Our All about stem cells activity pack is now available to order in print!
Suitable for use with 16+ year olds, the pack contains a set of activity cards, an activity guide with lesson plan and a question card for students. Read on to find out more about the materials and how to order.
My name is Marisa Ojala and I am doing my PhD studies at the Institute of Biomedical Technology in the University of Tampere, Finland. Our heart group is lead by Katriina Aalto-Setälä and the aim of our group is to study genetic heart diseases using human induced pluripotent stem cells – a lab-grown type of stem cell that can make all the different cells of the body. In my project I am focusing on a disease called familial hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM). I recently had the chance to try out EuroStemCell's Start as a Stem Cell game for introducing the public to stem cells and I would like to share my experiences with you.
Leading stem cell experts have published a statement expressing serious concerns about unproven stem cell therapies. Their article, published on 3rd May in The EMBO Journal, sends a strong message to the Italian parliament, which is currently debating whether to change a recent law allowing the use of certain untested stem cell therapies in public hospitals. The group of 12 senior scientists and 1 legal expert argue that 'only rigorous science and rigorous regulation can ensure translation of science into effective therapies.'
Have you seen our stem cell non-fiction writing competition? We launched it at the start of April, with a deadline of 30th June. You can enter non-fiction imaginative science writing, graphical work or poetry to be in with the chance to win 300 Euros and publication on eurostemcell.org.
We've had several questions about the details of the competition, so we've decided to publish the answers here. We'll keep adding to these over the coming weeks. If you can't find the answer you're looking for below, please contact Barbara Melville.
Our partners at the University of Cambridge have been using tools from our stem cell toolkit as part of their public engagement over recent weeks. Read on to find out more about what the enthusiastic Cambridge researchers have been up to.
Still from Stem Cell Revolutions: illustration by Cameron DuguidA documentary charting the history of stem cell technology has been honoured at this year’s Edinburgh International Science Festival.
Stem cell scientist and EuroStemCell Project Coordinator Clare Blackburn has been awarded the Tam Dalyell Prize for Excellence in Engaging the Public with long-time collaborator and filmmaker Amy Hardie of the Scottish Documentary Institute at the Edinburgh College of Art.
Our toolkit of downloadable stem cell resources and activities has been growing so fast it's getting hard to keep up with all the new additions. We launched with just five tools, but that number has since grown to 13 tools for teaching and talking about stem cells, in the classroom, science centre, open day, festival and other educational settings.
We've had great feedback from teachers and others from around Europe:
“[The] toolkit web page ... is very easy to use. Everything appeals to me: not only the “surface”, icons and links, but also the contents are very useful and interesting.” Teacher, Italy
An unproven stem cell therapy has taken centre stage in Italy after patients successfully lobbied the Italian government to allow its use in public hospitals. The highly controversial and untested procedure was created by the privately owned Stamina Foundation, but blocked by the Italian Medicine's Agency, AIFA. Last week's decision by the Ministry of Health to override AIFA's block has horrified Italy's leading stem cell scientists. In a letter to the Ministry, they describe the decision as providing "a dangerous short circuit between patients' hopes and lucrative commercial practices" of organisations operating outside the "scientific and moral foundations" of medicine.
The UniStem Day, an educational scientific event aimed at high school students, is spreading across Europe – since its 2009 beginning in Milan, the event has expanded to 34 Italian universities and for the first time this year it extended beyond Italy to involve six other universities in Spain and one in the United Kingdom. The plan for next year is to recruit even more participants. As representatives from the Linnaeus Center in Developmental Biology for Regenerative Medicine (DBRM) Network at the Karolinska Institutet in Sweden, Giulia Gaudenzi and Iskra Pollak Dorocic joined this year’s event in Milan and picked up some behind the scenes tips.
Biotechnology students at the National University of Ireland Galway have been exploring the ethical and societal implications of stem cell research using EuroStemCell's role play, Ready or not? On 1st March, research fellow and geneticist Muriel Grenon ran the role play activity with her 32 students. She tells us more about what they did and how the activity worked for them.
 |  |
© Copyright 2008-2013 EuroStemCell y autores colaboradores