Image credit: Nevit Dilmen, NIH 3D Print Exchange, National Institutes of Health Miniature human brains continue to develop when hooked up to a blood supply in the mouse brain in a finding that opens up new avenues for learning how the brain forms and falls ill, while at the same time raising ethical questions. Last week, two teams reported success in transplanting primordial human brain tissue into mouse brains. The grafts survived thanks to nutrient…

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This week (April 15-21) is National Volunteer Week. Across Canada, 12.7 million people donate their time to make Canada a better place to live. In the stem cell community, scientists, clinicians, researchers and hundreds of university students across the country work hard to make StemCellTalks a success every year. In the spirit of National Volunteer Week, thank you for your efforts to educate, inspire and engage high school students in stem cell science. CCRM has…

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For those who aren’t familiar with THIW, there are parties but no films getting their world premieres. The comparison I’m making in the title is to the fact THIW is becoming a must-attend week-long event, with so much going on from morning to night, that serious THIW-goers may one year need to block their work calendars and spend their days exclusively hopping from one THIW event to another all week long – much like serious…

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Meredith O’Brien is the Communications Coordinator at CCRM. Meredith graduated with a Bachelor of Arts, Honours in Film and Media from Queen’s University. While writing her fourth-year thesis titled “iViral: The power of the individual in driving viral content,” she quickly realized her passion for marketing and communications, specifically in the areas of digital and social media. Her research analyzed how businesses can leverage the power of the individual to optimize new technologies and channels of communications. Her strength in critical thinking and…

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Dr. Sheng Lin-Gibson is the Chief of Biosystems and Biomaterials Division at the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and directs its Regenerative Medicine Programs. She serves as the Convenor of ISO/TC 276: Biotechnology Working Group 3: Analytical Methods as well as the Chairperson for the U.S. Mirror Committee to ISO/TC 276. She leads or contributes to the development of several international standards particularly relevant to cell and gene therapy manufacturing and characterization. She has coauthored over 60 peer-reviewed publications, served…

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International Women’s Day (IWD), also known as the United Nations (UN) Day for Women’s Rights and International Peace, is an opportunity to honour women’s achievements, “to call for change and to celebrate acts of courage and determination by ordinary women who have played an extraordinary role in the history of their countries and communities.” I don’t dispute the need to have an international day for women. Antonio Guterres, UN Secretary-General, says “Achieving gender equality and…

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International Women’s Day (IWD), also known as the United Nations (UN) Day for Women’s Rights and International Peace, is an opportunity to honour women’s achievements, “to call for change and to celebrate acts of courage and determination by ordinary women who have played an extraordinary role in the history of their countries and communities.” I don’t dispute the need to have an international day for women. Antonio Guterres, UN Secretary-General, says “Achieving gender equality and…

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Human embryonic stem cells. Creative Commons. Trustees at the Halton Catholic District School Board adopted a motion last week to ban board donations to non-profits or charities that publicly support “either directly or indirectly, abortion, contraception, sterilization, euthanasia, or embryonic stem cell research.” Opposition to embryonic stem cell research is nothing new. In August 2001, American stem cell researchers were greatly hindered in their efforts when U.S. President George W. Bush introduced a ban on…

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Regenerative medicine researchers are making enormous strides to discover more about diseases and disease treatments. From heart regeneration to cancer immunotherapies to gene therapies, they are doing some of the most exciting research today, and some of them are even succeeding… Or are they? I do not want to keep you in suspense: They are succeeding, but they are not done yet. I imagine many bench scientists would define success as translation to the clinic.…

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If you follow amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) research, you may be interested to know that ALS Canada is holding a free webinar (registration link enclosed) on February 28 to explain how funds from the ALS #Icebucketchallenge from 2014 were spent. Do you remember the #Icebucketchallenge? Of course you do! It was a social media campaign that went viral and raised US$115 million for ALS organizations in the United States, with US$77 million dedicated to research.…

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