The Pluripotent

The reprogramming field seems to be moving oh-so-fast.  First authorJian-Chien Dominic Heng (Genome Institute of Singapore) and colleagues in Singapore and Boston have discovered that a nuclear receptor known as Nr5a2 or Lrh-1 can replace Oct4, a critical transcription factor thought to be needed for generating induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells.  This discovery adds another question to the current putative models to what molecular mechanisms are involved when a somatic cell is reprogrammed... more

According to the WHO, there aren’t any treatments to reverse the disability caused by strokes, which occur when there is a sudden loss of blood to the brain. And every year, about 5 million people worldwide are disabled by strokes. After multiple failures from getting permission from U.S. regulators, ReNeuron Group Plc is performing a study in the U.K. with fetal brain cells on stroke victims. A neurosurgeon at Southern General Hospital in Glasgow, Scotland, plans to drill a hole in a patient’s... more

3 million doses of the H1N1 or Swine Flu vaccines will be available to the public beginning the first week of October. Most of the doses will be a nasal spray type not recommended for those pregnant,over the age of 50, or those with asthma and other health problems. However injections will be arriving one to two weeks after the release of the nasal spray. Health officials originally debated whether to wait and amass a larger stock of vaccines or to disperse smaller quantities and chose the latter.... more

more AKPC_IDS += "1106,";Popularity: 17% [?] Read More →

Not only has our economy been on the decline, birth rates have as well. There has a been reported 2 percent decrease in birth rates nationwide and as much as 7 percent in some states. Although a direct correlation cannnot be asserted, low birth rates seems to be a logical reaction to inflation and increasing costs of living along with job losses. These patterns of lower birth rates parallel those during the Great Depression in the 1930s and the Arab oil embargo crisis in the 1970s. But hey,... more

Swiss drugmaker Novartis has acquired Opexa Therapeutics Inc’s preclinical-stage stem cell technology, resolving the tiny biopharmaceutical company’s near-term liquidity needs and triggering a six-fold rise in its shares. Cha-ching. [Via Reuters] AKPC_IDS += "1096,";Popularity: 10% [?] Read More →

The Chosun Ilbo, a Korean news site, has reported that the world’s first stem cell animal hospital has opened in South Korea.  While there have been reports around the world about dogs, cats, and even mountain lions getting stem cell therapy, there hasn’t been a single hospital specializing in the technique.  Maybe this news isn’t that exciting.  Maybe it’s just an excuse to put up cute doggy pictures visiting the vet. OK? AKPC_IDS += "1094,";Popularity: 14% [?] Read More →

Research led by Dr. Steven McKnight of UT Southwestern Medical Center has demonstrated that the activation of a particular gene encoding threonine dehydrogenase (TDH) may be a key component of why mouse embryonic stem cells are easily grown in a laboratory while other mammalian ES cells are difficult, if not impossible, to maintain. Here’s the abstract: Measurements of the abundance of common metabolites in cultured embryonic stem (ES) cells revealed an unusual state with respect to one-carbon... more

Robert Klein, the chariman of CIRM, will not seek a new term when his six-year term ends at the end of 2010.  Klein has been criticized for mainly two things: (1) Proposition 71, which was proposed by him and approved by California voters to use a state-bond supported plan to fund stem cell research, and (2) his request for a $150,000 salary at the time when California is facing a multibillion-dollar budget deficit.  Despite the bad timing, was it too much to ask after working gratis for five years? ... more

LED street lights in Ann Arbor, Michigan With the current economic problems and global climate change that we face today, new innovations have never been more important. Dubbed as “a pivotal emerging technology,” by the United States Department of Energy, light emitting diodes or LEDs have set the new standard for greener lighting. Once used basketball scoreboards, cellphone consoles, traffic lights and colored Christmas lights, rapid improvements have enabled its use in buildings  and streets. There... more