Morris receives stem cell foundation investigator award

Samantha A. Morris, PhD, an assistant professor of developmental biology and of genetics at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, has received the New York Stem Cell Foundation’s Robertson Stem Cell Investigator Award. She is one of three investigators receiving the award this year. It recognizes outstanding early-career scientists and provides each $1.5 million over five years to […]

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Study: Racial tension may stem from fear of exposure to infectious diseases

Social scientists have long worked to understand the roots of racial prejudice in the U.S., and for years, the story went like this: As different groups are exposed to others, their prejudice against those others increases. Brian O’Shea wasn’t buying it. A postdoctoral fellow working in the lab of Matt Nock, the Edgar Pierce Professor of Psychology, O’Shea is the […]

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Growing a brain: Two-step control mechanism identified in mouse stem cells

Scientists have identified two distinct control mechanisms in the developmental transition of undifferentiated stem cells into healthy brain cells. This fundamental research using mice may inform regenerative medicine treatments for neurodegenerative diseases and spinal cord injuries, in the future. When an embryo develops, stem cells differentiate into all the types of cells that the adult will need. Neural stem cells […]

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Healthy blood stem cells have as many DNA mutations as leukemic cells

Researchers from the Princess Máxima Center for Pediatric Oncology have shown that the number of mutations in healthy and leukemic blood stem cells does not differ. Rather, the location of DNA mutations is relevant. Using the mutation patterns in hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells (HSPCs), the team was able to trace the developmental lineage tree of the cells. Van Boxtel, […]

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As stem cell and gene technologies advance, La Jolla conference mushrooms

In 2006, a few hundred mostly local researchers gathered in La Jolla to discuss the emerging but still science-fictiony field of stem cells. Since then, stem cells, enhanced by gene therapy, have progressed to yield breakthrough treatments, most spectacularly in cancer. Likewise, the conference known as the Cell & Gene Meeting on the Mesa has mushroomed into an international event. […]

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Researchers find adult stem cell characteristics in aggressive cancers from different tissues

UCLA researchers have discovered genetic similarities between the adult stem cells responsible for maintaining and repairing epithelial tissues—which line all of the organs and cavities inside the body—and the cells that drive aggressive epithelial cancers. Their findings could bring about a better understanding of how aggressive, treatment-resistant cancers develop and progress, and could eventually lead to new drugs for a […]

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