The medlink team have got back in touch; the paper I wrote last year is going to be published in their collection! Woooooooo!
...Not quite a peer-reviewed journal, but I'll take what I can get.
Showing posts with label stem cells. Show all posts
Showing posts with label stem cells. Show all posts
Sunday, 28 October 2012
Saturday, 11 August 2012
Medlink pathology project results
I've just seen the results for the paper I wrote on in vitro meat production and I got a distinction! Woooooo!
For people who actually want to read the paper, I'll put it after the break.
For people who actually want to read the paper, I'll put it after the break.
Wednesday, 11 April 2012
November: elderly embryos and erotica
This month in stem cell news: induced pluripotent cells were created from people as old as 101, a feat which was previously thought impossible due to the ageing process of living organisms. The elderly stand to gain the most from therapies involving stem cells, so the news that they might be able to culture their own could open up new doors in regenerative medicine. Or it could confuse us even more about ageing. Stem cells were also coaxed into specialising into the dopamine producing cells that are damaged in Parkinson's disease early in the month.
On the slightly less serious side of medicine, a woman masturbated in an MRI scanner. Kayt Sukel stimulated herself to orgasm while held still in the device so that her brain activity could be monitored. It's hoped that the data might help both men and women who have problems climaxing, and also that it might offer an insight into how we feel happy.
In other science: a one molecule "car" is built; Scottish engineers start to sell their bionic legs, and the six men put into isolation 520 days previously to simulate a trip to Mars are released.
On the slightly less serious side of medicine, a woman masturbated in an MRI scanner. Kayt Sukel stimulated herself to orgasm while held still in the device so that her brain activity could be monitored. It's hoped that the data might help both men and women who have problems climaxing, and also that it might offer an insight into how we feel happy.
In other science: a one molecule "car" is built; Scottish engineers start to sell their bionic legs, and the six men put into isolation 520 days previously to simulate a trip to Mars are released.
Wednesday, 22 February 2012
October: Millions of people, malaria, and maybe cloning?
October 18th was a bad day for Malaria, which means it was a great day for the rest of the world. On the same day that WHO announced a worldwide drop by 20% of deaths from malaria, signalling the downfall of one of the world's biggest killers, a malaria vaccine was reported to be successful. In the trial, including 15,000 children, the participants had about half the risk of getting the disease as those without the vaccine. Malaria kills 655,000 people per year, and the work towards eradicating it is a long and arduous task, so good news such as this is always welcome. By the time I will (hopefully) be training to be a medic, it is estimated that another 8-10 countries will have rid themselves of it; hopefully it will follow the same path as polio - a disease which had had no new cases in India, one of the previous hotspots, for 9 months by October 2011.
Stem cells again featured in the headlines for October, this time for their production. Dolly the sheep made somatic cell nuclear transfer famous when she was the first mammal to be cloned in the late 90's; this method had been used since then to try and clone humans so that embryonic stem cells might be made without actual fertilisation of an egg by a sperm cell. However, the embryos produced in this method, which involves taking the nucleus out of an egg and inserting the genetic material of an adult cell (not a sex cell) in order to gain a genetically identical replica of the original adult, did not divide further than 6-12 cells. In order to bypass this method, a team in New York tried a new method: the genetic material of the adult would still be inserted, but this time without first enucleating the egg. This allowed the cell to develop into a blastocyst, where the embryonic stem cells are formed. However, because there was the nucleus of both the adult cell (containing 2 'sets' of chromosomes) and the nucleus of the egg (containing 1 'set' of chromosomes), there was then three of each chromosome. Which, sadly, means that the technique is not quite ready for use in medicine, as it doesn't yet produce cells with only the genes of the donor, and there may be problems with the chromosome numbers. Definitely a technique to watch in the future, as the use of stem cells edges closer towards the mainstream.
In other science: 7 billion people are living on the planet, according to the UN, the dwarf planet Eris is apparently just as big as Pluto, and a study suggests that exercise is just as good as drugs at preventing migranes.
