Talk:Stem Cells

Australian Stem Cells

2006 A private members bill was introduced (19Oct06) and passed (7Nov06) in the Australian Senate amending an earlier act relating to stem cells research. Prohibition of Human Cloning for Reproduction and the Regulation of Human Embryo Research Amendment Act 2006 This will allow stem research using human embryos under strict controls and now requires passing through the House of Represenatives before the Amendment will become law. [../pdf/SenateStemCell06Bill19100603.pdf PDF - Amendment Bill 2006]

2005Lockhart Review "On 17 June 2005, the former Minister for Ageing, the Hon Julie Bishop MP, appointed a committee to conduct independent reviews of Australia's Prohibition of Human Cloning Act 2002 and the Research Involving Human Embryos Act 2002. The Committee was required to consult with the Australian, State and Territory governments and a broad range of people with expertise or experience in relevant disciplines. The Committee called for written submissions on the scope and operation of the two Acts." Lockhart Review | Lockhart Review - Media Release

See also [#NHMRC Australian NHMRC Information]

Historic Findings 2006

Chen S, Do JT, Zhang Q, Yao S, Yan F, Peters EC, Scholer HR, Schultz PG, Ding S. Self-renewal of embryonic stem cells by a small molecule. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2006 Nov 14;103(46):17266-71.

"A previously uncharacterized heterocycle, SC1, was discovered that allows one to propagate murine ES cells in an undifferentiated, pluripotent state under chemically defined conditions in the absence of feeder cells, serum, and leukemia inhibitory factor."

File:Aus sen crest.gif Australian Legislation A private members bill put forward by Senator Kay PATTERSON was passed (06Dec06) by 20 votes in the House of Representatives amending an earlier "Prohibition of Human Cloning for Reproduction and the Regulation of Human Embryo Research Amendment Act 2006" relating to stem cells research. During the four day debate more than 100 MPs spoke on the bill and the majority were in favour of changing the law. The amendment will allow researchers to create and use embryos up to 14 days old for research. [../Notes/stemcell.htm Stem Cells] | ABC - Information on Threrapeutic Cloning | ABC - Researcher hails end of therapeutic cloning ban House of Representatives | Prohibition of Human Cloning for Reproduction and the Regulation of Human Embryo Research Amendment Bill 2006 |

File:Aus sen crest.gif Australian Legislation A private members bill was introduced (19Oct06) and passed (7Nov06) in the Australian Senate amending an earlier act relating to stem cells research. Prohibition of Human Cloning for Reproduction and the Regulation of Human Embryo Research Amendment Act 2006 This will allow stem research using human embryos under strict controls and now requires passing through the House of Represenatives before the Amendment will become law. [../pdf/SenateStemCell06Bill19100603.pdf PDF - Amendment Bill 2006]

Human embryonic stem cells and liver Baharvand H, Hashemi SM, Kazemi Ashtiani S, Farrokhi A. Differentiation of human embryonic stem cells into hepatocytes in 2D and 3D culture systems in vitro. Int J Dev Biol. 2006;50(7):645-52. "The differentiation of hESCs into hepatocyte-like cells within 3D collagen scaffolds containing exogenous growth factors, gives rise to cells displaying morphological features, gene expression patterns and metabolic activities characteristic of hepatocytes and may provide a source of differentiated cells for treatment of liver diseases."

File:Cellstemcell.jpg "Cell Press, is set to launch (July, 2007) a new monthly journal Cell Stem Cell published by Cell Press in affiliation with the International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR) will include primary research, reviews, and commentaries while also serving as a forum for issues of stem cell research policy and ethics." Cell Stem Cell

Embryonic stem cells and not bone marrow cells can regenerate cardiac function Kolossov E, Bostani T, Roell W, Breitbach M, Pillekamp F, Nygren JM, Sasse P, Rubenchik O, Fries JW, Wenzel D, Geisen C, Xia Y, Lu Z, Duan Y, Kettenhofen R, Jovinge S, Bloch W, Bohlen H, Welz A, Hescheler J, Jacobsen SE, Fleischmann BK. Engraftment of engineered ES cell-derived cardiomyocytes but not BM cells restores contractile function to the infarcted myocardium. J Exp Med. 2006 Oct 2;203(10):2315-27. Epub 2006 Sep 5. "... Long-term engraftment (4-5 months) was observed when co-transplanting selected ES cell-derived cardiomyocytes and fibroblasts into the injured heart of syngeneic mice, and no teratoma formation was found (n = 60). Although transplantation of ES cell-derived cardiomyocytes improved heart function, BM cells had no positive effects. Furthermore, no contribution of BM cells to cardiac, endothelial, or smooth muscle neogenesis was detected."

25 years of Embryonic Stem Cells Nature WebFocus "This year marks the 25th anniversary of two papers reporting the first isolation of mouse ES cells."

Embryonic stem cells Suzuki A, Raya A, Kawakami Y, Morita M, Matsui T, Nakashima K, Gage FH, Rodriguez-Esteban C, Izpisua Belmonte JC. Nanog binds to Smad1 and blocks bone morphogenetic protein-induced differentiation of embryonic stem cells. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2006 Jun 26;

Neural Stem Cell Differentiation Ueno M, Matsumura M, Watanabe K, Nakamura T, Osakada F, Takahashi M, Kawasaki H, Kinoshita S, Sasai Y. Neural conversion of ES cells by an inductive activity on human amniotic membrane matrix. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2006 Jun 9 A recent study has shown the differentiation of embryonic stem cells into neural cells by contact with extracellular matrix components of the human amniotic membrane in serum-free medium. PNAS Link | [../Notes/neuron.htm Neural Notes]

Modifying Spermatogonial Stem Cells Kanatsu-Shinohara M, Ikawa M, Takehashi M, Ogonuki N, Miki H, Inoue K, Kazuki Y, Lee J, Toyokuni S, Oshimura M, Ogura A, Shinohara T. Production of knockout mice by random or targeted mutagenesis in spermatogonial stem cells. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2006 May 23;103(21):8018-23. "Here, we demonstrate successful gene trapping and homologous recombination in spermatogonial stem cells. ...These results demonstrate the feasibility of altering genes in tissue-specific stem cells in a manner similar to embryonic stem cells and have important implications for gene therapy and animal transgenesis."

(More? [#SSC Spermatogonial Stem Cell] See also commentary de Rooij DG. Rapid expansion of the spermatogonial stem cell tool box. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2006 May 23;103(21):7939-40.)