Business Snippets

Business Snippets

Just a few snippets on the business front. Patents here, patents there. Pluristem has filed a patent application for its procedure for expanding stem cells from cord blood. You can read the details on Business Wire. Also, Aldagen has been issued a patent for its method of isolating adult stem cells from various sources, including bone marrow and cord blood. The release is reprinted on TMC Net. (Why a site devoted to broadband and communications is giving info on stem cells is beyond me. They got it from Business Wire, but it’s not available on the Business Wire site without a log in procedure. Maybe it was the word “cell” that did it, as in cell phones. Aren’t computers great. Hee hee.)

And The Scotsman reports that construction will be getting underway this summer for a new stem cell research center in Edinburgh.

Protein News

Protein News

The Institute for Stem Cell Research in the UK has issued a press release about a study to be published this week in Nature Cell Biology. Researchers at the University of Edinburgh have shown that the protein Mbd3 plays a crucial role in the process by which embryonic stem cells become specialized cells, such as brain or skin cells. The researchers discovered that mouse embryonic stem cells lacking the protein did not differentiate when coaxed to do so in culture. The release also says,

These latest findings will also provide insights into some of the crucial differences between mouse and human embryonic stem cells. Mouse embryonic stem cells need the protein LIF to be able to make copies of themselves indefinitely; human embryonic stem cells, on the other hand, do not need LIF to keep multiplying. Mbd3-lacking cells are similar to human embryonic stem cells in that they do not require LIF. They may, therefore, be used as a tool to understand how human embryonic cells bypass the need for LIF when multiplying without limit.

“Man or mouse?” An important question. We can’t fully understand human biology by examining rodents, or even primates.

Australian Scientists Want to Research Genetic Diseases in Stem Cells

Australian Scientists Want to Research Genetic Diseases in Stem Cells

Scientists in Australia are seeking licenses to create stem cell lines from embryos with genetic abnormalities. One license would involve embryos with genetic diseases, such Huntington's, cystic fibrosis and muscular dystrophy. Another would involve research on embryos with chromosomal abnormalities or other mutations. The embryos would be obtained from IVF embryos that would otherwise be discarded because they are considered unsuitable for implantation—the embryos would have already undergone genetic testing to make this determination. The news is reported on ABC (Australian) Science (which also has a very cool image of DNA—they got it from NASA).

Some of the issues regard the use of fresh embryos or frozen ones. There are differing opinions as to what Australian law is on this. One researcher said that the freezing process destroys embryos. The article also quoted a feminist bioethicist, who said that there were potential issues if the embryos were obtained other than through the IVF process.

This seems to me to be one of the really important areas of embryonic stem cell research. To be able to observe the development of a disease is a key to finding out how to treat it.