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

Study Testing Whether Omega-3 Slows The Progression Of Alzheimer's (6/30/2007)

Nutritionists have long endorsed fish as part of a heart-healthy diet, and recent studies have suggested that omega-3 fatty acids found in the oil of certain fish, algae and human breast milk may also benefit the brain by lowering the risk of Alzheimer's disease. ...> Full Article

New Genetic Test Advances Detection and Diagnosis of Muscular Dystrophy (6/30/2007)

A new genetic test targeting the most common types of muscular dystrophy -- those caused by mutations in the dystrophin gene -- is far quicker with greater accuracy and sensitivity than existing tests. It can be used to confirm clinical diagnoses, to test female family members who may be carriers, and to perform prenatal testing. ...> Full Article

Cloned Pigs Help Scientists Towards A Breakthrough In Alzheimer's (6/30/2007)

The first pigs containing genes responsible for Alzheimer’s disease will be born in Denmark in August. This event is a landmark achivement in the effort towards finding a cure for the disease. ...> Full Article

First Study Transplanting Angina Patients' Purified Stem Cells Shows Safety and Symptom Relief (6/29/2007)

The first U.S. study to transplant a potent form of purified adult stem cells into the heart muscle of patients with severe angina provided evidence that the procedure is safe and produced a reduction in angina pain as well as improved functioning in patients' daily lives, reports the lead researcher at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine. ...> Full Article

Study Maps Road To Cure For Inherited Eye Diseases (6/29/2007)

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have identified proteins in the rod and cones of the eye that could lead to the discovery of the genetic causes of a host of inherited eye diseases. The investigators hope to gain a clearer understanding of what goes wrong at the most basic level in these diseases that cause blindness and other disorders. ...> Full Article

Researchers Locate Key Enzyme For Reversing Retardation (6/28/2007)

'Elegant genetic manipulation' inhibits Fragile X symptoms ...> Full Article

Encyclopedia of Embryonic Stem Cells (6/28/2007)

An international consortium of scientists, led in part by a USC researcher, published the largest existing survey comparing genetic and chemical traits of human embryonic stem cell lines from around the world. ...> Full Article

Stem Cells Enhance Hearing Recovery (6/27/2007)

Researchers have shown that bone marrow stem cells injected into a damaged inner ear can speed hearing recovery after partial hearing loss. ...> Full Article

New Research Identifies Five Genetic Themes Crucial To Keeping Stem Cells In A Primitive, Flexible State (6/25/2007)

For more than 25 years, stem cells have been defined based on what they can become: more of themselves, as well as multiple different specialized cell types. But as genetic techniques have become increasingly powerful, many scientists have sought a more molecular definition of stem cells, based on the genes they express. ...> Full Article

Parents Support Genetic Testing And Dna Biobanks (6/24/2007)

C.S. Mott Children's Hospital National Poll on Children's Health finds 54% of adults endorse genetic testing even for diseases with no effective treatments ...> Full Article

Promising Protein May Prevent Eye Damage In Premature Babies (6/23/2007)

A protein long thought to be one of the body's supporting players has quietly been taking a lead role in healthy eyesight, a discovery that could rapidly lead to treatments for babies born before their eyes are finished growing, University of Florida and Harvard Medical School researchers have found. ...> Full Article

Researchers Seek Volunteers For Rheumatoid Arthritis Studies (6/23/2007)

Scientists at the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation are seeking rheumatoid arthritis patients to participate in one of several studies of new treatments for the disease. ...> Full Article

Discovery in Fish May Aid Human Blood Cell Transplants (6/22/2007)

The discovery that zebrafish produce natural chemicals that enhance production of blood-forming stem cells may translate rapidly into new treatments to increase the success of bone marrow or cord blood transplants in humans. ...> Full Article

Scientists Develop A General 'Control Switch' For Protein Activity (6/22/2007)

The method may be used in biomedical research, and in the future in gene therapy and in genetic engineering of plants ...> Full Article

Scientists Announce Stem Cell Line From New Source (6/21/2007)

Scientists have created a new stem cell line from a clinically unusable human egg in a development that could have major implications for research into illnesses such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, liver disease and diabetes. ...> Full Article

New Milestone In Stem Cells Trial (6/21/2007)

StemCells, Inc. (NASDAQ: STEM) today announced the Phase I clinical trial of its proprietary HuCNS-SC™ product candidate (purified human neural stem cells) has successfully completed enrollment of the low-dose cohort and will proceed to the high-dose cohort. ...> Full Article

Human Trials Begin For Enzyme Inhibitor Alzheimer's Drug (6/20/2007)

