Stem Cell: September 2007

Sunday, September 30, 2007

Keyword News: [stem cell]

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Sunday, September 30, 2007 11:31 PM PDT

Michigan Catholics start big push on stem cell research
WOOD TV 8 Grand Rapids Sun, 30 Sep 2007 1:45 PM PDT
LANSING, Mich. -- Roman Catholic leaders in Michigan are encouraging members of the state's 800 parishes to oppose embryonic stem cell research and instead back work using adult stem...

Michigan Catholics promote adult stem cell research
WOOD TV 8 Grand Rapids Sun, 30 Sep 2007 8:30 AM PDT
The conference is distributing a stem cell DVD and other materials to half a million Catholic households in Michigan.

State Catholic group clarifies church's stance on stem cells
Macomb Daily Sun, 30 Sep 2007 10:23 PM PDT
The Michigan Catholic Conference has launched a massive education program on stem cell research, explaining its position in advance of Respect Life Sunday, according to spokesman Dave Maluchnik.

Catholic group to campaign for study of adult stem cells
Detroit Free Press Sun, 30 Sep 2007 0:07 AM PDT
The Michigan Catholic Conference will launch a major education campaign this week aimed at promoting support for research using adult stem cells and clarifying the church's opposition to embryonic stem cell research.

Church launches stem-cell education push
Royal Oak Daily Tribune Sun, 30 Sep 2007 10:07 PM PDT
For the Catholic Church, October is "Respect Life Month" and its Michigan members will be getting a reminder of it in their mailboxes within days.

Embryonic stages
Orange County Register Sun, 30 Sep 2007 4:06 AM PDT
Several Irvine companies are involved in various aspects of the fledgling stem-cell industry.

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[StemCells] HOW DO LIKE THEM APPLES, bush?!

Steve Stice, who has dedicated his research using embryonic stem
cells to improving the lives of people with degenerative diseases
and debilitating injuries, newly has discovered the process to
produce billions of neural cells from a few stem cells, could now
aid in national security.

In collaboration with the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory, Stice
hopes to use his recently developed neural cell kits to detect
chemical threats.

Steve Stice, a University of Georgia animal science professor and
Georgia Research Alliance eminent scholar in the UGA College of
Agricultural and Environmental Sciences said that they have a device
that looks like a small tool box that contains neural cells and can
detect changes in their electrical activity, when these cells'
activity is altered, there's something present that shouldn't be and
they don't like it.

Stice's neural cell kits created from human embryonic stem cell
lines last up to six months. "We've never tested to see how far
beyond that they're viable," he said. "It could be much longer."

He has contacted researchers at NRL who had published a paper on the
detection system. He said that they've developed the recording
device, and they have the cells they need. So working together, they
can vastly improve that project.

Stice explained the device. "The monitoring system records
electrical activity in the neural cells, which are usually in a set,
rhythmic pattern," he said, drawing a chart that looks like a
pattern on a heart monitor.

The researchers got support for the project from several
congressmen, including Sen. Johnny Isakson and Georgia Rep. Jack
Kingston.

The current system can detect an agent but it can't identify it. "We
may be able to further develop the system so that for some chemicals
there are signatures that will lead to a future way to rapidly
identify exactly what the chemical is," Stice said.

"Noncell systems available now can detect specified chemicals," he
said. "But this is a broader detection system that will be more
valuable because we don't know what terrorists will hit us with."

Stice feels this detection system is important to troops and
civilians. "There's always a concern for nerve agents and
unintentional effects of warfare where troops are in the way of
chemical agents," he said.

