Rett Syndrome and induced Pluripotent Stem cells goes “Green”
June 17, 2009
Stem cell researchers at The Hospital for Sick Children have now devised a method, reported in the scientific journal Nature Methods, that will facilitate the generation of induced Pluripotent Stem (iPS) cells. I have previously blogged about the promise of iPS cells (see related articles). iPS cells are cells which have been reprogrammed from a differentiated somatic cell (such as your skin cells) to a pluripotent stem cell (like an embryonic stem cell, only that you don’t need to use embryos!). The generation of iPS cells is inherently very rare which occurs at a frequency of about 0.01% meaning you can generate about one iPS cell line out of hundred thousand cells. Out of which, many lines fail to satisfy the different rigorous tests necessary to be given the prestigious name of “iPS cell”.
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NIH Releases Draft of Embryonic Stem Cell Guidelines- Overly Restrictive, Overly Permissive, or Just Right?
April 23, 2009
A requirement of President Obama’s Executive Order which removed limitations of NIH funding for human embryonic stem cell research was for the Secretary of Health and Human Services to provide guidelines describing what kinds of human embryonic stem cell research should and shouldn’t be funded. Just recently a draft version of these guidelines was released for public review. Though not yet finalized, this draft provides the framework for the public consultation process (now ongoing) which will ultimately direct the NIH regarding the types of embryonic stem cell research that are within its mandate to support.
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Are Human Females Born With All The Eggs They Will Ever Have?
April 14, 2009
Here’s something you’ve probably heard, or believe to be true: When human females are born, they already have the total number of eggs that they will ever have for the course of their lives. This idea is so pervasive and dogmatic in the general public that it verges on absolute fact. And one can appreciate why- a simple search of the internet finds many posts supporting this position. But is this true? Are women born with all the eggs they will ever have? The answer is, LIKELY NO!
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I’m curious. Are you?
April 5, 2009
Over the past decade there has been increasing pressure put on biomedical researchers to justify their projects by establishing short term timelines to produce technological or clinical applications. The drive for applicable or “translational” research is in many ways perfectly reasonable. For publically funded research there are limited amounts of tax dollars to go around, and the public is looking for a return on their investment. Also, new technological developments are an economic advantage for the country or region that discovers and brings them to market, so there is a huge financial incentive.
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Should we abandon Embryonic Stem Cell Research?
April 2, 2009
By Ryan Ward, Kevin Graham & Ian Clarke
Stem cells can be derived from many adult organs- for example the stem cells derived from the blood and the nervous system. These cells have tremendous capacity/potential to treat once incurable diseases. The best treatment for some forms of leukemia remains a bone marrow transplant from a healthy donor after completely erasing the patient’s bone marrow (and hopefully any leukemia cells). This technology has been around for many years, and is now being applied to other diseases such as multiple sclerosis and is based on using healthy adult stem cells to replenish the diseased blood of a patient. The same can be said for neural stem cells of the central or peripheral nervous system, though for clinical application these cells remain unproven. The idea here is that adult neural stem cells could be harvested from a patient, or donor, and used for the treatment of spinal cord injury, or neurological diseases such as Parkinson’s.
What is it to be human?
March 16, 2009
Without a doubt the recent lifting of restrictions on federal funding for embryonic stem cell research by President Obama has rekindled the debate on the moral and ethical implications of this research. Newscasts, radio call in shows, internet news sites and blogs have been alight with feverish debate. I certainly welcome this debate. As a scientist and a community member I am eager to hear people express their opinions, engage in healthy debate, and hopefully come to a consensus that can be accepted by the majority of people.
Thoughts On The Reversed Stem Cell Restrictions
March 12, 2009
On Monday, President Obama reversed the restrictions on the federal funding of human embryonic stem cell research. This is a giant leap forward for not only stem cell research in the US, but will also accelerate stem cell research worldwide.
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An Open Letter to House Republican Leader John Boehner
March 11, 2009
Wednesday March 11, 2009.
Dear House Republican Leader John Boehner,
I am writing in response to your public statement released March 9th, 2009 regarding President Obama’s decision to reverse the limits on federal funding for human embryonic stem cell research. Specifically your comments:
“The president has rolled back important protections for innocent life […], I am hopeful that the president will re-evaluate this and other controversial decisions that put government at odds with the sanctity of human life […]Congress and the Administration should support bipartisan solutions like Rep. Randy Forbes’ Patients First Act, which would promote stem cell research that is actually getting results.”
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President Obama to lift ban on funding for embryonic stem cell research
March 6, 2009
Great news today! From The Washingston Post:
President Obama is planning to sign an executive order on Monday rolling back restrictions on federal funding of human embryonic stem cell research, according to sources close to the issue.
Although the exact wording of the order has not been revealed, the White House plans an 11 a.m. ceremony to sign the order repealing one of the most controversial steps taken by his predecessor, fulfilling one of Obama’s eagerly anticipated campaign promises
For the rest of this article, please see here.
Stem Cell Breakthrough: Toronto reprograms by jumping genes in and out
March 2, 2009
Toronto stem cell researchers have now, for the first time, devised a way to reprogram somatic cells from human back to a pluripotent-like state termed induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells without the use of harmful viruses. I have blogged about the incredible feat of iPS cells recently as the scientific journal Science has named it “Breakthrough of the year”. These iPS cells are thought to hold the same regenerative potential as human embryonic stem cells but with additional advantages as it side steps the ethical issues related to the use of human embryos. Therefore, scientists now have a way of making patient-specific stem cells for uses such as disease modeling, drug screening, and hopefully one day, cell replacement therapy.
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Rett Syndrome and induced Pluripotent Stem cells goes “Green”
June 17, 2009 by Aaron Cheung
Stem cell researchers at The Hospital for Sick Children have now devised a method, reported in the scientific journal Nature Methods, that will facilitate the generation of induced Pluripotent Stem (iPS) cells. I have previously blogged about the promise of iPS cells (see related articles). iPS cells are cells which have been reprogrammed from a differentiated somatic cell (such as your skin cells) to a pluripotent stem cell (like an embryonic stem cell, only that you don’t need to use embryos!). The generation of iPS cells is inherently very rare which occurs at a frequency of about 0.01% meaning you can generate about one iPS cell line out of hundred thousand cells. Out of which, many lines fail to satisfy the different rigorous tests necessary to be given the prestigious name of “iPS cell”.
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