All multiple sclerosis sufferers have stem cells with the potential to heal them, but scientists are only just figuring out how to kick them into action.
As people’s bodies age, so do their blood cells. This affects immunity and an ability to withstand certain cancer treatments. A recent study in mice suggests that those cells can be rejuvenated.
Only one Canadian has ever received the Nobel Prize for medicine, in 1923. But Canadian discoveries have been essential to stem cell research, gene sequencing and treatments for cancer.
Stem cell science continues to offer great promise. But a growing number of clinics are selling treatments without evidence that what they offer is effective – or even safe.
Claims that stem cell treatments can repair spinal injuries right now are overblown. But it’s not for lack of trying, and the science is certainly progressing.
Stem-cell scientists have to work within many limitations placed on their research. One of these is the 14-day rule that outlaws research on pure human embryos over two weeks old.
Controversy over a Chinese study that used CRISPR-Cas9 gene-editing technology shows how the West still looks at the East through the lens of Orientalism.
Cystic fibrosis (CF) affects around 3,000 people in Australia and 70,000 worldwide. It’s an inherited disease caused by a mutation in a single gene called CFTR.
Australians clinics are offering stem-cell-based anti-ageing and cosmetic therapies that have not been clinically tested. Here’s what we need to do to ensure consumers don’t get ripped off, or worse.
Professor - Emerging Technologies (Stem Cells) at The University of Melbourne and Group Leader - Stem Cell Ethics & Policy at the Murdoch Children's Research Institute, The University of Melbourne
Executive Director of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Electromaterials Science and Director of the Intelligent Polymer Research Institute, University of Wollongong