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Paula Cannon (Photo by Don Milici); featured image for USC and Sangamo researchers advance genome editing of blood stem cells

USC and Sangamo researchers advance genome editing of blood stem cells

Genome editing techniques for blood stem cells just got better, thanks to a team of researchers at USC and Sangamo BioSciences. In an upcoming study in Nature Biotechnology, co-first authors Colin M. …

The gene Prkci promotes the generation of differentiated cells (red). However if Prkci activity is reduced or absent, neural stem cells (green) are promoted. (Image by In Kyoung Mah); featured image for A Prkci gene keeps stem cells in check

A Prkci gene keeps stem cells in check

When it comes to stem cells, too much of a good thing isn’t wonderful: producing too many new stem cells may lead to cancer; producing too few inhibits the repair and maintenance …

From right, Qi-Long Ying, director of the Chang Stem Cell Engineering Facility; Daniel Chang; Andy McMahon, director of the Eli and Edythe Broad Center for Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research at USC; and Cai Li Chang (Photo by Cristy Lytal); featured image for Chang Stem Cell Engineering Facility brings gene editing to USC and beyond

Chang Stem Cell Engineering Facility brings gene editing to USC and beyond

Once the stuff of science fiction, genetic engineering is now offered on a fee-for-service basis at USC. On September 19, USC Stem Cell faculty and staff welcomed their supporters, the Chang and …

From left, John Zaia, Dale Ando, David Hardy and Paula Cannon (Photo courtesy of the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine); featured image for The road to a cure for HIV/AIDS

The road to a cure for HIV/AIDS

Something wonderful sometimes happens when scientists and the public get together to talk about research. All the jargon, all the technical language falls away, and it becomes instead a conversation between the …

Barbara Driscoll (Photo courtesy of Children's Hospital Los Angeles)

Researchers create promising new model for lung injury repair

Researchers at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles and The Saban Research Institute of CHLA have created a dynamic functional mouse model for lung injury repair, a tool that will help scientists explain the …

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Stem cell transplantation for children with rare form of leukemia improves outcomes

Researchers in the Division of Hematology, Oncology and Blood & Marrow Transplantation at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles have shown greatly improved outcomes in using stem cell transplantation to treat patients with a …

From left to right, a red blood cell, a platelet and a white blood cell (Public domain image courtesy of the Electron Microscopy Facility at The National Cancer Institute at Frederick); featured image for USC Stem Cell researchers poke around for blood genes

USC Stem Cell researchers poke around for blood genes

Even though the transplantation of blood stem cells, also known as bone marrow, has saved many lives over many decades, the genes that control the number or function of blood stem cells …

From left, Lindsey Barske, Michael Patterson, Ang Li and Yuwei Li (Photos by Cristy Lytal); featured image for USC postdocs win Doerr Stem Cell Challenge Grants

USC postdocs win Doerr Stem Cell Challenge Grants

Just as there are times when two heads are better than one, there are times when two labs are better than one. Thanks to the new Doerr Stem Cell Challenge Grants, teams …

Fresh veggies, anyone? (Photo by Bob Nichols); featured image for Diet that mimics fasting appears to slow aging

Diet that mimics fasting appears to slow aging

Want to lose abdominal fat, get smarter and live longer? New research led by USC Stem Cell principal investigator Valter Longo shows that periodically adopting a diet that mimics the effects of …

Coronary vasculature in zebrafish (Image courtesy of Children's Hospital Los Angeles)

Tiny heart, big promise

The heart has its own dedicated blood supply, with coronary arteries that supply oxygen-rich blood to the heart and cardiac veins that remove deoxygenated blood. This system of vessels nourishes the heart, …

Eli and Edythe Broad CIRM Center for Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research at USC (Photo by Chris Shinn); featured image for Take a tour of USC’s stem cell research center

Take a tour of USC’s stem cell research center

Video by Alric Devotta Director Andy McMahon leads a tour of the Eli and Edythe Broad CIRM Center for Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research at USC.

Transgenic mouse model used to target lung mesenchymal cells (green) (Image courtesy of Children's Hospital Los Angeles)

Promising new target may treat pulmonary fibrosis

By uncovering the mechanism by which fibrous tissue cells in the lung multiply, researchers at The Saban Research Institute of Children’s Hospital Los Angeles (CHLA), along with colleagues in Mexico and Canada, …

Clockwise from upper left: Hao Yuan Kueh, Florian Merkle, Robert A.J. Signer, members of the audience, Pedro Batista and Joseph T. Rodgers (Photos by Cristy Lytal); featured image for USC mini-symposium showcases the next generation of top stem cell scientists

USC mini-symposium showcases the next generation of top stem cell scientists

Obesity, narcolepsy, leukemia and muscle injuries have at least one thing in common: they are engaging the next generation of top stem cell scientists. Five of these scientists presented their research at …

Illustration of the HIV virus; featured image for CIRM-funded clinical trial aimed at blocking HIV/AIDS in people gets the go ahead

CIRM-funded clinical trial aimed at blocking HIV/AIDS in people gets the go ahead

An innovative therapy using a patient’s own stem cells, modified to resist infection with the AIDS virus, has been given approval by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to begin a clinical …

USC PhD student Louise Menendez examines the prototype of a potential device to treat patients with liver disease. (Photo by Cristy Lytal); featured image for “Million-dollar ideas” seminar

“Million-dollar ideas” seminar

At a special seminar on February 24, USC Stem Cell Principal Investigators discussed their “million-dollar ideas” for creating new tools and technologies to usher in the era of regenerative medicine. They shared …

From left, Toshio Miki, Qi-Long Ying, Paula Cannon (Photos by Cristy Lytal and Don Milici); featured image for Three USC researchers win $4.3 million in awards from California’s stem cell agency

Three USC researchers win $4.3 million in awards from California’s stem cell agency

Three scientists from Keck Medicine of USC have won grants exceeding $4.3 million from the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) for research that includes creating a temporary liver for patients, finding …

Preet Chaudhary (Photo courtesy of USC); featured image for New option benefits patients needing bone marrow transplants

New option benefits patients needing bone marrow transplants

Keck Medical Center of USC is offering a new option for patients who need bone marrow (also called stem cell) transplants, but have not found a match. Haploidentical transplants allow patients who …

Fatih Uckun (Photo courtesy of Children's Hospital Los Angeles)

Protein-based therapy shows promise against resistant leukemia

Resistance of leukemia cells to contemporary chemotherapy is one of the most formidable obstacles to treating acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), the most common form of childhood cancer. Now researchers at Children’s Hospital …

Neonatal mouse heart showing basal level of proliferating cardiomyocytes (red: cardiomyocytes; green: proliferating cardiomyocytes; RV: right ventricle; LV: left ventricle). (Image courtesy of Ellen Lien); featured image for Mammalian heart regenerative capacity depends on severity of injury

Mammalian heart regenerative capacity depends on severity of injury

A new study by researchers at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles (CHLA) has shown that neonatal mouse hearts have varying regenerative capacities depending upon the severity of injury. Using cryoinjury — damaging the …

Circulating tumor cells (Image courtesy of Min Yu); featured image for Min Yu and Heinz-Josef Lenz seek to stop cancer in its tracks

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 …