Findings from the ABC-PICU study may alter policies at hospitals where fresh red cells are preferentially used A new study led by the Sainte-Justine University Hospital Centre and the University of Montreal, and Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis has found that transfusions using fresh red blood cells—cells that have spent seven days
Hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) are responsible for the constant replenishment of all blood cells throughout life. One of the major challenges in regenerative medicine is to produce tailor-made HSCs to replace the defective ones in patients suffering from blood related diseases. This would circumvent the shortage of donor HSCs available for the clinic. To achieve
Led by researchers at Baylor College of Medicine, a study published in the journal Cell Stem Cell reveals a new mechanism that contributes to adult bone maintenance and repair and opens the possibility of developing therapeutic strategies for improving bone healing. “Adult bone repair relies on the activation of bone stem cells, which still remain poorly characterized,”
Scientists from The Australian National University (ANU) have invented a new jelly material that mimics biological matter such as skin, ligaments and bone, and which is very strong, self-healing and able to change shape. The team say the hydrogel could enable a new class of medical implants or artificial muscles for next-generation robots that could one
The International Society for Cell and Gene Therapy (ISCT) has formed a consortium to tackle what it says is a rising number of unscrupulous and unproven cell banking players. With the rise of interest in the cell and gene therapy sector, industry and the market have been plagued with unproven products and services from rogue
The first two patients treated with the 3e13 vg/kg dose achieved stable Factor VIII (FVIII) levels demonstrating durability in the normal range through 44 and 37 weeks, respectively– All five patients in the 3e13 vg/kg dose cohort achieved normal range FVIII levels within 5-7 weeks following treatment, with no bleeding events with up to 44 weeks
Polymer-based nanocontainers could improve the delivery of gene therapies, a Johns Hopkins team reported. One of the most popular methods for inserting therapeutic genes into cells to treat disease is to transport them using a virus that has been stripped of its infectious properties. But those noninfectious viruses can still sometimes touch off dangerous immune
CAR-T cells are remarkably effective against blood cancers, but their effect can be transient as the cells become exhausted. Stanford researchers found a way to keep the cells effective in mice with human tumors. A new approach to programming cancer-fighting immune cells called CAR-T cells can prolong their activity and increase their effectiveness against human
The terms MSC and MSCs have become the preferred acronym to describe a cell and a cell population of multipotential stem/ progenitor cells commonly referred to as mesenchymal stem cells, multipotential stromal cells, mesenchymal stromal cells, and mesenchymal progenitor cells. The MSCs can differentiate to important lineages under defined conditions in vitro and in limited
Novartis’ big push into cell and gene therapy hasn’t been the smoothest of rides, with a data manipulation scandal hamstringing Zolgensma and manufacturing concerns hurting CAR-T cancer therapy Kymriah. Could a new European facility help turn around the latter’s production bottleneck? Novartis last week opened its newest cell and gene therapy facility in Stein, Switzerland, giving the
