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 novel ways to treat immune disorders and blood diseases, and developing new animal models for heart failure, diabetes and neurodegenerative diseases. The grants, …
New research from an international team led by USC scientists set out to learn how feathers developed and helped birds spread across the world. Flight feathers, in particular, are masterpieces of propulsion and adaptation, helping penguins swim, eagles soar and hummingbirds hover. Despite such diversity, the feather shares a common core design: a one-style-fits-all model …
USC researchers have completed a detailed deconstruction of the kidney, revealing for the first time an intimate portrait of sexual differences and more in the organ. The findings could benefit 37 million Americans suffering from kidney disease by helping to distinguish how it affects men and women differently. They can help doctors pinpoint genes linked …
USC scientists have surmounted a big roadblock in regenerative medicine that has so far constrained the ability to use repurposed cells to treat diseases. The researchers figured out how to reprogram cells to switch their identity much more reliably than present capabilities. The technique uses enzymes to untangle reprogramming DNA somewhat similar to how a …
If anyone has a clear vision of the power of stem cell cures, it’s Anna Kuehl. She suffered a retina-wrecking disease that cost her much of her sight before USC physicians surgically implanted stem cells to restore her ability to see. Today, she can see the letters on computer keys, use her iPhone and read …
USC scientists report that a novel time-keeping mechanism within liver cells that helps sustain key organ tasks can contribute to diseases when its natural rhythm is disrupted.
Fear has power. Power to harm body and soul. Power to motivate. Peter Kuhn first learned its power as a boy growing up on a farm in Bavaria. The family ran an orchard of apples, pears and plums. The town of Unterpleichfeld had perhaps 1,000 inhabitants, “if you included some of the farm animals,” Kuhn …
A USC research team identified 150 proteins affecting cell activity and brain development that contribute to mental disorders, including schizophrenia, bipolar condition and depression. It’s the first time these molecules, which are associated with the disrupted-in-schizophrenia 1 (DISC1) protein linked to mental disorders, have been identified. The scientists developed new tools involving stem cells to …
