Archive for the ‘Research’ Category
Till & McCulloch Meetings 2012: Lessons to learn from leukemic stem cells
by Alexey Bersenev The first plenary session of the Till & McCulloch Meetings was dedicated to cancer stem cells. John Dick opened the session by asking a question: “Stem cells in cancer: do they matter?” He is always ahead of time, very precise and innovative and I think cancer stem cell researchers can learn…Read more
The stem cell fraction
An interview with Till & McCulloch Award winner, Dr. Aaron Schimmer, whose paper, entitled “Inhibition of mitochondrial translation as a therapeutic strategy for human acute myeloid leukemia,” published in Cancer Cell, November 2011, was selected by committee as the most important stem cell publication by a Canadian in the past year. Dr. Schimmer will present the Award lecture…Read more
Gene deletion to create insulin-producing cells
Most research on stem cells involves the manipulation of gene expression, to some degree or another. During stem cell differentiation, the expression of specific genes orchestrates the choices cells make along the path from stem cell to adult cell — a process known as differentiation. Here’s how it works: the expression (or lack thereof) of…Read more
Using titanium to induce bone differentiation and personalized implants
Titanium can be found everywhere. It is used in cars, sporting equipment and even jewelry manufacturing. But did you know that titanium products are used inside the human body? You may know someone who has undergone a joint replacement procedure or someone who has a dental implant. For decades, titanium alloys have been used as…Read more
The evolution of biomaterials
I’ve been working in the field of biomaterials for over five years now. A short period of time, but nevertheless I’ve noticed that the field has evolved considerably. Since the inception of “biologically compatible materials,” their capabilities, functionalities and uses have undergone multiple stages of change. There are distinct turning points when biomaterial research is…Read more
Good start to the year for umbilical cord blood stem cells
In 1988, the first umbilical cord hematopoietic stem cell transplant was conducted and since that time, over 20,000 umbilical cord blood transplants have been reported around the world. The technique offers several advantages over bone marrow in the treatment of blood disorders including noninvasive accessibility to umbilical cord blood as well as decreased graft versus…Read more
Inside the Sauvageau lab
One of the advantages of working in an admin office of an organization that funds stem cell research is that you tend to hear about what’s happening in labs all across the country. So when I heard that some interesting things were happening in the Guy Sauvageau lab, I decided to pay an overdue visit…Read more
News roundup: open access, new funding for personalized medicine and spinal cord injury update
Some updates and news items of note: Call for boycott of subscriber-based journals gains momentum The ongoing friction between proponents of open access and the academic publishers has jumped into the spotlight once again with calls from a number of academics, most notably from prominent British mathmetician Tim Gowers, who publicly announced his decision to stop…Read more
Good news for hESC trials: transplanted human embryonic stem cell-derived retinal pigment epithelium… and it’s safe!
As has been reported broadly this week, transplantation of human embryonic stem cell-derived retinal pigment epithelial cells appears to be safe in human patients, and it may even be efficacious (although this can only be confirmed via a Phase II trial). Advanced Cell Technology (of California) published a preliminary clinical report of their Phase I…Read more
