all George Daley stories

Daley and colleagues create 20 disease-specific stem cell lines

404132862 — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 10:48:17 -0400

Harvard Stem Cell Institute researcher George Q.

Stem cell lines created from discarded IVF embryos

404132862 — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 14:55:47 -0500

Human embryos that are discarded every day as medical waste from in vitro fertilization (IVF) clinics could be an important source of stem cells for research, according to a team of Harvard Stem Cell Institute researchers at Children's Hospital Boston.

Harvard researchers achieve stem cell milestone

404132862 — Sun, 23 Dec 2007 12:12:52 -0500

Harvard Stem Cell Institute researchers have successfully turned back the clock on human skin cells, causing them to revert to an embryonic stem cell-like state from which they can become any cell in the body.

Discovery of a key molecular switch regulating cancer stem cells

404132862 — Fri, 14 Dec 2007 15:28:03 -0500

The role of stem cells in tumor development has, unexpectedly, been one of the biggest stories in cancer research over the past few years. These aren't embryonic stem cells, but rather tumor stem cells. These mutated cells, which live indefinitely and can seed new tumors, are now suspected of causing many, if not all, cancers. What is worse, these persistent cells are not killed by chemotherapy or other current treatments. Their survival might explain why tumors frequently recur or spread after treatment. Increasingly, researchers view the challenge of getting rid of these bad seeds as the key to treating cancer far more effectively.

Harvard Stem Cell Institute researchers granted approval

70652986 — Mon, 26 Mar 2007 06:27:50 -0400

After more than two years of intensive ethical and scientific review, Harvard Stem Cell Institute (HSCI) researchers at Harvard and Children's Hospital Boston have been cleared to begin experiments using Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer (SCNT) to create disease-specific stem cell lines in an effort to develop treatments for a wide range of now-incurable conditions afflicting tens of millions of people.

As far as is known, this decision marks the beginning of the first noncommercial effort in the United States to use human embryonic stem cells in a series of experiments whose principle has already been proven in animals.

The work is being entirely supported with private funds because of the federal restrictions on human embryonic stem cell work.

Stem cell science

70652986 — Mon, 26 Mar 2007 05:35:57 -0400

"Stem-cell transplants are already performed every day in Harvard-affiliated hospitals -- and around the world," says Harvard Stem Cell Initiative codirector David Scadden, professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and director of the Center for Regenerative Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital. So-called bone-marrow transplants, which transfer tens of thousands of cells of many different kinds to a patient, most critically transfer hematopoietic (adult blood) stem cells. The proliferative capacity of these cells is so great, says Scadden, that researchers have demonstrated in mice the regeneration of the entire blood and immune system from a single cell. Hematopoietic stem cells routinely save the lives of people with diseases such as leukemia, lymphoma, and immune deficiencies. Why is this promising area of research, with the potential to do so much good, so controversial? The seeming simplicity of the idea -- that there are stem cells that can generate new cells -- belies the complexity of the science and the ethical ramifications of its application. A special report from Harvard Magazine investigates the work that Harvard researchers are doing to understand all the ramifications of the stem-cell revolution.

Sperm cells made in lab can fertilize eggs

70652986 — Mon, 26 Mar 2007 05:33:28 -0400

Scientists injected laboratory-created sperm into eggs, and the resulting embryos grew to the point where they would normally be implanted into a womb. The experiment was done with mouse stem cells, but mice, genetically speaking, are so close to men, few scientists doubt that the same experiment can be done in humans. The breakthrough, made by researchers at the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research and Harvard University, was reported in the Dec. 11, 2003 issue of the journal Nature. "This is the first time that sperm cells made in a petri dish from embryonic stem cells have resulted in the creation of an embryo," says George Daley, a Harvard Medical School biologist who led the experiments. (Egg cells were developed from mouse embryonic stem cells earlier this year by another group of scientists.) "Such experiments are being done solely for the purpose of studying how genes regulate the transformation of stem cells into germ cells, one of the basic mysteries of life." However, Daley quickly admits that this work has implications for genetically modifying animals, for treating human infertility, and, perhaps, for other medical purposes.