Stem Cell Scientists Found a Way to Fight AIDS
Further Grants from California Stem Cell Agency Will be a Booster
for Embryonic Stem Cell Research
Nerve Cell Transplants may Help Fight Multiple Sclerosis
Human Muscle stem cells fight incontinence
Lawmakers Should Back Up Stem Cell Therapy to Fight Deadly Diseases
Stem Cell That Directly Determines Fate of its Daughters
Development of First Generation Stem Cell Therapies
Stem Cells Join The Fight Against AIDS
Embryonic Stem Cell Therapy is a Real Hope for Those Who are
Suffering form Deadly Incurable Diseases
Children's Cord Blood is a Form of Biological Insurance

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StemCells subscribers may also be interested in these sites:

Children's Neurobiological Solutions
http://www.CNSfoundation.org/

Cord Blood Registry
http://www.CordBlood.com/at.cgi?a=150123

The CNS Healing Group
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CNS_Healing
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Saturday, September 29, 2007

Keyword News: [stem cell]

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Yahoo! News - My Alerts - Edit Alert

Saturday, September 29, 2007 11:31 PM PDT

New UW institute aims to regenerate stem cell research
KOMO Seattle Sat, 29 Sep 2007 1:14 PM PDT
In an attempt to get around the restrictions on federal money and avoid a potential siphoning of talent, scientists and some business leaders are working to keep Seattle in the game by encouraging privately funded stem cell research.

Stem cell therapy mars sex lives
Hindustan Times Sat, 29 Sep 2007 8:51 AM PDT
A long-term study shows that sexual dysfunction is a major problem that does not fully subside after a type of stem cell therapy called hematopoietic cell transplantation, or HCT. This is true in both men and women.

Seattle doc's stem-cell research led to bone marrow transplants
The Columbian Sat, 29 Sep 2007 2:27 PM PDT
SEATTLE (AP) -- The first reported medical use of stem cells was performed by one of Seattle's leading physician-scientists 50 years ago this month, even though he didn't know it.

Stem cell research question belongs on ballot
The Record Sat, 29 Sep 2007 8:59 PM PDT
CONSERVATIVES have lambasted "activist" courts for legalizing abortion and for recognizing same-sex couples' right to join in unions equal to marriage, to name two hot-button issues. They have long argued that voters should make those decisions.

New UW institute aims to regenerate the stem cell research
The Columbian Sat, 29 Sep 2007 2:28 PM PDT
SEATTLE (AP) -- Imagine injecting a heart attack victim with cells that can immediately rebuild the damaged heart, regenerating a damaged spinal cord to restore movement to a paralytic or curing a disorder such as Parkinson's by transplanting cells to grow new brain tissue.

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[StemCells] MS : Marrow Mesenchymal Injection Trials in UK

Stem cell injection trial 'raises hope of MS cure'
Last updated at 10:18am on 28th September 2007

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Patients will be injected with their own bone marrow stem cells

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More polls » A pioneering new treatment which could help thousands
of multiple sclerosis suffers "recover" from the incurable disease is
being trialled for the first time at a British hospital.

The patients will be injected with bone marrow stem cells, which
researchers hope will repair damaged areas of the brain and spinal
cord and "reverse" their physical decline.

The trial - which is being carried out at Frenchay Hospital, near
Bristol - is believed to be the first time this type of authorised
therapy has been tested on patients anywhere in the world.

Around 85,000 people in the UK suffer from MS, which is a
degenerative disease of the central nervous system and can leave
patients wheel-bound and paralysed.

Previous studies have found some cells migrate to damaged areas in
the brain and spinal cord and were able to 'home in' on the damage
areas.

Neil Scolding, professor of clinical neurosciences for North Bristol
NHS Trust, who is leading the trial, said he hoped the treatment
would offer a major breakthrough in treating the illness.

"We believe that bone marrow cells have the capability to repair
precisely the type of damage that we see in the brain and spinal cord
in MS.

"So by giving patients very large numbers of their own bone marrow
cells we hope that this will help stabilise the disease and bring
about some repair.

"That is the aim: to repair and recover and to try and reverse the
disease. It might not work first time round. We might need to refine
the technique, but at last we have started using it on patients,
which is very exciting."

The six patients - aged in their 30s to 50s - all suffer disabilities
as a result of their MS.

During the trial, they will have bone marrow cells removed under
general anaesthetic. The cells are then processed and delivered back
to the patient later the same day via a vein in the arm.

