News & Commentaries

Recreating the Earliest Stages of Life

Stembook: Recreating the Earliest Stages of Life

San Francisco, CA, USA – In their effort to understand the very earliest stages of life and how they can go wrong, scientists are confronted with ethical issues surrounding the use of human embryos. The use of animal embryos is also subject to restrictions rooted in ethical considerations. To overcome these limitations, scientists have been trying to recreate early embryos using stem cells.

Researchers Unveil New 'Time Machine' Technique to Measure Cells

Stembook: Researchers Unveil New 'Time Machine' Technique to Measure Cells
Using a new single-cell technique, WEHI researchers have uncovered a way to understand the programming behind how stem cells make particular cell types.

Parkville, Australia – The research uncovered 30 new genes that program stem cells to make the dendritic cells that kick-start the immune response. By uncovering this process, the researchers hope they will be able to find new immunotherapy treatments for cancer, and plan to expand this technique in other areas such as discovering new drug targets in tumour initiation.

UMD Researchers Perform Crucial Proof-of-Concept Experiment, Paving the Way for Growing Human Organs for Therapeutics and Transplantation

Stembook: UMD Researchers Perform Crucial Proof-of-Concept Experiment, Paving the Way for Growing Human Organs for Therapeutics and Transplantation
Start-up company, Renovate Bioscience Inc., wins Invention of the Year and Inventor Pitch Award for this work at UMD

College Park, MD, USA – In a new paper published in Stem Cell Reports, Bhanu Telugu and co-inventor Chi-Hun Park of the University of Maryland (UMD) Department of Animal and Avian Sciences show for the first time that newly established stem cells from pigs, when injected into embryos, contributed to the development of only the organ of interest (the embryonic gut and liver), laying the groundwork for stem cell therapeutics and organ transplantation.

Oh So Simple: Eight Genes Enough to Convert Mouse Stem Cells into Oocyte-Like Cells

Stembook: Oh So Simple: Eight Genes Enough to Convert Mouse Stem Cells into Oocyte-Like Cells
Surprisingly simple method could provide a new tool for producing specialized cytoplasm for reproductive medicine.

Fukuoka, Japan – In a new study published in the journal Nature, researchers in Japan report that activating just eight genes for producing gene-controlling proteins is enough to convert mouse stem cells directly into oocyte-like cells that mature and can even be fertilized like egg cells.

The Bull's Eye: New Modified Stem Cells Can Deliver Drugs Specifically to Tumor Cells

Scientists modified "mesenchymal stem cells" to carry anti-cancer drugs and deliver them to target cancers

Tokyo, Japan – Targeting drugs to cancer tissues is a major challenge in cancer treatment. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are known for their ability to find and target tumor cells in the body, but using MSCs for drug delivery has been tricky, because upon loading with drugs, MSCs lose their viability and migratory ability. Now, researchers from Tokyo University of Science have successfully modified MSCs to deliver large quantities of anti-cancer drugs in a targeted manner to developing cancer cells.

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