Video Topic: Stem Cell Basics
Paul Knoepfler Talks About the Tendency of Embryonic Stem Cells to Form Tumors
Jack Hubbard One hallmark of embryonic stem cells is that they cause a particular type of tumor called a teratoma. Stem cell researchers must learn how to prevent these tumors before any transplantation-based therapy can be successful. Paul Knoepfler has a CIRM grant to study how and why the cells form tumors and to help […]
Jeffrey Bluestone Talks About Immune Rejection of Stem Cell-Based Therapies
Jack Hubbard Any cells derived from embryonic stem cells that are transplanted as a therapy will likely be rejected by the immune system much like a transplanted heart or liver. Dr. Jeffrey Bluestone has been studying ways of achieving transplantation with little or no drugs. He is the A.W. & Mary Margaret Clausen Distinguished Professor […]
Bruce Conklin Talks About Screening Drugs for Toxicity with Human Stem Cells
Jack Hubbard One possible use for pluripotent stem cells is to screen drugs for toxic side effects. The idea is that researchers could grow those stem cells into mature cell types such as heart, liver, or brains cells, expose them to new drugs or potential environmental hazards, then look for toxic side effects. Dr. Bruce […]
Catriona Jamieson Talks About Therapies Based on Cancer Stem Cells
Blue H2O Productions In recent years researchers have found cancer stem cells at the heart of blood cancers as well as some cancers of the brain, breast, colon, head and neck, and others. In those cancers that have cancer stem cells, it’s the cancer stem cells that appear to drive the cancer, multiplying endlessly and […]
Alan Lewis Talks About Getting an Embryonic Stem Cell-Based Therapy to Patients
Embryonic stem cells have the potential to help treat 70 or more diseases, but developing those new therapies will take time. Alan Lewis is the former president and CEO of Novocell (now ViaCyte), a La Jolla-based company that has been developing a potential therapy for diabetes. Novocell has several CIRM grants to develop a stem […]
Concerns About Stem Cell Tourism
Organizations outside the United States have begun advertising stem cell-based cures for disease, and in increasing numbers Americans are traveling to receive these cures. Unfortunately, at this time none of those advertised therapies have been shown to be either safe or effective. Researchers such as Jeanne Loring, director of the Center for Regenerative Medicine at […]
Mary Devereaux talks about ethical oversight of stem cell research
Stem cell research, like any biomedical research, poses social and ethical concerns that CIRM, and the broader research community, takes very seriously. State and national funding bodies, such as CIRM and the NIH, have comprehensive policies to govern research in ways that allow science to move forward responsibly. Mary Devereaux is the director of the […]
Stem Cell Research Today: Larry Goldstein – CIRM Science Writer’s Seminar
(Part 1 of 9) Larry Goldstein, M.D., spoke at the Scientific Writer’s Seminar, a workshop presented on September 17, 2008 at CIRM headquarters in San Francisco. Goldstein presented an overview of the basic principles and concepts of stem cell biology and stem cell clinical trial development. He has a CIRM Tools and Technologies grant and […]