Stem Cells

For some time now, we've heard about scaffolding-like materials that are implanted into bone fractures, prompting the body's own bone cells to grow into them and heal the break. Now, however, scientists have developed a special bandage that may also do the job.

Scientists have created the first-ever functional miniature human hearts in the lab. Grown from stem cells, these heart “organoids” are made up of all primary heart cell types, and could help build better models for treating disease.

Like most machines, the human body tends to wear out faster at the points of articulation, where decades of stress are focused. Now, researchers at Stanford have found a way to induce cartilage tissue to regenerate in joints by tweaking the stem cells there.

Heart attacks are a leading cause of death, largely because damage caused by one can lead to more. Now researchers at Rice University have developed a new way to repair heart tissue and reduce scarring, by implanting capsules loaded with stem cells.

Goosebumps are a weird quirk of our bodies that science doesn’t fully understand. Now, researchers at Harvard have uncovered a biological reason for the reaction: it’s our bodies’ way of stimulating stem cells to drive new hair growth.

Vertex and CRISPR Therapeutics presented new data from one of the first trials testing gene-editing therapy in human subjects. Fifteen months on from first patient treatment, the therapy is showing remarkable efficacy treating two rare blood diseases.

Stem cells are powerful tools that could one day unlock new frontiers in regenerative medicine. Now, a new study has shown that a certain type of stem cell can be delivered into injured tissues with dissolvable microneedles, to heal wounds.

Imagine needing a liver transplant and, instead of waiting for a donor, a new one could just be grown from your own skin cells. In a big step towards this, mini human livers grown from stem cells have been successfully transplanted into rats.

In a clinical trial, a baby in Japan has received the world’s first successful transplant of new liver cells derived from embryonic stem cells. The “bridge treatment” kept the infant healthy until old enough to receive a liver transplant.

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a debilitating disease that affects the central nervous system. Now, a new study from the University of Rochester has shown that its effects may be prevented and even reversed in mice, by transplanting certain brain cells.

Researchers have shown a stem-cell-based topical solution can regrow hair in both male and female subjects with common pattern baldness. The small trial found the treatment both safe and effective, with larger trials hoped to validate the results.

Washington University scientists working on techniques to turn stem cells into pancreatic beta cells are now reporting another exciting breakthrough, combining them with the CRISPR gene-editing tool to reverse the disease in mice.