Press Releases

Recent press releases.

Scientists develop liver cells from different ethnic groups

Embargoed until (GMT): 
20 Oct 2009 - 9:00am UTC
Scientists have for the first time produced liver cells specific to different ethnic groups that could revolutionise the development of drugs to treat diseases.

Embryo development study throws new light on stem cells

Embargoed until (GMT): 
14 Sep 2009 - 5:00pm UTC
How are the millions of different cells in our bodies produced from just one fertilised egg cell? Scientists from the Institut Pasteur in Paris and the MRC Centre for Regenerative Medicine at the University of Edinburgh have shed new light on this process, and their investigations have revealed a new kind of stem celli.

 

 

Switching on the power of stem cells

Embargoed until (GMT): 
20 Aug 2009 - 5:00pm UTC

Scientists have uncovered a vital link in the chain of events that gives stem cells their remarkable properties. Researchers from the Wellcome Trust Centre for Stem Cell Research at the University of Cambridge have pinpointed the final step in a complex process that gives embryonic stem cellsi their unique ability to develop into any of the different types of cells in the body (from liver cells to skin cells).

Stem cells that drive brain cancer

Embargoed until (GMT): 
4 Jun 2009 - 12:00pm UTC

Scientists have developed an improved method for growing human brain cancer cells in the laboratory. The technique provides a powerful tool for studying how tumours form in the brain, and how treatments might be developed in the future.

Breakthrough makes lab-produced stem cells safer for humans

Embargoed until (GMT): 
1 Mar 2009 - 6:00pm UTC

Scientists have paved the way for stem cells made from skin cells to be safely transplanted into humans – by overcoming one of the main health risks associated with previous techniques.

Researchers piggyback to safer reprogrammed stem cells

Embargoed until (GMT): 
1 Mar 2009 - 6:00pm UTC

Austin Smith and his research team at the Centre for Stem Celli Research in Cambridge have just published in the journal Development (http://dev.biologists.org/) a new and safer way of generating pluripotenti stem cells – the stem cells that can give rise to every tissue of the body.

Attendees discuss importance of keeping options open

Embargoed until (GMT): 
4 Oct 2008 - 12:00pm UTC

 

 

 

The second ESTOOLS ethics workshop took place over two days, October 2-3, 2008 in Lund, Sweden.  The theme of this international and interdisciplinary workshop was "Ethical aspects of research on interspecies embryos and IPS cellsi".  

Embryonic stem cells are self-sufficient

Embargoed until (GMT): 
22 May 2008 - 12:00pm UTC

 

 

 

Scientists have shown for the first time that embryonic stem (ES) cells are able to self-renewi without the natural chemicals that scientists have so far used to maintain them and grow stem celli lines. This discovery contradicts previously held views and could have wide-ranging implications for stem cell research. It is hoped the findings, from the Cambridge team lead by Medical Research Council Professor Austin Smith and published in Nature, will lead to a better biological understanding of ES cells and more straightforward translation to the human system of detailed work done only in mouse ES cells to date.

EuroStemCell researcher challenges amniotic stem cell claims

Embargoed until (GMT): 
7 Mar 2008 - 6:00pm UTC
In the March 2008 issue of Nature Biotechnology EuroStemCell scientist Elena Cattaneo (University of Milano), with Mauro Toselli (University of Pavia), Elisabetta Cerbai (University of Florence) and Ferdinando Rossi (University of Torino), have challenged findings published in the same journal last year that amniotic fluid-derived stem cells can produce cells of the nervous system.