Guest:

Dr. Darrell Kotton is a David C. Seldin Professor of Medicine and works as the Director in the Center for Regenerative Medicine of Boston University and Boston Medical Center. Dr. Kotton’s research focuses on stem cell biology and gene therapy related to lung injury and repair. Dr. Kotton’s laboratory currently utilizes several stem cell populations, including bone marrow-derived stem cells and embryonic stem cells in order to develop novel stem cell-based therapies for lung disease. In addition, Dr. Kotton specializes in the genetic manipulation of stem cells as well as resident lung cells using lentiviral vectors.

Featured Resource: PneumaCult™ Culture System for Airway Epithelial Cells

Resources and Links

A Newly Discovered See through Frog – A newly discovered glass frog from Ecuador’s Amazon lowlands (Hyalinobatrachium yaku) has a belly so transparent that the heart, kidneys and urine bladder are clearly visible.

A Possible Mechanism to the Cause of Parkinson’s Disease – In a blood test, immune cells called T cells became activated when exposed to the protein in about 40 percent of Parkinson’s patients.

A Protein Made by the Fetus May Lead to Preeclampsia in Moms – Researchers report that in some women, the pregnancy condition preeclampsia, which can cause blood pressure to soar, may be triggered by DNA variations carried by the fetus.

How Facial Recognition Changes Wasp Brain – Biologist Ali Berens of Georgia Tech and her colleagues set up recognition exercises of faces and basic patterns for P. fuscatus wasps and P. metricus wasps — a species that doesn’t naturally recognize faces but can be trained to do so in the lab.

Clinical Trial to Begin with Cells Derived from Human Embryonic Stem Cells – The authors report that surgeons in the Chinese city of Zhengzhou will carefully drill through the skulls of people with Parkinson’s disease and inject 4 million immature neurons derived from human embryonic stem cells into their brains.

Compound in Grapes Can Kill Colon Cancer Stem Cells – The compounds — resveratrol — which are found in grape skins and seeds, could also eventually lead to treatments to help prevent colon cancer, said Jairam K.P. Vanamala, associate professor of food sciences, Penn State.

Stem Cell Scientist to Run for Congress – Scientists report that stem-cell researcher Hans Keirstead, 50, announced that he will try to unseat California’s Rep. Dana Rohrabacher.

Using Stem Cells to Understand How Chlamydia Does Its Damage – Using a gene-editing tool called CRISPR/Cas9, the researchers are able to alter the properties of white blood cells in specific ways to see how chlamydia bacteria are able to penetrate and overwhelm cells, according to microbiologist Robert Hancock of the University of British Columbia.

Photo Reference: Courtesy of Dr. Darrell Kotton

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