Stem cells again featured in the headlines for October, this time for their production. Dolly the sheep made somatic cell nuclear transfer famous when she was the first mammal to be cloned in the late 90's; this method had been used since then to try and clone humans so that embryonic stem cells might be made without actual fertilisation of an egg by a sperm cell. However, the embryos produced in this method, which involves taking the nucleus out of an egg and inserting the genetic material of an adult cell (not a sex cell) in order to gain a genetically identical replica of the original adult, did not divide further than 6-12 cells. In order to bypass this method, a team in New York tried a new method: the genetic material of the adult would still be inserted, but this time without first enucleating the egg. This allowed the cell to develop into a blastocyst, where the embryonic stem cells are formed. However, because there was the nucleus of both the adult cell (containing 2 'sets' of chromosomes) and the nucleus of the egg (containing 1 'set' of chromosomes), there was then three of each chromosome. Which, sadly, means that the technique is not quite ready for use in medicine, as it doesn't yet produce cells with only the genes of the donor, and there may be problems with the chromosome numbers. Definitely a technique to watch in the future, as the use of stem cells edges closer towards the mainstream.
In other science: 7 billion people are living on the planet, according to the UN, the dwarf planet Eris is apparently just as big as Pluto, and a study suggests that exercise is just as good as drugs at preventing migranes.
Friday, 13 January 2012
September: Harvesting Stem Cells and Hydrogen Cars
I've been writing a lot about the new and exciting capabilities of stem cells, but without a big enough supply of them, there is no hope that any of the treatments will ever be applied. When left to their own devices on a plastic culture dish, they do reproduce, but rather than into the useful pluripotent stem cells, they create other body cells, which cannot be used in therapies. So when, in September, a new type of plastic was devised that allowed stem cells to grow and still keep their characteristics, it got us one step closer to the clinical use of these new treatments.
Following on from August's discovery of an enzyme that produces hydrogen from water, the start of the new school year also was the start of MEC technology, or Microbial Electrolysis Cells. Osmotic power stations already capitalise on the potential difference between salt- and freshwater, but these new cells also add a bacteria that produces hydrogen gas to create a self sustaining, relatively cheap method of producing hydrogen for use in cars and other technologies.
In other science: a detector is released that can tell when we're lying, blood vessels are printed on a 3D printer, and a single molecule motor is engineered.
Following on from August's discovery of an enzyme that produces hydrogen from water, the start of the new school year also was the start of MEC technology, or Microbial Electrolysis Cells. Osmotic power stations already capitalise on the potential difference between salt- and freshwater, but these new cells also add a bacteria that produces hydrogen gas to create a self sustaining, relatively cheap method of producing hydrogen for use in cars and other technologies.
In other science: a detector is released that can tell when we're lying, blood vessels are printed on a 3D printer, and a single molecule motor is engineered.
Thursday, 12 January 2012
August: Spermatogenesis and Skin That Stops Bullets
Other than the two titular breakthroughs, late in the summer of last year, a new method of fighting cancer was being pioneered: the use of a modified smallpox virus to target cancer. The main problem with using biological agents to combat tumours is that they are destructive and can harm the healthy cells as well as the cancerous ones. However, a team has managed to change the vaccinia virus, which gets its name from being the virus used as a virus against smallpox, to only replicate in the presence of a chemical pathway found in cancer. Seven out of the eight patients on the highest dose were found to have it reproducing in their tumour only. While it is a long way from 'curing' cancer, this could be used as a carrier to deliver drugs to the affected areas in the future.
A Dutch artist used silk from engineered silkworms to create semi-bulletproof skin. By weaving the silk between the layers of human skin cells, she created a membrane that was able to withstand a .22 bullet fired at reduced speeds without breaking. The round still went 2 inches into the gel model she was using, but there is some hope that the technology could be used to create 'bioarmour' eventually.
