Cloning And Stem Cell News, Research and Resources - July 2007 Archives

Effects Of Aging In Stem Cells (7/31/2007)

There is little disagreement that the body's maintenance and repair systems deteriorate with age, even as there is plenty of disagreement as to why. Stem cells combat the aging process by replenishing old or damaged cells--particularly in the skin, gut, and blood--with a fresh supply to maintain and repair tissue. ...> Full Article

Risk Genes For Multiple Sclerosis Uncovered (7/31/2007)

Using a whole-genome association scan, an international consortium of scientists has found genetic variations in multiple sclerosis patients, findings that suggest a possible link between MS and other autoimmune diseases. ...> Full Article

Using Stem Cells To Help Heart Attack Victims (7/31/2007)

New research at The University of Nottingham is paving the way for techniques that use stem cells to repair the damage caused by heart attacks. ...> Full Article

Team Identifies Gene That Regulates Blood-Forming Fetal Stem Cells (7/30/2007)

In the rancorous public debate over federal research funding, stem cells are generally assigned to one of two categories: embryonic or adult. But that's a false dichotomy and an oversimplification. A new University of Michigan study adds to mounting evidence that stem cells in the developing fetus are distinct from both embryonic and adult stem cells. ...> Full Article

Scientists Find Stem Cell Switch (7/29/2007)

Scientists have discovered how plant stem cells in roots detect soil structure and whether it is favorable for growth. ...> Full Article

Critical Protein Distinguishes Fetal and Adult Stem Cells (7/28/2007)

In a discovery that fills a critical gap in the understanding of stem cells, researchers have discovered a protein that fetal, but not adult, blood-forming stem cells need to replenish themselves. Finding regulatory pathways specific to fetal blood-forming cells could help scientists understand childhood leukemias and generate blood-forming cells for bone marrow transplants, said the researchers. ...> Full Article

Gene-Transcription Machinery Seen Poised for Action, May Provide Insights into Stem-Cell Differentiation (7/26/2007)

For some time, scientists have been tracking down the sequence of biochemical steps required to attract and assemble at the head end of a gene the molecular machinery needed to transcribe that gene to put to work the information it encodes. Now, a new study led by researchers at The Wistar Institute suggests that the gene-transcription machinery, once in place, can remain poised for action but held in check until a triggering signal sends it on its way down the linear DNA molecule. ...> Full Article

Gene Variant Increases Risk Of Blindness (7/24/2007)

Researchers have found a gene variant that can more than double the risk of developing the degenerative eye disease, age-related macular degeneration. ...> Full Article

A New Method Of Adult Stem Cell Growth Efficacious In Treatment Of Disorders Of The Cornea (7/23/2007)

A new method of adult stem cell growth, designed in the Area of Cellular Therapy of the University Clinic (University of Navarra), has demonstrated its efficacy for its capacity to grow cornea stem cells. So Ana Fernández Hortelano, ophthalmologist at the Hospital demonstrated on applying the growth technique in treating diseases of the cornea, using stem cells, in 70 test animals (rabbits). The aim of the procedure was to regain the damaged epithelium and thus restore transparency to the cornea. ...> Full Article

Studying How Human Bones Work And Fail (7/22/2007)

After 9-year-old Roberto Ballarini moved with his family from Italy to Brooklyn, he became fascinated by the Empire State Building, the World Trade Center, and, especially, the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge between Staten Island and Brooklyn. Little wonder he became a civil engineer. ...> Full Article

Scientists Invent Novel Hydrogels For Repairing And Regenerating Human Tissue (7/21/2007)

University of Delaware scientists have invented a novel biomaterial with surprising antibacterial properties that can be injected as a low-viscosity gel into a wound where it rigidifies nearly on contact - opening the door to the possibility of delivering a targeted payload of cells and antibiotics to repair the damaged tissue. ...> Full Article

MS Society Announces $2.4 Million To Continue Bone Marrow Stem Cell Transplant Trial (7/20/2007)

The Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada announced a $2.4 million grant to continue a closely-watched clinical trial involving an experimental bone marrow stem cell transplant therapy. The trial is being conducted by a team of Canadian MS specialists led by Dr. Mark Freedman and Dr. Harry Atkins in Ottawa. ...> Full Article

