Archived news stories

• Stem cell symposium to address brain, nervous system April 4, 2012 Scientific leaders in the use of stem cells to solve scientific and medical problems will gather Wednesday, April 11 at the BioPharmaceutical Technology Center Institute in Fitchburg, just south of Madison.
• One compound detects and treats malignant tumors, certain cancer stem cells April 3, 2012
• Stem cells hint at potential treatment for Huntington's disease March 15, 2012 Huntington's disease, the debilitating congenital neurological disorder that progressively robs patients of muscle coordination and cognitive ability, is a condition without effective treatment, a slow death sentence.
• Scientists produce eye structures from human blood-derived stem cells March 13, 2012 For the first time, scientists at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have made early retina structures containing proliferating neuroretinal progenitor cells using induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells derived from human blood.
• UW law professor offers look at FDA from the inside out March 8, 2012 UW Law Professor R. Alta Charo was senior policy adviser to the commissioner at the Food and Drug Administration from August 2009 until June 2011. Now back on campus, Charo spoke reflects on her time with the FDA.
• Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery named 2012 Laboratory of the Year March 5, 2012 The Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery, the innovative 330,000-sqaure-foot public-private facility that opened just more than a year ago on the UW–Madison campus, has been named the 2012 Laboratory of the Year.
• Neurons from stem cells could replace mice in botulinum test Feb. 3, 2012 Using lab-grown human neurons, researchers from the University of Wisconsin-Madison have devised an effective assay for detecting botulinum neurotoxin, the agent widely used to cosmetically smooth the wrinkles of age and, increasingly, for an array of medical disorders ranging from muscle spasticity to loss of bladder control.
• Implanted neurons, grown in the lab, take charge of brain circuitry Nov. 21, 2011 Among the many hurdles to be cleared before human embryonic stem cells can achieve their therapeutic potential is determining whether or not transplanted cells can functionally integrate into target organs or tissues.
• Study reveals critical similarity between two types of do-it-all stem cells Sept. 11, 2011 Ever since human induced pluripotent stem cells were first derived in 2007, scientists have wondered whether they were functionally equivalent to embryonic stem cells, which are sourced in early stage embryos.
• Chinese high schoolers to learn from stem cells July 26, 2011 Eighteen students participating in the inaugural Global Wisconsin Idea Program -- a unique pairing of American and Chinese teenagers -- will join a Chinese university dean this week to learn more about the science of stem cells during a hands-on workshop hosted by the Morgridge Institute for Research.
• Rural Wisconsin high school students learn with stem cells, top UW–Madison researchers July 11, 2011
• Stem cells from patients make 'early retina in a dish' June 15, 2011 Soon, some treatments for blinding eye diseases might be developed and tested using retina-like tissues produced from the patient's own skin, thanks to a series of discoveries reported by a team of University of Wisconsin-Madison stem cell researchers.
• Human brain’s most ubiquitous cell cultivated in lab dish May 22, 2011 Pity the lowly astrocyte, the most common cell in the human nervous system.
• Heart cells derived from stem cells used to study heart diseases May 6, 2011 A research team at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health is the first to use heart cells derived from stem cells to specifically study certain genetic mechanisms of heart diseases.
• Symposium to focus on reprogramming, stem cell fate April 21, 2011 The sixth annual Wisconsin Stem Cell Symposium, Reprogramming and Controlling Stem Cell Phenotype, will be held April 27 at Madison’s BioPharmaceutical Technology Center Institute.
• Study shows patient’s own cells may hold therapeutic promise after reprogramming, gene correction April 4, 2011 Scientists from the Morgridge Institute for Research, the University of Wisconsin-Madison, the University of California and the WiCell Research Institute moved gene therapy one step closer to clinical reality by determining that the process of correcting a genetic defect does not substantially increase the number of potentially cancer-causing mutations in induced pluripotent stem cells.