The group will be closely monitored over the next year and will
undergo regular brain scans to see what impact the treatment has on
their disabilities.

"When patients get disabilities from MS they tend to build up very
slowly, in years, rather than weeks," Professor Scolding said.

"Similarly the repair, we believe, will be fairly slow. We think it
will be at least six months before we see any benefit.

"If it is a safe and we get an inkling it's working, we would aim to
do a larger study to examine the effectiveness of such treatment."

Stem cell therapies have been offered commercially in Holland to MS
sufferers, where the cells are controversially taken from umbilical
cords. But because the cells have not come from patients' own body -
there is a high risk they will be rejected.

This would not be the case in the British-based therapy, which would
only use stem cells taken from the patient's bone marrow.

It would also not involve the destruction of any embryonic cells,
which so much of the ethical debate on the treatment is focused on.

A spokesman for the MS Society, which funded some of the earlier
research into the Bristol trials, said: "While stem cell research
holds exciting possibilities it is still in very early stages.

"There is some way to go before the potential of these cells are
fully understood and used to treat MS."

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/health/healthmain.html?
in_article_id=484429&in_page_id=1774

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[StemCells] S.Korea to ban human ova trade

By Kim Rahn
Staff Reporter

Limited scientific research on somatic cell nuclear transfers for
possible cures of fatal diseases will be permitted following a
revision of the relevant law.

The law will prescribe the bounds of the research, as well as ban
human ova trading.

The Ministry of Health and Welfare said Thursday that the revised
Bioethics Law will take effect in October.

In Korea, there have not been any applications for studies on embryo
cloning using somatic cells since the government started revising the
law in conjunction with the research fabrication scandal by disgraced
scientist Hwang Woo-suk.

Early 2006, former Seoul National University professor Hwang shocked
the nation and the world when it was found that his much-praised
study on human stem cell cloning was based on cooked data.

According to the revision, research on somatic cell nuclear transfer
is permitted once approved by the health and welfare minister, and
only for the purpose of seeking to cure incurable diseases.

The law will also put a restriction on the types of ova that can be
used for the embryo cloning study _ ova prepared for in vitro
fertilization (IVF) treatment which become surplus following
pregnancy, and immature and abnormal ova prepared for IVF.

Human cloning by implanting a somatic cell-cloned embryo in the
uterine wall will be banned. Transferring the somatic cell nucleus of
animals to enucleated human ovum will also be prohibited.

Selling or purchasing ova is also banned.

The revised law will only allow embryo-cloning institutes to commence
research after the authority approves their research plans.

``With detailed standards for somatic cell nuclear transfer, we
expect the law to promote ethics and safety of bio-science,'' a
ministry official said.

rahnita@koreatimes.co.kr
http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2007/09/117_10900.html

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[StemCells] Fat SCs to bad joints puts dog back on police force

Police dog team takes on arthritis
Stem cell treatment gives Jago the police K9 a second chance on force
By Christina Lent

The Beaverton Valley Times, Sep 27, 2007

Jaime Valdez / Times Newspapers

Jago waits patiently inside the patrol car as his partner Officer Ken
Magnus organizes the trunk before their patrol shift.
Jago is a lucky dog.

Thanks to a new stem cell therapy, the highly trained German Shepherd
was given a second chance to return to Beaverton's police force.

For the past 2½ years, Jago has worked alongside Officer Ken Magnus
as his K-9 partner and backup.

Together the team has captured more than three dozen suspects.

"He's a great partner," Magnus said. "He's saved me a couple times
from a physical fight.

"Just having him there is a huge deterrent. He loves to come to work.
As soon as I pull into the back lot he's whining and wanting to go to
work."

Their time together on the road patrolling Beaverton streets nearly
came to an end earlier this year when Jago (pronounced YA-go)
developed immune-mediated poly arthritis in his joints.

Magnus realized something was wrong with his partner after Jago took
a hard fall Jan. 10 while tracking a home burglary suspect.

Jago leapt over a wall, went down hard and twisted his body. He got
back up and continued the pursuit.

