News on Stem Cell Research

Osiris says stem cell therapy meets study goals

2010-02-24T14:00:20Z

<div id="subtitle">Osiris says Prochymal met goals as treatment for children with graft vs. host disease</div><div><p>Osiris Therapeutics Inc. said Wednesday its stem cell therapy Prochymal met study goals as a treatment for graft vs. host disease in children.</p><p>Osiris said most of the patients responded to Prochymal, and the drug significantly improved survival. The study test...

US scientists warn of fraud of stem cell 'banks'

2010-02-20T15:16:43Z

<div><p>Clinics that offer to "bank" stem cells from the umbilical cords of newborns for use later in life when illness strikes are fraudsters, a top US scientist said here Saturday.</p><p>Clinics in many countries allow parents to deposit stem cells from their neonate's umbilical cord with a view to using the cells to cure major illnesses that could occur later in life.</p><p>In Thailand, for example, parents pa...

U.S. "tweaks" stem cell policy

2010-02-22T08:08:25Z

&lt;div&gt;&lt;p&gt;WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. government broadened the definition of a human embryonic stem cell on Friday, helping qualify several corporate and academic experiments for federal funding.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Dr. Lana Skirboll, directo...

Ark. candidate likens stem cell work to Nazi tests

2010-02-22T09:47:38Z

<div id="subtitle">Ark. GOP Senate hopeful: No apology needed for comparing stem cell work to Nazi tests on Jews</div><div><p>A Republican candidate for a U.S. Senate seat in Arkansas says he sees no need to apologize for comparing stem cell research to Nazi experiments on Jews during the Holocaust.</p><p>Curtis ...

UK firm gets final green light for stem cell trial

2010-02-22T10:25:27Z

<div><p>LONDON (Reuters) - British biotech company ReNeuron and a team of doctors in Scotland have won final approval to start a pioneering clinical trial to assess whether stem cell therapy can help patients disabled by stroke.</p><p>The treatment involves injecting neural stem cells developed from human fetuses into patients' ...

Skin cells transformed directly to nerve in study

2010-02-22T14:11:22Z

<div><p>WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Researchers have transformed ordinary mouse skin cells directly into neurons, bypassing the need for stem cells or even stemlike cells and greatly speeding up the field of regenerative medicine.</p><p>The experiment could make it possible to someday take a sample of a patient's skin and turn the cells into a tailor-made transplant to treat brain...

The Stem Cell Debate

2010-02-22T20:51:21Z

In the direction of human physiological benefits potential, with the goal of real progress, the much revealed stem cell debate focusing on moral arguments is really off targeted. The practical considerations eventually trump this emotionally clouded subject. No matter what side of this issue you approach it with caution. In human physiology, stem cells are a important asset and thus deserve our intense interest, but unfortunately we miss the mark of discovering just how we can use what we alr...

Geron sees anticancer activity in lab study

2010-02-23T01:07:07Z

<div id="subtitle">Geron reports anticancer activity in preclinical study on developing drug imetelstat</div><div><p>Biotechnology company Geron Corp. said Tuesday its developing stem-cell technology inhibited tumor activity and reduced tumor size in a laboratory study focusing on the most common form of brain cancer.</p><p>The company, citing a st...

The Exciting and Future Role of Stem Cells in the Health Industry

2010-02-23T14:07:44Z

As the debate on whether to use stem cells, or not to use stem cells continues to rage, many people are starting to look to the potential upside of using stem cells as a deciding factor. Stem cells have remarkable potential to be used to test new drugs, cure previously thought of as incurable diseases, and possibly cure many different types of cancer. But the application of stem cell research has caused a heated debate over the last 20 years, and much of stem cell research was illegal until o...

Asians, Africans 'left out of stem cell research'

2010-02-23T14:45:39Z

<div><p>Asians and Africans may be less likely to benefit from pioneering stem cell research than people of European origin, thanks to a lack of racial diversity in cell stocks, a US study has said.</p><p>A University of Michigan research team found that stem cell lines came overwhelmingly from individuals of...

Asians, Africans left out of stem cell research: study

2010-02-23T14:45:40Z

<div><p>Asians and Africans may be less likely to benefit from pioneering stem cell research than people of European origin, thanks to a lack of racial diversity in cell stocks, a US study said Wednesday.</p><p>A University of Michigan research team found that stem cell lines came overwhelmingly from individu...

Stem cell researchers watching legislative moves

2010-02-23T18:40:04Z

<div id="subtitle">U. of Michigan stem cell researchers moving forward but fearful of proposed legislation</div><div><p>A leading University of Michigan researcher said Tuesday the school now can accept private donations of unused human embryos for creating new stem cell lines.</p><p>On Wedn...

Stem Cells

2009-12-02T15:50:12Z

FILE - In this file photo originally made available by Advanced Cell Technology in 2006, a single cell is removed from a human embryo to be used in generating embryonic stem cells for scientific research. Shares of companies developing stem cell therapies surged Wednesday, Dec. 2, 2009 on news that the federal government has cleared 13 new stem cell lines for testing, bringing to a close nearly a decade of ...

New stem cell lines approved for tax-paid research

2010-02-23T21:57:06Z

<div id="subtitle">NIH approves first batches of embryonic stem cells for tax-funded research, promises more soon</div><div><p>Scientists can start using taxpayer dollars to do research with 13 batches of embryonic stem cells and the government says dozens more cell lines should be available soon, opening a new era for the potentially life-saving field.</p><p>Pr...

Biotech cos. rise as gov't OKs new stem cell lines

2010-02-23T21:53:22Z

<div id="subtitle">Biotech companies soar as federal government names new stem cell lines for testing</div><div><p>Shares of companies developing stem cell therapies surged Wednesday on news that the federal government has cleared 13 new stem cell lines for testing, bringing to a close nearly a decade of restrictions.</p><p>The news from the MADISON, WI - MARCH 10: Kejin Hu, research associate, looks at a colony of human embryonic stem cells under a microscope at Wisconsin National Primate Research Center at University Wisconsin-Madison March 10, 2009 in Madison, Wisconsin. On March 9, 2009 President Barack Obama signed an order reversing the Bush administrati...

US researchers get new embryonic stem cell lines

2010-02-23T21:55:49Z

<div><p>US authorities Wednesday approved 13 new lines of human embryonic stem cells for scientific research in the first such move since the Obama administration lifted a ban on their use.</p><p>"I am happy to say that we now have human embryonic stem cell lines eligible for use by our research community under our new stem cell policy," said Reuters) - The U.S. government approved the first 13 batches of human embryonic stem cells on Wednesday, enabling researchers using them to get millions of dollars in federal funding as promised by President Barack Obama in March.</p><p>The bat...

U.S. approves first "ethical" human stem cell lines

2010-02-23T21:59:13Z

<div><p>WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. government approved the first 13 batches of human embryonic stem cells on Wednesday, enabling researchers using them to get millions of dollars in federal funding as promised by President Barack Obama in March.</p><p>The bat...

Measure to change U. of Neb. stem-cell rule fails

2010-02-24T02:35:46Z

<div><p>The University of Nebraska's governing board on Friday voted not to place tighter restrictions on embryonic stem cell research than those outlined under federal guidelines, which were expanded after President Barack Obama took office.</p><p>The Board of Regents, which is elected, voted 4-4 on a proposit...