Australian researchers have developed a test to identify unsafe stem cells. Stem cells may one day be used to help regrow damaged body parts, and the new test potentially reduces the risk of unwanted tumours…
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…
Scientists have successfully reprogrammed human skin cells to become embryonic stem cells capable of transforming into any other cell type in the body. While researchers have previously been able to make…
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…
Scientist Shinya Yamanaka was born in 1962 – the same year that fellow scientist John Gurdon made a discovery that eventually led to the cloning of mammals. Fifty years later, the two men have been awarded…
Scientists say they have developed a way to use a patient’s own stem cells to build fully functional organs in a laboratory, in a potential solution to the global donor shortage crisis. The technique involves…
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…
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…
Transplantation is the best available treatment for many serious health problems including diabetes, kidney failure and heart disease. These conditions affect millions of people worldwide and the cost…
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 used…
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 patentability…