Category Archives: Stem Cell Research

Moskovskiye Novosti Church Calls for Ban on Stem Cell Research The Russian Orthodox Church has called for recognizing fetuses as human life and for banning medical research that involves biological material procured from abortion procedures. The church has sent a series of amendments to the cell technology bill, which iscurrently in the works, to Healthcare Minister Tatyana Golikova in the hope that “the ministry will heed its opinion.” “We, in turn, are ready for dialogue and discussion on each proposal,” said Bishop Panteleimon, head of the the Synodal Department for Church Charity and Social Ministry. Incidentally, the clerics cite “enlightened” European policies on this issue. In October 2011, the European Court of Justice outlawed the patenting of stem cell research that destroys a human embryo as immoral. Russia’s Healthcare Ministry supported that decision and said the cell technology bill they were working on embraced similar ethical principles. Deputy Minister Veronika Skvortsova said the new bill would ban the use of a human fetus, embryo or gamete in preparing cell lines. According to Father Panteleimon, this means that the government is ready to agree that a fertilized ovum constitutes a person. Therefore, it would only remain to legalize this statement. That … Continue reading →

The day – Valentine’s Day, as it happened – began in a whirl of coffee cups, bustling dogs and homework, then a brisk walk around the block – in other words, business as usual for a UC Irvine couple who are a high-profile science team engaged in cutting-edge stem-cell research. Brian Cummings and Aileen Anderson, whose stem-cell treatment for spinal cord injury is being tested on patients in Switzerland, say their office – only a short walk from their home on the UCI campus – has a family feel as well. At UCI’s recently constructed Stem Cell Research Center, they supervise a crew of young students and technicians whose bond with their mentors is so close that they call themselves the “Andermings.” “I suppose it’s like having an orphanage,” Cummings joked as he prepared for the day ahead. It would include a lengthy meeting with the Andermings on how best to grow human embryonic stem cells without animal-cell contamination, a critique of a doctoral candidate’s presentation of potentially significant new findings and a session with Alzheimer’s researchers at an institute called UCI MIND. But first, Cummings, Anderson and their two dogs – Chesapeake and Indiana – had to get the … Continue reading →

Editor's Choice Academic Journal Main Category: Lymphoma / Leukemia / Myeloma Also Included In: Blood / Hematology;  Cancer / Oncology;  Stem Cell Research Article Date: 17 Feb 2012 - 9:00 PST email to a friend   printer friendly   opinions   Current Article Ratings: Patient / Public: Healthcare Prof: 3 (1 votes) A landmark study published Online First in The Lancet Oncology , describes the discovery of a unique matching mechanism that affects the outcome of blood stem cell transplants and helps improving survival rates for sufferers from leukemia and other blood cancers. Often, the last glimmer of hope for blood cancer sufferers who remain unresponsive to all other treatment options is to receive blood stem cells, also called haemopoietic cells, from an unrelated, living donor. An allele is an alternative form of a gene, i.e. one member of a pair that is located at a specific position on a specific chromosome. Doctors look for matches of the human leukocyte antigen (HLA) type of five key alleles that occur in a blood stem cell to achieve a 10/10 match to reduce the risks linked to transplants, such as acute Graft versus Host Disease (aGvHD). However, due to complex reasons that are not … Continue reading →

ALAMEDA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- BioTime, Inc. (NYSE Amex: BTX), a biotechnology company that develops and markets products in the field of regenerative medicine, today announced that Chief Executive Officer Michael D. West, Ph.D. will present at the 7th Annual New York Stem Cell Summit at Bridgewaters New York City on Tuesday, February 21, 2012 at 8:48 a.m. ET. Dr. West will provide an update and new information on the Company's manufacturing technologies and cell-based therapeutics in development. The presentation will be available online at http://www.biotimeinc.com. The annual New York Stem Cell Summit provides investors, industry, practitioners, and analysts with the latest developments and investment opportunities in the stem cell marketplace. About BioTime, Inc. BioTime, headquartered in Alameda, California, is a biotechnology company focused on regenerative medicine and blood plasma volume expanders. Its broad platform of stem cell technologies is developed through subsidiaries focused on specific fields of applications. BioTime develops and markets research products in the field of stem cells and regenerative medicine, including a wide array of proprietary ACTCellerate™ cell lines, culture media, and differentiation kits. BioTime's wholly owned subsidiary ES Cell International Pte. Ltd. has produced clinical-grade human embryonic stem cell lines that were derived following principles of Good … Continue reading →

DUBLIN--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/0a3b55/targeting_cancer_s) has announced the addition of the "Targeting Cancer Stem Cells: Therapeutic Strategies, Pipeline, Biomarkers and Opportunities 2011" report to their offering. Cancer Stem Cell (CSC) research has accelerated in recent years and considerable efforts are being made to develop novel agents that target these cells. Today, more than forty companies and commercial research groups are evaluating 20+ strategies and 50 candidate molecules, in the hope of making new advances in this area. CSCs are being targeted using novel single agents as well as combinations, based on new and established classes. This 2011 report gives a comprehensive update on current therapeutic and diagnostic development in this field, on the drug development pipeline and the most promising research areas. New therapeutic and diagnostic opportunities in this field are also presented. Background: Many cancers contain a subset of stem-like cells believed to play a critical role in the development and progression of the disease. These cells, named Cancer Stem Cells (CSCs), have been found in leukaemia, myeloma, breast, prostate, pancreatic, colon, brain, lung and other cancers. Findings suggest that CSCs are able to seed new tumour formation and drive metastasis. CSCs also show resistance to a number … Continue reading →

