Adult Stem Cell Doc Blog

In a genetic engineering breakthrough that could help everyone from bed-ridden patients to elite athletes, a team of American researchers - including 2007 Nobel Prize winner Mario R. Capecchi - have created a "switch" that allows mutations or light signals to be turned on in muscle stem cells to monitor muscle regeneration in a living mammal.

Preliminary data presented on March 28 as a late-breaking abstract at the American College of Cardiology's 58th annual scientific session from the largest CD34+ adult stem cell study for heart disease has shown the first evidence that delivering a potent form of autologous (from the patient) adult stem cells into the heart muscle of patients with severe angina may result in less pain and improved exercise tolerance.

Geneticist and author Weslie Janeway of New York has made a $1 million "challenge gift" to The Jackson Laboratory for the recruitment and support of new scientists working to understand the genetic basis of human disease. The challenge gift, intended to encourage $1 million in matching gifts from other donors, will be used to pay for faculty starting salaries, lab equipment and experiments. "Mrs.