Stem Cell Research

Renowned scientist Ian Wilmut predicts that the first stem cell therapies will become available in about a decade and quickly become as common as antibiotics. Report [1]

A small subset of adult testes cells in mice have been coaxed into a variety of cell types for functional blood vessels, cardiac tissue and brain cells. The research work, accomplished by scientists with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, indicates that the process could be used to develop new therapies for males suffering from a variety of ailments, such as heart disease and Alzheimer's. Report [2]

An investigator at the University of Connecticut Health Center is developing a new breed of mice that is designed not to reject embryonic stem cells with an eye to repairing damaged bones and tissue. Report [3]

A state judge has blocked an effort by pro-life groups to stop a vote on a $450 million bond program to back stem cell research in New Jersey. Report [4]

A German scientist who claims to have saved the life of a patient suffering from acute cardiogenic shock by transplanting adult stem cells to the diseased site is being accused by colleagues of making unscientific assertions at a time that German lawmakers are debating the country's stem cell law. Article [5]

Two human studies in South Florida will test whether stem cells can repair damaged heart muscles. Report [6]

Scientists have developed unique technology to grow stem cells and other tissue in the laboratory in conditions similar to the way they grow in the human body. The technology, developed and patented by scientists at Durham University and its spin-out company ReInnervate Limited, is a plastic scaffold which allows cells to be grown in a more realistic three-dimensional (3D) form compared to the traditional flat surface of a Petri dish. Release [7]

Cancer Research

Nerve growth factor, or NGF, may prove an effective biomarker for liver cancer. Report [8]

One chemical event involving the Yap protein may play a key role in cancer, researchers say. And if they're right, they may have identified an important new target for cancer drugs. Report [9]

Chinese researchers have identified a liver cancer marker in blood that may help identify patients with early-stage liver cancer and predict how well they'll do after treatment. Report [10]

Genetics

A study at the NIH has determined that mutations in the signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) gene is responsible for Job's Syndrome, a rare and painful disorder. There have been 250 reported cases of this affliction. Report [11]

Researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have found nearly 350 genes related to female fertility. Their research may open the door to much wider study in the poorly understood field of infertility. Report [12]

British researchers say that they believe that a gene involved in the growth of connective tissue plays a key role in scleroderma. Report [13]

Scientists have documented the genetic sequence of the parasite Brugia malayi, creating multiple new drug targets. Report [14]  

A genetic region on chromosome 9 which includes two genes called complement component 5 (C5) and TNF receptor-associated factor 1 (TRAF1) are closely associated with rheumatoid arthritis, according to researchers at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden. Report [15]

More Research

Four years after the mapping of the human genome, science is waking up to the fact that there's a lot to disease that can't be explained by genetics. Biological processes occur in areas of DNA with no genes, upending the traditional dogma regarding biology. Article [16]

New insights into a protein known as SRP-6 may shed light on ways to fight cancer or prevent heart disease and other ailments. By depriving cells of the protein, researchers at the University of Pittsburgh believe they may have found a key mechanism in controlling necrosis. Report [17]

Scientists at Rice University have made the first optical images of carbon nanotubes inside of a living organism. Report [18]

An editorial in the San Diego Union-Tribune concludes that the NIH should receive more funding in order to sufficiently back biomedical research. Editorial [19]