At the very beginning of Stem Cells: An Insider’s Guide, Dr Paul Knoepfler promises us that “In the end, you will truly be in the know about stem cells” and he does not disappoint. He takes us on a tour through the world of stem cells, including the basics of what constitutes a stem cell and the different types of stem cells; he explains what happens in a stem cell laboratory and delves into the potential, limitations and ethical challenges posed by stem cell treatments.
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Animation: Disease modelling with cells
Fri, 09/08/2013 - 3:09pm — Emma
How are stem cells used to model disease in the laboratory? This 3-minute animation gives a clear, simple and visually appealing explanation of what disease modelling is, why it is useful and how it is done.
This animation was created for EuroStemCell by animator Duncan Brown, with scientific content by researcher Dr Christian Unger and voiceover by Dr Nathan Adams. It is supported by an accompanying factsheet on reprogrammed cells in disease modelling.
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Inside the lab: research news from our partner CRG
Tue, 30/07/2013 - 10:51am — Emma
Every day, our partners are busy working away in the lab, as well as in science communication or public engagement. There's so much going on that it's sometimes hard to keep up! Our partner in Barcelona, the Centre for Genomic Regulation, recently sent us word of some of their exciting research and we thought you'd all be interested to hear about it to. So read on to find out more, direct from Juan Manuel Sarasua at CRG.
Building strength and stability: assembly of tendon-bone attachment
Fri, 12/07/2013 - 1:22pm — Erin Campbell
I appreciate my health and body, but I admit that there are times when I take all of the amazing biology inside my body for granted. My bones and muscles help me easily type this sentence, but the coordination necessary to form the musculoskeletal system is far from simple. Today’s image is from a recent Development paper that finds the source of cells that form the tendon-bone attachment unit.
Reprogramming cells: new research reveals a detour on the path to iPS cells
Tue, 04/06/2013 - 3:16pm — Emma
Reprogramming allows us to turn any cell of the body into a stem cell. Since its discovery in 2006 the technique has become widely used in labs around the world. But the process is inefficient and many questions remain about how reprogramming works. PhD student James O'Malley is studying some of these challenging issues. Here he talks about his latest findings, which were published in the journal Nature on 2 June 2013.
