Mesenchymal stem cells deliver cancer-killing virus

Guest: Dr. Mark Tomishima is an Associate Laboratory Member and Sloan Kettering Institute Stem Cell Research Facility Manager. Mark joins us to talk about all things stem cells, including his latest published work on standardizing protocols that start with pluripotent stem cells. Featured Resource: FreSR™-S Animal Component-Free Medium for Freezing ES and iPS Cells as Single Cells Resources and Links Cows to Produce HIV Antibodies – This article reveals that in a first for any animal, including humans, four cows injected with a type of HIV protein rapidly produced powerful antibodies against the virus. The Impacts of Rising Temperatures on Aircraft Takeoff Performance – Steadily rising mean and extreme temperatures as a result of climate change will likely impact the air transportation system over the coming decades. CRISPR to Store Movies in DNA – A team from Harvard University use the current trendy gene-editing system CRISPR to encode images and a short movie into the DNA of living bacteria. Beverage Intake During Pregnancy and Childhood Adiposity – The more sugary beverages a mom drank during mid-pregnancy, the heavier her kids were in elementary school compared with kids whose mothers consumed less of the drinks. Just One Night of Poor Sleep Can Boost Alzheimer’s Proteins – This article reports that sleep deprivation increases amyloid-β, suggesting that chronically disrupted sleep may promote amyloid plaques and other downstream Alzheimer’s disease pathologies including tauopathy or inflammation. Innate Reaction of Hematopoietic Stem Cells to Severe Infections – Researchers have shown that hematopoietic stem cells detect infectious agents themselves and begin to divide – that is, without signals from growth factors. New Approach to Kill Tumor Cells in the Brain – A team of investigators from Brigham and Women’s Hospital and the Harvard Stem Cell Institute have developed cancer-killing viruses that can deliver stem cells via the carotid artery, and applied them to metastatic tumors in the brains of clinically relevant mouse models. Human Cells from Schizophrenia Patients Injected into Newborn Mice Render Them Schizophrenic Like – Lab mice whose brains were injected with cells from schizophrenia patients became afraid of strangers, slept fitfully, felt intense anxiety, struggled to remember new things, and showed other signs of the mental disorder. Bioengineered Arteries Grown from Stem Cells – Scientists have produced cells that grow into fully functional arteries and are on their way to clinical applications. Photo Reference: Courtesy of Dr. Mark Tomishima Subscribe to our newsletter! Never miss updates about new episodes. Subscribe