Category Archives: Stem Cell Research

An experimental therapy to repair spinal cord injury with stem cell-derived tissue is progressing smoothly, according to a leader of that trial who spoke at a conference on stem cell therapy. The Phase 1 safety trial is proceeding with no complications, said Dr. Joseph Ciacci, a University of California San Diego neurosurgeon. The trial is being conducted at the universitys Sanford Stem Cell Clinical Center. The conference was held last week at the Sanford Consortium for Regenerative Medicine in La Jolla. With safety looking good, the green light has been given to treat more patients, Ciacci said. However, to produce effectiveness, more cells will need to be transplanted. Four patients have been treated with neural stem cells, injected into the spinal cord. They had experienced complete loss of motor and sensor function below the injury. They had been injured between 1 and 2 years previously. Moreover, the cells show signs of integrating with the surrounding tissue in animal studies, Ciacci said. If the preliminary evidence holds up, Ciacci and colleagues plan to submit a paper detailing the results. Curing paralysis from spinal cord injury was a big selling point for those who successfully advocated Proposition 71, which authorized selling $6 … Continue reading →

LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--HemaCare Corporation (OTCBB: HEMA), a leader in cell and tissue collection, processing and cell therapy solutions, will be exhibiting at the annual meeting of the International Society of Stem Cell Research (ISSCR) June 14-17 in Boston, MA. The conference celebrates its 15th year by bringing together over 3,000 attendees from around the world to discuss recent innovation in stem cell research and regenerative medicine. This years conference program emphasizes translation of stem cell research to the clinic, with plenary sessions on ethical implications of stem cell therapy as well as preparation and safety of stem cells for the clinical setting. Our customers are on the cutting edge of developing new cell-based therapies using immune stem cells collected and processed in our laboratory, said Pete van der Wal, HemaCares Chief Executive Officer.We are attending ISSCR to meet with customers and to hear about the latest developments and needs in stem cell research so we may better serve the scientists in this exciting and rapidly evolving field. Visit HemaCare and meet several members of our sales, marketing, and executive team at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center, Booth #906, or view our product story at http://www.hemacare.com. About HemaCare HemaCare Corporation … Continue reading →

What happens to the stem cells in our brains as we age? Albina Ibrayeva, a PhD student in the USC Stem Cell laboratory of Michael Bonaguidi, addresses this question as she tries to understand how the brain naturally fights against aging and suggests promising therapeutic avenues for treating age-related neurodegeneration, disease and disorders. I love science. As an undergraduate student back in Kazakhstan, I constantly sought ways to put my knowledge into practice. During my sophomore year, I interned at the National Center for Biotechnology in Astana. This experience enabled me to work with some of the brightest minds dedicated to scientific research in my country and showed me the meaningfulness of a career in biomedical research. Since then, I knew that I wanted to be a scientist. I won a scholarship and was accepted to graduate school at USC, first to study biomedical engineering as a masters student, then the biology of aging as a PhD student. In 2015, I joined Michael Bonaguidis lab. So here I am, excited and really passionate about contributing to a not-so-distant future where research and medicine advance all humans well-being. USC is one of the worlds top research universities, especially for someone who … Continue reading →

To the editor: What price would you pay for the wellbeing of the people around you? We have to ask ourselves this question when looking at stem cells. My name is Raul Moreira. Im a senior at Midland High. I want to bring you some more information on stem cells. Stem cells are a type of unspecialized cell that have the potential to become any type of specialized cell. In this letter, I want to teach you more about stem cells and the benefits and challenges we are faced with when dealing with a possibly life-saving medicine and research. Now you may be thinking this is all good on paper but what are the real-world stories and benefits to stem cell research? One of the best candidates to answer this question is Kris Boesen. Kris became paralyzed from the neck down after his car fishtailed on a wet road and crash into a telephone pole. Luckily Kris qualified for a clinical study that might help. Just three months after Kris was injected with stem cells he is now able to feed himself, write his name and hug his friends and family among many other tasks he could not do before … Continue reading →

F or any given medical problem, it seems, theres a research team trying to use stem cells to find a solution. In clinical trials to treat everything from diabetes to macular degeneration to ALS, researchers are injecting the cells in efforts to curepatients. But in one study expectedto launch later this year, scientists hope to use stem cells in a new, highly controversial way to reverse death. The idea ofthe trial, run by Philadelphia-based Bioquark, isto inject stem cells into the spinal cords of people who have been declared clinically brain-dead. The subjects will also receive an injected protein blend, electrical nerve stimulation, and laser therapy directed at the brain. advertisement The ultimate goal: to grow new neurons and spur them to connect to each other, and thereby bring the brain back to life. Its our contention that theres no single magic bullet for this, so to start with a single magic bullet makes no sense. Hence why we have to take a different approach, said Ira Pastor, CEO of Bioquark. A dogged quest to fix broken spinal cords pays off with new hope for the paralyzed But the scientific literature scarce as it is seems to show that even … Continue reading →

