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• Age-related macular degeneration
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• Insulin
• Regenerative medicine

• A Glance at Basic Stem Cell Research

  A release at Newswise is indicative of the sort of progress presently underway in the study of stem cell biochemistry. Piece by piece, scientists are uncovering the knowledge needed to fully control our cells, and thereby regenerate damage on demand: "A newly discovered small molecule called IQ-1 plays a key role in preventing embryonic stem cells from differentiating into one or more specific cell types, allowing them to instead continue growing and dividing indefinitely ... This discovery takes scientists another step closer to being able to grow embryonic stem cells without the 'feeder layer' of mouse fibroblast cells that is essential for maintaining the pluripotency of embryonic stem cells ... Such a layer is needed because it is currently the only proven method to provide the stem cells with the necessary chemical signals that prompt them to stay undifferentiated and to continue dividing over and over. ... Stem cells that grow on feeders are contaminated with mouse glycoproteins markers. If you use them into humans, you'd potentially have a horrible immune response. ... If we can create a totally chemically defined system for growing human embryonic stem cells without any risk of contamination, it would make life much easier for scientists than it is at the moment. And that's our goal."
  
  View the Article Under Discussion: http://www.newswise.com/articles/view/528206/
  Read More Longevity Meme Commentary: http://www.longevitymeme.org/news/
  Posted Monday, March 19, 2007 7:04 PM from Longevity Meme News and Commentary / 0 Comments

  Tags: Embryonic stem cells, Stem cells

• Delivering on the Promise

  Here we have a look at the mess people have made of what should have been a good, solid decade of unrelenting progress in the foundation of regenerative medicine, via EMBO reports: "it is still unclear which human stem cells -whether embryonic [ESCs] or adult [ASCs] - will be developed and for which conditions. Given this, the focus of the NIH in the USA, and research organizations in other countries, should be on developing human research capacity in both ASCs and ESCs. Each type of research will take time to mature. The ethical debate will need to produce acceptable policy and regulatory compromises so that the regulatory burden can be reduced and investors' risk aversion can be overcome. If these things happen, the major remaining barrier to realizing the medical benefits of stem-cell research might be the lack of skilled scientists in the field."
  
  View the Article Under Discussion: http://www.nature.com/embor/journal/v7/n12/full/7400861.html
  Read More Longevity Meme Commentary: http://www.longevitymeme.org/news/
  Posted Tuesday, December 19, 2006 5:07 PM from Longevity Meme News and Commentary / 0 Comments

  Tags: Embryonic stem cells, Regenerative medicine, Stem cells

• Producing Insulin-Producing Cells

  Via Medical News Today, another step forward in the ability of scientists to control stem cell differentiation: "Novocell researchers report in the article a differentiation process that successfully engineers human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) into endocrine cells capable of producing insulin as well as other pancreatic endocrine hormones ... The in vitro differentiation process mimics normal pancreatic development in the body. ... The efficient, reproducible production of human embryonic stem cell- derived, insulin-producing endocrine cells through a process that mirrors the development of human pancreatic cells represents a critical step toward providing a renewable source of cells for diabetes therapy. This provides a foundation upon which we can build a standardized process for generating functional insulin-producing cells for the treatment of diabetic patients." Full control of stem cell differentiation will mean replacement tissue on demand for any damaged part of the body.
  
  View the Article Under Discussion: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/medicalnews.php?newsid=54627
  Read More Longevity Meme Commentary: http://www.longevitymeme.org/news/
  Posted Friday, October 20, 2006 8:15 PM from Longevity Meme News and Commentary / 0 Comments

  Tags: Cellular differentiation, Embryonic stem cells, Insulin, Stem cells

• Embryonic Stem Cells Versus Blindness

  Washington Post reports on new embryonic stem cell research from Advanced Cell Technology: scientists "started by developing a reliable method for turning embryonic stem cells into retinal pigment epithelium cells, which nourish the light-sensitive 'photoreceptor' cells in the eye. In macular degeneration, the pigment cells gradually disappear. The researchers achieved the transformation in all 18 stem cell lines they worked with ... treated rats had twice the visual acuity of the untreated rats nearly three months after treatment." Like much of ACT's present work, this is an early stage technology demonstration. It shows an increasingly sophisticated level of control over stem cell differentiation and examples of newly developed tools, processes and infrastructure needed to get the job done.
  
  View the Article Under Discussion: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/20/AR2006092001674.html
  Read More Longevity Meme Commentary: http://www.longevitymeme.org/news/
  Posted Wednesday, September 20, 2006 5:05 PM from Longevity Meme News and Commentary / 0 Comments

  Tags: Eye regeneration, Age-related macular degeneration, Blindness, Embryonic stem cells, Stem cells

• Embryonic stem cells without embryo death

  Advanced Cell Technology researchers were able to grow a stem cell line from just one or two cells from an early embryo -- leaving that embryo viable. The cells are "pluripotent," meaning they can grow into the three major tissue types. They h... Read more
  Posted Wednesday, August 23, 2006 6:47 PM from KurzweilAI.net Accelerating Intelligence News / 0 Comments

  Tags: Embryonic stem cells, Stem cells

• Geron's Stem Cell Research

  The MIT Technology Review looks at a portion of Geron's stem cell research: "Geron's clinical trial of a therapy to treat spinal cord injuries will likely be the first human test of an embryonic stem cell-based treatment. ... embryonic stem cells are the starting ingredient rather than the treatment itself. The embryonic stem cells, which are potentially able to form any human cell type, are transformed into oligodendrocytes - a type of brain cell that wraps itself around neurons, forming a fatty insulation layer that allows electrical messages to be conducted throughout the nervous system. These cells are then injected into the site of the injury, coating neuronal projections that were damaged in the accident and restoring communication to the nervous system."
  
  View the Article Under Discussion: http://www.technologyreview.com/printer_friendly_article.aspx?id=17256
  Read More Longevity Meme Commentary: http://www.longevitymeme.org/news/
  Posted Monday, August 07, 2006 9:23 PM from Longevity Meme News and Commentary / 0 Comments

  Tags: Embryonic stem cells, Geron, Stem cells

• Understanding Embryonic Stem Cells

  EurekAlert! reports on an important advance in understanding just what makes an embryonic stem cell an embryonic stem cell: scientists "have found that the DNA of human embryonic stem cells is chemically modified in a characteristic, predictable pattern. This pattern distinguishes human embryonic stem cells from normal adult cells and cell lines, including cancer cells. ... Our results suggest that therapeutic cloning of patient-specific human embryonic stem cells will be an enormous challenge, as nuclei from adult cells will have to be epigenetically reprogrammed to reflect the specific DNA methylation signature of normal human embryonic stem cells. This reinforces the need for basic research directed at understanding the fundamental biology of human embryonic stem cells before therapeutic uses can be considered." Informed commentary on the difficulty of creating embryonic stem cells from adult cells is a big step up from not knowing how to do the job.
  
  View the Article Under Discussion: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2006-08/cshl-hes080106.php
  Read More Longevity Meme Commentary: http://www.longevitymeme.org/news/
  Posted Saturday, August 05, 2006 8:09 AM from Longevity Meme News and Commentary / 0 Comments

  Tags: Embryonic stem cells, Stem cells