university of pittsburgh news from FierceBioResearcher

Experiments using genetically-engineered pigs to make them compatible with the human immune system are raising expectations about the prospects of cross-species transplantation as an option for Read more...

Pointing the way to the development of customized blood vessel grafts for heart and kidney disease, researchers have taken stem cells from muscle tissue to make the blood vessel grafts in rats. The stem cells were allowed to develop on elastic tubes within days of extraction. The researchers were able to seed millions of the stem cells on a tube that was 1.2 mm in diameter. Gaining direction from surrounding tissue on blood pressure and other physical traits, the stem cells formed a …

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Tackling the problem of erectile dysfunction which occurs as a result of surgery, researchers at the University of Pittsburgh say they were able to cure the condition in rats using gene therapy to stimulate the growth of a crucial nerve. Nerve damage during bladder surgery or the removal of the prostate can cause ED, which cannot be treated with any currently available therapies. But the researchers were able to cure it by treating the nerves with nerve growth factors. The genes are …

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The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases' public database now includes more than 2,000 sequences on human and avian flu viruses that are freely available to researchers. Elodie Ghedin, an assistant professor at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and co-director of the project says that their work has already helped transform the scientific understand of how viruses develop. That better understanding could play a key role in advancing new therapies as well as …

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Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh say they have found a new way to clone animals from mature stem cells. Many scientists have argued that cloning animals using older tissue wasn't possible because the mature cells couldn't regenerate. Since Dolly the sheep was cloned in 1997, all animal clones have been made from stem cells or stem-like cells. But the new findings prove that older cells do have utility when it comes to cloning. "Writing in the November issue of Nature …

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