"I noticed he had trouble getting up from a laying down position,"
Magnus recalled. "At first I thought he may just be sore, but within
a week's time it seemed to be getting worse.

"He would rock to the front of his paws, rock himself forward and
push himself up. He got to the point where I had to physically pick
him up off the floor because he couldn't stand up on his own power."

Concerned for his dog's health, Magnus took him to different
veterinarians and learned through testing that Jago had arthritis.

Doctors initially used medications to treat Jago.

"I was told that he may never come back or have to be on medication
for the rest of his life," Magnus said. "They started him with a high
dose which helped the side effects, but when they tried to lower the
dosage, he would get infections and start limping again."

Jago had good days and bad days as doctors attempted different
treatments.

"When he was feeling OK, I would bring him to work and use him for
certain tasks," Magnus said. "He was off and on the street the whole
time he was undergoing treatment, but there was a lot of stuff we
didn't do."

Patrol dogs on Beaverton's K-9 Unit are trained to track and
apprehend suspects that flee, trained in handler protection and in
locating evidence.

"We invest a lot of time and training in these dogs because they are
one of our greatest tools in law enforcement," said Beaverton Police
Chief David Bishop. "Their success in tracking and locating evidence
is incredible."

Jago's condition made it difficult for him to perform long tracks and
other tasks expected of him as a police dog.

"The thought of having to retire him killed me," Magnus said. "I
forged a bond and partnership with my dog that took time. He had to
learn to trust me and I had to learn how to read him. I didn't want
to give up on that."

Police department leaders were also not ready to give up on Jago and
looked for a clinic that specialized in caring for working dogs.

They found an ideal team with Dr. Cindy Zikes at the Surgical Medical
Specialty Clinic for Animals in Beaverton.

"Jago didn't tolerate medications well so we decided to wean him off
of them and suggested a stem cell therapy," Zikes said.

The treatment involved harvesting regenerative adult stem cells from
the fat in Jago's groin area, sending them to a lab to be processed
and then injecting them back into his problematic joints.

"The therapy is very new for dogs, but it's been very successful in
treating horses that have been injured," Zikes said.

" This was Jago's last chance," Magnus said.

Sgt. Robert Davis was encouraged when the city agreed to invest in
Jago's treatment.

"I was impressed that the city would go out on a limb on a cutting
edge, experimental procedure," Davis said. "All our fingers are
crossed with this last procedure.

"We knew it was a make it or break it deal."

Subtle changes
Jago underwent treatment in July and the results impressed everyone.

"He improved dramatically," Zikes said. "He's a gorgeous dog.

"Looking at him now, you'd never know that he had to have this
treatment. The potential of this stem cell therapy is really
exciting."

Within 12 days, Jago was back on patrol and showing signs of huge
improvement.

"It was amazing," Magnus said. "I feel like I got my dog back.

"His energy and personality returned. He regained his playfulness. He
started to jump up on me again and run around on the grass. Things I
almost forgot that he would do."

Zikes is continuing to keep an eye on Jago's progress.

She's considering a second injection to help with lingering
inflammation.

"Jago is doing pretty well overall," Zikes said following a recent
checkup. "Ken has noticed some real, subtle changes that we are
keeping an eye on, but we're hopeful."
http://www.beavertonvalleytimes.com/news/story.php?
story_id=119093425568233200

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[StemCells] Colloidal gold to stimulate regeneration / Parkinson's

Parkinson's Disease - Colloidal Silver or Colloidal Gold
Mike Hussey
September 27, 2007
With the renowned effects of colloidal gold on serious malfunctions
of the nervous system, therapists have tried to use it in the
treatment of severe diseases such as Parkinson. This health problem
is in fact a slowly-progressing disorder of the nervous system that
shows as first outward signs uncontrolled body movements and loss of
muscle control. Colloidal gold solutions have been used together with
colloidal silver in experimental treatments of patients in the
advanced stage of Parkinson disease and the results were sheer
condition improvement. The deterioration of the patients' condition
appears on the background of the destruction of the brain stem cells.

