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Valter Longo (Photo by John Skalicky); featured image for Drugs widely used in cancer therapy increase toxicity of chemotherapy in mice

Drugs widely used in cancer therapy increase toxicity of chemotherapy in mice

A short-term fast appears to counteract increases in blood sugar caused by common cancer drugs and protect healthy cells in mice from becoming too vulnerable to chemotherapy, according to new research by …

From left, ChangHui Pak, Mayssa H. Mokalled, Naomi Habib, Frank Soldner and Alex J. Hughes (Photo by Cristy Lytal); featured image for Next-generation stem cell scientists evidence strong nerves at USC mini-symposium

Next-generation stem cell scientists evidence strong nerves at USC mini-symposium

Five next-generation scientists got everyone’s neurons firing at the Junior Faculty Candidate Mini-symposium, hosted by USC’s Department of Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine on March 7.

Zebrafish heart with coronary vessels (Image courtesy of Ellen Lien/Children's Hospital Los Angeles)

Ching-Ling (Ellen) Lien awarded $1.7 million to study heart regeneration

Ching-Ling (Ellen) Lien, an investigator at The Saban Research Institute of Children’s Hospital Los Angeles (CHLA) and principal investigator with USC Stem Cell, has been awarded nearly $1.7 million, over a four …

Jian Xu (Photo courtesy of the Ostrow School of Dentistry of USC); featured image for Researcher Jian Xu earns accolades for cell fate studies

Researcher Jian Xu earns accolades for cell fate studies

Basic science can often be far from basic—especially for Jian Xu, who believes cells are kind of like people. “In simple terms, we look at how cells determine their own fate,” said …

Amy Ryan (Firth); featured image for USC Stem Cell scientist Amy Firth named finalist for the British Council’s 2017 Alumni Awards

USC Stem Cell scientist Amy Firth named finalist for the British Council’s 2017 Alumni Awards

As a USC Stem Cell scientist studying lung disease, Amy Firth has done her alma mater proud. An alumna of the University of Bath, Firth has earned a coveted place as a …

Valter Longo (Photo by Dietmar Quistorf); featured image for Scientifically-designed fasting diet lowers risks for major diseases

Scientifically-designed fasting diet lowers risks for major diseases

What if you could lose weight and reduce your risk of life-threatening disease without any changes in what you eat—other than a five-day special diet once every few months? That’s what happened …

Keyue Shen; featured image for Beating the spread

Beating the spread

Cancer cells are like normal cells, only trickier. They carry genetic mutations that can hoodwink their surroundings to favor their growth. Using biologically inspired in vitro models, Keyue Shen, an assistant professor …

Amy Ryan (Firth) (Photo by Cristy Lytal); featured image for What I’m reading: Stem cell faculty member Amy Firth offers a top pick

What I’m reading: Stem cell faculty member Amy Firth offers a top pick

To understand organ development, maintenance and repair, and to model disease, tissue engineering can enable unique experimental approaches. In a recent study in the journal Biomaterials, Daniel Tschumerplin’s laboratory at the Mayo …

Rong Lu (Photo by Cristy Lytal); featured image for What I’m reading: Top picks from stem cell faculty

What I’m reading: Top picks from stem cell faculty

In a recent issue of Nature, Philipp S. Hoppe and colleagues present their work on how blood-forming cells, called hematopoietic progenitors, commit to becoming particular blood cell types.

Adnan Chowdhury (Photo by Cristy Lytal); featured image for Hearst Fellow Adnan Chowdhury studies how stem cells respond to infection

Hearst Fellow Adnan Chowdhury studies how stem cells respond to infection

Few researchers have studied how hematopoietic stem cells respond to infection—even though these are the stem cells that give rise to the full battery of specialized immune cells, such as T cells …

Amy Ryan (Firth) (Photo courtesy of the Keck School of Medicine of USC); featured image for What I’m Reading: Top pick from stem cell faculty member Amy Firth

What I’m Reading: Top pick from stem cell faculty member Amy Firth

Cells regulate their gene activity and differentiation by “methylating” DNA—adding carbon and hydrogen atoms to modify the DNA code. In a recent Cell publication, researchers from the Jaenisch laboratory used a precise …

Senta Georgia (Photo by Cristy Lytal); featured image for What I’m Reading: Top pick from stem cell faculty member Senta Georgia

What I’m Reading: Top pick from stem cell faculty member Senta Georgia

Earlier this year, a team at the Karolinska Institute published a paper that profiled gene activity in single cells from human embryos created in the context of in vitro fertilization. Now this …

Qi-Long Ying (Photo by Cristy Lytal); featured image for What I’m Reading: Top pick from stem cell faculty member Qi-Long Ying

What I’m Reading: Top pick from stem cell faculty member Qi-Long Ying

In a recent study published in Cell Stem Cell, Joshua Black and colleagues demonstrated that skin cells are converted into neurons using a powerful tool called CRISPR/Cas9 to concurrently modify and activate …

Wange Lu (Photo by Chris Shinn); featured image for What I’m reading: Top pick from stem cell faculty member Wange Lu

What I’m reading: Top pick from stem cell faculty member Wange Lu

Our genetic material is packed into the nucleus of the cell, but is the packing process random or organized in some way? In a recent study published in Cell Stem Cell, Krijger …

Megan McCain (Photo by Will Taylor); featured image for Megan McCain receives American Heart Association Faculty Award

Megan McCain receives American Heart Association Faculty Award

Megan McCain has received a 2016 Scientist Development Grant from the American Heart Association. The three-year, $231,000 grant supports highly promising early career scientists in cardiovascular and stroke research. McCain—Gabilan Assistant Professor …

Francesca Mariani (Photo by Chris Shinn); featured image for What I’m reading: Top pick from stem cell faculty member Francesca Mariani

What I’m reading: Top pick from stem cell faculty member Francesca Mariani

In a recent study in the journal Cell, Kyle Loh and colleagues in Irving Weissman’s group established a rapid protocol for converting human pluripotent stem cells into mesoderm—the progenitors for heart, skeleton, …

Researchers have found a protein that may help with the brain’s recovery from a stroke. (Illustration courtesy of Shutterstock); featured image for There’s hope for reversing stroke-induced long-term disability

There’s hope for reversing stroke-induced long-term disability

Permanent brain damage from a stroke may be reversible thanks to a developing therapeutic technique, a USC-led study has found. The novel approach combines transplanted human stem cells with a special protein …

Rong Lu (Photo by Cristy Lytal); featured image for What I’m reading: Top pick from stem cell faculty member Rong Lu

What I’m reading: Top pick from stem cell faculty member Rong Lu

In a recent issue of Nature, Fan Zhou, Bing Liu and colleagues present their work on tracing the developmental origin of blood stem cells, also known as hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs), in …

Joseph T. Rodgers (Photo by Cristy Lytal); featured image for What I’m reading: A top pick from stem cell faculty member Joseph T. Rodgers

What I’m reading: A top pick from stem cell faculty member Joseph T. Rodgers

In a recent issue of Science, Jay Shendure, Alexander Schier and colleagues present an extraordinarily powerful new approach to trace the lineage of cells as they divide within an organism.

From left, Andy McMahon and Gage Crump (Photos by Phil Channing and the Crump Lab); featured image for What I’m reading: Top picks from stem cell faculty members Andy McMahon and Gage Crump

What I’m reading: Top picks from stem cell faculty members Andy McMahon and Gage Crump

Andy McMahon: Leigh Turner and Paul Knoepfler present a disturbing report in Cell Stem Cell on the growth of businesses marketing stem cell interventions in the US. Los Angeles is one “stem …