Category Archives: Stem Cell Research

A team of researchers at UC Davis has pioneered a technique to
use stem cells to smother the genetic problem that causes
Huntington's disease.

The findings, due in the journal Molecular and Cellular
Neuroscience, could pave the way for a treatment that stops the
disease's devastating progression.

Huntington's is an inherited disease in which the body produces
a mutant version of a protein, huntingtin, that destroys nerve
cells in the brain.

It causes uncontrolled movements and difficulty walking, plus
dementia that grows progressively worse until the disease
ultimately results in death. It strikes about one in every
10,000 people in this country, according to the Huntington's
Disease Society of America.

There is no known cure. Treatment aims to slow down the
worsening of symptoms and keep the patient comfortable.

Researchers at the UC Davis Institute for Regenerative Cures,
led by Jan A. Nolta, attacked abnormal huntingtin with a
technique called RNA interference.

This is how it works: RNA is a molecule similar to DNA that
occurs naturally in the body and which cells use to produce
proteins.

If a strand of RNA is producing a bad protein, like the mutant
huntingtin, researchers can create another strand that's
essentially an inverted version of the bad one. Inject that new
molecule into a cell, and it locks onto the bad RNA like an
opposite puzzle piece, blocking it from making any protein.

For the first time, Nolta and colleagues were able to generate
huntingtin-blocking RNA in stem cells and inject them straight
into nerve cells – a treatment that significantly reduced the
amount of the mutant protein produced.

The scientists used stem cells derived from the bone marrow of
healthy human donors.

The California Institute for Regenerative Medicine and Team KJ
funded the research.

Nolta said the findings could lead to treatments for genetic
disorders such as ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease) and Parkinson's,
as well.

Now, she said, "Our challenge with RNA interference technology
is to figure out how to deliver it into the human brain in a
sustained, safe and effective manner. We're exploring how to
use human stem cells to create RNAi production factories within
the brain."

Nolta's lab recently received funding from the California
Institute for Regenerative Medicine to develop an RNAi delivery
system for Huntington's disease.

©
Copyright The Sacramento Bee. All rights reserved.

Call The Bee's Grace Rubenstein, (916) 321-1270.

• Read more
articles by Grace Rubenstein

What You Should Know About Comments on Sacbee.com

Sacbee.com is happy to provide a forum for reader interaction,
discussion, feedback and reaction to our stories. However, we
reserve the right to delete inappropriate comments or ban users
who can't play nice. (See our full terms of
service here.)

Here are some rules of the road:

• Keep your comments civil. Don't insult one another or the
subjects of our articles. If you think a comment violates our
guidelines click the "Report Abuse" link to notify the
moderators. Responding to the comment will only encourage bad
behavior.

• Don't use profanities, vulgarities or hate speech. This is a
general interest news site. Sometimes, there are children
present. Don't say anything in a way you wouldn't want your own
child to hear.

• Do not attack other users; focus your comments on issues, not
individuals.

• Stay on topic. Only post comments relevant to the article at
hand.

• Do not copy and paste outside material into the comment box.

• Don't repeat the same comment over and over. We heard you the
first time.

• Do not use the commenting system for advertising. That's spam
and it isn't allowed.

• Don't use all capital letters. That's akin to yelling and not
appreciated by the audience.

• Don't flag other users' comments just because you don't agree
with their point of view. Please only flag comments that
violate these guidelines.

You should also know that The Sacramento Bee does not screen
comments before they are posted. You are more likely to see
inappropriate comments before our staff does, so we ask that
you click the "Report Abuse" link to submit those comments for
moderator review. You also may notify us via email at feedback@sacbee.com. Note the
headline on which the comment is made and tell us the profile
name of the user who made the comment. Remember, comment
moderation is subjective. You may find some material
objectionable that we won't and vice versa.

If you submit a comment, the user name of your account will
appear along with it. Users cannot remove their own comments
once they have submitted them.

Continue reading here:
UCD stem cell research battles Huntington's disease

12-06-2011 01:31 (Part 3 of 4) Ed Baetge, Ph.D. spoke at the Spotlight on Juvenile Diabetes, an educational event presented at the CIRM Governing Board meeting on September 25, 2008

See the rest here:
Diabetes: Spotlight on Stem Cell Research - Ed Baetge - Video

03-01-2012 12:35 Governor Romney has described his change in position on abortion to be caused by opposition to potential stem cell research methods. However, Governor Romney has consistently supported all forms of stem cell research, only excluding embryo farming and cloning. But he supports fully the use of surplus embryos from fertility clinics as well as other lab created embryos that do not use fertilization as the method of creation.

Continue reading here:
Governor Romney On Stem Cell Research - Supports everything except farming

19-01-2012 22:48

Read the original here:
Professor Alan Trounson - World focus on stem cell research - Video

12-01-2012 14:03 I made this for my Anatomy project about stem cell research and why it's controversial, hence the education part.

Excerpt from:
"The Adventures of Stem Cell Man" - The Controversial Stem Cell Research! - Video

29-07-2010 10:33 Family Research Council has produced this outstanding education video regarding Adult Stem Cell research and its effectiveness.

Read more:
Adult Stem Cell Research.mpg - Video

06-12-2011 19:27 CIS 111

See the original post here:
Stem Cell Research PSA - Video

31-12-2011 21:29 Closing arguments on a stem cell research case

Originally posted here:
The Practice - Stem Cell Research Arguments - Video

17-12-2011 15:24 http://www.StemCellTreatment.org Thanks to adult stem cell research, stem cell therapy is going mainstream.

Read more:
Adult Stem Cell Research - Video

New stem cell studies at the University of Maryland Dental School demonstrate that surgeons could one day routinely use strong, moldable, and injectable pastes to regenerate needed bone tissue to repair broken bones, fractures, genetic defects, even combat bone wounds. The studies were presented at the 2009 World Stem Cell Summit in Baltimore, Maryland.

Read more:
UMB Dental Stem Cell Research - Video