• UW-Madison researcher Thomson wins prestigious Albany Prize March 16, 2011 In recognition of his pioneering work in isolating human stem cells and the promise they hold for the future of medicine, Wisconsin researcher James Thomson has been named a co-recipient of the 11th annual Albany Medical Center Prize in Medicine and Biomedical Research.
• New induced stem cells may unmask cancer at earliest stage Feb. 4, 2011 By coaxing healthy and diseased human bone marrow to become embryonic-like stem cells, a team of Wisconsin scientists has laid the groundwork for observing the onset of the blood cancer leukemia in the laboratory dish.
• Wisconsin stem cell pioneer wins Faisal International Prize Jan. 21, 2011 James Thomson, director of regenerative biology at the Morgridge Institute for Research and a University of Wisconsin-Madison researcher since 1994, learned this week that he is this year's co-winner of the prestigious King Faisal International Prize in Medicine.
• Embryonic stem cell culturing grows from art to science Nov. 14, 2010 Growing human embryonic stem cells in the lab is no small feat. Culturing the finicky, shape-shifting cells is labor intensive and, in some ways, more art than exact science.
• Court puts stem cell researchers back to work, for now Sept. 9, 2010 A panel of appellate judges removed barriers to embryonic stem cell research funded by federal grants in a decision Thursday, Sept. 9 reversing a suspension of funding ordered in August by another federal judge.
• Gene regulating human brain development identified July 1, 2010 With more than 100 billion neurons and billions of other specialized cells, the human brain is a marvel of nature. It is the organ that makes people unique.
• NIH reapproves WiCell’s H9 and three other Wisconsin stem cell lines for federally funded research April 27, 2010 Today the National Institutes of Health reapproved the WiCell Research Institute's H9 (WA09) human embryonic stem (ES) cell line, the most used and cited in scientific research, for ongoing use in federally funded research.
• Stem cell symposium to focus on hurdles in stem cell therapy development April 15, 2010 The fifth annual Wisconsin Stem Cell Symposium, called "The Road to Stem Cell Applications: Bioprocessing, Safety and Preclinical Evaluation," will be held on Wednesday, April 21 just outside of Madison.
• WiCell marks stem cell anniversary with WISC Bank expansion March 9, 2010 A year after President Barack Obama issued a landmark executive order to remove eight years of limitations on U.S. federal funding of stem cell research, the WiCell Research Institute has expanded the number of cell lines available through its WISC Bank to 33.
• Induced neural stem cells: Not quite ready for prime time Feb. 15, 2010 The great promise of induced pluripotent stem cells is that the all-purpose cells seem capable of performing all the same tricks as embryonic stem cells, but without the controversy.
• Morgridge Institute for Research announces scientific leadership team, research areas Feb. 10, 2010 The Morgridge Institute for Research has finalized its inaugural team of top scientists selected to bring to life the institute's mission of accelerating discovery to delivery to improve human health.
• Stem cells: Science, economy edge religion at the polls Feb. 3, 2010 When it comes to stem cell research as a political issue, Wisconsin voters are more likely to be motivated by ideas of economic benefit and scientific progress than by religious objections, according to a new report.
• NIH approves Wisconsin H1 stem-cell line for continued use in federally funded research Jan. 29, 2010 The WiCell Research Institute can continue to provide stem cell scientists one of the earliest and most popular human embryonic stem cell (hESC) lines in the field for their use in federally funded research projects.
• Federal grant funds production of stem cells for clinical trials Jan. 26, 2010 The long struggle to move the most versatile stem cells from the laboratory to the clinic got another boost with an $8.8 million contract award to the Waisman Clinical Biomanufacturing Facility at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
• UW-Madison heart stem cell study among top research advances Jan. 22, 2010
• Regulatory network balances stem cell maintenance, differentiation Jan. 11, 2010 While much of the promise of stem cells springs from their ability to develop into any cell type in the body, the biological workings that control that maturation process are still largely unknown.
