Cloning And Stem Cell News, Research and Resources

Salamanders, regenerative wonders, heal like mammals, people

Sunday, July 05, 2009 00:00 MST

The salamander is a superhero of regeneration, able to replace lost limbs, damaged lungs, sliced spinal cord -- even bits of lopped-off brain.

Blood stem cell growth factor reverses memory decline in mice

Saturday, July 04, 2009 00:00 MST

A human growth factor that stimulates blood stem cells to proliferate in bone marrow reverses memory impairment in mice genetically altered to develop Alzheimer's disease, a new study finds.

Team's advanced nerve cell system could help cure diabetic neuropathy, related diseases

Friday, July 03, 2009 00:00 MST

University of Central Florida researchers have created the first lab-grown motor nerves that are insulated and organized the same way they are in the body. The group's model system could dramatically improve understanding of the causes of myelin-related conditions such as multiple sclerosis, diabetic neuropathy and Guillian-Barr� syndrome, potentially enabling the discovery and testing of new drug therapies.

Cell transplantation and cardiac repair

Friday, July 03, 2009 00:00 MST

Two separate studies published in the current issue of Cell Transplantation into cardiac repair by cell transplantation have found, respectively, that the best way to deliver autologous bone-marrow mononuclear cells to the heart following a myocardial infarction was via the anterograde intracoronary vein and that bone marrow cell transplants for limb ischemia induced angiogenesis in patients failing therapy and facing amputation. The first study found higher cell retention; the second demonstrated an alternative to amputation.

New clue into how brain stem cells develop into cells which repair damaged tissue

Thursday, July 02, 2009 00:00 MST

Insight could lead to new therapies to repair damage caused by MS

Neural stem cell differentiation factor discovered

Wednesday, July 01, 2009 00:00 MST

Neural stem cells represent the cellular backup of our brain. These cells are capable of self-renewal to form new stem cells or differentiate into neurons, astrocytes or oligodendrocytes. The receptors of the Notch family play a significant role in this process. So far, only stimulating extracellular ligands of Notch receptors had been described. Biochemists of Goethe University Medical School now describe a long time assumed but not yet identified soluble Notch inhibitor.

Xie Lab uncovers molecular machinery related to stem cell fate

Saturday, June 27, 2009 00:00 MST

The Stowers Institute's Xie Lab has revealed how the BAM protein affects germline stem cell differentiation and how it is involved in regulating the quality of stem cells through intercellular competition. The work was published today by PNAS Early Edition.

Scientists convert pigs' connective tissue cells into stem cells

Friday, June 26, 2009 00:00 MST

New finding could result in better tests for stem cell therapy, more accurate model

Researchers work to create more permanent joint replacements

Wednesday, June 24, 2009 00:00 MST

With the help of a $3.1 million grant from the National Institutes of Health, University of Missouri researchers, in collaboration with colleagues at Columbia University in New York City, will expand their biological joint technology that uses living tissue instead of plastic and metal to replace damaged joints. This new technology, which responds in ways similar to normal cartilage in a healthy joint, could prevent patients from having complications that result in repeat joint-replacement surgeries.

Researchers edit genes in human stem cells

Friday, June 19, 2009 00:00 MST

Researchers at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine have successfully edited the genome of human- induced pluripotent stem cells, making possible the future development of patient-specific stem cell therapies. Reporting this week in Cell Stem Cell, the team altered a gene responsible for causing the rare blood disease paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria, or PNH, establishing for the first time a useful system to learn more about the disease.

Peripheral nerve repair with fat precursor cells led to wider nerves and less muscle atrophy

Wednesday, June 17, 2009 00:00 MST

Multipotent, abundant, easily isolated fat (adipose) precursor cells (APCs) demonstrate an ability to differentiate in vitro into cartilage chondrogenic, boneosteogenic, fatadipogenic and muscle tissue myogenic cell types. This study shows that when transplanted APCs can improve nerve regeneration and functional recovery in the injured peripheral nerves of laboratory rats. Conduit-guided, human-derived APCs survived up to 12 weeks in the injured peripheral nerves of laboratory animals and formed more robust nerve cells compared to controls not receiving cell transplants.

Assessment of safety and efficacy of human embryonic stem cell therapy

Saturday, June 13, 2009 00:00 MST

Advanced Cell Technology and its collaborators at OHSU reported today the long-term safety and efficacy of human embryonic stem cell (hESC)-derived retinal pigment epithelium produced under manufacturing conditions suitable for human clinical trials. The research, which appears online ahead of print in the journal Stem Cells, shows long-term functional rescue using hESC-derived cells in both the RCS rat and Elov14 mouse, animal models of retinal degeneration and Stargardt disease, respectively.

New interdisciplinary volume focuses on advances in stem cell research

Monday, June 08, 2009 00:00 MST

A new book from Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press, "Control and Regulation of Stem Cells," reviews the latest advances in stem cell research from a variety of scientific perspectives.

Scientists discover new way to enhance stem cells to stimulate muscle regeneration

Sunday, June 07, 2009 00:00 MST

Ottawa scientists have discovered a powerful new way to stimulate muscle regeneration, paving the way for new treatments for debilitating conditions such as muscular dystrophy. The research, to be published in the June 5 issue of Cell Stem Cell, shows for the first time that a protein called Wnt7a increases the number of stem cells in muscle tissue, leading to accelerated growth and repair of skeletal muscle.

World first: Chinese scientists create pig stem cells

Saturday, June 06, 2009 00:00 MST

Discovery has far-reaching implications for animal and human health