Whitehead News
April 17, 2008
Mature B cells reprogrammed to stem-cell-like state
Fully differentiated cells can be reprogrammed to induced pluripotent stem (IPS) cells.
April 7, 2008
Reprogrammed cells reduce Parkinson's symptoms in rats
Dopamine-producing neurons transplanted into adult rat brains treat behavioral symptoms related to low dopamine levels.
December 6, 2007
Reprogrammed adult cells treat sickle-cell anemia in mice
This is the first proof of principle for using adult cells reprogrammed to an embryonic-stem-cell-like state, combined with gene and cell therapy, for successful disease treatment in mice. October 10, 2007
Adult stem cells lack key pluripotency regulator
The protein Oct4, which helps to maintain embryonic stem cells, has been shown to be virtually absent in adult stem cells.
October 3, 2007
Cancer cells enlist adult stem cells to promote metastasis
The conscripts secrete a protein that fosters cell movement and invasion.
August 27, 2007
Scientists identify embryonic stem cells by appearance alone
Scientist can now identify pluripotent stem cells based solely on their physical appearance.
August 13, 2007
Newly created cancer stem cells could aid breast cancer research
After being injected with just 100 cells, mice develop tumors that metastasize.
July 12, 2007
Cells take risks with their identities
Contrary to textbook models, many genes that should
be “off” in embryonic stem cells and specialized
adult cells remain primed to produce master regulatory
proteins, leaving those cells vulnerable to identity
changes.
June 6, 2007
Reprogrammed fibroblasts identical
to embryonic stem cells
Researchers have manipulated mouse fibroblasts and
turned them into cells with such developmental elasticity
that they appear identical to embryonic stem cells.
September 25, 2006
The
care and feeding of stem cells
What do embryonic stem cell facilities and intensive-care
units have in common?
September 25, 2006
How we’re
wired
To uncover the genetic machinery that guides human development,
Richard Young is mapping the intricate world of embryonic
stem cells.
April 20, 2006
Mapping the
foundation of human development
Researchers have determined how a key developmental
ingredient controls the genome.
April 3, 2006
Power in the
blood
How can we build up the adult stem cells that build
your blood?
February 13, 2006
Mad-cow protein
aids creation of brain cells
The protein ultimately responsible for mad cow disease
might be necessary for healthy brain function.
January 30, 2006
Mad-cow culprit
maintains stem cells
The same protein that causes neurodegenerative conditions
such as bovine spongiform encephalopathy (mad cow disease)
is also important for helping certain adult stem cells
maintain themselves.
January 23, 2006
Technique for
multiplying stem cells may aid therapies
Researchers have discovered a way to multiply an adult
stem cell 30-fold, an expansion that offers tremendous
promise for treatments such as bone marrow transplants
and perhaps even gene therapy.
January 17, 2006
Cloned stem
cells prove identical to fertilized stem cells
Researchers analyzed the complete gene-expression profiles
of both cloned and fertilization-derived stem cells
in mice and concluded that the two are indistinguishable.
January 13, 2006
Rudolf Jaenisch
featured on NOVA scienceNOW
NOVA scienceNOW focuses on an alternative way to generate
embryonic stem cells, pioneered by Rudolf Jaenisch and
graduate student Alexander Meissner.
November 21, 2005
Flatworms yield
insights into the mystery of regeneration
Scientists at Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research
and University of Utah School of Medicine have begun
to understand the biological processes of how the planarian
flatworm achieves complete regeneration of damaged tissue.
October 17, 2005
Researchers
offer proof-of-concept for Altered Nuclear Transfer
Scientists at Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research
have successfully demonstrated that a theoretical-and
controversial-technique for generating embryonic stem
cells is indeed possible, at least in mice.
September 8, 2005
Researchers
discover key to embryonic stem-cell potential
Researchers working with human embryonic stem cells
have uncovered the process responsible for the single-most
tantalizing characteristic of these cells: their ability
to become just about any type of cell in the body, a
trait known as pluripotency.
May 5, 2005
Researchers
discover mechanism for multiplying adult stem cells
Researchers in the lab of Whitehead Institute Member
Rudolf Jaenisch have discovered a mechanism that might
enable scientists to multiply adult stem cells quickly
and efficiently.
August 4, 2004
Malignant cancer
cells generate mice through cloning
Nature can reset the clock in certain types of cancer
and reverse many of the elements responsible for causing
malignancy, reports a research team led by Whitehead
Institute Member Rudolf Jaenisch, in collaboration with
Lynda Chin from Dana Farber Cancer Institute. The team
demonstrated this by successfully cloning mice from
an advanced melanoma cell.
November 13, 2003
Study identifies
potential new source for adult stem cells
In research reported in the online version of the journal
Blood, Whitehead scientists report the discovery of
a new blood stem cell growth factor. This discovery
provides a new tool that allows researchers to multiply
blood stem cells in culture for potential therapeutic
use.
July 16, 2003
Faulty reprogramming
likely culprit behind cloning failures, review finds
Faulty reprogramming of the genome is most likely the
culprit behind abnormalities common in cloned animals,
according to a review article in the July 17 issue of
the New England Journal of Medicine.
May 7, 2003
Massachusetts
legislators consider bill on stem cell research
Researchers at Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research
testified on Beacon Hill last week in support of a bill
that would promote stem cell research in the Commonwealth.
The bill, which mirrors a similar measure passed in
California last year, would give a government seal of
approval to embryonic stem (ES) cell research.
March 7, 2002
Scientists combine
therapeutic cloning, embryonic stem cells, and gene
therapy to correct a genetic defect in mice
While the promise of nuclear transplantation therapy,
commonly referred to as “therapeutic cloning,”
has given hope to patients, like Christopher Reeve,
and excited the research community and the public, it
has never been successfully demonstrated.
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