Can Heart Tissue Be Regenerated? (7/19/2007)

Mature heart cells, given the right environment, can replicate ...> Full Article

Researchers Experiment With Stem Cells That Can Regenerate Bone And Skin Tissue (7/18/2007)

If Songtao Shi's latest discovery ever reaches Southern California clinics, "Oh, she's had a stem cell job," may one day replace the ubiquitous "She's had work done" as a tabloid euphemism for the efforts of the well-heeled to turn back the clock. ...> Full Article

Chitin From Lobster Shell Shows Great Healing And Bio-Stimulant Properties (7/18/2007)

Scientists from the University of Havana have used lobster waste to generate chitin and chitosan, two key compounds in biomedicine and agriculture. They used these compounds to produce surgical materials with great healing and antiseptic properties as well as to enhance growth speed and germination in seeds. Research results have been published in international research journals such as Macromol, Food Hydrocolloids, Journal of Applied Polymer Science or Polymer Bulletin. ...> Full Article

Scientists Peer Into Stem Cells in Live Brain (7/17/2007)

Observations Reveal How Brain Cells Move to Proper Functional Location; May Offer New Ways to Target Malfunctioning Brain Cells ...> Full Article

Study Provides New Data About The Laws Governing Embryo Development In Organisms (7/16/2007)

Research aimed at understanding the mechanisms underlying embryo development has taken a step forward thanks to collaborative work between biologists specialized in the study of the fruit fly (Drosophila melanogaster) and scientists specialized in the design of mathematical models that simulate the functioning of biological systems. ...> Full Article

One Man's Junk May be a Genomic Treasure (7/16/2007)

Scientists have only recently begun to speculate that what's referred to as "junk" DNA – the 96 percent of the human genome that doesn't encode for proteins and previously seemed to have no useful purpose – is present in the genome for an important reason. But it wasn't clear what the reason was. Now, researchers at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) School of Medicine have discovered one important function of so-called junk DNA. ...> Full Article

Team Finds New Mechanism Of Gene Control (7/15/2007)

Further understanding might aid regenerative medicine, more ...> Full Article

Breakthrough Leads To Better Understanding Of Human Stem Cell Growth (7/14/2007)

A startling discovery on the development of human embryonic stem cells by scientists at McMaster University will change how future research in the area is done. ...> Full Article

Progenitor Cell Acts Like Changeling to Become Whatever Cell Is Needed (7/13/2007)

Human development has long been seen as a one-way street. During gestation, stem cells were thought to develop into a succession of ever more specialized cells. As Dr. R. Ariel Gomez has discovered, the final identity of these cells is not as definite as once thought. "The identity of many cell types is in a constant state of flux," Gomez says. ...> Full Article

Scientists Establish Essential Markers to Characterize Human Embryonic Stem Cell Lines (7/13/2007)

Scientists with the International Stem Cell Initiative (ISCI) have identified a set of common gene expression markers that may be used to reliably characterize diverse human embryonic stem cell (hESC) lines. The initiative represents the first internationally coordinated effort to provide a systematic and comparative survey of the hESC lines available from various research groups around the world. The results of the groundbreaking study were published today in the July issue of Nature Biotechnology. ...> Full Article

Researchers Discover Human Embryonic Stem Cells Are The Ultimate Perpetual Fuel Cell (7/12/2007)

A startling discovery on the development of human embryonic stem cells by scientists at McMaster University will change how future research in the area is done. ...> Full Article

Scientists Find Brown Fat Master Switch (7/12/2007)

Researchers at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute have identified a long-sought "master switch" in mice for the production of brown fat, a type of adipose tissue that generates heat and counters obesity caused by overeating. ...> Full Article

Bacteria Suggest New Approach To Alzheimer's Therapy (7/11/2007)

New insights into how bacteria form fibers called curli offer intriguing clues to the formation of harmful protein tangles in diseases such as Alzheimer's, Huntington's and Parkinson's, University of Michigan researchers report. Their results will be published online in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences during the week of July 9-13. ...> Full Article

New Risk Factors Discovered For Alzheimer's Disease (7/10/2007)

