Fri Mar 9, 2012
Embargo lifted 11am AEDT March 9, 2012 Swedish and American authors say a new technique involving the use of an artificial scaffold into which a patient’s own stem cells are inserted, turning it into a fully functional organ, could offer a potential solution to the donor shortage crisis. The review article is one of two [...]
Tue Jan 24, 2012
US scientists report in The Lancet the first successful use of embryonic stem cells to treat eye disease (macular degeneration) in humans. The study was done on two patients with advanced eye disease, reporting some vision improvement after four months of the stem cell treatment. Below Australian and UK experts respond.
Tue Nov 15, 2011
The company conducting the world’s first clinical trial of a therapy using human embryonic stem cells, has announced that it is halting further work in the field. The company, Geron, said the move, which stops a controversial and closely watched US government-approved biomedical trial, was the result of a business decision to focus exclusively on [...]
Wed Oct 19, 2011
The European Court of Justice released a decision overnight that research which involves removal of a stem cell from a human embryo at the blastocyst stage, entailing the destruction of that embryo, cannot be patented. The ruling removes a key commercial incentive for biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies to back stem-cell research in Europe. Further information [...]
Thu Oct 13, 2011
Embargo lifted 4am AEDT Thu 13 Oct 2011 UK scientists were able to treat liver disease in mice with a combination of stem cells and genetic correction therapy. The research, to be published in Nature, demonstrates the feasibility of combining human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) with genetic correction to generate clinically relevant cells for [...]
Thu Oct 6, 2011
Embargoed lifted 4am AEDT Thu 6 October, 2011 A new type of stem cell may remove some of the complications associated with both standard human embryonic stem cells and induced pluripotent stem cells.
Thu Jul 7, 2011
The Australian Government this afternoon tabled a report from a Legislative Review Committee on the Research Involving Human Embryos Act 2002 and the Prohibition of Human Cloning for Reproduction Act 2002. The committee, also known as the Heerey Committee, has reviewed these laws, which ban human cloning and regulate research using embryonic and adult stem [...]
Tue May 17, 2011
ONLINE NEWS BRIEFING – Tuesday 17 May at 2.30pm AEST Over 20,000 Australians have kidney disease that comes from a genetic disorder for which there is no treatment that can prevent, or even slow, the development of the disease. Scientists need enough diseased cells to study the condition, and that has been a real problem [...]