Scientists have used colloidal gold as a cell maker; implanted at the
level of the nervous tissue, colloidal gold stimulates cellular
growth and ensures the survival of the existing nervous structure.
This method has been used for a long time now to stimulate the body's
production of new tissue particularly during the recovery period
after wounds or extensive disease. Colloidal gold used in the
treatment of Parkinson disorder has even led to complete remission of
the disease in the most fortunate of cases. Otherwise, improvement of
the general condition has been reported with the regain of the sense
of smell for instance and of color vision.

The success colloidal gold enjoys for patients suffering from
incurable affections is partly justified by the technological process
used in the manufacturing. Homeopaths and other specialists in the
field talk about the ultrafine gold molecules or nanometer-sized
particles. Usually, colloidal gold used in the treatment of Parkinson
disease is manufactured under gel or gelatin-like form, which is
easily recognized by the yellow or white color of the compound. The
medical procedure relies in fact on a combination of inactive virus
structures used as envelopes, in which colloidal cold is introduced.
Afterwards, the inactive viruses will act as a fusion element with
the nervous cells, whereas, colloidal gold will stimulate the
regeneration of the function.

Another study in the field has proved excellent results in the
Parkinson cases when wet cells batteries with colloidal gold and
silver solutions have been used during a four-month treatment. Used
at home, this treatment had slight to moderate effects, but just like
in the other colloidal gold applications for Parkinson, great
improvement was reported in some individual cases. Reduced tremors
and increased face expressiveness are among the most frequent
victories against this unforgiving health problem. Further progress
in the use of colloidal gold is still expected.

http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/viewArticle.asp?
articleID=38725

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[StemCells] hES through Parthenogenesis

Work on unfertilized eggs gets area company noticed
By Terri Somers
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER

September 28, 2007
CRISSY PASCUAL / Union-Tribune
Dr. Amber Buz'Zard with special cold storage facilities for human
parthenogenetic cells at International Stem Cells Corp. in Oceanside.
Alone after losing her husband and daughter in a Russian flu
epidemic, 60-year-old Elena Revazova came to California in 1997 and
began looking for distant relatives.
She had been the chief scientist at Russia's national cancer
institute. But in the United States she lived in obscurity, taking a
volunteer research job at the University of California Los Angeles
veterans hospital because she figured no one would hire a 60-year-old
woman with poor English, despite two Ph.D.s and a medical degree.

A decade later, Revazova's work is back in the scientific spotlight.
An Oceanside company she helped start, International Stem Cells,
gained worldwide attention with the publication last summer of work
done by Revazova and her team of scientists, who coaxed unfertilized
human eggs to produce embryonic stem cells.

The company showed that the embryonic stem cells could be grown into
more human embryonic stem cells, as well as differentiated into some
of the 200 different cell types in the body.

That work, scientists said, could provide a source of human embryonic
stem cells that sidestep the moral ethical debate swirling around the
cells. It could also provide a source of stem cells that would not
provoke a negative immune response when injected into humans – at
least in women who provide the eggs.

"It's a big deal, it's a very nice advance," said Kent Vrana of
Pennsylvania State University, when the article was published online
in the journal Cloning and Stem Cells. Vrana had done similar work in
monkeys.

The company is the first to intentionally create these so-called
human parthenogenetic cells – though another article published last
summer suggested that Korean stem cell researcher Woo Suk Hwang may
have created parthenogenetic cells when he falsely claimed instead to
have cloned human embryonic stem cells.

International Stem Cell is hoping to create a bank of these
parthenogenetic stem cells that can be used by researchers around the
globe, and to use cells to create new therapies for diabetes and
diseases of the eye and liver.

This month, a scientific journal article by the company showed that
they turned the embryonic stem cells into cornea tissue.

The company, which went public in January through a reverse merger
with an inactive company, has been selling shares over the counter.
Shares closed yesterday at $1.15, up 5 cents.

The founding of the company goes back to Revazova volunteering at the
VA hospital.

