Category Archives: Stem Cell Transplant

NEW YORK: A simple lab treatment can turn ordinary cells from mice into stem cells, according to a surprising study that hints at a possible new way to grow tissue for treating illnesses like diabetes and Parkinson's disease. The feat is being hailed as a "game-changer" in the quest to grow transplant tissue in the lab. Researchers in Boston and Japan exposed cells from spleens of newborn mice to a more acidic environment that they're used to. In lab tests, that turned them into stem cells, showing enough versatility to produce the tissues of a mouse embryo, for example. Cells from skin, muscle, fat and other tissue of newborn mice appeared to go through the same change, which could be triggered by exposing cells to any of a variety of stressful situations, researchers said. Scientists hope to harness stem cells to replace defective tissue in a wide variety of diseases . By making stem cells from the patient, they can get around the problem of transplant rejection. The new approach - provided it overcomes safety hurdles - could smash cost and technical barriers in stem-cell research, said independent commentators. "If it works in man, this could be the gamechanger that … Continue reading →

This image from the journal Nature shows a mouse embryo formed with specially-treated cells from a newborn mouse that had been transformed into stem cells. If the same technique works for humans, it may provide a new way to grow tissue for treating illnesses like diabetes and Parkinson's disease. AP NEW YORK -- Scientists are reporting a stem cell breakthrough using a simple lab technique that may create reprogrammed cells after dipping them in acid for under 30 minutes. The technique turned ordinary cells from mice into stem cells, according to the surprising new study that hints at a possible new way to grow tissue for treating illnesses like diabetes and Parkinson's disease. Play Video Dr. Jon LaPook goes inside the trial and approval process for an experimental treatment using stem cells designed to make Multiple Sclerosis pati... Cells from skin, muscle, fat and other tissue of newborn mice appeared to go through the same change, which could be triggered by exposing cells to any of a variety of stressful situations, researchers said. (This) approach in the mouse is the most simple, lowest cost and quickest method to generate pluripotent cells from mature cells, professor Chris Mason, chair of regenerative … Continue reading →

PARIS: Scientists on Wednesday reported a simple way to turn animal cells back to a youthful, neutral state, a feat hailed as a "game-changer" in the quest to grow transplant tissue in the lab. The research, reported in the journal Nature, could be the third great advance in stem cells -- a futuristic field that aims to reverse Alzheimer's, cancer and other crippling or lethal diseases. The latest breakthrough comes from Japan, as did its predecessor which earned its inventor a Nobel Prize. The new approach, provided it overcomes safety hurdles, could smash cost and technical barriers in stem-cell research, said independent commentators. "If it works in man, this could be the game-changer that ultimately makes a wide range of cell therapies available using the patient's own cells as starting material," said Chris Mason, a professor of regenerative medicine at University College London. "The age of personalised medicine will have arrived." Stem cells are primitive cells that, as they grow, differentiate into the various specialised cells that make up the different organs -- the brain, the heart, the kidney and so on. The goal is to create stem cells in the lab and nudge them to grow into these differentiated … Continue reading →

By AsianWeek Staff January 27, 2014Posted in: Arts-Entertainment, Bay Area, Events, News Laugh for Lives is a comedy show benefitingAsian American Donor Program, a non-profit organization dedicated to increasing the availability of potential stem cells donors for patients with life threatening diseases curable by a stem cell transplant. Ethnic minority individuals are desperately needed to register as a potential bone marrow/stem cell donor. Laugh for Lives 2014 will take place on Friday, March 7, 2014 at the Palace of Fine Arts, San Francisco.The list of performers includes Eli Nicolas, Paul Ogata, Omid Singh, Tina Kim and hosted by Jimmy Ouyang. To purchase tickets:http://www.aadp.org/lfl14/. For $5 discount off, enter discount code:Asianweek. Free Parking:http://www.palaceoffinearts.org/Directions.html Because finding a matching donor is often based on ethnicity, and because there are so few Asian American and Pacific Islander donors listed on the National Registry, many patients are not able to find a perfect matching donor. AADPs goal is to register more ethnic minority donors and give patients a greater chance of finding a perfect match early on in their diagnosis. It costs $100 to add one (1) new donor onto the Registry. We need your help to continue our cause so no donor is asked … Continue reading →

Sandy Hirsch was diagnosed with blood cancer in 2009, and a year later, she spent several weeks at Duke University to get a bone marrow transplant that wasnt available in Charlotte. Today, the 65-year-old multiple myeloma patient is celebrating the opening of an adult bone marrow transplant unit at Carolinas Medical Center. It means patients like her will no longer have to travel hours for treatment and be away from home for weeks at a time. Its wonderful, Hirsch said last week. What a joy it would have been to have it in Charlotte and to keep my family around me. The 16-bed, $10.5 million transplant unit the fourth such program in North Carolina opened Jan. 22 at Carolinas Medical Center, the flagship hospital in Carolinas HealthCare System. Until last week, Charlotte was the largest U.S. city without an adult bone marrow transplant program. Its just a short walk from the hospital systems Levine Cancer Institute, which opened in 2012 and has since hired nine specialists in hematologic oncology, or blood cancer. They come from some of the most prestigious U.S. medical centers, including the Cleveland Clinic and Johns Hopkins University. Weve recruited a cadre of physicians with expertise in … Continue reading →

Dr. Edward Ross, with the University of Florida College of Medicine's Division of Nephrology, Hypertension and Renal Transplantation, talks about his research Thursday, January 16, 2014. Ross and his team are using pig kidneys as a scaffold or blueprint to someday recreate a human kidney. In the ground-floor labyrinth that connects UF Health Shands Hospital to the UF health sciences campus, a handful of scientists are super excited about research that one day could mean the end of long waiting lines for kidney transplant patients. The promise lies in a soft sponge-like structure that is about the size of a bar of soap and is considered a "scaffold" for building healthy human kidneys. The soap-sized structure is a baby pig's kidney, drained of its blood and cells. Over the course of three days, chemicals strip the kidney of swine cells so it can be injected with human stem cells. The idea of using stem cells to grow new organs is not new. Scientists have been plugging away at it for two decades, said Dr. Edward Ross, a nephrologist and professor of medicine at UF Health. "The dream of taking patients' stem cells and growing an organ never came to fruition," … Continue reading →

SWAB DRIVE - January 31 SWAB DRIVE Mayfair Shopping Centre January 31 / 3 -- 7 pm Hannah Day is a little girl from Victoria who has leukemia. Like one thousand other Canadians, she ... By: Tanya Smith … Continue reading →

Be the Match for Joshua Joshua, 6, needs a stem cell transplant to cure his sickle cell. Join Be The Match Registry at http://www.childrens.com/bethematch to give patients like Josh... By: Children's Medical Center Dallas … Continue reading →

Stem Cell Transplant Why Choose Aurora Robert F Taylor, MD By: QQQ Health … Continue reading →

Jason and Dad This was taken the week before admission for stem cell transplant when he was still feeling so so... By: Katie Hotz … Continue reading →