New hESC Differentiation Method for Islet Cells

New hESC Differentiation Method for Islet Cells

The biotech company Geron issued a release last Friday announcing a new production protocol to differentiate islet cells from human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) for the treatment of diabetes. A UPI story on Monsters and Critics picking up on the release says that the new method may be the next stem to a realistic way to treat diabetes. Animal studies are underway. The new production method generates islet-like clusters which contain precursor cells; according to the release, this could potentially enable the scalable production of hESC derived islets.

Muscle-Derived Stem Cells Repair Cartilage

Muscle-Derived Stem Cells Repair Cartilage

Following up on research which showed that muscles contain some stem cells that can differentiate into other kinds of tissue, scientists at Children’s Hospital in Pittsburgh and the University of Pittsburgh used stem cells derived from muscles to repair cartilage damage in rats. The cells were genetically engineered to express a particular protein. There were 3 groups of test rats: a control group, a group treated just with stem cells, and a group treated with the genetically engineered stem cells. Only the group treated with the genetically engineered cells had significant improvement. The study also found that in laboratory cultures, genetically engineered stem cells were able to differentiate into cartilage in some mediums. The press release is on EurekAlert.

Significant work still needs to be done on this, obviously, but there’s interesting potential. If the stem cells need genetic engineering to be effective, that could be a hurdle, since genetic engineering has sometimes lead to cancer in the past. However, in an article in the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, the lead researcher said clinical trials may not be far away if human cells act comparably to rat cells.

Legislative Update

Legislative Update

In Maryland, a Democratic-sponsored $25 million stem cell bill passed one Senate committee but still has another to go through before it can make it to the floor. A Republican filibuster seems likely. The Republican governor has a $20 million spending proposal that Republicans want to have considered in lieu of the current bill. The AP news story is reported on the website for the D.C. radio station WTOP.

And in Missouri, the recent court ruling upholding the short title of a proposed constitutional amendment that would legalize embryonic stem cell research is being appealed. There’s a short AP story in the Kansas City Star.

In California, a San Francisco Business Times story reports that State Senator Deoborah OPrtiz plans to introduce some new regulations for the CIRM.

Blogging again--with a disclaimer

Well, gentle reader, forgive the weekend silence but I was overcommitted. And now I have one heck of a head cold, so I don't promise 100% mental acuity. But I'll bring things up to speed as best I can. Pass the virtual Kleenex, please.