Nature Medicine | Spoonful of Medicine

The Daily Dose – California dreamin’

Today’s dose has that Golden State shine, with good news for California’s stem cell efforts, as well as two new research findings coming out of Anaheim.


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— The US National Institutes of Health (NIH) approved yesterday 13 more human embryonic stem cell lines for federally funded research. Among the lines is H9, the most widely used in research, and according to NIH Director Francis Collins, 89% of scientific publications between 1999 and 2008 are now based on federally approved lines. (WaPo)

— The California Institute of Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) has reportedly recruited Duke stem cell researcher Robert Wechsler-Reya with a $5.9 million grant and facilities at the Sanford Burnham Institute in La Jolla. This award is just the first in a $44 million CIRM program, and the state-funded institute will likely bring seven other stem cell researchers out west. (California Stem Cell Report)

— A mild form of capsaicin — the compound found in chili peppers — could potentially help dieters feel the burn. Researchers at the Experimental Biology meeting in Anaheim, California said one 9 mg dose of dihydrocapsiate with each meal could help the average woman burn an extra 100 calories each day by increasing her metabolism. (NPR)

— Just a couple weeks ago, researchers said statins may be good for the brain; now, researchers also at the Experimental Biology meeting say SSRIs may be good for the heart. An ongoing study of 50 people found that, after four weeks, people taking the antidepressants had less than half the rate of platelet clumping, a condition that could lead to heart attack and stroke. (HealthDay)

Image by photogirl7 via Flickr Creative Commons

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