Seven years ago, Jordan Tang, Ph.D., led a team of scientists at the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation that identified and cloned the enzyme believed to cause Alzheimer's disease, then created an inhibitor to halt the enzyme's action. Today, a biopharmaceutical company announced that it has begun human clinical trials of an Alzheimer's drug based on Tang's discoveries. ...> Full Article

59 New Human Embryonic Stem Cell Lines Made Available To Scientific Community (6/19/2007)

More than 80 leading scientists from around the world, headed by Professor Peter Andrews from the University of Sheffield, have shared their knowledge about human embryonic stem cell lines to accelerate the discovery of potential therapies. ...> Full Article

New Treatments For Rheumatoid Arthritis (6/18/2007)

Three new drugs mark a new era for rheumatoid arthiritis treatment, according to work by an international research team including Professor Paul Emery from the University of Leeds. Their findings are published in the Lancet today (June 13). ...> Full Article

Genes In Human Inner Ear Cells Restored (6/17/2007)

Researchers at the University of Virginia Health System have discovered a way to transfer genes, which they hope will restore hearing, into diseased tissue of the human inner ear. This important step brings scientists closer to curing genetic or acquired hearing loss. ...> Full Article

Scientists De-Code RNA Mystery To Help Aim Drug Therapies (6/16/2007)

A team of University of Maryland scientists and area high school students have made a discovery that will help better direct drug therapies to their molecular targets. ...> Full Article

UCSF Opens Cartilage Repair and Regeneration Center (6/16/2007)

The treatment of cartilage injuries is one of the most difficult challenges facing orthopaedic surgeons. Clinicians and researchers at UCSF are combining forces to establish a multidisciplinary center to meet this challenge. "The UCSF Cartilage Repair and Regeneration Center is unlike any other in the region," says UCSF orthopaedic surgeon Hubert Kim, MD, PhD. ...> Full Article

Researchers Use E. coli Against Tooth Decay (6/15/2007)

For most people, E. coli may as well be short for "I will make you so sick." ...> Full Article

Scientists Create Embryonic Stem Cells Without Destroying Embryos (6/15/2007)

Researchers are 'optimistic' that the process can one day work in human cells ...> Full Article

New Gene Discovery Offers Further Hope For Childhood Blindness (6/14/2007)

An international research team has discovered a gene that, when mutated, causes one of the most common forms of inherited blindness in babies. Scientists at the University of Leeds, working in collaboration with experts from other centres around the world, identified the gene, which is essential to photoreceptors in the eye, the cells that "see" light. ...> Full Article

Self-Healing Materials Can Mimic Human Skin (6/13/2007)

The next generation of self-healing materials, invented by researchers at the University of Illinois, mimics human skin by healing itself time after time. The new materials rely upon embedded, three-dimensional microvascular networks that emulate biological circulatory systems. ...> Full Article

Uncovering The Molecular Basis Of Obesity (6/12/2007)

Researchers discover the molecule that links spontaneous physical activity and food intake in mice ...> Full Article

Cord Blood Comparable To Matched Bone Marrow (6/12/2007)

University of Minnesota researchers report that umbilical cord blood transplants may offer blood cancer patients better outcomes than bone marrow transplants, according to an analysis of outcome data performed at the Center for International Blood and Marrow Transplant Research (CIBMTR), Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee. ...> Full Article

Transposon, Jumping Gene, Shows Promise For Sickle Cell Gene Therapy (6/11/2007)

The Sleeping Beauty tranposon (SB-Tn) system, a gene therapy technology that avoids the pitfalls of transferring genes with viruses, shows promise in laboratory experiments for correcting the gene defect responsible for sickle cell disease (SCD), scientists in Minnesota are reporting. ...> Full Article

Bipolar Disorder Risk Genes Identified (6/11/2007)

Cardiff School of Medicine scientists have opened the way to possible new treatments for bipolar disorder by starting to pinpoint the biological mechanisms involved in the illness. ...> Full Article

Hormone Ignites the Body's Fat-Burning Furnace (6/11/2007)

Researchers have identified a master hormone that allows the body to fuel itself with stored fat during times of fasting. The hormone mobilizes lipids from fat cells, and then directs the liver to transform those lipids into energy-rich molecules that circulate throughout the body. ...> Full Article

Researchers Track Human Stem Cells Transplanted Into Rat Brain (6/10/2007)

Researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine have illuminated the path taken by human neural stem cells that were transplanted into the brains of rats and mice, and found that the cells successfully navigate toward areas damaged by stroke. ...> Full Article

Researchers Approach Key Goal Of Biologists - Cell Reprogramming (6/10/2007)

