Germ or sex cells have many important implications for health and research. In today’s post the goal is to provide a helpful, comprehensive overview of these remarkable cells. Where does research on these cells stand today? It’s an exciting time. What are sex cells? | Are sex cells haploid or diploid? | Why are germ cells […]
Germ or sex cells: DNA content, research, clinical applications Read More »
When I first started The Niche more than a dozen years ago, I hoped we’d see a Parkinson’s disease stem cell therapy by now. A proven one. I was a little too optimistic back then. Now in 2022, I know much better how hard translation to the bedside can be in general. Still, I’m hopeful.
Parkinson’s disease stem cell therapy research update Read More »
I’ve been teaching Histology here at UC Davis School of Medicine for more than 12 years and I lecture on skin among other topics so I’ve made more than one labeled diagram of the skin over the years. I’ve included some in this post. First, below you can see a zoomed0out view of fingertip with
Labeled diagram of the skin & skin stem cells in research Read More »
When I first started this blog back in 2010 the most contentious issue on the more political side of our field was federal funding for embryonic stem cell research. It was something you couldn’t take for granted. Some history on embryonic stem cell funding in the US There were times back then when funding of
Is embryonic stem cell research a target after Roe? Read More »
A type of human cells used in research called HEK cells or 293s has been much in the news lately. This is mainly related to COVID-19 vaccine research. There seem to be many misunderstandings about 293 cells. For that reason, I thought I’d do this post to clear things up. I’ve been working with these
Explainer on 293 or HEK cells and their use in COVID vaccine research Read More »
Could stem cell Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) research provide a potential path to future treatment or preventative measures? The goal of today’s post is to provide a review of the state of the field in this area including possible approaches and challenges. You can watch a video covering the topic by Dr. Paul Knoepfler below on
Stem cell Alzheimer’s disease research Read More »
What might be most surprising about this week’s recommended stem cell research reads is there’s nothing about COVID-19 in here. There are, however, some really great papers. And we can expect more developments on the cellular medicine for COVID-19 front coming soon. Before I jump into the reads, if you haven’t already check out our
Weekly stem cell research reads: BAF, Polycomb, Fertility, More Read More »
In any given field of biomedical science like stem cell research and regenerative medicine, it’s very useful if you can accurately predict the future. It seems, though, that predictions are far more difficult within the more exciting and rapidly-changing fields. The field of stem cells and regenerative medicine fits that bill. Past stem cell research
21 Stem Cell Research & Regenerative Medicine 2021 Predictions Read More »
As a pivotal advance in the gene-editing field and timeline, CRISPR continues to be utilized for research on stem cells and human diseases. Today, I will explain some of the most notable recent findings in the stem cell-CRISPR field. To start things off, I have also created an infographic that briefly explains what CRISPR-Cas9 is,
New research on CRISPR gene-editing in stem cells, infographic Read More »
Katie Thomas at the New York Times reports that BARDA has dropped considering funding applications for stem cells for COVID-19. The move is part of a larger shift in funding priorities away from lung treatments and toward vaccine development. The decision has puzzled and even angered some stem cell firms and researchers. BARDA stands for
BARDA drops funding of research into stem cells for COVID-19 Read More »