iPSCs

Cellular Alchemy: Converting Fibroblasts Into Heart Cells

Posted 11 May 2013 by Jalees Rehman

Medieval alchemists devoted their lives to the pursuit of the infamous Philosopher's Stone, an elusive substance that was thought to convert base metals into valuable gold. Needless to say, nobody ever discovered the Philosopher’s Stone. Well, perhaps some alchemist did get lucky but was wise enough to keep the discovery secret. Instead of publishing the discovery and receiving the Nobel Prize for Alchemy, the lucky alchemist probably just walked around in junkyards, surreptitiously collected scraps of metal and brought them... Read more

Posted in cardiovascular, differentiation, gene expression, genome, heart disease, induced Pluripotent stem cells, iPSCs, molecular biology, regeneration, regenerative medicine, reprogramming, Stem Cells, wound healing |

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Stemming the Flow: Using Stem Cells To Treat Urinary Bladder Dysfunction

Posted 19 February 2013 by Jalees Rehman

Neurogenic bladder is a disorder which occurs in spinal cord diseases such as spina bifida and is characterized by an inability of the nervous system to properly control the urinary bladder and the muscle tissue contained in the bladder wall. This can lead to spasms and a build-up of pressure in the bladder, often resulting in urinary incontinence. Children with spina bifida and neurogenic bladder often feel urges to urinate after drinking comparatively small amounts of liquid and they can... Read more

Posted in adult stem cells, induced Pluripotent stem cells, iPSCs, mesenchymal stem cells, MSCs, patients, regenerative medicine, Stem Cells |

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Immune Cells Can Remember Past Lives

Posted 9 January 2013 by Jalees Rehman

The generation of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) is one of the most fascinating discoveries in the history of stem cell biology. John Gurdon and Shinya Yamanaka received the 2012 Nobel Prize for showing that adult cells could be induced to become embryonic-like stem cells (iPSCs). Many stem cell laboratories now routinely convert skin cells or blood cells from an adult patient into iPSCs. The stem cell properties of the generated iPSCs then allow researchers to convert them into a... Read more

Posted in aging, cancer, cell biology, hiv, immunology, induced Pluripotent stem cells, lymphocytes, medicine, molecular biology, senescence, Stem Cells |

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The Importance of Being Embryonic

Posted 25 October 2012 by Jalees Rehman

There are three broad categories of human stem cells: 1) adult stem cells, 2) embryonic stem cells (ESCs) and 3) induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs). Adult stem cells can be found in selected adult tissues, such as the hematopoietic stem cells in the bone marrow which give rise to a variety of blood cells on a daily basis in an adult. Such adult stem cells are quite rare and, when compared to ESCs, somewhat limited in the type of cells... Read more

Posted in adult stem cells, Embryonic stem cells, Ethics, induced Pluripotent stem cells, Stem Cells |

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