Tag: Kevin Eggan

  • Health

    Stem cells open window on disease processes

    A panel of Harvard Stem Cell Institute experts said recently that stem cell research’s biggest impact on patients’ health likely won’t come from therapies that inject stem cells or implant tissues made from them, but rather from the knowledge gained by examining diseased tissues grown from the cells. Kenneth Chien, head of the Harvard Stem…

    3–5 minutes
  • Health

    Researchers in Japan and Wisconsin report major advance in stem cell research

       “The field is moving at lightning speed,” said Harvard Stem Cell Institute (HSCI) Co-Director Doug Melton in response to just-published papers by Japanese researchers and researchers at the University of Wisconsin reporting reprogramming adult human skin cells to produce cells similar to human embryonic stem cells.  But Melton and other researchers are cautioning that…

    4–5 minutes
  • Health

    Major progress toward cell reprogramming

    Two Harvard Stem Cell Institute (HSCI) researchers and scientists at Whitehead Institute and Japan’s Kyoto University have independently taken major steps toward discovering ways to reprogram cells in order to direct their development – a key goal in developmental biology and regenerative medicine. Additionally, the group led by Kevin Eggan, an HSCI principal faculty member…

    2–3 minutes
  • Health

    Harvard Stem Cell Institute researchers granted approval

    After more than two years of intensive ethical and scientific review, Harvard Stem Cell Institute (HSCI) researchers at Harvard and Children’s Hospital Boston have been cleared to begin experiments using Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer (SCNT) to create disease-specific stem cell lines in an effort to develop treatments for a wide range of now-incurable conditions afflicting…

    1–2 minutes
  • Campus & Community

    Stem cell researchers collaborate across continents

    In order to advance its mission of promoting stem cell research across the scientific community, five junior Harvard stem cell researchers last week (March 9-11) hosted five of their University of Cambridge (UK) counterparts for three days of research presentations and discussions about possible collaborations. The goal of the meeting, explained Faculty of Arts and…

    1–2 minutes
  • Campus & Community

    Adult cells transformed into stem cells

    Harvard researchers fused adult skin cells with embryonic stem cells in such a way that the genes of the embryonic cells reset the genetic clock of the adult cells, turning them back to their embryonic form. Such adult-cum-embryo cells, taken from people with juvenile diabetes, Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, and other genetic diseases, could reveal how such…

    1–2 minutes
  • Campus & Community

    Stem cell research debate continues

    Stem cell research is a complicated subject, not only scientifically but ethically as well. This past Friday (April 15) a debate at Harvard Law School promised to shed light on both aspects of this urgent issue, but probably ended up raising as many questions as it answered. The event, “Law and Ethics in a Brave…

    2–3 minutes
  • Health

    Sperm cells made in lab can fertilize eggs

    Scientists injected laboratory-created sperm into eggs, and the resulting embryos grew to the point where they would normally be implanted into a womb. The experiment was done with mouse stem cells, but mice, genetically speaking, are so close to men, few scientists doubt that the same experiment can be done in humans. The breakthrough, made…

    1–2 minutes