Explainer: what are stem cells?
In a paper published in Cell yesterday, scientists from the US and Thailand have, for the first time, successfully produced embryonic stem cells from human skin cells.
That sounds interesting, but what…
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Stem cell research
Analysis and Comment (9)
Nobel prize winners prove that success can be cloned
The 2012 Nobel Prize for Medicine and Physiology has been awarded to John Gurdon and Shinya Yamanaka, “for the discovery that mature cells can be reprogrammed to become pluripotent”.
A pluripotent cell…
Safety in numbers: how three parents can beat genetic diseases
Media outlets have been reporting that scientists are planning to “create designer babies” with three parents. Professor Justin St John, Director of the Centre for Reproduction and Development at Monash…
Saving the snow leopard: stem-cell generation a bright new hope
Looking at embryonic cells allows researchers to understand many of the fundamental questions about how an animal’s genes are structured and the role they play in developing the adult animal. This information…
Nothing like mother’s milk: potential treatments from stem cells in breast milk
Researchers have identified stem cells in human breast milk, which behave similarly to embryonic stem cells when cultivated in a medium containing nutrients.
The finding suggests breast milk could be…
European court bans stem cell patents – what about Australia?
The European Court of Justice has today banned patenting of stem cell inventions derived from human embryos which are capable of developing into a human being.
The court held that this exclusion from…
Rebuilding the damaged brain: can stem cells be used as repair kits?
Welcome to part five of On the brain, a Conversation series by people whose job it is to know as much as there is to know about the body’s most complex organ. Here, Lachlan Thompson, head of the Neurogenesis…
Building replacement teeth – do we really have the technology?
It was recently reported that researchers in Japan have grown a tooth in a mouse using stem cell technology and successfully implanted it into the rodent’s jaw to produce a fully functional tooth for chewing…
Explainer: how is it that people can recover from serious brain injury?
The human brain is often referred to as the most complex organ on the planet. It is responsible for an incalculable number of tasks, thoughts and functions every second of everyday of our lives.
The brain…
Research and News (4)
Human embryonic stem cells grown from skin tissue
Scientists have successfully reprogrammed human skin cells to become embryonic stem cells capable of transforming into any…
A win for basic science as stem cell researchers awarded Nobel prize
Scientist Shinya Yamanaka was born in 1962 – the same year that fellow scientist John Gurdon made a discovery that eventually…
Lab-made organs could offer a solution to donor shortage
Scientists say they have developed a way to use a patient’s own stem cells to build fully functional organs in a laboratory…
Mouse liver experiment heralds stem cell breakthrough
For the first time, scientists have been able to fix a genetic liver defect in tests on mice using stem cells created from…
Research Briefs (6)
Synthetic silicate stimulates stem cells into making bone cells
Brigham and Women’s Hospital researchers in the US have found that synthetic silicate nanoplatelets induce stem cells to…
‘Molecular beacons’ light the way for stem cell research
“Molecular beacons”, which light up when they bind to mRNA, allow scientists to watch stem cells as they turn into tissue…
Overlooked drugs may be target for cancer
Researchers have identified genes that underlie the growth of primitive leukemia stem cells – and used the new genetic signature…
Stem cells to blame for clogged arteries?
A new study shows that a previously unknown vascular stem cell contributes to blocked arteries.
This work has significance…
Worms could hold the key to immortality
Some worms display an apparently limitless ability to regenerate aged or damaged tissue.
Unlike human cells which show signs…
Genetic changes observed in stem cells
Genetic changes, similar to those acquired in human cancers, have been observed occurring in the stem cells in the latest…
Participants (14)
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Lachlan Thompson
Head of Neural Transplantation
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Mark Bartold
Professor and Director of the Colgate Australian Clinical Dental Research Centre
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Daniel Blackmore
Post-doctoral research fellow at the Queensland Brain Institute
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Debra Joan Smith
Account Executive
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Foteini Hassiotou
Post-doctoral researcher in Stem Cell biology and Human Nutrition
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Fady Aoun
Law lecturer & doctoral student
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Rajneesh Verma
PhD Scholar
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Paul Verma
Laboratory Head, Monash Institute for Medical Research
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Justin St. John
Professor and Director, Centre for Reproduction and Development, Monash Institute of Medical Research
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Ian Goss
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Robert Peers
General Practitioner
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Charis Palmer
News Editor
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ernest malley
farmer
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Merlin Crossley
Dean of Science and Professor of Molecular Biology