In Japan, mice stem cells were manipulated into primordial germ cells, which can produce sperm. The sperm was normal looking and even fertilised female mice to produce healthy offspring. The aim of this project was to help infertile men, and could have very real and useful implications in today's world.
In other science: near death experiences are explained away as symptoms of oxygen starvation, it is speculated that nucleotides may have come from meteorites, where they are often found, the dark side of the moon's rough surface may be due to a collision with a second moon, and hydrogen is made from water using an enzyme.
A Dutch artist used silk from engineered silkworms to create semi-bulletproof skin. By weaving the silk between the layers of human skin cells, she created a membrane that was able to withstand a .22 bullet fired at reduced speeds without breaking. The round still went 2 inches into the gel model she was using, but there is some hope that the technology could be used to create 'bioarmour' eventually.
In Japan, mice stem cells were manipulated into primordial germ cells, which can produce sperm. The sperm was normal looking and even fertilised female mice to produce healthy offspring. The aim of this project was to help infertile men, and could have very real and useful implications in today's world.
In other science: near death experiences are explained away as symptoms of oxygen starvation, it is speculated that nucleotides may have come from meteorites, where they are often found, the dark side of the moon's rough surface may be due to a collision with a second moon, and hydrogen is made from water using an enzyme.
Wednesday, 11 January 2012
July: An Artificial Organ and Autism
The midpoint of the year heralded the first successful human transplant of artificial tissue. The 36 year old patient was given a porous trachea soaked in his own stem cells to treat an inoperable tumour the size of a golf ball. To create an identical copy of the man's windpipe, 3D imaging software was used to create a virtual version that was transferred into a real product in Sweden.
It was also shown in July that brothers and sisters of people with autism show very similar brain activity in certain situations, notably where they are looking at people's faces. This part of the brain shows decreased activity both in people with Asperger's syndrome and also in their siblings. As the search for a possible genetic cause for autism continues, this could be used as a 'biomarker' for familial risks of the syndrome.
In other science: a trial investigating the use of stem cells to help MS patients, the earliest bird known (150 million years before Archaeopteryx) was found, and another moon of Pluto was discovered.
It was also shown in July that brothers and sisters of people with autism show very similar brain activity in certain situations, notably where they are looking at people's faces. This part of the brain shows decreased activity both in people with Asperger's syndrome and also in their siblings. As the search for a possible genetic cause for autism continues, this could be used as a 'biomarker' for familial risks of the syndrome.
In other science: a trial investigating the use of stem cells to help MS patients, the earliest bird known (150 million years before Archaeopteryx) was found, and another moon of Pluto was discovered.
Sunday, 8 January 2012
May: Setbacks and the Space Shuttle
Stem cells may have been racing ahead into the futuristic world of 'self-transplants' over the first quarter of last year, but all was not as peachy as we had hoped: in an experiment researching this process on mice, many of the new cells were rejected. It is thought that this was due to the way they "became" stem cells (the cells were originally skin cells before being subjected to an engineered virus that changed them into pluripotent stem cells in a procedure first done in 2006). Sadly, the new research casts doubt on the viability of the use of stem cells in transplants, despite human neurons being made for the first time from induced pluripotent stem cells.
May was also a big month for palaeontology, with two main discoveries: the first ever evidence of biomineralisation (using mineral substances to form biological structures like shells, bones, hair and teeth), and the revelation that the sense of smell in mammals was what led to the increased development of our brains.
In other science: being overweight was found to make you 71% more likely to develop dementia, a material that uses titanium dioxide and sunlight to break down any organic pollutants on it and in the air around it, the space shuttle launches for the last time, and a paralysed man learns to walk again after electric impulses are applied to his spinal cord.
May was also a big month for palaeontology, with two main discoveries: the first ever evidence of biomineralisation (using mineral substances to form biological structures like shells, bones, hair and teeth), and the revelation that the sense of smell in mammals was what led to the increased development of our brains.