A recent study in Journal of Neuroimaging suggests that cognitively normal adults exhibiting atrophy of their temporal lobe or damage to blood vessels in the brain are more likely to develop Alzheimer's disease. Older adults showing signs of both conditions were seven-times more likely to develop Alzheimer's than their peers. ...> Full Article

When Tissue Repair Backfires (7/9/2007)

A new molecular link between inflammation and cancer, discovered through experiments with mice, has revealed how the body's natural repair response to tissue injury can actually spur tumor growth. ...> Full Article

Blood Clotting Protein May Inhibit Spinal Cord Regeneration (7/9/2007)

Fibrinogen, a blood-clotting protein found in circulating blood, has been found to inhibit the growth of central nervous system neuronal cells, a process that is necessary for the regeneration of the spinal cord after traumatic injury. The findings by researchers at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) School of Medicine, may explain why the human body is unable to repair itself after most spinal cord injuries. ...> Full Article

First Baby Is Born After Oocytes Were Matured In The Lab And Frozen (7/8/2007)

The first baby to be created from an egg that had been matured in the laboratory, frozen, thawed and then fertilised, has been born in Canada. Three other women are pregnant by the same process. The research was presented to the 23rd annual meeting of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology today (Monday 2 July). ...> Full Article

Engineered Blood Vessels Function like Native Tissue (7/8/2007)

Blood vessels that have been tissue-engineered from bone marrow adult stem cells may in the future serve as a patient's own source of new blood vessels following a coronary bypass or other procedures that require vessel replacement, according to new research from the University at Buffalo Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering. ...> Full Article

Researchers Use Adult Stem Cells to Create Soft Tissue (7/7/2007)

Researchers from Columbia University Medical Center received a $2.5 million grant from the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering to use stem cells to engineer soft tissue, developing a process that should ultimately allow scientists to use a patient's own stem cells to develop tissue for facial reconstruction following disfiguring injuries from war, cancer surgery or accidents. ...> Full Article

Extracting Eggs From Pre-pubertal Cancer Patients Brings Hope For Future Fertility (7/7/2007)

Scientists in Israel have been able to obtain and freeze eggs from the ovarian tissue of girls as young as 5 years old, the 23rd annual conference of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology was told today (Tuesday 3 July). Dr. Ariel Revel, from the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Hadassah University Hospital, Jerusalem, Israel, said that the growing number of survivors of childhood cancers meant that such techniques would become increasingly important in preserving fertility in young patients. ...> Full Article

Alzheimer's Prevention Role Discovered For Prions (7/6/2007)

A role for prion proteins, the much debated agents of mad cow disease and vCJD, has been identified. It appears that the normal prions produced by the body help to prevent the plaques that build up in the brain to cause Alzheimer's disease. The possible function for the mysterious proteins was discovered by a team of scientists led by Medical Research Council funded scientist Professor Nigel Hooper of the University of Leeds. ...> Full Article

New Method For Reading DNA Sheds Light On How Cells Define Themselves (7/6/2007)

As a fertilized egg develops into a full-grown adult, mammalian cells make many crucial decisions - closing doors of opportunity as they adopt careers as liver cells, skin cells, and even neurons. One of the most fundamental mysteries in biomedicine is how cells make such different career decisions despite having exactly the same DNA. ...> Full Article

How We Can Stop Stress From Making Us Obese (7/6/2007)

In what they call a "stunning research advance," investigators at Georgetown University Medical Center have been able to use simple, non-toxic chemical injections to add and remove fat in targeted areas on the bodies of laboratory animals. They say the discovery, published online in Nature Medicine on July 1, could revolutionize human cosmetic and reconstructive plastic surgery and treatment of diseases associated with human obesity. ...> Full Article

Newfound Mechanisms May Unlock Answers To Alzheimer's Disease (7/5/2007)

Four million people in the United States and 15 to 20 million people worldwide are affected by Alzheimer's disease. These numbers are likely to triple by 2050 due to the fact that 24 percent of the population will be more than 65 years old. In their attempt to combat the disease, two University of Missouri-Columbia professors have identified new mechanisms that could have major implications in the development of treatments for the disease. The National Institutes of Health recently awarded a $6 million grant to the Mizzou researchers to continue their study. ...> Full Article

