Source The Scientist The company Cell Vault offers to hold consumers’ T cells for later use, but scientists suggest the service would benefit very few users. new cryopreservation bank offers customers the chance to stash away their T cells for use in future cancer treatments. Using a similar model to cord blood banks, the startup
Background: Acute liver failure is an inflammation-mediated hepatocyte injury. Mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) transplantation is currently considered to be an effective treatment strategy for acute liver failure. Exosomes are an important paracrine factor that can be used as a direct therapeutic agent. However, the use of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cell-derived exosomes (BMSC-Exos) in the treatment
Researchers have developed a guide to help labs standardize the production of mature hepatic-like cells (HPCs) from stem cells and easily compare gene expression of HPCs to actual human liver tissue. This moderately high throughput protocol can enable a relatively quick assessment of the efficacy of stem cell differentiation and help guide the optimization of
Tiny sensors are embedded into stretchable, integrated mesh that grows with the developing tissue How does a small group of cells organize to become a heart, a brain, or a kidney? This critical period of development has long remained the black box of developmental biology, in part because no sensor was small or flexible enough
Researchers at ETH Zurich have refined the famous CRISPR-Cas method. Now, for the very first time, it is possible to modify dozens, if not hundreds, of genes in a cell simultaneously. Everyone’s talking about CRISPR-Cas. This biotechnological method offers a relatively quick and easy way to manipulate single genes in cells, meaning they can be
The novel device’s tip measures a mere 200 microns across. Researchers have developed a new self-calibrating endoscope that produces 3D images of objects smaller than a single cell. Without a lens or any optical, electrical or mechanical components, the tip of the endoscope measures just 200 microns across, about the width of a few human
The platform allows the testing of conditions that cannot be easily replicated in animals. Researchers from TARA Biosystems and GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) have published data demonstrating that TARA’s engineered heart-on-a-chip system replicated drug responses found in adult humans. The findings, published in the Journal of Toxicological Sciences, show TARA’s 3D-cardiac tissue platform can predict how human hearts will
Safety, innovation and affordability need not be mutually exclusive goals for cutting-edge treatments. Source NYT Spinal muscular atrophy is a condition often fatal by age 2. Babies with the disorder have a rare genetic mutation that prevents the nervous system from controlling certain muscles. As they grow to be toddlers, these children struggle to move their limbs,
Source STAT Seizing on the surging popularity of at-home DNA testing kits, top academic medical institutions are opening clinics that promise to probe much deeper into your DNA — if you’re willing to pay hundreds or even thousands of dollars out of pocket to learn about disease risks that may be lurking in your genes.
Source Institute of Molecular Biotechnology (IMBA) Using an unbiased labeling technique, mathematical modeling, and single cell profiling to trace the footsteps of stem cells and their daughters, researchers at the University of Cambridge (UK), DGIST (S.Korea), and IMBA (Institute of Molecular Biotechnology of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Austria) have confirmed that two populations of
