Advances in human stem cell research and their applications to so-called regenerative medicine are going slower than expected, although significant progress has been made, says a new report on the subject by the European Science Foundation. The report recommends, among other things, the continued public support for this research and the clarification of the legal landscape with respect to patents.

Malén Ruiz de Elvira | 6 de julio de 2010

It is already possible to transform one type of adult cell directly into another. Fibroblasts, for instancec, can be converted into neurons. The technique for doing so is called direct cell reprogramming and, so far, only a few scientific teams in the world are working with this method. Although it is still in its infancy, this research has a clear purpose - to produce cells à la carte for therapeutic purposes.

Patricia Moreno | 11 May 2010

Maria Pia Cosma, from Naples' Telethon Institute of Genetics and Medicine (TIGEM), is joining the Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG) in the role of Senior Group Leader. The researcher is one of the few women in a senior position in Spain's biomedical sector, and she is the recipient of a starting grant from the prestigious European Research Council (ERC). With Cosma on board, the CRG becomes one of Spain’s life science research centres to receive most ERC grants.

4 may 2010

China has been at the forefront of medical experimentation with stem cells. A clinic in Qingdao city claims it can restore sight to the blind.

15 March 2010

Zigor Aldama | Shanghai

Researchers at the Babraham Institute (Unite Kingdom) have provided a new vision of how cells are reprogrammed and a better understanding of how environmental or nutritional factors may interact with our genes and affect health. The findings, published online in the journal 'Nature', identifies a protein called AID, important to complete the cellular reprogramming in mammals.

A.R. | 28 January 2010

Scientist from the Genome Regulation Centre (CRG) of Barcelona (Spain) have described a reprogramming system with which they managed to convert B cells into macrophages in two or three days with an efficiency of 100%. The work, published in the prestigious journal 'Cell Stem Cell', which is also on the cover of the magazine and presents the results of the research group led by Thomas Graf.

Staff | 6 november 2009

Stephen Minger is director of the biology laboratory of stem cells of the Wolfson Centre for Age-Related Diseases of King’s College London. He has been pioneer in embryonic stem cell research in the United Kingdom. In 2001 he obtained one of the two first licences that the British Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFSA) conceded for the derivation of embryonic stem cells. The following year, his group generated the first line of these cells in the United Kingdom, one of the first in the world.

Cristina Jiménez | 24 September 2009

The first focal point on the hazy world of stem cell research to treat genetic diseases has been found. Three Spanish teams have found the starting point with which to proceed and make genetic treatment and the solution a tangible binomial. At the start of the year its finding was sent to the journal Nature, which published the article at the beginning of June of this year.

Ànnia Monreal | 11 June 2009

A.R. | 3 JUNE 2009