US stem-cell therapy gets helping hand from FDA

A US company has been granted beneficial 'orphan drug' status by the American Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for an embryonic stem cell therapy it's developing to treat a rare form of blindness...[Read More]

Small RNAs help stem cells change state

Researchers at the University of California, San Francisco, have discovered that microRNA (miRNA) play a key role in the switch in state between a stem cell and a mature, differentiated cell...[Read More]

Bush stem-cell lines have brighter future

The US National Institutes of Health (NIH) has approved the first human embryonic stem (ES) cell line from the George W Bush era, according to Nature News. It will be included on the National Stem Cell Registry (NSCR), ensuring its eligibility for federal funding....[Read More]

New technique creates genetic disease models in human stem cells

Scientists at the University of California San Diego (UCSD), US, have developed a technique to transfer modified genes known to cause disease in humans into human embryonic stem (ES) cell cell lines. The modified ES cells behave like diseased cells and can be used to study human genetic diseases in the laboratory. The new technique provides an alternative approach to mouse 'knock out' models of disease....[Read More]

Cord blood banking - why aren't we doing it?

In 2008 I was the first UK MP to raise the issue of umbilical cord blood (UCB) banking as a private members bill in Parliament and several MPs spoke to me of their previous ignorance of UCB. It is an ignorance I shared despite being a parent of six children and living close to one of the National Health Service (NHS) hospitals that collects it....[Read More]

Book Review: An Introduction to Stem Cells

With modern day medico-scientific technology advancing at an incredible pace, it is very easy for the layperson to become caught up in the technical language used by scientists and academics in their specialist field. Often, out of a lack of expertise, even the media misrepresent information, particularly in relation to research involving stem cells...[Read More]

Red tape hampers US embryonic stem-cell research funding

The scientific research community in the US has had much cause to celebrate this past year following President Obama taking office and swiftly implementing a decidedly more liberal policy towards human embryonic stem (ES) cell research than was hitherto in place. Earlier this month the National Institutes of Health (NIH) approved 13 new ES cell lines under the new ethical standards. However, the granting of federal funding for research projects on ES cell lines - a key policy c...[Read More]

Human trials of ES cell research could begin soon

Stem cell therapy came one step closer to being tested for the first time in people this week, as a US company applied to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for a licence to start a clinical trial. The embryonic stem (ES) cell therapy is being developed to treat Stargardt, a currently incurable disease that causes blindness in young people....[Read More]

Stem cell treatment in irradiated rats offers hope for radiotherapy patients

Following radiation to the head, rats transplanted with stem cells had greater improvements in learning and memory, showed a research team at the University of California....[Read More]

Spinal stem cell treatment gets go ahead from the FDA

American company Geron Corporation (GC) has been given permission to resume its clinical trials testing the embryonic stem cell treatment GRNPOC1....[Read More]

Key genes for sperm and egg formation identified

US scientists have succeeded in creating early-stage sperm and egg cells from human embryonic stem cells (ES cells). By studying these artificially created sperm and eggs, the research team have identified three key genes that are involved in the development of these cells. The findings, published in the journal Nature, may one day lead to a cure for some causes of infertility....[Read More]

Scientists demonstrate progress in stem cell therapies to repair damaged sight

Clinical studies presented at the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience in the United States have shown that stem cells may be used effectively in the treatment of eye disease and other retinal damage. As reported by Science Daily, in separate trials researchers demonstrated that fetal cells and retinal precursor cells derived from embryonic stem cells and also those developed using iPS (induced pluripotent stem) cells can help regenerate damaged areas of...[Read More]

Vaccine made from stem cells may help prevent colon cancer

Stem cells could potentially be used to vaccinate people against colon cancer. This surprising conclusion was made by researchers from China and the US after laboratory mice immunised with human embryonic stem (ES) cells experienced a dramatic decline in tumour growth compared to control mice. The idea that embryonic material may generate an anti-tumour response is an old one, but one that has never been tested outside animal research, so to find such an effect wit...[Read More]

Umbilical cord blood banking not worth the cash, study shows

Banking a newborn's umbilical cord blood through a private company so that stem cells may be derived and stored for that child's or sibling's future medical uses is not financially worthwhile, according to a study performed at the University of California San Francisco (UCSF). It found that the chances of privately stored umbilical cord blood being therapeutic in the next twenty years are so remote that it does not justify the expense. The researchers calculated that it costs ap...[Read More]

Human embryonic stem cell lines may now be submitted for US federal funding approval

The US National Institutes of Health (NIH) has launched a website through which scientists can request their human Embryonic stem (ES) cell lines to be approved for federally funded research. Eligible lines will appear on the NIH Human Embryonic Stem Cell Registry, also accessible online. Dr Francis Collins, Director of the NIH, has appointed a working group to assist him in deciding which lines will be approved....[Read More]

Skin cells reprogrammed to create retina cells

Light-sensing retinal eye cells have been grown from human skin cells for the first time. This raises the future possibility of restoring vision to patients with retinas damaged by certain degenerative diseases, by growing rescue or repair cells from the patient's skin...[Read More]

Geron issues statement on halted stem cell trial

Information has come to light regarding the US Food and Drug Adminstration (FDA)'s freeze on the clinical trails of GRNOPC1, a groundbreaking therapy for spinal cord injury derived from human embryonic stem (ES) cells being undertaken by biotech company Geron...[Read More]

Disgraced Korean scientist faces four years in prison

Disgraced scientist, Hwang Woo-suk found last Monday that he faces a possible four year jail term for alleged embezzlement, and the violation of Korean bioethics law....[Read More]

US company's stem cell trial put on hold

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has delayed the start of a clinical trial that plans to use human embryonic stem cell(ES) cells to treat spinal cord injury. The trial is being run by Californian based company Geron. The FDA originally gave the go-ahead for the trial in January, but now has halted the start in order to review new data submitted by Geron....[Read More]

Paper announcing creation of sperm retracted for plagiarism

A paper published in the journal Stem Cells and Development announcing the creation of human sperm cells from embryonic stem cells has been w ithdrawn because it contains plagiarised material....[Read More]