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Embryonic stem cells | Stem cell patents | Clinical trials and stem cell treatments | Stem cell tourism

Stem cell therapies and neurological disorders of the brain: what is the truth?

There have been several claims that stem cells can already be used in patients affected by neurological disorders. What do we really know about these therapies and how should these claims be viewed?

Making red blood cells: A model of stem cell therapy development

Translating laboratory research into cell therapies raises many complex questions and challenges for both science and society. Social scientist Emma King spent four years following a regenerative medicine research project to examine how clinical translation might work in practice. Here, she reflects on what she learnt and what it might mean for the development of future therapies.

Non-fiction writing competition: send us your science writing, go graphical or submit a poem

We're running our first ever writing competition! Surprise us with your imaginative science writing, wow us with your graphic non-fiction or impress us in poetry. Upload your entry by the deadline on 30th June and you could win 300 Euros and see your work live online.

*Update 3rd May: We've added answers to common questions in our competition FAQ*

Mesoangioblasts can derived from reprogrammed cells and may be an effective future treatment for muscular dystrophies

Summary 

A recent study has shown that muscle stem cells called mesoangioblasts can be grown in the laboratory from induced pluripotent stem cells (IPS cells). Scientists think that mesoangioblasts transplants may be an effective treatment for muscular dystrophy but currently these cells have to be taken from donor who is a tissue ‘match’ for the patient, which is relatively rare.As IPS cells are grown in the lab from a patient’s own muscle cells this could potentially overcome the problem of having to find a ‘matched’ donor.

Clinical trial shows combination therapy of nitric oxide delivery and an anti-inflammatory drug are safe for long-term treatment of adults with muscular dystrophy

Summary

Muscular dystrophies cause muscle breakdown, weakness, and can lead to paralysis and death. The only current treatment that is effective is corticosteroids, shown to increase muscle strength. However, we do not know if it is effective in the long term, and there are side effects that limit its use. A combination of an anti-inflammatory drug, ibuprofen, and a nitric oxide delivery drug, isosorbide dinitrate, have been shown in mice to improve muscle health.

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Research updates from other stem cell projects

Meet scientist and artist Ariel Ruiz i Altaba

Prof Ariel Ruiz i Altaba is Coordinator of the EU-funded research project HEALING, was founding director of the Swiss Stem Cell Network and is professor at the Department of Genetic Medicine and Development, Université de Genève, Switzerland. He is also an established visual artist. Emma Kemp met Ariel to hear more about science, art and how they might come together to build an understanding of the evolving world around us.

Meet Allen Eaves: academic biologist turned CEO

Dr Allen Eaves founded the Terry Fox Laboratory for Haematology and Oncology Research with his wife Dr Connie Eaves and was the lab’s Director for 25 years, from 1981 to 2006. He was also Professor and Head of Clinical Haematology at the University of British Columbia for 18 years. He is now Founder, President and CEO of STEMCELL Technologies Inc.

We caught up with Allen to find out more about life as a CEO, the role of companies in stem cell research and what keeps him interested in research.

 

 

Interview with Jane Visvader: stem cells in the breast

Professor Jane Visvader is Joint Head of The Victorian Breast Cancer Research Consortium Laboratory at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research in Australia. Her lab is interested in how the mammary gland of the breast develops, and what goes wrong in breast cancer.

PhD student Giovanni Valenti interviewed Jane for EuroStemCell in September 2011, at Hydra VII: The European Summer School on Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine.

Meet Nick Barker: a focus on stem cells and the intestine

Dr. Nick Barker is a Principal Investigator (PI) at the Institute of Medical Biology (IMB), A*STAR, Singapore. Currently, Nick also holds a visiting professorship at the University of Edinburgh’s MRC Centre for Regenerative Medicine and is an associate Principal Investigator with the EC-funded research consortium EuroSyStem. Nick’s studies focus on tissue (adult) stem cells, particularly in the intestine, skin and stomach. He is also interested in the role of these stem cells in cancer.

Giuseppe Diafera interviewed Nick for EuroStemCell in September 2011, at Hydra VII: The European Summer School on Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine.  

 

Interview with Karen English: where cell biology and immunology meet

Karen is a post doctoral researcher in the lab of Prof. Kathryn Wood at the University of Oxford. Karen’s work contributes to the EC-funded project OptiStem. We caught up with Karen at the project’s 2011 annual meeting.

Interview with Doug Sipp, Manager at RIKEN CDB, Kobe, Japan

In June 2011, Danielle Nicholson met up with Doug Sipp from the RIKEN Center for Developmental Biology (CDB), Kobe, Japan at the International Society for Stem Cell Research 9th Annual Meeting in Stem Cell City, a.k.a. Toronto, Canada.

Christine Mummery: a physicist’s take on stem cell biology

Christine Mummery is Professor and Chair of Developmental Biology at Leiden University Medical Centre. She pioneered studies on heart muscle cells (cardiomyocytes) made from human embryonic stem cells and was among the first to inject them into a mouse heart after a heart attack.

Meet Cedric Blanpain: stem cell scientist working on skin cancers

Cedric Blanpain leads a research group studying the mechanisms that control the behaviour of stem cells, and the role of stem cells in cancer.  He is Principal Investigator at the Interdisciplinary Research Institute (IRIBHM), Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB), Belgium.