Cytori Therapeutics Releases More Research on Adipose-Derived Stem Cells

Cytori Therapeutics Releases More Research on Adipose-Derived Stem Cells

Cytori Therapeutics is a biotech company with a focus on deriving adult stem cells from adipose tissue (fat). According to a press release of September 28, Cytori researchers have shown that stem cells cultured from adipose can differentiate into cells which form the center of an intervertebral disc (nucleus pulposas, or NP cells).

More about the company, per the press release: “The Company's preclinical investigational therapies target cardiovascular disease, spine and orthopedic conditions, gastrointestinal disorders and new approaches for aesthetic and reconstructive surgery. To facilitate processing and delivery of adipose stem cells, Cytori is developing its proprietary Celution(TM) system to isolate and concentrate a patient's own stem cells in about an hour.”

It will be interesting to see how quickly this research develops, since isolating stem cells is one of the major problems in working with adult stem cells.

Neural Stem Cell Research in Australia

Neural Stem Cell Research in Australia

On September 27, News-Medical.Net published an article about research by Dr Rod Rietze, head of the Queensland Brain Institute's (QBI) Laboratory for Neural Stem Cell Biology. Dr. Rietze’s research focuses on a new method of identifying the location of neural stem cells in a living body, in order to learn more about the role of neural stem cells.

The QBI website gives more detail on the research. Researchers were able to create a functional neural stem cell from an adult mouse brain. They have now created a cell sorting facility to establish pure strains of cells and use various technologies, including microarray technology to work at the molecular level. The goal is to understand how neural stem cells are generated and how their actions are regulated in adult bodies.

Looks interesting, and I’ll keep my eye on this facility.

Wisconsin Gives Money to Stem Cell Company

Wisconsin Gives Money to Stem Cell Company

In an Associated Press wire service story of September 26 reprinted in various news sources, among them Greater Milwaukee Today, it was reported that the state of Wisconsin has give a $1 million loan and $1 grant to a start-up company, Cellular Dynamics International. The money came from Department of Commerce funds for entrepenuers. One of the founders of the company is Jamie Thomson, a University of Wisconsin scientist who first derived stem cells. State Senator Scott Fitzgerald, an opponents of the grant/loan package and co-author of a bill to ban human cloning, was quoted as saying, “This 2 million bucks that they are throwing out there today is another example of the state's citizens being asked to pay for something that we have zero knowledge of.”

The story reported that the cloning debate was going on yesterday, but I checked the Wisconsin Legislature Website and did not find it on the calendar. I'll post results as I hear them.