Researchers made human-monkey chimeras, by adding human stem cells to monkey embryos. Some embryos were cultured for 19 days after fertilisation.
Currently, stem cell based treatments are still mostly experimental, and while some results are encouraging, several clinical trials have failed.
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Stem cells show much promise, both for testing drugs and for treating disease. But the hype around them has been dangerous, as most treatments are in very experimental stages and can cause harm.
Scientists hope that stem cells may be able to repair nerves and other cells that support transmission of electrical impulses in the spinal cord.
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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.
Researchers from Kyushu University, Japan, are the first to turn mice stem cells into mature eggs that can be fertilised.
Deficiencies in a critical nutrient can lead to an abnormally wired brain. Illustration of a network of nerve cells in the.
brain.
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Current clinical trials testing stem cell therapies for a number of diseases are going on in the US, Europe, Canada, Japan and elsewhere, but not in Australia.
How soon before we can make human sperm from stem cells?
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Scientists in China have succeeded in creating functioning sperm from mouse embryonic stem cells. This raises hopes for treating male infertility, but not in the near term.
Stem cell and cloning research using human cells remain controversial, even though it is nearly 20 years since Dolly the sheep became the first mammal to be cloned. One of the main reasons for this controversy…
Researchers have discovered a new set of chemical factors that transform human embryonic stem cells into functional lung…
The new test can identify unsafe stem cells, reducing the risk of unwanted tumours forming. Stem cells may one day be used to regrow damaged body parts.
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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…
The nucleus of a cell containing an individual’s DNA was transplanted into an egg cell that has had its genetic material removed.
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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…
Shinya Yamanaka and John Gurdon have received the 2012 Nobel prize for Physiology or Medicine.
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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…
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
Director Nurture Fertility, The Fertility Parnership and Reader/Associate Professor in Reproductive Medicine and Surgery, University of Nottingham, University of Nottingham