• WiCell donates $1 million in gear to UW-Madison labs Sept. 15, 2009 Four advanced pieces of scientific laboratory equipment with a total value of approximately $1 million now are available for use by University of Wisconsin-Madison stem cell and other researchers at several campus departments and centers due to a donation by the private nonprofit WiCell Research Institute.
• Wisconsin team grows retina cells from skin-derived stem cells Aug. 24, 2009 A team of scientists from the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Medicine and Public Health has successfully grown multiple types of retina cells from two types of stem cells - suggesting a future in which damaged retinas could be repaired by cells grown from the patient's own skin.
• Scientists make multiple types of white blood cells directly from embryonic and adult stem cells Aug. 11, 2009 In an advance that could help transform embryonic stem cells into a multipurpose medical tool, scientists at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have transformed these versatile cells into progenitors of white blood cells and into six types of mature white blood and immune cells.
• First cGMP feeder-independent pluripotent stem cell banks released for distribution July 6, 2009 The WiCell Research Institute and the Waisman Clinical Biomanufacturing Facility (WCBF) announced today (July 6) the release of the first current Good Manufacturing Practices (cGMP) feeder-independent pluripotent stem cell banks available for sale and distribution to researchers worldwide.
• WARF signs license agreement with Pfizer for human embryonic stem cells May 6, 2009 Pfizer Inc., a major biopharmaceutical company, and the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (WARF), the private, nonprofit patenting and licensing organization for the University of Wisconsin-Madison, announced May 5 that they have signed a license for human embryonic stem (hES) cell patents for the development of new drug therapies.
• Wisconsin, Morgridge scientists excise vector, exotic genes from induced stem cells March 26, 2009 A team of scientists from the Morgridge Institute for Research at the University of Wisconsin-Madison reports that it has created induced human pluripotent stem (iPS) cells completely free of viral vectors and exotic genes.
• Professor comments on Obama's stem cell executive action March 9, 2009 Following is a statement from James Thomson, University of Wisconsin-Madison professor of anatomy, on President Barack Obama's decision to lift restrictions on federal funding for human embryonic stem cell research.
• How do you mend a broken heart? Maybe someday with stem cells made from your skin Feb. 12, 2009 A little more than a year after University of Wisconsin-Madison scientists showed they could turn skin cells back into stem cells, they have pulsating proof that these "induced" stem cells can indeed form the specialized cells that make up heart muscle.
• Cellartis, WARF sign license agreement for human embryonic stem cells Jan. 15, 2009 Cellartis AB, a premier provider of human embryonic stem cell (hES) derived products and technologies, and the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (WARF), the private, nonprofit patenting and licensing organization for the University of Wisconsin-Madison, announced today (Jan. 15) that they have signed a license for hES patents that enables Cellartis to commercialize undifferentiated hES cell products in the U.S.
• All NIH human embryonic stem cell registry lines now deposited at NSCB Jan. 12, 2009 The U.S. National Stem Cell Bank (NSCB) has announced that it has received deposits of two human embryonic stem cell lines from Cellartis AB, a biotechnology company based in Sweden. With the addition of the new lines, the National Stem Cell Bank now has received all 21 cell lines from the six providers listed on the National Institutes of Health (NIH) federal registry.
• Patient-derived induced stem cells retain disease traits Dec. 22, 2008 When neurons started dying in Clive Svendsen's lab dishes, he couldn't have been more pleased. The dying cells - the same type lost in patients with the devastating neurological disease spinal muscular atrophy - confirmed that the University of Wisconsin-Madison stem cell biologist had recreated the hallmarks of a genetic disorder in the lab, using stem cells derived from a patient.
• James Thomson receives 2008 Massry Prize honoring stem cell researchers Dec. 18, 2008 James Thomson, director of regenerative biology at the Morgridge Institute for Research and John D. MacArthur Professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Medicine and Public Health, has received the prestigious Massry Prize for 2008. The award recognizes Thomson for his groundbreaking discovery made a decade ago of human embryonic stem (ES) cells and his subsequent work in developing induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells.