Two Harvard Stem Cell Institute (HSCI) researchers and scientists at Whitehead Institute and Japan's Kyoto University have independently taken major steps toward discovering ways to reprogram cells in order to direct their development - a key goal in developmental biology and regenerative medicine. ...> Full Article

Study Reveals How Stroke Or Head Injury Can Increase Risk Of Alzheimer's Disease (6/10/2007)

Researchers from the MassGeneral Institute for Neurodegenerative Disorders (MGH-MIND) have discovered how the death of brain cells caused by a stroke or head injury may cause generation of amyloid-beta protein - the key component of senile plaques seen in the brains of patients with Alzheimer's disease. Their report appears in the June 7 issue of the journal Neuron. ...> Full Article

New Platform For Regulating Expression Of Therapeutic Genes Unveiled (6/9/2007)

A new platform for regulating the expression of therapeutic genes, which will have major implications for gene and cell therapy, was presented today at the 10th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Gene Therapy (ASGT) in Seattle. ...> Full Article

Research Team Identifies New Alzheimer's Gene (6/9/2007)

Powerful research tools and public data set opens new era in the genetic study of Alzheimer's ...> Full Article

Crucial Progress In Understanding Fragile X Mental Retardation Protein (6/9/2007)

Researchers in the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology & Reproductive Sciences at Yale School of Medicine have identified a new regulatory target for the Fragile X mental retardation protein (FMRP), laying the groundwork for possible new treatments for Fragile X syndrome(FXS), the leading inherited form of mental retardation. ...> Full Article

Reprogrammed Fibroblasts Identical To Embryonic Stem Cells (6/8/2007)

Embryonic stem cells are unique because they can develop into virtually any kind of tissue type, an attribute called pluripotency. Somatic cell nuclear transfer ("therapeutic cloning") offers the hope of one day creating customized embryonic stem cells with a patient's own DNA. Here, an individual's DNA would be placed into an egg, resulting in a blastocyst that houses a supply of stem cells. But to access these cells, researchers must destroy a viable embryo. ...> Full Article

Genetically Modified Stem Cells May Treat Genetic Disorders (6/8/2007)

A study demonstrating therapeutic utilization of human stem cells, including potential application to X-linked Severe Combined Immunodeficiency (XSCID or "Bubble-Boy" disease) was presented today at the 10th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Gene Therapy (ASGT) in Seattle. ...> Full Article

Studies To Find Better Ways To Preserve Human Eggs, Ovarian Tissue Under Way (6/8/2007)

The goal is to make human eggs, ovarian tissue, blood vessels, even whole organs available when needed. ...> Full Article

Scientists Set Their Sights On Cure For AMD (6/7/2007)

A groundbreaking surgical therapy capable of stabilising and restoring vision in the vast majority of patients who currently suffer blindness through Age-Related Macular Degeneration (AMD) is to be taken to clinical trial by scientists and clinicians at the UCL Institute of Ophthalmology, Moorfields Eye Hospital and the University of Sheffield. The therapy, using cells derived from human embryonic stem cells to replace the faulty retinal cells that cause AMD, will be developed by the London Project to Cure AMD, a collaborative project launched today bringing together some of the leading specialists in the field. ...> Full Article

Researchers Find Mechanisms That May Unlock Answers To Alzheimer's Disease (6/7/2007)

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

Brain Inflammation May Be Friend, Not Foe, For Alzheimer's Patients (6/6/2007)

New findings fit well with vaccine approach to fight disease ...> Full Article

Cell Biologist Offers Insights into Embryonic Development (6/5/2007)

The development of the human embryo is exquisitely choreographed. After fertilization, the egg starts dividing. After four rounds of division, the embryo, now known as the morula, leaves the fallopian tube and enters the uterine cavity. As it moves, the morula changes form. It starts to resemble a microscopic tennis ball, inside of which are a hollow space and a mass of cells. The cells inside the ball form the embryoblasts, while those on the outside become trophoblasts, cells that will form the placenta. ...> Full Article

Scientists Identify Novel Stem Cell In Adult Muscle (6/4/2007)

Scientists at the Sprott Centre for Stem Cell Research have identified a novel population of stem cells in adult muscle. The results, published in the scientific journal Cell, represent a significant advance towards the development of stem cell-based therapies for degenerative muscle diseases. ...> Full Article

Muscle Repair Depends on Multiple Cell Types (6/3/2007)

Researchers have identified a new population of stem cells that act to repair muscle after damage. ...> Full Article

Human Stem Cell Treatment Restores Motor Function in Paralyzed Rats (6/2/2007)

Rats paralyzed due to loss of blood flow to the spine returned to near normal ambulatory function six weeks after receiving grafts of human spinal stem cells (hSSCs). ...> Full Article