[BobbyB]

Stem Cell Articles

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I thought that I would put a bunch of stem cell stories together into one topic.


http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,288800,00.html

Quote:

Women in Europe could be having boob jobs on their lunch breaks as early as next year, according to a scientific journal.

A fast-track breast enlargement process is to be rolled out by a Californian biotech company and could be introduced across Europe by next year, the Chemistry and Industry magazine says.

The procedure, called Celution, takes just over an hour and involves injecting a "super-charged'' fat mixture into breast tissue. Fat is taken from a patient's buttocks or stomach using minor liposuction under local anaesthetic.

The useful stem cells are separated out and an hour later a dose of stem and regenerative cells is packaged into a cartridge ready for injection. It costs a few thousand dollars and the breasts enlarge over about six months, according to the program's creator Cytori Therapeutics.

Cytori Therapeutics head of research and development Kai Pinkernel said the company's initial focus will be on reconstructive surgery in breast cancer patients.
http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegrap...006007,00.html




http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/medi...p?newsid=76228

Quote:
New Discoveries In Neural Stem Cells Have Implications For The Design Of Brain Therapies
Main Category: Stem Cell Research News
Article Date: 10 Jul 2007 - 8:00 PDT

Scientists have discovered that adult neural stem cells, which exist in the brain throughout life, are not a single, homogeneous group. Instead, they are a diverse group of cells, each capable of giving rise to specific types of neurons. The finding, the team says, significantly shifts the perspective on how these cells could be used to develop cell-based brain therapies.

The results of their study are reported online in Science Express, and will be published in an upcoming issue of Science.

Adult neural stem cells give rise to the three major types of brain cells -- astrocytes, oligodendrocytes and neurons. Their role in producing neurons is of particular interest to scientists because neurons orchestrate brain functions -- thought, feeling and movement. If scientists could figure out how to create specific types of new neurons, they potentially could use them to replace damaged cells, such as the dopamine-producing neurons destroyed in Parkinson's disease.

In recent years, scientists have determined that adult neural stem cells are located primarily in two regions of the brain -- the lining of the brain's fluid-filled cavity, known as the subventricular zone, and a horseshoe shaped area known as the hippocampus. The laboratory of the senior author of the current study, UCSF's Arturo Alvarez-Buylla identified the stem cells in the subventricular zone in 1999 (Cell, June 11, 1999).

While scientists have known that neural stem cells in the developing brain produce particular types of neurons based on where the stem cells are located in the embryo, studies carried out in cell culture have suggested that adult neural stem cells of the fully formed brain can give rise to many types of brain cells.

In the current study, conducted in mice, the team set out to explore whether neural stem cells in different locations of the subventricular zone are all the same. They did so using a method they developed to follow the fate of early neonatal and adult neural stem cells in 15 different regions of the subventricular zone. These cells typically produce young neurons that migrate to the olfactory bulb, where they mature into several distinct types of interneurons, neurons that are essential for the sense of smell.

To the team's surprise, the adult neural stem cells in the various regions of the subventricular zone each gave rise to only very specific subsets of interneurons. Moreover, the stem cells were not susceptible to being re-specified. When they were taken out of their niche and transplanted into another region of the subventricular zone, they continued to produce the same subset of interneurons. Similarly, they retained their specialized production of distinct subtypes of neurons when removed from the animals' brains and exposed to a cocktail of growth factors in a culture dish.




http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19689853/

Quote:
S. Korean lab to clone drug-sniffing dogs
Seoul National University signed deal with Korea Customs Service
Updated: 7:18 a.m. ET July 10, 2007

SEOUL - A South Korean laboratory that produced the world's first cloned dogs is looking to get into the business of cloning canines, first by cloning drug-sniffing dogs, a lab official said on Tuesday.

The laboratory at Seoul National University, implicated in a scandal for fabricating data in embryonic stem cell studies, has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Korea Customs Service to clone drug-sniffing dogs, said Kim Min-kyu, the researcher who heads the cloning project for the team.

"However, this is taking place more on an investigative level, so we aren't going to be making a profit from this deal," Kim said, adding: "We have plans to clone dogs commercially in the future."




http://blog.wired.com/wiredscience/2...alized_st.html

Quote:
Personalized Stem Cells Created ... for Monkeys
By Brandon Keim EmailJune 21, 2007 | 8:30:00 AMCategories: Biotechnology, Stem Cell Research

Esc Researchers have reportedly created individually-tailored embryonic stem cell lines in monkeys. If the findings stand, they could be a large step towards making personal ESCs -- the basis of many proposed stem cell therapies -- for people.

Personalized embryonic stem cells -- as opposed to ESC lines used in research, which come directly from fertilized embryos -- are created through a process called somatic cell nuclear transfer, or SCNT. In this process, the nucleus of a fertilized egg, or oocyte, is removed and then replaced with the nucleus of a regular cell.

Ideally, the egg with its new nucleus develops normally, and within a few days forms a cell cluster called a blastocyst from which ESCs are harvested. This has proven difficult in less-complex animals and impossible in primates -- until, perhaps, now.

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http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news?articleid=2930347

Quote:
Cure for blindness in five years

By Tom Smithard
A CURE for blindness using stem cell treatment will be available within five years, Yorkshire scientists have revealed.

Experts at Sheffield University are planning a £4m project to end the main cause of blindness among old people – age-related macular degeneration (AMD). A quarter of people over 60 in the UK are affected.

The scientists, together with teams from University College London (UCL) and Moorfields Eye Hospital in London, intend to use embryonic stem cells to repair damaged retinas.

They predict a trial will start in as little as five years and in 10 years time the hour-long operation will be a routine day-surgery procedure. Patients would notice a change in their vision in two to three weeks.

The project was launched yesterday with £4m funding from an anonymous private donor in the United States.

In AMD, cells in the middle of the retina begin to die, causing loss of vision that spreads out from the centre of the visual field.

The project aims to generate new cells from embryonic stem cells in the laboratory and transplant them into the eyes of patients.

Stem cells are dormant, but are able to turn into different cell types. Embryonic stem cells, among the most potent, are obtained from early-stage embryos the size of a pinhead.

Wise Young
Administrator
http://sci.rutgers.edu/forum/showthread.php?t=84985