Stem Cells

Lizards can regrow their tails, but the new tail isn't quite perfect. Scientists have now used stem cell therapy to let lizards grow better tails – bones, nerves and all – in an advance that could have implications for better wound healing in humans.

Scientists looking into the biological mechanisms behind deteriorating bones have made a discovery that could help tackle age-related conditions like osteoporosis, by rejuvenating stem cells that to are central to their healthy maintenance.

Researchers at Washington University have tested an experimental new treatment for rheumatoid arthritis in mice. The team implanted stem cells that have been reprogrammed to secrete anti-inflammatory drugs only when they sense inflammation.

In a development likened to targeting the roots rather than cutting the weeds, scientists have identified proteins that may help unravel low-lying but dangerous cancer stem cells, which could translate to new treatments for aggressive brain tumors.

Researchers have made a striking breakthrough in lab-grown mini organs. Using induced pluriopotent stem cells, the team induced brain organoids to develop rudimentary eye structures that can sense light and send signals to the rest of the brain.

Scientists at Oxford have uncovered a mechanism behind why people with diabetes have an increased risk of cardiovascular diseases. High blood sugar levels seem to “reprogram” stem cells so that the immune cells they produce become more inflammatory.

After someone has suffered a heart attack, non-beating scar tissue grows back in place of the damaged cardiac tissue, leaving the heart permanently weakened. A newly developed spray-on medication, however, may someday help change that.

An extraordinary new study has detailed the development of a nearly complete mouse embryo – with muscles, blood vessels and a tiny beating heart – grown in a lab dish out of stem cells, presenting the most sophisticated “embryo in a dish” created to date.

The heart has a limited capacity to heal itself, so heart attack survivors often have further episodes. Now, scientists have grown heart cells from stem cells, embedded them onto microspheres and injected them into damaged hearts to help repair them.

Researchers have found a way to maintain insulin levels in diabetic mice by growing and implanting new beta cells that produce the hormone. These cells are housed inside a tiny device that protects them from the immune system, like a shark cage.

Researchers at Salk Institute have uncovered a mechanism by which stem cells can help regenerate muscles. The discovery could provide a new drug target for repairing muscles after injury or rebuilding muscle mass lost during the normal aging process.

A team at the University of Wisconsin-Madison has engineered a novel type of scaffold that could give efforts to tackle vision loss a boost, by improving the precision with which replacement photoreceptor cells can be delivered into the eye.