25-01-2012 18:06 A former stage-IV breast cancer patient talks about being treated at Stanford over a dozen years ago as part of a small clinical trial testing whether high-dose chemotherapy, followed by blood stem cell rescue with purified hematopoietic stem cells, could cure her cancer. Read more: Stage-4 breast cancer survivor talks about stem cell treatment - Video … Continue reading →

(Photo: REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton) U.S. Republican presidential candidate and former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich (R) speaks to the media after attending a church service at the Exciting Idlewild Baptist Church in Lutz, Florida January 29, 2012. "I believe life begins at conception," the Republican presidential hopeful stressed Sunday at a news conference outside a Baptist church in Lutz, Fla. "The question I was raising was what happens to embryos in fertility clinics," Gingrich added, referring to the remarks he made a day earlier at another Baptist church in Winter Park, that embryonic stem-cell research amounts to "the use of science to desensitize society over the killing of babies." Gingrich's proposal was seen as an attempt to woo evangelical voters and gain an edge over former Mass. Gov. Mitt Romney, his biggest opponent in Florida. Gingrich went on to say he was in favor of a commission to "look seriously" at the ethics of how fertility clinics are managed. "If you have in vitro fertilization, you are creating life; therefore, we should look seriously at what the rules should be for clinics that are doing that, because they are creating life," The Associated Press quoted him as saying outside Exciting … Continue reading →