Shinya Yamanaka

ALSO NOTED: StemCyte to open NJ facility; Cornell researchers win million-dollar grant;

Tue, 06 May 2008 06:59:58 -0400

Stem Cell Research

California's StemCyte will open a facility in New Jersey and hire 12 people to do stem cell research work. The company was drawn to the state with $589,000 in state grants. StemCyte plans to do work in collaboration with scientists at Rutgers. Report

Two stem cell research projects at the University of Edinburgh have received 3.6 million pounds sterling from Scottish Enterprise, the Medical Research Council and the UK Stem Cell Foundation. Scientists will use the money to study how ESCs could be used to treat liver disease. The awards follow on from a collaboration set up in August 2006 between Geron and the University of Edinburgh to develop hESC-derived hepatocytes for the treatment of liver failure and for use in cell-based assays. Report

UW-Madison biologist James Thomson and Japan's Shinya Yamanaka have been listed as two of the 100 most influential people by Time magazine. Both researchers found ways to reprogram skin cells to act like embryonic stem cells, revolutionizing the field. Story

Genetics

The Miami Herald profiles Margaret Pericak-Vance and her husband, Dr. Jeffery Vance, two of the world's top geneticists. The two were recruited by the University of Miami medical school from Duke and developed the Miami Institute for Human Genomics with more North Carolina transplants and $34 million in research grants. Report

An international team of scientists have pointed to a link between high glucose levels and a mutated form of the G6PC2 gene. The mutated gene blocks the work of glucokinase, which controls glucose levels and raises the risk of an early death from cardiovascular disease. Story

Researchers in London are developing a genetic test to reveal the genetic disposition to myalgic encephalomyelitis, a debilitating disease. Report

Congress has now sent President Bush a bill that bars insurers and employers from discriminating against people based on their genetic profile. Report

Cancer Research

Scientists in Spain say that the more a prostate lesion expresses the PTOV1 gene, the more likely it will lead to cancer. While there is much yet to learn about the PTOV1 gene, researchers have found that high levels are often linked to cancer, just as a lack of the gene is associated with a lower cancer risk. Article

Whole-organ maps that superimpose genetic information over the terrain of cancerous bladders chart the molecular journey from normal cell to invasive cancer, an international research team led by scientists at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center reports online at the journal Laboratory Investigation. Release

More Research

The Hartwell Foundation has provided a million-dollar grant to Cornell researchers involved in translational biomedical research work. Report

Prana Biotechnology says it has identified new pre-clinical drug candidates for Parkinson's disease. Release

Australian researchers investigating a virus that triggers arthritic inflammation say that they have found an existing therapy that can treat the condition. Report

ALSO NOTED: Gates Foundation backs orphan drug program; Yamanaka forecasts looming stem cell cures; RNA blocks cancer; Autism l

Tue, 15 Jan 2008 06:59:58 -0500

Spotlight

The Gates Foundation has put up $19 million to fund a hunt for a new drug to treat sleeping sickness, a malady that affects huge numbers of the world's poorest people but rarely attracts the attention of drug developers looking for the next big thing in therapeutics. Article

Stem Cell Research

Kyoto University's Shinya Yamanaka has taken a look into the future of stem cell research, and predicts that new cures and healing therapies can be available within 10 years. "This is because technology is very simple," he said. "All you need is a basic technology, cell biology" and "you don't need special technology or equipments." Report

California's stem cell institute says its $3 billion initiative has helped lure 24 of the world's top stem cell scientists to the state. Report

Wake Forest University Institute for Regenerative Medicine researchers were able to create embryonic stem cells by removing individual cells from an embryo without harming the embryo. Report

Researchers at the Biomedical Research Institute at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston were able to change the surface of stem cells in a way that guided them to a predetermined spot in the body--a procedure that is likely to have a major impact on new programs aimed at tissue regeneration. Report

A group of UC Irvine scientists recently published a study on a more efficient way to differentiate stem cells in the international journal Stem Cells. Release

Stanford University has snared a $20 million donation for its stem cell research work. Report

Cancer Research

Howard Hughes Medical Institute researchers have identified small pieces of RNA that suppress the spread of breast cancer to the lungs and bone. The new research shows that the most invasive and aggressive human breast cancer tumors are missing three critical microRNA molecules. When the researchers put those molecules back into human breast cancer tumors in mice, the tumors lost their ability to spread. Release

Scientists at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center have determined that cancer stem cells for multiple myeloma build resistance to chemotherapy and other cancer treatments. Report

A team of researchers from Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory say that they have identified a biological switch that triggers metastasis. Report

Fruit flies are likely to play a bigger role in cancer research following new insights into disease pathways. Release

Genetics

Autism has been linked to two genetic defects; one that causes the disease in a tiny fraction of cases and another implicated in increasing a person's chances of having the disease. Article

An assay to determine apolipoprotein E genotypes has been developed by Chinese researchers that can help diagnose and treat Alzheimer's disease. Release

A Chinese university reports that a pig genetically engineered to glow fluorescent green passed that trait to its young, demonstrating that pigs could be bred to produce organs for human use. Report

Researchers report that "variants in a specific gene, RGS4, predict the effectiveness of different antipsychotic treatments." Release

Scientists have identified six new genetic variants linked to heart disease risk. Release

Tools

Nycomed and Trenzyme have signed multi-year cooperation agreement for services in the areas of molecular biology, protein expression, and protein purification. Report

Scientists at Arizona State University's Biodesign Institute have developed the world's first gene detection platform made up entirely from self-assembled DNA nanostructures. The results, appearing in the January 11 issue of the journal Science, could have broad implications for gene chip technology and may also revolutionize the way in which gene expression is analyzed in a single cell. Release

Thermo Fisher Scientific has been awarded the Frost & Sullivan Market Leadership Award for its high content screening offering. Release

And Finally... The FDA approvals of 2007. Report

Japanese scientist operates on lean budget

Tue, 14 Aug 2007 06:59:59 -0400

Shinya Yamanaka shook the stem cell research field with his work taking adult skin cells and turning them into embryonic stem cells. The key was identifying 24 genes that were the odds-on favorite for reprogramming the cell and then narrowing it to four that worked. In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Yamanaka discusses how he operates a barebones lab on a million dollars a year, marveling at the billions of dollars that are spent in the U.S. Researchers in Japan, he says, are lone wolves. And he notes that ESC research is widely understood in the U.S., but barely registers on the Japanese psyche.

- read the report from The Wall Street Journal (sub. req.)

Related Article:
Adult stem cell prototype on the horizon. Report