Turning Stem Cells Taken from Fat Tissue into Personalized, Cancer-Targeted Therapeutics (7/5/2007)

Researchers in Slovakia have been able to derive mesenchymal stem cells from human adipose, or fat, tissue and engineer them into "suicide genes" that seek out and destroy tumors like tiny homing missiles. This gene therapy approach is a novel way to attack small tumor metastases that evade current detection techniques and treatments, the researchers conclude in the July 1 issue of Cancer Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research. ...> Full Article

Expanding The Genetic Code In Living Mammalian Cells (7/5/2007)

Researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies have developed a novel strategy to expand the natural repertoire of 20 amino acids in mammalian cells, including neurons, and successfully inserted tailor-made amino acids into proteins in these cells. In a powerful demonstration of the method's versatility, they then used unnatural amino acids to determine the operating mechanism of the "molecular gates" that regulate the movement of potassium ions in and out of nerve cells. ...> Full Article

Scientists Discover How Cells Decide What Type Of Tissue To Become (7/4/2007)

As a fertilized egg develops into a full-grown adult, mammalian cells adopt careers as different cell types, from liver cells to neurons. One of the most fundamental mysteries in biomedicine is how cells make such different career decisions despite having exactly the same DNA. ...> Full Article

Researchers Find 'Missing Link' Stem Cells (7/2/2007)

A team of scientists at Oxford University has discovered a new type of embryonic stem cell in mice and rats that is the closest counterpart yet to human embryonic stem cells. ...> Full Article

Stem Cell Research Field Advancing Despite Disappointing Bush Veto (7/2/2007)

Since Aug. 9, 2001, when Bush announced limited support for human embryonic stem cell research, Kriegstein explains, universities have been working to develop stem cell programs within the limits of the president's guidelines. ...> Full Article

Can Blindness Be Prevented Through Diet? (7/2/2007)

Increasing intake of the omega-3 fatty acids DHA and EPA, found in popular fish-oil supplements, may protect against blindness resulting from abnormal blood vessel growth in the eye, according to a study published online by the journal Nature Medicine on June 24. The study was done in mice, but a clinical trial at Children's Hospital Boston will soon begin testing the effects of omega-3 supplementation in premature babies, who are at risk for vision loss. ...> Full Article

Step Toward Synthetic Genomes (7/2/2007)

For the first time, researchers have replaced the whole genome of a bacterial cell with the genome of a closely related species. In a study published Thursday 28 June by the journal Science at its Science Express Web site, Carole Lartigue and colleagues describe how they transplanted the genome - in the form of naked DNA, virtually free of protein - and effectively turned one species of bacteria into another. ...> Full Article

Scientists Using Fish To Study Obesity (7/1/2007)

Researchers at Oregon Health & Science University have developed a unique new method for researching obesity and its treatments - by studying fish. Newly published data demonstrate zebrafish, small fish that measure between one and two inches in length when fully grown, share many traits with humans with regard to the regulation of body weight. This discovery demonstrates that the zebrafish are relevant for human and animal weight and obesity studies. The study is published in the July edition of The FASEB Journal. ...> Full Article

Scientists Reveal A Mechanism For Healthy Nerve Development (7/1/2007)

In a host of neurological diseases, including multiple sclerosis (MS) and several neuropathies, the protective covering surrounding the nerves an insulating material called myelin is damaged. Scientists at the Weizmann Institute of Science have now discovered an important new line of communication between nervous system cells that is crucial to the development of myelinated nerves a discovery that may aid in restoring the normal function of the affected nerve fibers. ...> Full Article

New Regulations Needed for Patients Receiving Animal Tissue Donation (7/1/2007)

A new article in The Journal of Law, Medicine and Ethics calls for a change in the regulations surrounding xenotransplantation, the transplanting of animal cells, tissues or organs into humans. Although few xenotransplantation procedures have been done to this time, there appears to be a lack of awareness among potential xenotransplant patients about the risk of the procedures, and the required lifetime of infectious disease monitoring that come with it. ...> Full Article