Stem cells

In a Washington Post commentary, AAAS CEO Alan I. Leshner and developmental biologist James A. Thomson said that while new discoveries enabling scientists to turn skin cells into multi-purpose stem cells "launches an exciting new line of research," policy makers and the public should not ignore the promise of embryonic stem cell research.

The authors wrote that although the recent stem cell advances should be considered breakthroughs, scientists are still at "square one, uncertain at this early stage whether souped-up skin cells hold the same promise as their embryonic cousins do."    » read more »

November 20, 2007 -- Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) today made the following statement in reference to scientists who have turned human skin cells into embryonic stem cells without using embryos. The findings are published online today in Science, in a paper written by Dr. James Thomson and his colleagues at the University of Wisconsin.    » read more »

20 November 2007 -- Two separate teams of scientists say they have transformed ordinary human skin cells into ones that look and act like embryonic stem cells.

Laboratory teams at universities in the United States and Japan Tuesday announced the breakthrough, which may someday produce the medical benefits of embryo cloning without political, scientific and ethical controversies.

Both teams used a retrovirus to transport four genes into the skin cells, producing ones that mimic embryonic stem cells.    » read more »

15 November 2007 -- US scientists have cloned a monkey, using the resulting embryos to grow valuable stem cells. The development is the first time a primate embryo has been created, leading experts to speculate that it's a matter of time before human embryos are cloned to treat disease.

Researchers at Oregon Health and Science University used the DNA of skin cells from rhesus macaque monkeys to create embryos from which they extracted stem cells three days later.

In earlier research, the team successfully cloned mouse embryos.    » read more »

11/07/2007 -- Patients’ own stem cells injected into their hearts after treatment for an ST elevation heart attack improved their hearts’ improved pumping ability, researchers reported during a late-breaking special session on stem cell research at the American Heart Association Scientific Sessions 2007.

In the IM-BMC randomized, double-blind trial, researchers assessed the safety and efficacy of injecting sufferers’ own stem cells into their hearts. The patients had been initially treated with clot-busting drugs, followed by percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI).    » read more »

Christopher Reeve Pavilion Unveiled

October 22, 2007 -- NEW BRUNSWICK – New Jersey Governor Jon S. Corzine today joined state and local dignitaries for the groundbreaking ceremony of the Stem Cell Institute of New Jersey and unveiling of the Christopher Reeve Pavilion.    » read more »

16 October 2007 -- An annual stem cell research conference in New York has been bringing together some of the field's top scientists to discuss breakthroughs in stem cell research and what proponents call its long-term application for curing major diseases. Scientists say they have made great strides in the decade since the research began.    » read more »

10-Sep-2007 -- UCSF scientists are reporting what they say is a significant improvement in the technique for genetically reprogramming mouse cells to their embryonic state, a process that transforms the cells, in essence, into embryonic stem cells.

The finding, published on-line as an immediate early publication in “Cell Stem Cell” (Sept. 6, 2007), builds on the strategic breakthrough reported by Shinya Yamanaka, MD, PhD, in 2006, and confirmed in the spring of 2007 both by Yamanaka’s team and, in independent studies, by scientists at MIT, Harvard and UCLA.    » read more »

Results of study published in September issue of Nature Biotechology

4-Sep-2007 -- For the first time, scientists at Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC have discovered a unique population of adult stem cells derived from human muscle that could be used to treat muscle injuries and diseases such as heart attack and muscular dystrophy.    » read more »

Ten lieutenant governors ask President to lift roadblock to cures

June 29, 2007 -- Ten of the nation’s lieutenant governors have joined bipartisan majorities in Congress in calling for federal support for lifesaving research.

Lieutenant Governor Mark Parkinson and his colleagues from around the country have sent a letter to President Bush, voicing strong disagreement with his veto of Senate Bill 5, which would have provided federal support for stem cell research.    » read more »

27 June 2007 -- Some U.S. scientists say President Bush's veto last week of federal funding for stem cell research raises questions about the future of the U.S. involvement in the field. Mr. Bush rejected Congressional legislation that would have expanded federal money for research on discarded human embryos. The president says he is opposed on religious grounds to the use of human embryos.    » read more »

Roberts, nine lieutenant governors petition President Bush to reverse his stem cell veto

PROVIDENCE — Rhode Island Lt. Gov. Elizabeth Roberts led her fellow lieutenant governors from across the country this week in petitioning President George W. Bush to reverse his stem cell position and ease the current federal ban on embryonic stem cell research funding.    » read more »

June 21, 2007 -- TRENTON – New Jersey Governor Jon S. Corzine today released the following statement after the Legislature approved a $450 million bond referendum to support stem cell research:

“Over the past two weeks, New Jersey has taken steps that should put the world on notice: New Jersey is and will remain a global leader in stem cell research. Today, the Legislature put one of the most significant investments in stem cell research on this year’s ballot. I wholeheartedly urge New Jerseyans to support this initiative.    » read more »

Roughly half of infertility patients in a new survey said they were somewhat or very likely to donate their unused embryos for medical research rather then have them destroyed or donated to another infertile couple.

The survey, discussed in a Policy Forum to be published Thursday online by the journal Science at its Science Express website, revealed that while just under 50 percent of patients would be willing to donate for "research purposes," 60 percent would be very or somewhat likely to donate for "research in which stem cells are derived."    » read more »

The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) on Wednesday expressed disappointment with the decision by President George W. Bush to veto a landmark stem cell research funding bill.

The measure would have lifted restrictions on federal funding of medical research using embryonic stem cells, which proponents say would be derived from microscopic embryos left over and due to be discarded after in vitro fertility treatments. Current U.S. policy limits such funding to fewer than 20 stem cell lines that had been created when the president first announced U.S. policy in 2001.    » read more »