Xconomy Wisconsin A 2015 study in the journal PLOS Biology estimated that $28 billion is spent annually in the U.S. on preclinical research that is not reproducible. One reason for what some researchers have called a crisis in reproducibility is that in certain types of laboratories, some scientists still track their day-to-day research activities in paper notebooksor, worse yet, in their heads. Thats according to Scott Fulton, CEO of Madison, WI-based Cellara. The startup is developing software designed for researchers in stem cell labs that it says can improve reproducibility of experiments and collaboration among groups around the world. Formed in 2012, Cellara has been working with several organizations in Wisconsin to develop and test its digital tools. The company plans to formally launch its CultureTrax software to the market later this month in Boston at the annual meeting of the International Society for Stem Cell Research. Stem cells are undifferentiated cells that can be programmed to turn into specific cell types. Fulton says there are about 25,000 stem cell culture labs worldwide. Some of them have computerized systems for tracking cell cultures, he says, but many still use paper. We interviewed more than 200 stem cell scientists over the … Continue reading →

In BriefTwo clinical trials will begin using embryonic stem cells inChina to treat Parkinson's disease and blindness. These trialsrepresent a new set of regulations on embryonic stem cells in Chinaand possibly a new era of research around the world. First Stem Cell Trials Surgeons in Zhengzhou, China, will soon begin the first clinical trial of embryonic stem cells (ESCs) in the world as they open the skulls of Parkinsons patients and inject the ESCs into their brains. The goal for the 4 million or so immature embryonic neuron cells to treat the debilitating symptoms of the Parkinsons disease. After the injections, the patients skulls will be closed up, and they will return home to wait and see if the treatment pans out. A second medical team, also in Zhengzhou, will target age-related blindness caused by macular degeneration using ESCs. In that trial, the ESCs will hopefully replace lost retinal cells. Both trials signal a new era in stem cell treatments and their regulation in China. Before 2015, China lacked a clear regulatory framework in this area, and this led to various unproven treatments making use of stem cells popping up on the market. The countrys researchers hope to solve this … Continue reading →

In BriefBioquark is about to begin a trial that will attempt to bringbrain-dead patients back to life using stem cells. However, thetrial is raising numerous scientific and ethical questions forother experts in the field. Back From The Dead Researchers seem to be setting their sights on increasinglylofty goals when it comes to the human body from the worlds first human head transplant, to fighting aging, and now reversing death altogether. Yes, you read that right. A company called Bioquarkhopes to bring people who have been declared clinically brain-dead back to life. The Philadelphia-based biotech company is expected to start on the project later this year. This trial was originally intended to go forward in 2016 in India, but regulators shut it down. Assuming this plan will be substantially similar, it will enroll 20 patients who will undergo various treatments. The stem cell injection will come first, with the stem cells isolated from that patients own blood or fat. Next, the protein blend gets injected directly into the spinal cord, which is intended to foster growth of new neurons. The laser therapy and nerve stimulation follow for 15 days, with the aim of prompting the neurons to make connections. Meanwhile, the … Continue reading →

(CNN) Here is some background information about stem cells. Scientists believe that stem cell research can be used to treat medical conditions including Parkinsons disease, spinal cord injury, stroke, burns, heart disease, diabetes, osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis. About Stem Cells:Stem cell research focuses on embryonic stem cells and adult stem cells. Stem cells have two characteristics that differentiate them from other types of cells:- Stem cells are unspecialized cells that replicate themselves for long periods through cell division.- Under certain physiologic or experimental conditions, stem cells can be induced to become mature cells with special functions such as the beating cells of the heart muscle or insulin-producing cells of the pancreas. There are four classes of stem cells: totipotent, multipotent, pluripotent, and unipotent.- Totipotent stem cells that develop into cells that make up all the cells in an embryo and fetus. (Ex: The zygote/fertilized egg and the cells at the very early stages following fertilization are considered totipotent)- Multipotent stem cells can give rise to multiple types of cells, but all within a particular tissue, organ, or physiological system. (Ex: blood-forming stem cells/bone marrow cells, most often referred to as adult stem cells)- Pluripotent stem cells (ex: embryonic stem cells) … Continue reading →

In a world first, surgeons in the Chinese city of Zhengzhou are planning to inject stem cells derived from human embryos into the brains of patients with Parkinson's disease with the aim of treating their debilitating symptoms. Meanwhile, another medical team in the same city is aiming to target vision loss using embryonic stem cells (ESC) to replace lost cells in the retina, marking a new direction in China in the wake of major changes in how the country regulates stem cell treatments. While similar treatments on Parkinson's patients have already been tested in Australia, those trials relied on cells taken from eggs that were forced to divide without first being fertilised in an effort to circumvent any ethical concerns. Stem cells are a little like blank slates that are yet to take on a specific task. If you rewind the clock on any of your body's tissues, its cells will become less specialised, until you're left with a cell with a lot of potential to become nearly anything. In the case of both kinds of embryonic stem cells, divided egg cells are subjected to various treatments to encourage them to develop into replacement cells that could treat a condition … Continue reading →