My latest Science Progress column reacts to the new finalized stem cell guidelines promulgated by the National Institutes of Health this week. First, I give the background on Bush’s awful policy, finally superseded: The Bush administration’s increasingly unpopular policy, you’ll recall, stated that no stem cell lines derived from blastocysts after the date of the former president’s August 9, 2001 speech on the matter could be used in research receiving federal funds. This raised a host questions, both about ethics and also about coherence—for how could a rule based simply on which day Bush gave his speech have any moral authority? The policy lacked scientific authority as well, as it was soon revealed that Bush’s promise of “more than sixty genetically diverse” stem cell lines for federally funded research was simply bogus and based on a gross overestimate of the number of available lines. There were really only 21, and “genetically diverse” was a dubious assertion to boot. So the Bush policy wound up constraining research far more than it had at first appeared, and far more than promised. This story of scientific carelessness (or worse) during the president’s nationally televised stem cell address has now been told and retold, … Continue reading →

The University of Michigan Health System announced its first human embryonic stem cell line has been accepted by the National Institutes of Health register, making the cells available for federal research dollars. UM4-6 is the first stem cell line the University of Michigan has had accepted, says Gary Smith. Smith is the co-director for U-M Consortium for Stem Cell Therapies, a division of A. Alfred Taubman Medical Research Institute in Ann Arbor and is responsible for deriving the line. Here are details about this event. * In 2008, Michigan voters approved a ballot proposal that amended the state constitution to allow human embryonic stem cell research under certain guidelines. The cells had to be created for fertility purposes, unsuitable for implantation (or extras not needed), taken from embryos that would otherwise have been discarded and donated by the person seeking fertility treatment. * According to the Taubman Institute, university researchers have been working to extract this line. They derived it in 2010 from a cluster of 30 cells taken from a 5-day-old embryo. * According to NIH's stem cell registry, the UM4-6 became the 157th line on the federal register on Feb. 2. Other schools that have registered lines include … Continue reading →

Infusing stem cells into the arteries of heart attack patients can heal damaging scars, according to new research, a feat previously thought impossible. Stem cells - cells that form different tissue of in the body - helped half of tested heart attack patients recover from their scars over a six-month period, according to the study. The control group did not see any additional recovery in their hearts. The researchers recommended the experimental therapy expand into clinical trials beyond the 17 patients who received the original treatment. "This has never been accomplished before, despite a decade of cell therapy trials for patients with heart attacks. Now we have done it," Eduardo Marban, director of the Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute and one of the study's co-authors, said in a statement. "The effects are substantial." The research included a group of 25 patients who had suffered from heart attacks caused by a blockage in an artery. The online version of The Lancet published the research on Valentine's Day. Like us on Facebook The year-long study tested the effects of the stem cells on 17 patients, compared to eight control patients who received standard treatments of medication along with diet and exercise recommendations. For each … Continue reading →

Editor's Choice Main Category: Stem Cell Research Article Date: 15 Feb 2012 - 8:00 PST email to a friend   printer friendly   opinions   Current Article Ratings: Patient / Public: Healthcare Prof: According to a study published in the February issue of the STEM CELL Translational Medicine Journal , a world-first technique for generating adult stem cells (mesenchymal stem cells [MSCs]) has been developed by researchers at the University of Queensland. This new method can be used to repair bone and possibly other organs, and will considerably affect individuals suffering from a variety of serious diseases. Professor Nicholas Fisk, who leads the collaborative study between the UQ Clinical Research Center (UQCCR) and the UQ's Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (AIBN), explained: "We used a small molecule to induce embryonic stem cells over a 10 day period, which is much faster than other studies reported in the literature. The technique also worked on their less contentious counterparts, induced pluripotent stem cells. To make the pluripotent mature stem cells useful in the clinic, they have to be told what type of cell they need to become (pre-differentiated), before being administered to an injured organ, or otherwise they could form tumors. … Continue reading →

NEW YORK, NY--(Marketwire -02/15/12)- Stem cell stocks have performed well of late, outperforming the S&P 500 by a large margin over the last three months. Since mid-November, TickerSpy's Stem Cell Stocks index (RXSTM) has returned more than 20 percent, as favorable news from some of stem cell industry heavyweights has boosted investor optimism in the sector. The Paragon Report examines investing opportunities in the Biotechnology Industry and provides equity research on Advanced Cell Technology, Inc. (OTC.BB: ACTC.OB - News) and StemCells Inc. (NASDAQ: STEM - News). Access to the full company reports can be found at: http://www.paragonreport.com/ACTC http://www.paragonreport.com/STEM Shares of StemCells Inc. have skyrocketed nearly 20 percent year-to-date. StemCells Inc. is focused on cellular medicine, or the use of stem and progenitor cells as the basis for therapeutics and therapies, and enabling technologies for stem cell research, or the use of cells and related technologies to enable stem cell-based research and drug discovery and development. Earlier this month the company released a statement saying that it received U.S. Food and Drug Administration authorization to start a clinical trial of the company's potential treatment for dry age-related macular degeneration, or AMD. AMD is the leading cause of vision loss and blindness … Continue reading →