Ready for some stem cell good news? It can be difficult at times in a cutting edge field like stem cells in terms of keeping upbeat about hopes of rapid translation to help patients with real, proven therapies. It takes a long time, money, dedication, and even a bit of luck for the researchers and […]
6 recent stem cell good news stories including on liver disease Read More »
I invited Nobel Laureate Shinya Yamanaka to do an interview on the future of clinical translation of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC). He provides some intriguing new insights into the iPSC field and the broader stem cell arena. PK: The Takahashi Team’s active Clinical Study using iPSCs to make RPEs to treat Macular Degeneration has
Shinya Yamanaka Interview on Clinical Use of IPSC Read More »
Some diverse new stem cell papers worth a peek this weekend? Direct reprogramming hits crest: Generation of Multipotent Induced Neural Crest by Direct Reprogramming of Human Postnatal Fibroblasts with a Single Transcription Factor, Cell Stem Cell Hormone receptors in prostate cancer cells versus stem cells: Concise Review: Androgen Receptor Differential Roles in Stem/Progenitor Cells Including Prostate, Embryonic, Stromal,
5 new cool stem cell papers worth a look for weekend reading Read More »
We in the stem cell field should call this past week: A Nightmare on Stem Street. I can’t think of many weeks that have been worse for the stem cell field than this past one. I’m a new week is starting soon. It was a real nightmare, although I wish it was just something fictional
After nightmare stem cell week, some good news? Read More »
What if you could reprogram cells inside of an organism to a different fate and, for instance, make IPS cells? We can, right? But when most of us think about making induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells, we imagine it all happening in a little plastic dish in our labs or in our colleague’s labs, not
Stem cell journal club: dishing on Nature paper on making iPS cells inside mice Read More »
New ISSCR President, Dr. Janet Rossant, kindly agreed to do an interview with me focused on the future of ISSCR, her plans for her tenure, and some key issues in the field. Dr. Rossant is Chief of Research at The Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto. 1. The stem cell arena is a very rapidly changing one
The Harvard Stem Cell Institute yesterday posted on Facebook that they will make the biggest announcement in their history tomorrow. Big hat tip to Mohammed Mostajo for the heads up and pic on this one. Thanks! What’s that all about? I’ve been working on my sources! Possible predictions…. A. SCNT-production of genetically normal human embryonic stem cells
A team from the Salk Institute in La Jolla led by Inder Verma has reported dedifferentiation in a paper in Science some important findings that I believe make their paper in the top 10 as a candidate for paper of the year. The paper, entitled “Dedifferentiation of Neurons and Astrocytes by Oncogenes Can Induce Gliomas
Dedifferentiation of neurons & astrocytes into glioma forming cells Read More »
It has been a big week in very different ways for the stem cell field related to induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells. First, we had the Nobel Prize deservedly going to stem cell hero, Shinya Yamanaka. Great news! Congratulations to Dr. Yamanaka. Unfortunately, now, we have a puzzling story that iPS cells have been reported
What if I told you I believe that iPS cells really began in Seattle in the 1980s? Call me crazy? Read on. We hear a lot about how iPS cells were first created in 2006 in Japan by Shinya Yamanaka. I often say this myself. However, as is the case with so much in science,
How iPS cells germinated in part in Seattle in the 1980s Read More »