Dr. Gregory Keller, a plastic surgeon and scientist in Los Angeles,
had spread word that he was looking for a good scientist to work in
his lab. He was contacted by the head of the lab at the UCLA
hospital.

"He said 'we have a volunteer from Russia working in our lab, and I
don't know much about her, but she's amazing,' " Keller recalled.

Apparently the lab had many difficult problems getting cells to grow
and suddenly this Russian woman was able to make everything work,
Keller said.

Advertisement When Keller met with Revazova, she seemed surprised
that he wanted to hire her. But like the other American scientists
who worked with her, Keller was wowed by Revazova's work. In his
small lab, they worked on growing fibroblast cells to repair vocal
chords.
Over time, Keller learned more about her personal story.

Both her husband and daughter had been diabetics. The disease caused
them to be immunologically impaired. When the Russian flu epidemic
hit and medical supplies were in short supply for even an elite
scientist's family, the two could not survive.

The loss fueled her interest in therapies for diabetes.

Keller brought Revazova together with William Adams, a financial
expert he'd done some work with before who also had a personal
interest in diabetes research. And they introduced her to Kenneth
Aldrich, a venture capital specialist.

Together they decided to use Revazova's scientific skills as a basis
for a company that would target therapies for diabetes.

And they recruited Jeffrey Janus, a scientist who was a member of the
team that founded Clonetics Corporation, a San Diego company that had
been a leader in manufacturing human cells for clinical and research
use.

Janus pulled together a scientific team that could work on two fronts
for the company. One was research and development, including
Revazova's work. The second was the creation of a cell growing
business that could earn revenue to support the research.

As Revazova researched diabetes, she became frustrated with the
limitations of adult stem cells.

Adult stem cells can be derived from many different places in the
human body. Unlike embryonic stem cells, adult stem cells do not
require the destruction of a human embryo. But they are limited in
what they can become, unlike embryonic stem cells, which evolve into
the 200-plus different cell types in the body.

Revazova began looking at human embryonic stem cells but realized
that even they, as a therapy, would have an inherent therapeutic
problem – people who received a therapy made from stem cells with a
foreign DNA would have immune rejection issues and be required to
take immune suppressing drugs that have side effects.

So she began researching the possibility of coaxing an unfertilized
human egg to create embryonic stem cells. These so-called
parthenogenetic cells already exist in nature, Revazova explained
recently. For instance, unfertilized bee eggs produce the male,
worker bees. The fertilized eggs produce the female, queen bee, she
said.

And scientists had simulated that process in animals.

She thought that by stimulating the human eggs chemically, and then
controlling the temperature and oxygen in the environment in which
they are incubated, they could be coaxed to live and mature for up to
seven days and become a blastocyst, a cluster of about 200 cells.
Within the blastocyst's inner cell mass are embryonic stem cells.

But any work Revazova wanted to do on human embryonic stem cells was
made problematic because of funding restrictions that President Bush
placed on the research, Janus said.

Revazova returned to Russia in March 2002, to work on the
controversial cells with funding from the company. In her homeland,
she could work unfettered by U.S. restrictions. And she knew many top-
notch scientists who were hungry for work because they could not get
sufficient funding from the government since the dissolution of the
Soviet Union.

The researchers talked to hundreds of Russian women who had gone
through in-vitro fertilization to have children, and as a result had
leftover eggs, or oocytes, frozen in storage at IVF clinics. From the
women who sought to donate their unwanted eggs to research, the
researchers used 12 eggs, taking them only from people who had
already successfully had children, Revazova said.

From them, they successfully created six new embryonic cell lines.

"What Elena did that was so important was that she did this
repeatedly. It was not a one-time event," said Jeff Krstich,
International Stem Cell's chief executive.

The efficiency with which the lines were created is also notable,
scientists said. For an embryonic stem cell therapy to ultimately be
successful, the cell lines will have to be created with efficient use
of human eggs, which are not readily available.

Another possible advantage of the cell lines is that they may get
around federal funding restrictions in the United States because they
do not come from fertilized eggs, said Evan Snyder, who runs the
embryonic stem cell research program at the Burnham Institute in La
Jolla.

