Direct Reprogramming of Neural Stem Cells – A Step Closer to the Clinic?November 18, 2014“Well there goes another couple of thousand brain cells…” – a common thought after a beer, a glass of wine, or an hour or so of television, or maybe more if it’s reality TV. But can we replace these lost cells? Millions of college kids would like to, but there’s also a long list of […]
CRISPR and Stem Cells Team Up Against HIVNovember 17, 2014To this day Timothy Ray Brown, otherwise known as the Berlin Patient, is the only person cured after infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). The cure came in a fortuitous form; a stem cell transplant used to treat his leukemia came from a donor with natural resistant to HIV. Soon after, researchers discovered that […]
Coffee Gets Your Baby’s Heart Going…the Wrong WayNovember 13, 2014There’s no denying the power of coffee, it seems that without it humanity wouldn’t have the concentration or energy needed to tackle the complexities of the epigenome. But as researchers from the University of Florida show, with consumption comes responsibility and a molecule powerful enough to help you complete the 180 from bed to breakfast, may […]
‘Naïve’ Human Embryonic Stem Cells Found in CultureOctober 31, 2014Cultured human embryonic stem cells (ESCs) already have some idea of what they want to be when they grow up whereas cultured mouse ESCs are completely undecided about their future careers. A study published in Nature challenges this distinction and shows that some hESCs in culture still haven’t quite made up their minds. Mouse ESCs […]
Optimized Stem Cell Differentiation Protocol Aims to Mend Broken HeartsOctober 30, 2014Broken hearts aren’t just for country songs. Millions of people die each year from cardiovascular disease and related complications. Damage to the muscles of the heart during events such as heart attacks is mostly irreversible and severely affects length and quality of life for those who survive. Creating replacement muscle cells – or cardiomyocytes – […]
Pol II Gives Cells Pause During Somatic Cell ReprogrammingOctober 27, 2014Few inventions have led the convenience revolution more so than the remote control. The Pause, Play, and Fast-forward buttons give us complete command of our entertainment while we relax after a hard day at work. But little did we know that researchers from the group of Miguel A. Esteban (Chinese Academy of Sciences) haven’t been […]
m6A RNA Methylation Modifications Helps Cells to Forget Stem Cell PastOctober 25, 2014When it comes to post-translational modifications, it’s fair to say that DNA and proteins have taken most of the limelight in epigenetics. RNA modifications have been largely relegated to the role of supporting actor. Not content with nucleosomes taking all the credit, a team of Stanford and Harvard researchers now demonstrate the importance of RNA […]
Pluripotency Genes are Loopy about their NeighborhoodOctober 25, 2014Most of us understand the importance of a good neighborhood; we look for somewhere to reflect our identity and to bring us together with similar minded people. Interestingly, recent work from the labs of Keji Zhao and Richard A. Young suggests that certain genes in embryonic stem cells (ESCs) act in a similar manner. The inquisitive crew of […]
Sweet Success: Is a Viable Stem Cell Treatment for Diabetes in the Works?October 18, 2014Could we be near a bona fide treatment for a disease which affects over 300 million people? A remedy for the Case of the Mondays perhaps? No, it’s better than that; researchers from Harvard University believe that they might have uncovered a new strategy to replace lost insulin secreting cells of the pancreas (b cells) […]
MYC Sequestration Mitigates Cancer Risk in iPSC TherapiesSeptember 30, 2014Mention “sequestration” in the US and scientists cringe at the memories of past budget freezes. But recently, a talented team of researchers has put the term in a more positive light; by sequestering MYC proteins in iPSCs, they’ve helped mitigate cancer risks in regenerative medicine. Since their first development in 2006, induced pluripotent stem cells […]