Guest:

Dr. Stephen Duncan from the University of South Carolina discusses his work on the purification of cell lineages derived from pluripotent stem cells.

Resources and Links

Japanese Scientist Receives Nobel Prize for Autophagy Work – Yoshinori Ohsumi, a biologist at the Tokyo Institute of Technology, won this year’s Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his work uncovering how cells break down old materials — a process critical for keeping cells healthy.

Measles Eliminated from the Americas – The highly infectious disease - measles, which is marked by flat red spots that can cover the body - has been eliminated from the Americas after decades of wide-spread vaccination.

Uncovering Facts about the Shady Sugar Industry – Researchers revealed that the sugar industry paid nutrition experts from Harvard University to downplay studies linking sugar and heart disease.

Gene Linked to Autism in People May Influence Dog Sociability – This article reveals that beagles with particular variants in a gene - SEZ6L - associated with autism were more likely to sidle up to and make physical contact with a human stranger.

Monsanto Buys Rights to CRISPR – Monsanto is taking genetically engineered crops to the next level, buying a license from the Broad Institute of Harvard University and MIT to use the CRISPR/Cas9 gene-editing technology.

Dr. Allen Eaves of STEMCELL Technologies Inc. Named EY Entrepreneur of the Year™ Pacific 2016 – Dr. Allen Eaves, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of STEMCELL Technologies, a global biotechnology company that supplies tools and services to enable life science research, is this year’s Entrepreneur of the Year Pacific winner.

Efficient Long-Term Cryopreservation of Pluripotent Stem Cells at −80 °C – Researchers report that a medium comprised of Ficoll 70 and dimethyl sulfoxide in presence or absence of fetal bovine serum can provide reliable cryopreservation of various kinds of human and porcine pluripotent stem cells at −80 °C for periods that extend up to at least one year, with the post-thaw viability, plating efficiency, and full retention of pluripotent phenotype comparable to that achieved with liquid nitrogen storage.

Biologists Plan Scoring System for Antibodies - Biomedical experts plan to create a scoring system that will help researchers choose reliable antibodies for their experiments.

ULK4 Gene Mutation Linked to Schizophrenia – Researchers identified, through genetic and in vitro functional studies, a novel serine/threonine kinase gene, unc-51-like kinase 4 (ULK4), as a rare risk factor for major mental disorders, including schizophrenia.

Vitamin D Increases the Number of Blood Stem Cells during Embryonic Development – Scientists hypothesize that the levels of vitamin D during fetal development may play a role in preventing the onset of blood-related disorders later in life.

Photo Reference: Courtesy of Dr. Stephen Duncan

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