Human embryonic stem cells created via cloning
Embryonic stem cells have been created from human skin cells for the first time by US scientists using a cloning technique...
BioNews
SCNT (somatic cell nuclear transfer)
SCNT (somatic cell nuclear transfer) is a technique in which the genetic material from an egg cell is replaced with that of an adult or embryo body cell of the same animal species. Also known as cell nuclear replacement (CNR), or popularly as 'cloning'.
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Crick Cambridge college commemoration
A memorial to Francis Crick has been unveiled at his former college at the University of Cambridge to mark the 60th anniversary of the publication of the structure of DNA...
Professors Gurdon and Yamanaka awarded Nobel Prize for work on stem cells
Professor Sir John Gurdon of the University of Cambridge has been jointly awarded the Nobel Prize for his work on stem cells. He shares the prize for medicine or physiology with Professor Shinya Yamanaka from Japan...
Breakthrough in stem cell research - world's first reprogrammed adult cell
US scientists have for the first time created 'personalised' human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) using a form of cloning. The result is a significant milestone on the route to using stem cell-based therapies but the researchers stress more work is to be done as genetic errors in the cells means they are not yet suitable for therapeutic use....
Two US states consider 'ban' on embryonic stem cell research
The American states of Minnesota and Oklahoma are both in the process of passing legislation that will criminalise certain embryonic stem (ES) cell research procedures....
HFEA asks scientists for advice on mitochondrial disease treatment
Health Secretary, Andrew Lansley has asked the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) to convene an expert group 'to assess the effectiveness and safety' of a fertility treatment that would enable children to be born without potentially devastating, incurable mitochondrial diseases.
Study war no more: Science, politics and the battle over US government funding for embryonic stem cell research
Have you ever played the children's game Red Light/Green Light? Someone yells 'green light!' and everyone runs as fast as they can (some in circles, but that's not against the rules). When they yell 'red light!', everyone freezes in some contorted position. Playing Red Light/Green Light seems not unlike the experience of conducting embryonic stem cell research in the United States...
Setback in non-embryonic stem cell use
Stem cells created from a patients' own tissue are subtly different from those derived from embryos in ways that may affect their therapeutic potential, two independent research groups have found. Both studies found induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS) retain an 'epigenetic memory' of their tissue of origin...
Book Review: An Introduction to Stem Cells
With modern day medico-scientific technology advancing at an incredible pace, it is very easy for the layperson to become caught up in the technical language used by scientists and academics in their specialist field. Often, out of a lack of expertise, even the media misrepresent information, particularly in relation to research involving stem cells...
Missouri could ban public funding for stem cell research
A Missouri Republican State Representative has proposed legislation to block public spending on embryonic stem cell (ES cell) research in the state. The proposed amendment to the Missouri constitution called for an end to public funding of any research that involved the destruction of embryos. The pro-life Republican representative, Cynthia Davis, also included a ban on funding for abortion and any use of cloning technologies...