CATCH UP! – Stanford gets $5.8M stem cell grant – San Francisco Business Times:

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Wednesday, April 29, 2009, 4:45pm PDT

Stanford gets $5.8M stem cell grant

San Francisco Business Times

Researchers at Stanford University’s School of Medicine got a $5.8 million grant from the California Institute for Reenerative Medicine to look for ways to stimulate adult stem cells to heal damaged nerves, bone skin and cardiac muscle.

The grant was one of 15 given out worth a total of $67.7 million as part of CIRM’s Early Translational Research Awards program, which aims to move promising research from the lab to the clinics.

CIRM has given Stanford a total of $107 million from CIRM, including this most recent grant.

The board of the institute was reluctant to fund projects at their last two meetings prior to the one on Wednesday, but once the state was able to conduct a successful bond sale and raise $6.5 billion — $275 million of which went to CIRM — the institute was able to pay off a prior state loan and give out grants.

via Stanford gets $5.8M stem cell grant – San Francisco Business Times:.

CATCH UP! – Pfizer Joins British Researchers In Search For Eye Condition Cure

By PETER BENESH, INVESTOR’S BUSINESS DAILYPosted 04/29/2009 06:38 PM ET

The good news is, you’re likely to live longer than your ancestors. The bad news: You’ll have longer to cope with the consequences of aging.

One issue is age-related macular degeneration, a condition that in the worst cases can reduce vision to near-blindness. Researchers in Britain, now in partnership with U.S. drug giant Pfizer (PFE), are working on a treatment. And it uses stem cells.

Pete Coffey, a professor at the University College London Institute for Ophthalmology and leader of the London Project to Cure Blindness, hopes to head off controversy over use of embryonic stem cells.

via Investors.com – Pfizer Joins British Researchers In Search For Eye Condition Cure.

Research ban is lifted on cloned human stem cells – INSIDE JoongAng Daily

dolly-sheep-cloning

April 30, 2009

Korea’s bioethics authority yesterday conditionally lifted a three-year ban on research using cloned human stem cells. The decision will allow scientists to resume studies that could lead to new ways of treating a variety of physical disabilities and diseases.

The lifting comes three years after the Health Ministry banned this kind of stem cell research following revelations that research by the celebrated scientist Hwang Woo-suk was fraudulent. Cha Medical Center, based in Seoul, applied for approval last October for research on cloning human embryos and extracting stem cells, claiming that its work could be crucial in developing effective treatments for Parkinson’s disease, stroke, spinal injuries, diabetes and cardiovascular disorders, among others.

However, the presidential committee on bioethics said research centers have to meet four conditions before their projects get a green light. The committee stipulates leaving out “treating diseases” from research proposals to avoid raising people’s expectations too high. The committee also demanded that the medical center obtain written agreements from egg donors and minimize the use of human eggs.

via Research ban is lifted on cloned human stem cells – INSIDE JoongAng Daily.