Cloning And Stem Cell News, Research and Resources - May 2009 Archives

WPI professor receives Fulbright Scholarship to work on tissue engineering in Ireland (5/31/2009)

Biomedical engineering professor Kristen Billiar, who will study the mechanics of nanoscale scaffolds for tissue engineering at the National University of Ireland Galway, is the 14th member of the current WPI faculty to be named a Fulbright Scholar ...> Full Article

Gene therapy advance in severe genetic disorder (5/30/2009)

A dog born with a deadly disease similar to glycogen storage disease type 1A has survived for nearly two years after receiving gene therapy at the University of Florida. The achievement puts scientists a step closer to finding a cure for the disorder in children. ...> Full Article

Adult bone marrow stem cells injected into skeletal muscle can repair heart tissue (5/29/2009)

University at Buffalo researchers have demonstrated for the first time that injecting adult bone marrow stem cells into skeletal muscle can repair cardiac tissue, reversing heart failure. ...> Full Article

Award for pioneering stem cell research to mend broken bones (5/26/2009)

Funding from the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council could lead to the development of new and better treatments for broken bones and other orthopedic problems associated with aging. ...> Full Article

Gene therapy could expand stem cells' promise (5/22/2009)

Researchers discuss combined approach to maximize benefits and minimize risks of stem cell therapy ...> Full Article

New stem cell research unlocks unknown therapies (5/18/2009)

Meet Dr Jonas Frisen, one of the most successful scientists within stem cell research, at an R&D session in the world’s largest convention for biotech and pharmaceuticals, BIO 2009 in Atlanta, USA. The session is arranged by the Swedish medical university Karolinska Institutet, SwedenBIO and Invest in Sweden Agency. ...> Full Article

Stem cell transplant in mouse embryo yields heart protection in adulthood (5/17/2009)

Stem cells play a role in heart muscle rejuvenation by attracting cells from the body that develop into heart muscle cells. They have been successfully used to halt or reverse cardiac injury following heart attack, but not to prevent injury before it occurs. ...> Full Article

The end of the line for existing stem cell research? (5/16/2009)

Time is short for scientists to respond to the call for comments on the National Institutes of Health proposed guidelines for the use of human embryonic stem cell lines and their eligibility for federal funds. On May 26, the window to provide feedback will close, and the drafted rules leave the possibility that funding for almost all existing cell lines will disappear. ...> Full Article

Focus on the formation of bones, teeth and shells (5/15/2009)

Researchers at Eindhoven University of Technology for the first time have shown the earliest stages in biomineralization, the process that leads to the formation of bones, teeth and sea shells. ...> Full Article

How an enzyme tells stem cells which way to divide (5/15/2009)

University of Oregon biochemists report a mechanism dictating cell division is not a long cascade of events ...> Full Article

Heart protein regulates blood vessel maintenance (5/14/2009)

Researchers identify a protein that regulates the physical state of blood vessels. The biochemical processes involved in this regulation are important in the study of cardiovascular health. ...> Full Article

What do blood stem cells need to grow? Blood flow (5/14/2009)

Blood stem cells literally go with the flow, according to a new report published as an immediate early publication in the journal Cell, a Cell Press journal, on May 13. Researchers have found that a heart beat and blood circulation are critical signals for the production of blood-forming, or hematopoietic, stem cells in the developing embryo. ...> Full Article

Bone marrow stem cell co-transplantation prevents embryonic stem cell transplant-associated tumors (5/13/2009)

Transplanted embryonic stem cells can potentially treat the effects of spinal cord injury (SCI), yet a serious drawback has been the development of tumors following transplantation. A new study has found that co-transplanting embryonic stem cells and bone marrow stem cells suppressed tumor formation in laboratory mice, leading researchers to speculate that future and similar co-transplantation may lead to benefits for humans suffering the effects of SCI. ...> Full Article

New tissue scaffold regrows cartilage and bone (5/12/2009)

MIT engineers and colleagues have built a new tissue scaffold that can stimulate bone and cartilage growth when transplanted into the knees and other joints. The scaffold, which recently went into clinical trials, could offer a potential new treatment for sports injuries and other cartilage damage, such as arthritis. ...> Full Article

NIST issues first reference material for tissue engineering (5/10/2009)

NIST last week issued its first reference materials to support the new and growing field of tissue engineering for medicine. ...> Full Article

New Book: Essentials of Stem Cell Biology (5/9/2009)

Fully revised, this full-color book continues to serve the needs of researchers, grad students and professionals working with stem cells including those working in biology, tissue engineering, genetics, cancer research, virology, immunology and biotechnology -- groups that are eager to find out the latest information from the leaders in the field. ...> Full Article

WARF signs license agreement with Pfizer for human embryonic stem cells (5/7/2009)

Pfizer Inc., a major biopharmaceutical company, and the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation, the private, nonprofit patenting and licensing organization for the University of Wisconsin-Madison, announced May 5 that they have signed a license for human embryonic stem cell patents for the development of new drug therapies. ...> Full Article

Extreme makeover: Scientists explore new way to change cell's identity (5/6/2009)

Scientists at the Stanford University School of Medicine have now shown that skin cells can be coaxed to behave like muscle cells -- and muscle cells like skin cells -- solely by altering who they hang out with: the relative levels of the ingredients inside the cell. ...> Full Article

Moving gene therapy forward with mobile DNA (5/4/2009)

VIB researchers connected to the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven in collaboration with colleagues at the Max Delbruck Center in Berlin have developed a new non-viral gene technology approach. This approach overcomes side-effects associated with the current viral vectors, such as inflammation or the development of cancer. The result offers new hope for optimizing gene therapy as a possible cure for specific diseases, such as genetic disorders and cancer. ...> Full Article

Scientists shed light on inner workings of human embryonic stem cells (5/3/2009)

Scientists at UC Santa Barbara have made a significant discovery in understanding the way human embryonic stem cells function. ...> Full Article

New layer of control over human embryonic stem cells found (5/2/2009)

Researchers have discovered an added layer of complexity in the network that determines human embryonic stem cell fate. A report publishing online April 30 in the journal Cell shows that a microRNA known as miR-145 lowers the activity of three key ingredients in the "recipe" for making embryonic stem cells. ...> Full Article

Scientists turn adult skin cells into muscle and vice versa (5/1/2009)

In a study featured on the cover of the May issue of the FASEB Journal, researchers describe how they are able to reprogram human adult skin cells into other cell types in order to decipher the elusive mechanisms underlying reprogramming. To demonstrate their point, they transformed human skin cells into mouse muscle cells and vice versa. ...> Full Article