In other science: being overweight was found to make you 71% more likely to develop dementia, a material that uses titanium dioxide and sunlight to break down any organic pollutants on it and in the air around it, the space shuttle launches for the last time, and a paralysed man learns to walk again after electric impulses are applied to his spinal cord.
Saturday, 7 January 2012
April: Bumble Bees and Bloody Big Lasers
Stem Cells hit the news again in April as the first human heart was constructed using them. The Minnesota-based team created the organ using donated hearts that were stripped down to the collagen "scaffolding", then injected with stem cells, which specialised into heart cells in response to the structure they were injected into. While this technology is very far away from being able to be used in a clinical setting, this might open some doorways into stem cell transplants.
Meanwhile in Japan, scientists have given mouse stem cells a specific combination of nutrients that has stimulated them into maturing into a functional retina: something to lookout for in the future for treatment of blind people.
The early Spring months also brought us news that mobile phones may be killing bumble bees, insects on which many crops and flowering plants lean on to survive. The research caused controversy in the bee-studying world, however, and many are skeptical about it, saying that there needs to be more research into air pollution and agriculture's effects on the creatures. There was no doubt about the need for research, though: the UN has already said that humans need to change their behavior in order to help bees survive, as we are so dependent on them.
In other science: the Extreme Light Infrastructure gets given the go-ahead by the European Commission. This is a collection of 3 lasers, each designed to emit pulses of greater power than has ever been used by human civilisation in order to try and break down vacuum itself.
Meanwhile in Japan, scientists have given mouse stem cells a specific combination of nutrients that has stimulated them into maturing into a functional retina: something to lookout for in the future for treatment of blind people.
The early Spring months also brought us news that mobile phones may be killing bumble bees, insects on which many crops and flowering plants lean on to survive. The research caused controversy in the bee-studying world, however, and many are skeptical about it, saying that there needs to be more research into air pollution and agriculture's effects on the creatures. There was no doubt about the need for research, though: the UN has already said that humans need to change their behavior in order to help bees survive, as we are so dependent on them.
In other science: the Extreme Light Infrastructure gets given the go-ahead by the European Commission. This is a collection of 3 lasers, each designed to emit pulses of greater power than has ever been used by human civilisation in order to try and break down vacuum itself.
Friday, 6 January 2012
March: Sperm & Stem Cells
There's almost always something new in the field of stem cells (I'm embarking on a gedanken experiment on the subject myself), but this month's progress is definitely worthy of report: human embryonic stem cells were grown into a very particular type of neuron. These neurons are affected in the early stages of Alzheimer's, and are very closely linked to the retrieval of memories; this is the main reason memory loss happens - the memories themselves are intact, but the ability to access them is not. By growing them in vitro, scientists will be able to study why they die, and maybe, eventually, transplant them into patients to improve memory.
March also brought us the first ever production of sperm cells in a lab. Why should you care that it is now possible to create mouse sperm? Because male infertility is becoming an increasing problem, especially in the western world, and this new study may unlock the secrets of the mechanisms behind creating gametes. While it is a long way off making human sex cells, the fact that healthy offspring could be produced from sperm created from neonatal mice could have far reaching consequences in the future.
In other science: scientists discover Atlantis in Spain, the Messenger probe becomes the first to orbit Mercury, and it is discovered that photons can be used to pull particles, sort of like a tractor beam.
March also brought us the first ever production of sperm cells in a lab. Why should you care that it is now possible to create mouse sperm? Because male infertility is becoming an increasing problem, especially in the western world, and this new study may unlock the secrets of the mechanisms behind creating gametes. While it is a long way off making human sex cells, the fact that healthy offspring could be produced from sperm created from neonatal mice could have far reaching consequences in the future.
In other science: scientists discover Atlantis in Spain, the Messenger probe becomes the first to orbit Mercury, and it is discovered that photons can be used to pull particles, sort of like a tractor beam.
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