An international research team modeled the growth of cerebral tracts. Using neurons derived from stem cells, they grew cortical-like spheroids. In a microdevice, the spheroids extended bundles of axons toward each other, forming a physical and electrical connection. Fascicles grew less efficiently when one spheroid was absent, and when a gene relevant to cerebral tract formation was knocked-down. The study further illuminates brain growth and developmental disorders.

Our cells use a sugary language to identify and interact with each other. Cracking it will let us marshal stem cells and create alternatives to antibiotics

Liars and thieves should not be allowed to detract from legitimate scientific research that has made umbilical cord blood mystic in its regenerative powers.

An international collaboration has found for the first time that two new epigenetic regulators, TAF5L and TAF6L, maintain self-renewal of embryonic stem cells. The scientists also found that these proteins activate c-Myc (a well-known cancer gene), and its regulatory network. This is the first time scientists have been able to show what these regulators do and how they control gene expression.

What if doctors had a remote control that they could use to steer a patient's own cells to a wound to speed up the healing process? Although such a device is still far from reality, researchers have taken an important first step: They used near-infrared light and an injected DNA nanodevice to guide stem cells to an injury, which helped muscle tissue regrow in mice.

Scientists have uncovered a molecular signaling pathway involving Stat3 and Fam3a proteins that regulates how muscle stem cells decide whether to self-renew or differentiate -- an insight that could lead to muscle-boosting therapeutics for muscular dystrophies or age-related muscle decline.

Researchers have demonstrated -- using fat cells derived from human stem cells -- that individual genetic variation can be used to predict whether the TZD rosiglitazone will produce the unwanted side effect of increasing cholesterol levels in certain individuals.

Glioblastoma is one of the most devastating forms of cancer, with few existing treatment options. It is also a leading cause of cancer-related death in children and young adults. Scientists have 'reverse engineered' brain cancer stem cells gene by gene, uncovering multiple potential targets for this hard-to-treat cancer.

Glioblastoma is one of the most devastating forms of cancer, with few existing treatment options. It is also a leading cause of cancer-related death in children and young adults. Scientists have 'reverse engineered' brain cancer stem cells gene by gene, uncovering multiple potential targets for this hard-to-treat cancer.