Nature Reports Stem Cells is an interactive forum for stem cell scientists and other stakeholders to communicate about the research, policy, ethics, business and medicine of stem cell science. And it’s all free! This month you can read about the editors’ trip to Cairns, Australia, to cover the year’s biggest stem cell conference, held by the International Society of Stem Cell Research (ISSCR). You can read about the research trends, plus scientists’ thoughts on where the field is headed. See our conference overview here. Also check out our ISSCR entries on our blog, The Niche.

Top stories of the month include:

Reprogramming expert makes a lab in two countries

Learn how Shinya Yamanaka plans to crisscross an ocean to unravel pluripotency. See what’s bringing him to San Francisco’s Gladstone and keeping him at Kyoto University.

Scientific society seeks smart growth

Read the commentary by Leonard Zon, past president of ISSCR, in which he describes how stem cell science has gone global, and how moving off North America spurs collaboration. The ISSCR has enlisted the man who brought billions to California stem cell science

Benefits of stem-cell engraftment may not last

Cardiac researchers report artifacts and transient improvements in animal models.

Read also about the powerful potential of pericytes collected from human adult tissues and how old, misoriented stem cells go dormant in Drosophila.

Asian-Pacific stem cell scientists discuss regional network

Learn about and participate in plans to share human and material resources across the region.

Read information normally kept from public view

See peer reviewers’ thoughts on a Nature paper describing a surprising origin of blood

And read a theological argument in favour of chimaera research.