News tagged with embryonic stem cells

New technique reveals unseen information in DNA code

Imagine reading an entire book, but then realizing that your glasses did not allow you to distinguish "g" from "q." What details did you miss? Geneticists faced a similar problem with the recent discovery ...

Biology / Cell & Microbiology

created May 17, 2012 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (13) | comments 2 | with audio podcast

Genetic packing: Successful stem cell differentiation requires DNA compaction, study finds

(Phys.org) -- New research findings show that embryonic stem cells unable to fully compact the DNA inside them cannot complete their primary task: differentiation into specific cell types that give rise to ...

Biology / Cell & Microbiology

created May 11, 2012 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0 | with audio podcast

From embryonic stem cells, a sperm replacement and easier path to genetic modification

Researchers reporting in the April 27 issue of the journal Cell have devised a new and improved method for producing genetically modified animals for use in scientific research. The method relies on haploi ...

Biology / Cell & Microbiology

created Apr 26, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Small molecules for neural stem cells

European scientists used chemical genetics to discover molecules that could serve as future regenerative medicines to treat neurological and neurodegenerative diseases.

Chemistry / Biochemistry

created Apr 23, 2012 | popularity 1 / 5 (1) | comments 0

New stem cell line provides safe, prolific source for disease modeling and transplant studies

Researchers have generated a new type of human stem cell that can develop into numerous types of specialized cells, including functioning pancreatic beta cells that produce insulin. Called endodermal progenitor (EP) cells, ...

Biology / Cell & Microbiology

created Apr 05, 2012 | popularity 3 / 5 (2) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Study shows how embryonic stem cells orchestrate human development

Yale researchers show in detail how three genes within human embryonic stem cells regulate development, a finding that increases understanding of how to grow these cells for therapeutic purposes.

Biology / Cell & Microbiology

created Apr 05, 2012 | popularity 1 / 5 (1) | comments 0

A new shortcut for stem cell programming

Scientists at the Life and Brain Research Center at the University of Bonn, Germany, have succeeded in directly generating brain stem cells from the connective tissue cells of mice.

Biology / Cell & Microbiology

created Mar 22, 2012 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

California's stem cell agency ponders its future

(AP) -- The creation of California's stem cell agency in 2004 was greeted by scientists and patients as a turning point in a field mired in debates about the destruction of embryos and hampered by federal research restrictions.

Biology / Biotechnology

created Mar 18, 2012 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Epigenetic signatures direct the repair potential of reprogrammed cells

A research team has identified epigenetic signatures, markers on DNA that control transient changes in gene expression, within reprogrammed skin cells. These signatures can predict the expression of a wound-healing protein ...

Biology / Cell & Microbiology

created Mar 14, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Planarian genes that control stem cell biology identified

Despite their unassuming appearance, the planarian flatworms in Whitehead Institute Member Peter Reddien's lab are revealing powerful new insights into the biology of stem cells—insights that may eventually help such ...

Biology / Cell & Microbiology

created Mar 01, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 0

Scientists make groundbreaking discovery on stem cell regulation

A*STAR scientists have for the first time, identified that precise regulation of polyamine levels is critical for embryonic stem cell (ESC) self-renewal – the ability of ESCs to divide indefinitely – and directed ...

Biology / Cell & Microbiology

created Mar 01, 2012 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

U-M human embryonic stem cell line placed on national registry

The University of Michigan's first human embryonic stem cell line will be placed on the U.S. National Institutes of Health's registry, making the cells available for federally-funded research. It is the first of the stem ...

Biology / Cell & Microbiology

created Feb 14, 2012 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Scientists now able to view critical aspects of mammalian embryonic development using new technique

A novel approach in the study of the development of mammalian embryos was today reported in the journal Nature Communications. The research, from the laboratory of Professor Magdalena Zernicka-Goetz of the ...

Biology / Cell & Microbiology

created Feb 14, 2012 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0 | with audio podcast

New study makes key finding in stem cell self-renewal

A University of Minnesota-led research team has proposed a mechanism for the control of whether embryonic stem cells continue to proliferate and stay stem cells, or differentiate into adult cells like brain, liver or skin.

Biology / Cell & Microbiology

created Feb 06, 2012 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (4) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Chaos in the cell's command center

A defective operating system is never a good thing. Like computers, our cells depend on operating systems to drive normal functions. Gene expression programs comprise the software code our cells rely on, with each cell type ...

Biology / Cell & Microbiology

created Feb 01, 2012 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Embryonic stem cell

Embryonic stem cells (ES cells) are stem cells derived from the inner cell mass of an early stage embryo known as a blastocyst. Human embryos reach the blastocyst stage 4–5 days post fertilization, at which time they consist of 50–150 cells.

Embryonic Stem (ES) cells are pluripotent. This means they are able to differentiate into all derivatives of the three primary germ layers: ectoderm, endoderm, and mesoderm. These include each of the more than 220 cell types in the adult body. Pluripotency distinguishes ES cells from multipotent progenitor cells found in the adult; these only form a limited number of cell types. When given no stimuli for differentiation, (i.e. when grown in vitro), ES cells maintain pluripotency through multiple cell divisions. The presence of pluripotent adult stem cells remains a subject of scientific debate; however, research has demonstrated that pluripotent stem cells can be directly generated from adult fibroblast cultures.

Because of their plasticity and potentially unlimited capacity for self-renewal, ES cell therapies have been proposed for regenerative medicine and tissue replacement after injury or disease. However Diseases treated by these non-embryonic stem cells include a number of blood and immune-system related genetic diseases, cancers, and disorders; juvenile diabetes; Parkinson's; blindness and spinal cord injuries. Besides the ethical concerns of stem cell therapy (see stem cell controversy), there is a technical problem of graft-versus-host disease associated with allogeneic stem cell transplantation. However, these problems associated with histocompatibility may be solved using autologous donor adult stem cells or via therapeutic cloning.

For more information about Embryonic stem cell, read the full article at Wikipedia.
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