Category: Stem Cell Research

The new Wolfson Centre for Stem Cells, Tissue Engineering and Modelling (STEM) will be officially opened at the University of Nottingham on the 21st September, 2007 by Sir Keith O’Nions, Director General Science and Innovation at the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills.

Scientists have developed unique technology to grow stem cells and other tissue in the laboratory in conditions similar to the way they grow in the human body.The technology, developed and patented by scientists at Durham University and its spin-out company ReInnervate Limited, is a plastic scaffold which allows cells to be grown in a more realistic three-dimensional (3D) form compared to the traditional flat surface of a Petri dish.

Easily accessed and plentiful, adult stem cells found in a male patient’s testicles might someday be used to create a wide range of tissue types to help him fight disease — getting around the need for more controversial embryonic stem cells. That’s the promise of a breakthrough study in mice led by a team from Weill Cornell Medical College in New York City, who report their findings in the September 20 issue of Nature.

Adult testicles could one day become a common source for stem cells to cultivate a host of tissue types to combat disease, while at the same time avoiding the ethical resistance to embryonic stem cells, say researchers from Weill Cornell Medical College, New York City, USA. You can read about this latest research in the journal Nature, September 20 issue.

Researchers from London’s Imperial College have successfully implanted lung cells grown from embryonic stem cells into the lungs of mice. This worldwide breakthrough, presented to the annual Congress of the European Respiratory Society (ERS) in Stockholm, opens up exciting new horizons for the treatment of lung disease. Tissue engineering and stem cell therapy are giving rise to great hopes for the treatment of many conditions.

Tengion, Inc., a leader in regenerative medicine, announced it has initiated a Phase 2 multi-center clinical trial of its neo-bladder construct, derived from a patient’s own cells. The U.S.-based study is being conducted in 10 adult patients with neurogenic bladder due to spinal cord injuries. Neurogenic bladder is a condition that can occur due to spinal cord injury and may lead to kidney failure and incontinence, even when patients receive optimal medical treatment.

Embryonic stem cell research and invitro fertilization expert, Alan O. Trounson, from Australia, has been named as president of the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM), which is at the head of California’s stem cell program worth $3 billion. Trounson has a brilliant record in research, management skills and tackling Australia’s contentious politics surrounding embryonic stem cell research.

Scientists have identified a distinct subpopulation of cancer stem cells (CSCs) that is responsible for metastasis of a deadly human pancreatic cancer. The research, published by Cell Press in the September issue of the journal Cell Stem Cell, provides insight into the role of CSCs in cancer initiation, progression, and metastasis and suggests new directions for development of more effective therapeutics.

All blood cell production in adults depends on the steady work of a vital gene that if lost results in early bone marrow failure, Dartmouth Medical School cancer geneticists have found. Their research reveals an unexpected role for the gene in sustaining the adult blood-forming system, and opens novel strategies for targeting the gene, which is often involved in a type of childhood leukemia.

Engineers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have developed tools to help solve two of the main problems slowing the progress of stem cell research — how to quickly test stem cell response to different drugs or genes, and how to create a large supply of healthy, viable stem cells to study from only a few available cells.The researchers have created methods to study millions of stems cells on devices the size of a standard microscope slide.