Neuroscience
From The New York Times:
Gene Found to Switch Off Stem Cells During Aging
By NICHOLAS WADE
Published: September 6, 2006
Biologists have uncovered a deep link between lifespan and cancer in the form of a gene that switches off stem cells as a person ages.
The critical gene, already well known for its role in suppressing tumors, seems to mediate a profound balance between life and death. It weighs the generation of new replacement cells, required for continued life, against the risk of death from cancer, which is the inevitable outcome of letting cells divide. To offset the increasing risk of cancer as a person ages, the gene gradually reduces the ability of stem cells to proliferate.
The new finding, reported by three groups of researchers online Wednesday in Nature, was made in a special breed of mice that lack the pivotal gene, but is thought likely to apply to people as well.
The finding indicates that many of the degenerative diseases of aging are caused by an active shutting down of the stem cells that renew the body’s various tissues, and are not just a passive disintegration of tissues under life’s daily wear and tear, as is often assumed.
[ ... Read the full article ... ]
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Anthony H. Risser | neuroscience | neuropsychology | brain
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Moving Stem Cells Front and Center By ANDREW POLLACK The New York Times Published: February 23, 2005 IRVINE, Calif. - Hans S. Keirstead might be the Pied Piper of stem cells - and not just because he makes rats walk. He also helped lure Californians...
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Neuroscience
p16-Ink4a
From The New York Times:
Gene Found to Switch Off Stem Cells During Aging
By NICHOLAS WADE
Published: September 6, 2006
Biologists have uncovered a deep link between lifespan and cancer in the form of a gene that switches off stem cells as a person ages.
The critical gene, already well known for its role in suppressing tumors, seems to mediate a profound balance between life and death. It weighs the generation of new replacement cells, required for continued life, against the risk of death from cancer, which is the inevitable outcome of letting cells divide. To offset the increasing risk of cancer as a person ages, the gene gradually reduces the ability of stem cells to proliferate.
The new finding, reported by three groups of researchers online Wednesday in Nature, was made in a special breed of mice that lack the pivotal gene, but is thought likely to apply to people as well.
The finding indicates that many of the degenerative diseases of aging are caused by an active shutting down of the stem cells that renew the body’s various tissues, and are not just a passive disintegration of tissues under life’s daily wear and tear, as is often assumed.
[ ... Read the full article ... ]
-
Anthony H. Risser | neuroscience | neuropsychology | brain
- Photoreceptors From Embryonic Stem Cells
From The Guardian:Embryonic stem cells could help restore sight to blind Photoreceptors grown from embryonic stem cells have been successfully implanted in the retinas of blind mice Alok Jha, Science Correspondent The Guardian Sunday 21 July 2013 18.00...
- Human Embryonic Stem Cell Research: Pure Nerve Stem Cells
From the BBC:Scientists make nerve stem cells The world's first pure nerve stem cells made from human embryonic stem cells has been created by scientists at the University of Edinburgh. Tuesday, 16 August 2005, 07:15 GMT 08:15 UK It...
- Growing Neurons From Stem Cells In The Lab
A Reuters report, published in a number of different sources, including Wired News:Stem Cells Get Brainy By Reuters 04:04 PM Jun. 13, 2005 PT WASHINGTON -- Scientists working in mice said they had found a way to identify master cells in the brain...
- Embryonic Stem Cell Neurological Research
Moving Stem Cells Front and Center By ANDREW POLLACK The New York Times Published: February 23, 2005 IRVINE, Calif. - Hans S. Keirstead might be the Pied Piper of stem cells - and not just because he makes rats walk. He also helped lure Californians...
- Retinal Cells And Melanopsin
From the BBC: Doctors Make Eye Cells See Light Scientists have found how to make eye cells sensitive to light, opening new ways to treat some forms of blindness. Experts at Imperial College London teamed up with colleagues at the University of...