Min Yu and Heinz-Josef Lenz seek to stop cancer in its tracks
Heinz-Josef Lenz and Min Yu both know that a cancer cell in motion doesn’t stay in motion. It comes to rest and spreads cancer. After detaching from the primary tumor and traveling …
Researchers engineer a “smart bomb” to attack childhood leukemia
Fatih Uckun, Jianjun Cheng and their colleagues have taken the first steps towards developing a so-called “smart bomb” to attack the most common and deadly form of childhood cancer—called B-lineage acute lymphoblastic …
USC recruits renowned leaders in molecular research
Raymond C. Stevens and Peter Kuhn have been named Provost Professor of Biological Sciences and Chemistry and Dean’s Professor of Biological Sciences, respectively. The announcements were made by Provost Elizabeth Garrett and …
Andy McMahon and USC Stem Cell: From discoveries to cures
Video by Little Pictures How do fingers become fingers and not toes? How does the brain generate the correct number of neurons? How do the kidneys branch into the complex and elegant …
Fasting triggers stem cell regeneration of damaged, old immune system
In the first evidence of a natural intervention triggering stem cell-based regeneration of an organ or system, a study in the June 5 issue of Cell Stem Cell shows that cycles of …
Tracy Grikscheit explores frontiers of surgery, science and skiing
Video courtesy of Children’s Hospital Los Angeles Tracy Grikscheit, MD, really has her priorities straight. “It goes: surgery, science, skiing. That’s the order,” said Grikscheit, principal investigator with USC Stem Cell and …
Senta Georgia imagines intestinal cells that make insulin
For Senta Georgia, PhD, stem cell research offers a window into much more than the biology of pancreatic cells and diabetes. “Molecular biology is elegant,” said Georgia, principal investigator at the Saban …
Dhont Family Foundation invigorates USC colon cancer research
Colon cancer research at USC received a boost from the Southern California-based Dhont Family Foundation, as the foundation renewed its commitment of its $1 million gift to fund Heinz-Josef Lenz’s research in …
Valter Longo seeks a recipe for longevity
Video by the USC Davis School of Gerontology Valter Longo, PhD, principal investigator with USC Stem Cell, is out to prove that gerontology is a young man’s game — just like rock …
USC and Children’s Hospital Los Angeles launch imaging lab for translational research
With the launch of the Translational Biomedical Imaging Lab (TBIL), investigators at the University of Southern California (USC) and The Saban Research Institute of Children’s Hospital Los Angeles moved us closer to a …
USC researchers grow organs to unlock secrets of how cancer tumors grow
Using three-dimensional organ creation, Keck Medicine of University of Southern California (USC) researchers aim to discover clues to metastatic cancer growth by developing a first-ever integrated bioengineered/computational model of metastatic color cancer. …
USC researcher reveals how to better master stem cells’ fate
USC scientist Qi-Long Ying and a team of researchers have long been searching for biotech’s version of the fountain of youth — ways to encourage embryonic stem cells (ESCs) and epiblast stem …
Businessman invests in stem cell research at USC
Chinese businessman Yong Chen has pledged $1 million to USC stem cell researcher Qi-Long Ying to support his future “eureka moments.” “When I talked to Mr. Chen, I told him that groundbreaking …
A special protein helps embryonic stem cells keep their options open
In the ongoing quest to understand how embryonic stem cells (ESCs) retain their ability to differentiate into virtually any kind of cell, USC faculty member Qi-Long Ying and a team of researchers …
USC announces winners of first Regenerative Medicine Initiative awards
Three newly assembled disease teams within USC Stem Cell will take the early steps this year that might lead to future stem-cell based therapies for certain forms of deafness, bone defects and …
A genetic catch-22 promotes and prevents liver cancer
Can the same gene prevent and promote cancer? When it comes to liver cancer, the gene that codes for P53, a protein found in humans and many other animals, involves this catch-22. …
USC study sheds light on stem cell reprogramming
Researchers are learning how to turn regular cells into stem cells, a process called reprogramming. However, some of the mechanisms of the process remain unknown, such as why only a small proportion of the cells can be reprogrammed. Researchers have at least part of the answer: the structure of genes.
Common genetic disease linked to father’s age
Scientists at USC have unlocked the mystery of why new cases of the genetic disease Noonan syndrome are so common—a mutation, which causes the disease, disproportionately increases a normal father’s production of …
New study identifies the cellular origin of liver fibrosis
Fibrosis is the process of scar tissue formation. Liver fibrosis can be caused by injury to the liver, chronic viral infection and alcohol abuse. Advanced liver fibrosis can lead to cirrhosis, portal …
Interview with Sir John Gurdon
Sir John Gurdon, a Nobel Prize-winning biologist whose experiments in the field of cloning laid the foundation for modern stem cell research, visited the USC Health Sciences Campus on May 16. He …