April 27, 2012
Fixing a broken heart has never been easy, but damaged mice hearts can now be repaired by transforming injured cells into healthy beating muscle cells. The approach sidesteps the use of stem cells and could lead to new heart treatments. … Read More
April 23, 2012
At 39 years old, Christopher John Nitkowski really has no business trying to pitch in the major leagues. In the harsh reality of professional sports, he’s a has-been. (CNN)
April 20, 2012
At the turn of the twentieth century, the promise of regenerating damaged tissue was so far-fetched that Thomas Hunt Morgan, despairing that his work on earthworms could ever be applied to humans, abandoned the field to study heredity instead. (Nature … Read More
April 13, 2012
Tomorrow the Texas Medical Board will decide whether to sign off on what’s said to be the first state-level policy imposing oversight on the medical use of experimental treatments using adult stem cells. (ScienceInsider)
March 28, 2012
Stem cells derived from a patient’s bone marrow can help treat severe heart failure, but the results are even better when they are taken from fat, a leading researcher said, citing his experience in a number of studies. (Chicago Tribune)
March 22, 2012
It is mid-morning in the delivery suite at King’s College hospital in London, and midwife Terie Duffy is cooing over the contents of a stainless-steel bowl. “Isn’t it beautiful?” she says. “This is what makes my job worthwhile … the … Read More
March 21, 2012
It might seem unbelievable, but researchers can grow organs in the laboratory. There are patients walking around with body parts which have been designed and built by doctors out of a patient’s own cells. (BBC News)
March 20, 2012
Lindsay Porter’s kidneys were failing rapidly when a friend offered to donate one of his. Then she made an unusual request: Would he donate part of his immune system, too? (Washington Post)
March 20, 2012
Four-year-old Angela Irizarry was born with a single pumping chamber in her heart, a potentially lethal defect. To fix the problem, Angela is growing a new blood vessel in her body in an experimental treatment that could advance the burgeoning … Read More
March 8, 2012
Stem cells taken from the back of a human eye have restored some vision to blind rats, according to researchers. (BBC News)
March 8, 2012
An experimental technique seems to be freeing some kidney transplant patients from having to take anti-rejection drugs. (Washington Post)
March 7, 2012
A new cornea may be the only way to prevent a patient going blind – but there is a shortage of donated corneas and the queue for transplantation is long. (Medical News Today)
March 2, 2012
Treatment which aims to correct a rare inherited genetic defect has helped a patient at risk from serious infection, a leading hospital is reporting. (BBC News)
February 29, 2012
Scientists are growing brain cells from people in families with a history of mental illness to test new treatments. (BBC News)
February 27, 2012
It’s time to rewrite the textbooks. For 60 years, everyone from high-school biology teachers to top fertility specialists has been operating under the assumption that women are born with all the eggs they will ever produce, with no way to replenish … Read More
February 20, 2012
Dementia has been described as a “time bomb” in society. As more people are living longer, more are being affected by the illness which slowly but surely annihilates brain function. (BBC News)
February 15, 2012
U.S. researchers have begun a groundbreaking trial to test the potential of umbilical cord blood transplants, a kind of stem cell therapy, to treat and possibly reverse hearing loss in infants. (Vancouver Sun)
February 14, 2012
A promising stem cell therapy approach could soon provide a way to regenerate heart muscle damaged by heart attacks. (ABC News)
February 8, 2012
Scientists in the US have successfully made human brain cells in the lab that are an exact replica of genetically caused Parkinson’s disease. (BBC News)
February 8, 2012
Hepatitis C is a viral disease that leads to inflammation and organ failure. However, researchers are puzzled as to why some individuals are very susceptible to the disease, while others are not. (Medical News Today)
February 8, 2012
The February edition of Neurosurgery reports that animal experiments in brain-injured rats have shown that stem cells injected via the carotid artery travel directly to the brain, greatly enhancing functional recovery. (Medical News Today)
February 6, 2012
An 83-year-old Belgian woman is able to chew, speak and breathe normally again after a machine printed her a new jawbone. Made from a fine titanium powder sculpted by a precision laser beam, her replacement jaw has proven as functional … Read More
February 2, 2012
Treating stroke patients with stem cells taken from their own bone marrow appears to safely help them regain some of their lost abilities, two small new studies suggest. (US News and World Report)
January 31, 2012
Skin cells have been converted directly into cells which develop into the main components of the brain, by researchers studying mice in California. (BBC News)
January 30, 2012
This is how the military might treat burned faces in 2017: A mask, worn for several months, that’s layered with sensors, actuators and a regenerative elixir — including stem cells — to regrow missing facial tissue. (Wired)
