Major Advance Using Ethical Stem Cells
As seen in NRL News October 2014
Cellular Dynamics International (CDI), a Madison, Wisconsin-based company, has been awarded a $1.2 million contract from the National Eye Institute to engineer stem cells acquired ethically for potential treatment of macular degeneration, one of the leading causes of blindness. This contract represents CDI’s first venture into making cells for therapeutic use.
The Eye Institute, which is part of the National Institutes of Health, will send blood and tissue …
Lab-developed intestinal organoids form mature human tissue in mice
As seen in Science Daily October 19, 2014
Summary:
Researchers have successfully transplanted ‘organoids’ of functioning human intestinal tissue grown from pluripotent stem cells in a lab dish into mice — creating an unprecedented model for studying diseases of the intestine. Scientists said that, through additional translational research, the findings could eventually lead to bioengineering personalized human intestinal tissue to treat gastrointestinal diseases.
Reporting their results Oct. 19 online in Nature Medicine, scientists from Cincinnati …
Paralyzed man walks again after nose cells repair his spinal cord
As seen in Medical News Today – 21 October 2014 at 3am PST
A 40-year-old paralyzed man from Poland can now walk again with the aid of a frame after breakthrough surgery transplanted cells from his nose into his spinal cord, which had been severed in a knife attack.
The procedure effectively provided a “bridge” over the injury site so nerve cells – encouraged by the special nose cells – could regrow across the scar …
Growing a blood vessel in a week
As seen in Science Daily – October 24, 2014
Summary:
The technology for creating new tissues from stem cells has taken a giant leap forward. Three tablespoons of blood are all that is needed to grow a brand new blood vessel in just seven days. This is shown in a new study from Sahlgrenska Acadedmy and Sahlgrenska University Hospital published in EBioMedicine.
Just three years ago, a patient at Sahlgrenska University Hospital received a blood …
Tonsil stem cells could someday help repair liver damage without surgery
As seen in Science Daily September 24, 2014
The liver provides critical functions, such as ridding the body of toxins. Its failure can be deadly, and there are few options for fixing it. But scientists now report in the journal ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces a way to potentially inject stem cells from tonsils, a body part we don’t need, to repair damaged livers — all without surgery.
Byeongmoon Jeong and colleagues point out that …
Simple method turns human skin cells into immune strengthening white blood cells
As seen in Science Daily September 11, 2014
For the first time, scientists have turned human skin cells into transplantable white blood cells, soldiers of the immune system that fight infections and invaders. The work, done at the Salk Institute, could let researchers create therapies that introduce into the body new white blood cells capable of attacking diseased or cancerous cells or augmenting immune responses against other disorders.
The work, as detailed in the journal …
New molecule allows for up to 10-fold increase in stem cell transplants
As seen in Science Daily September 18, 2014
Investigators from the Institute for Research in Immunology and Cancer (IRIC) at the Université de Montréal have just published, in the journal Science, the announcement of the discovery of a new molecule, the first of its kind, which allows for the multiplication of stem cells in a unit of cord blood. Umbilical cord stem cells are used for transplants aimed at curing a number of blood-related diseases, …