• VistaGen, WARF sign license agreement for human embryonic stem cell technology Dec. 18, 2008 VistaGen Therapeutics and the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (WARF) have signed a license for human embryonic stem cell patents for the development and commercialization of stem cell-based research tools.
• A decade celebrating stem cells: Changing the face of medicine Nov. 12, 2008 The Wisconsin Academy, along with the University of Wisconsin–Madison and the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (WARF), will host a free, two-day event on Nov. 18-19 to highlight the accomplishments of stem cell research in the state and to examine future stem cell issues.
• Research on human embryonic stem cells marks 10-year milestone Nov. 6, 2008 Ten years ago today (Nov. 6, 1998), the publication in the journal Science of a short paper entitled "Embryonic Stem Cell Lines Derived from Human Blastocysts" rocked biology - and the world - as the all-purpose stem cell and its possibilities were ushered into the limelight.
• Conference to celebrate a decade of stem cell research Nov. 5, 2008 The Wisconsin Academy, along with UW-Madison and the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (WARF), will host a free, two-day event to highlight the accomplishments of stem cell research in the state and to examine future stem cell issues.
• The Why Files: Stem cells plus 10 — Scientific advances, medical frustration Oct. 17, 2008
• Engineered stem cells carry promising ALS therapy Sept. 16, 2008 Using adult stem cells from bone marrow as "Trojan horses" to deliver a nurturing growth factor to atrophied muscles, Wisconsin scientists have successfully slowed the progression of ALS in rats.
• World Stem Cell Summit comes to Madison Sept. 21-23 Sept. 10, 2008 Meeting stem cell experts from around the world, unique networking opportunities, and a public day of outreach await those attending the World Stem Cell Summit and related events Sept. 21-23 in Madison, Wis.
• World Stem Cell Summit comes to Madison Sept. 21–23 Sept. 10, 2008 An opportunity to meet stem cell experts from around the world, unique networking opportunities and a public day of outreach await those attending the World Stem Cell Summit and related events Sunday–Tuesday, Sept. 21–23.
• WiCell Research Institute launches new stem cell bank Aug. 21, 2008 The WiCell Research Institute, a private, not-for-profit supporting organization to the University of Wisconsin-Madison, is launching its own stem cell bank to distribute cell lines beyond the 21 lines eligible for federal funding and distribution through the National Stem Cell Bank (NSCB).
• World Stem Cell Summit offers registration discounts to UW-Madison community Aug. 13, 2008 The Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine Center and the WiCell Research Institute will help supplement World Stem Cell Summit registrations for a limited number of faculty, staff, students and trainees.
• New $8.9 million project aims to unlock stem cell secrets Aug. 4, 2008 Although scientists have had access to human embryonic stem cells for a decade, precisely how the all-purpose cell gives rise to all other cells in the body and why others do not remains a fundamental mystery of biology.
• Recent sightings: Stem cell summer science camp July 20, 2008
• Scientific information largely ignored when forming opinions about stem cell research June 5, 2008 When forming attitudes about embryonic stem cell research, people are influenced by a number of things. But understanding science plays a negligible role for many people, according to a recent UW-Madison study.
• Professor wins inaugural Schuster Prize May 8, 2008 Timothy Kamp, a professor of medicine and physiology at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, has been awarded the inaugural Schuster Prize for excellence in advancing cardiovascular medicine at the school.
• Invitrogen, WARF sign license agreement for human embryonic stem cells May 8, 2008 Invitrogen Corp. and the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation announced today (May 8) that they have signed a license for human embryonic stem cell (hESC) patents for the development of research tools.
• Time Magazine names James Thomson one of “World’s Most Influential People” May 2, 2008 Stem cell scientist James Thomson has been named one of Time magazine's "World's Most Influential People," with Shinya Yamanaka of Kyoto University. Last year, they each discovered a way to give human skin cells many of the characteristics of embryonic stem cells, an advance that avoids the destruction of embryos.