Month: September 2022

CORD STEM CELLS FOR RETINAL REPAIR. "Investigators at Johns Hopkins report they have developed human induced-pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) capable of repairing damaged retinal vascular tissue in mice. The stem cells, derived from human umbilical cord-blood and coaxed into an embryonic-like state, were grown without the conventional use of viruses, which can mutate genes and initiate cancers." http://lnkd.in/bQsjtZR View in LinkedIn

REALITY CHECK. No drug, be it a small molecule or biological, could achieve the remarkable rebuilding feats of cellular architecture that stem cells have achieved. It is no wonder that stem cells have attracted such international attention as perhaps the most disruptive event in medicine since the discovery of antibiotics by Alexander Fleming. View in LinkedIn

CULTURED ORGAN TRANSPLANTS. "While only a small number of patients have received lab-grown organs so far, the scientists hope to be able to create more types of body part soon and perform the first successful transplant of a nose grown from stem cells. A trial of lab-made ears is also due to start later this year." http://lnkd.in/b92nuME View in LinkedIn

STEM CELLS FOR EYES. "Stem cell technology holds great potential for improving the lives of people who suffer from visual disorders ... Stem cells are not a one-stop, generic cure, but they do hold exciting potential for the production of new biological components that can be used to repair the eye." http://lnkd.in/bPKZNgT View in LinkedIn

EU STEM CELL LEGISLATION. "The Flemish universities are very concerned that the European Commission has agreed to consider a citizens' initiative that would ban the funding of scientific research involving human embryonic stem cells. Such legislation would endanger ... Research ...diseases such as Parkinson's and diabetes." http://lnkd.in/bfxbhud View in LinkedIn

ADULT STEM CELL SOURCES pretty much gut the embryonic objections to stem cell treatments. Even cells from aged patients are suitable, making autologous stem cells a viable option in elders. Much of the debate today seems to forget that we no longer need embryos as a source for stem cells. Big shift in factual basis of the debate. View in LinkedIn

HUMAN REPRODUCTION has always presented an opportunity for genetic disease prevention, and in our era especially so. Genetic diseases inflict an enormous burden on victims and their families, and humankind would be better off without them. Like it or not, we are inexorably moving into a future with increased control over our reproduction. This series examines some of the issues. View in LinkedIn

The time of easy money in Spain ceased with the Crisis. Today, those smart and well-adapted companies seeking capital will seek money outside of Spain. Those that fail to do so will die in this Darwinian moment. http://www.expansion.com/blogs/quemada/2014/05/24/busca-los-inversores-fuera-de-espana.html View in LinkedIn

SPERM OCCURS IN PLANTS. "Motile sperm are also produced by many protists and the gametophytes of bryophytes, ferns and some gymnosperms such as cycads and ginkgo. The sperm cells are the only flagellated cells in the life cycle of these plants. In many ferns and lycophytes, they are multi-flagellated." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sperm View in LinkedIn

PITHY INSIGHT. "Why do women produce only a few hundred mature eggs while men, over a lifetime, produce up to 4 trillion sperm cells? That each ejaculation has an average of 250,000,000 sperm (is) because not one of them is likely to stop along the way to ask for directions." http://www.news-medical.net/news/20130821/New-book-on-evolution-and-future-of-human-reproduction.aspx?page=2 View in LinkedIn