Right Turn: Henrietta Lacks immortalized on film

by Stacey Johnson | May 6, 2016

Arguably one of the most popular science books ever written is heading to the big screen. Tech Insider calls The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks “the most important science book of our time.” And with Oprah Winfrey cast as Henrietta’s daughter, you will be hard...

The race to develop senescent cell clearance therapies

by Nick Dragojlovic | May 3, 2016

A growing focus of biomedical research and regenerative medicine is the effort to target the aging process itself, by either slowing or reversing the accumulation of cellular and molecular damage that drives age-related functional decline. The goal is to develop new...

Right Turn: Throw away that scalpel; here comes the “biopen”

by Stacey Johnson | Apr 29, 2016

Jennifer Hicks at Forbes has written about a handheld surgical device that can draw stem cells to repair cartilage so that the damaged cartilage can heal itself with its own cells. How cool is that?! The ARC Centre of Excellence for Electromaterials Science in...

Update from the Clinic: March

by Mark Curtis | Apr 28, 2016

Welcome to your Update from the Clinic for the month of March. Undoubtedly the big news in March came from Vericel, which saw its stock double after reporting positive topline results from its Phase 2b study in heart failure. There were also some first dosings and...

Cell Therapy Deal Review: March

by Mark Curtis | Apr 25, 2016

Welcome to your Cell Therapy Deal Review for the month of March. Cellectis continues to differentiate through a collaboration with MabQuest. PCT formed a partnership with Japanese conglomerate Hitachi. Kite partnered with Roche’s Genentech on a program for lymphoma....

Right Turn: Autism stem cell research could use a boost

by Stacey Johnson | Apr 22, 2016

While I’m sure news about autism spikes in April during the annual awareness campaign, I doubt autism is absent from the news very often. Whether parents and advocates are lobbying for more services and funding, experts and non-experts are arguing over whether...

Athletes embrace stem cell therapy, for better or worse

by Guest | Apr 18, 2016

Randi Druzin is an author and journalist based in Toronto. She has worked at the CBC and several other major media outlets, and has written for publications such as The New York Times and The Globe and Mail. She has also written three books. Randi first learned about...

Right Turn: The wild, wacky world of animals and regenerative medicine

by Stacey Johnson | Apr 15, 2016

The picture to the right is of my cat Chloe, all dressed up for her debut on Signals. Amazingly, Franklin West (University of Georgia) thinks domesticated cats (Chloe!) are the ideal vessel for saving big cats of the endangered species kind. The idea is to collect...

Mental constructions: a 3D printing approach to making miniature neural circuits

by Holly Wobma | Apr 11, 2016

“You are your synapses.” [Joseph LeDoux]. I first came across this quote while working in a neurophysiology lab after my freshman year of undergraduate studies. To this day, I am amazed by its simple eloquence and the grandeur of its implications. Indeed, the idea...

Right Turn: A science book lover’s dream list

by Stacey Johnson | Apr 8, 2016

I’ve written about the Canadian Science Writers’ Association (CSWA) before, in a post about good stem cell books for kids. Well, CSWA has just released its Short Lists in the 2015 Science in Society Book Awards competition, and with CBC’s Canada Reads having just...