"Of course, we'd have to make sure these cells can do everything they
are supposed to do," Snyder said.

The company is now hoping to take advantage of its California
headquarters, which gives it access to a growing pool of talented
stem cell scientists and possible funding from the state's $3 billion
taxpayer-supported stem cell research fund, Krstich said.

It appears its work in eye diseases has the potential to become its
first product, since a third-party laboratory has certified that
International's stem cells have become cornea tissue. Currently
corneal tissue used for implant is taken from cadavers, and
recipients have immunological rejection issues, Revazova said.

If the company's parthenogenetic cells can be used for a therapy,
theoretically a woman's oocyte could be used to produce cornea
tissue. Or, cornea tissue can be developed from a donor oocyte and
statistically, at least, it would pose fewer rejection issues than
tissue that comes from a fertilized egg and contains the DNA of two
people, Janus said.

Hans Keirstead, a stem cell scientist at UC Irvine, has been given
some of the company's cells to evaluate and work with as an
independent adviser.

While Krstich, the CEO, is optimistic the company's work in eye
disease could be in human clinical trials within a year and a half
with Keirstead's involvement, the UC Irvine doctor is more measured.

From his work on the cells so far, they appear to be parthenogenetic
stem cells that differentiate, but Keirstead said he has no hard data
yet.

Even without those results, the company's work is still a valuable
contribution to the field because it is a new stem cell line, these
are potentially autologous cells and there are not many people
working on developing parthenogenetic cells, Keirstead said.

The advantage to having a business work on these lines is that it has
financial backing to concentrate on them, so their chances of
succeeding are higher than others, he said.

Some local scientists who have read articles about Revazova's work
but have not seen the cells are excited by it. But they cautioned
that more work must be done to investigate whether these cells can
form tumors.

Snyder, from the Burnham Institute, also said there is still not
enough known about embryonic stem cells to predict whether the
absence of one set of parental genes is important.

"It could turn out to be important to have two sets of genes. With
real fertilization you get two copies of a gene and one is silenced
and one isn't. Sometimes you want the father's genes and sometimes
you want the mother's version. It could be a problem to be stuck with
one version," Snyder said.

Krstich said the real challenge for International now is securing
another $1 million to bring the cornea project to market. Originally
that project wasn't in the business plan, but developed as the
scientists studied retinal disease.

A grant from the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine could
be a possible funding source.

"The key for us is getting the money to get to trial," Krstich
said. "Once we get to trial, getting money will be easier. Not easy,
but easier."

Terri Somers: (619) 293-2028; terri.somers@uniontrib.com

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/business/biotech/20070928-9999-
1b28tech.html

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Friday, September 28, 2007

Keyword News: [stem cell]

Yahoo! Alerts

Yahoo! News - My Alerts - Edit Alert

Friday, September 28, 2007 11:31 PM PDT

Stem cell therapy takes a toll on sex lives
Reuters via Yahoo! News Fri, 28 Sep 2007 11:31 AM PDT
A long-term study shows that sexual dysfunction is a major problem that does not fully subside after a type of stem cell therapy called hematopoietic cell transplantation, or HCT. This is true in both men and women.

Stem-cell treatment for MS tested
UPI Fri, 28 Sep 2007 9:39 PM PDT
A clinical trial in Britain is testing a new stem-cell treatment researchers hope will undo central nervous system damage in patients with multiple sclerosis.

Individuals get first dibs on Calif. stem-cell debt
Reuters via Yahoo! News Fri, 28 Sep 2007 5:16 AM PDT
California will give individual investors the first opportunity to place orders next week during a $250 million sale of state debt to fund stem-cell research, the state treasurer said on Thursday.

Private funds keep stem cell research viable in Seattle
Seattle Post-Intelligencer Fri, 28 Sep 2007 10:04 PM PDT
Faced with federal funding restrictions on stem cell research, Seattle scientists are concerned that new efforts to expand privately funded research here might not be enough to keep Seattle at the forefront of the field and retain talent.

