Just how good are human embryonic stem (ES) cells made by therapeutic cloning via nuclear transfer, with the successful technique first reported by the lab of Shoukhrat Mitalipov at OHSU last year? How do they compare to induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells or traditional ES cells made from IVF embryos? A new paper in Nature directly tackles these […]
Review of Mitalipov Nature paper: cloned ES cells vs iPS cells Read More »
This is a guest post on NIST. By Jeanne Loring Last week I visited NIST, the National Institute for Standards and Technologies in Gaithersburg, Maryland as a member of a review panel. NIST is the science branch of the US Department of Commerce, which is the business part of the government, and is not officially
The Measurers Size Up Stem Cells: what is NIST? Read More »
It was great being a postdoc in Bob Eisenman’s Lab at the Hutch in Seattle with colleagues like fellow postdoc Shawn Cowley. I loved it. Bob is a great mentor (see more on my experience there here) and the scientific interactions in the lab were wonderful. It’s been fun and interesting to follow the work
Cool paper by Shawn Cowley Lab on the role of HDACs in ES cells Read More »
A new patent has been awarded to James Sherley for a very unusual method claimed for making induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells. The patent, No. 8,759,098, claims that a single non-genetic chemical agent, xanthine, can by itself reprogram adult stem cells (ASC) into iPS cells (aka iPSCs; see image they released at left). Surprising patent, huh? Another
Sherley patent for reprogramming method like STAP cells Read More »
Glioblastoma and other related malignant glioma tumors including diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG) are some of the most devastating of all human cancers, and glioma stem cells may contribute to the lethality. You can see an image of a glioma (the white area in the brain scan) from Wikipedia above. These brain tumors usually kill
Are glioma stem cells a path to better outcomes? Read More »
I’ve really enjoyed day 2 of ISSCR 2014. So far this day has already packed in a slew of great talks both in the lecture halls and outside one-on-one with old friends and new ones. How great is that? I’ll focus on just a few highlights to keep it concise. Dubious stem cell clinics and
ISSCR 2014 Day 2: Navigating Balanced Stem Cell Path to Clinic Read More »
What would be the World Cup of Stem Cells? This morning at ISSCR 2014 in Vancouver things kicked off in an exciting way, kind of akin to a World Cup soccer/football match for fans of stem cells. Azim Surani (pictured at right) received the McEwen Award for his innovative research on germ cell fate and epigenetic
Kick Off of ISSCR 2014: Some Top Highlights Of World Cup of Stem Cells Read More »
Is Neuralstem flirting with noncompliance via a Right To Try Law in Colorado? Colorado is an independent-minded state. For example, it is one of only a few states including Washington State with legalized marijuana use. More recently, Colorado passed a new law supported by the ultra-conservative Goldwater Institute, the so-called Right To Try Law. This law
Neuralstem flirting with noncompliance via Right To Try Law? Read More »
I did a brief email Q&A interview with Dr. Bob Lanza of Advanced Cell Technology (ACT) on their new hES MSCs pre-clinical data for Multiple Sclerosis. I discussed the paper itself in a concise review yesterday here. Thanks to Dr. Lanza for doing the interview. 1. Were you surprised at the fact that the therapeutic
Interview with Bob Lanza on new ACT MSCs for MS paper Read More »
There is more good news from leading stem cell biotech Advanced Cell Technology (ACT) on preclinical rodent studies using stem cells to treat mice with an MS-like condition. They published a new paper in the journal Stem Cell Reports entitled “Human ESC-Derived MSCs Outperform Bone Marrow MSCs in the Treatment of an EAE Model of
Advanced Cell Technology (ACT) Revs Up Pre-Clinical Studies for MS Read More »