Blood on the lab bench
Scientists in Qatar have taken research into organ development one more step into the future by expanding the potential for creating personalized blood and heart tissue in the lab. Read more
March issue cover: What’s going on here?
March is already winding to a close, but we wanted to take a quick break to answer that most burning of all questions: what is going on with our cover this month? Read more
Are you talking to me?
I am an alumna of California State University Long Beach and a PhD candidate in Biomedical Sciences and Translational Medicine at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, California. My scientific interests include molecular mechanisms of human diseases, stem cell biology, and vision research. As a Southern California native, I enjoy going to the beach, running, and reading. My favourite book is Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton, because I like the moral that scientists should think about the consequences of their research in addition to the technicality of the experiments. Read more
Highlights from the Keystone Symposium on Stem Cells & Reprogramming
I recently attended the joint Keystone Symposium “Stem Cells & Reprogramming” and “Engineering Cell Fate & Function” at the beautiful Resort at Squaw Creek. In addition to gorgeous weather, there was an amazing lineup of talks demonstrating the power and promise of stem cells and cell/tissue engineering. Here are just a few of the highlights from the meetings: … Read more
California governor vetoes egg-payment law
California Governor Jerry Brown has vetoed a proposed law that would have allowed payments to women who give their eggs to scientific researchers. Read more
Stem cells may be too young to accurately model age-related brain disorders
Joseph Jebelli is a Neuroscience PhD Candidate at University College London (UCL). His research involves studying the cellular and molecular mechanisms of neurodegenerative disorders, such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease. Read more
First vein grown from human stem cells successfully transplanted into a young girl
First came bladders. Then pulmonary arteries. Followed by urethras, arteriovenous shunts and tracheas. Now, in another first for the world of tissue-engineered body parts, Swedish surgeons have successfully transplanted a bioengineered vein into a 10-year-old girl suffering from portal vein obstruction. Read more
Texas resignation puts peer review under microscope
In the wake of the resignation of its Nobel Prize-winning scientific leader, the$3 billion Cancer Prevention & Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT) is defending the integrity of its grant-making process. Read more
What motivates you as a scientist?
To tie in with the latest Nature Outlook, Lenses on Biology, the Nature Communities team asked five biological scientists at different stages of their education or careers to tell their personal stories in a guest blog post. Each scientist studies, works or has an interest in one of the five research fields featured in Lenses on Biology ― cancer, stem cells, synthetic biology, ocean health and climate change ― and they share what motivates them in their chosen subject. You can read their stories below, and discuss your own motivations here or on the posts in question. Read more
Patients help bring the study of Alzheimer’s to the dish
Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a devastating neurodegenerative disease that could become an even more massive public health problem than it already is, if current projections hold. Some predict that by 2050, 1 in 85 individuals will be affected by the disease. Currently, there is no cure, but there are neurotransmitter-enhancement-based strategies to slow down the cognitive deficits [the loss of cholinergic neurons is implicated in some of the memory problems associated with AD so therefore, pharmacological enhancement of brain acetylcholine concentration can partially alleviate some memory-based symptoms.] However, as with many neurodegenerative diseases, these stop-gap treatments only work for so long, until the cells responding to neurotransmitter supplementation treatments die off completely. Therefore, diverse strategies designed to cure or at least slow down AD are imperative. Read more