Stem-cell treatment for MS tested
EARTHtimes.org Fri, 28 Sep 2007 9:51 PM PDT
A clinical trial in Britain is testing a new stem-cell treatment researchers hope will undo central nervous system damage in patients with multiple sclerosis. The patients are being injected with stem cells taken from their own bone marrow, The (London) T...

Crucial stem cell vote
The Courier Mail Fri, 28 Sep 2007 7:00 AM PDT
QUEENSLAND'S Smart State image could be tarnished by a too-close-to-call landmark vote on legislation to allow embryonic stem cell research.

Stem Cell Sciences Wins EU Funding To Use Stem Cells For Drug Discovery
Medical News Today Fri, 28 Sep 2007 5:13 AM PDT
Stem Cell Sciences plc (SCS; AIM:STEM, ASX: STC) announces that it is to lead an EU funded, multinational novel drug screening collaboration using stem cells. [click link for full article]

Britain stem cell research to lose top position if US relaxes rul
New Kerala Fri, 28 Sep 2007 5:26 AM PDT
London, Sep 28 : Britain could lose its leading position in stem cell research if the next US president relaxes restrictions on federal funding of the reasearch, the new head of the Medical Research Council said today.

Stem cell from bone marrow may hold hope for multiple sclerosis patients
ANI via Yahoo! India News Fri, 28 Sep 2007 3:38 AM PDT
London, September 28 (ANI): Medical practitioners at the Frenchay hospital, near Bristol, are conducting clinical trials with stem cells drawn from patients' own bone marrow to see whether they can travel to damaged parts of the brain and repair them. Tens of thousands of patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) may benefit from the treatment if the tests become successful, say the ...

Stem cell from bone marrow may hold hope for multiple sclerosis patients
New Kerala Fri, 28 Sep 2007 6:26 AM PDT
London, September 28 : Medical practitioners at the Frenchay hospital, near Bristol, are conducting clinical trials with stem cells drawn from patients' own bone marrow to see whether they can travel to damaged parts of the brain and repair them.

See more news stories that match my keyword

Malkin Stem Cell Symposium and Poster Session!

Register for the Fourth Annual Tony & Shelly Malkin Stem Cell Symposium and Poster Session!

The Fourth Annual Tony & Shelly Malkin Stem Cell Symposium, Cancer Stem Cells, will be held on Friday, November 2, 2007 at the Harvard Club of Boston. The HSCI research community is welcome to join us for this free event which features presentations from our distinguished guest speakers:

John Dick, PhD
Toronto General Research Institute, University of Toronto
"Modeling the leukemogenic process in human cells"

Scott Armstrong, MD, PhD
Dana Farber Cancer Institute
"Cellular origins of leukemia stem cells"

Owen Witte, MD
UCLA/Howard Hughes Medical Institute
"Stem cells for prostate development and prostate cancer"

Kornelia Polyak, MD, PhD
Dana Farber Cancer Institute
"Stem cells and cancer in the breast"

Peter Dirks, MD, PhD
Universty of Toronto
"Cancer stem cells at the root of human and mouse brain cancer"

A poster session highlighting the latest research from our community will be featured following the scientific presentations.

Presenting authors are automatically registered for the symposium and the dinner (by invitation only-guest speaker is Dr. Jeffrey Flier, Dean of the Faculty of Medicine, Harvard Medical School) and will be expected to staff their displays between 3:00 and 5:30 p.m.

To submit an abstract, please visit the website at www.hsci.harvard.edu/node/740. Our deadline for abstracts is Wednesday, October 17. Abstracts received by this date will be included in our Abstract Brochure available at the Symposium.

Seating at the Harvard Club is limited, so be sure to register online at www.hsci.harvard.edu/node/414

We look forward to seeing you at the Symposium!

Boardwalk for $500? In 2007? Ha!
Play Monopoly Here and Now (it's updated for today's economy) at Yahoo! Games.

World Stem Cell Summit 2010

Sunday, September 30, 2007

Saturday, September 29, 2007

Friday, September 28, 2007

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