Results of a recent clinical trial show that adding a second autologous stem cell transplant (which uses the patient’s own stem cells) to standard therapy improves outcomes for children with neuroblastoma. Neuroblastoma is a rare cancer that most commonly affects children age 5 or younger. Historically, less than half of children with high-risk neuroblastoma live five or more years after diagnosis.

Researchers have inadvertently found a way to make human muscle cells bearing genetic mutations from people with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD). The finding should shed light on how subtle genetic differences among DMD patients produce symptoms with a wide range of severity and disability. The cells, they say, could also be used to test new therapies.

A new clinical trial shows how an intensive procedure that completely wipes out the immune system and regenerates a new one with the help of blood stem cells can significantly reduce inflammation in patients with early, aggressive multiple sclerosis (MS) and lead to lasting recovery. The trial involved 24 participants who were followed for up to 13 years and is the first to show a complete, long-term suppression of inflammation in patients with MS.

Researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine have come up with a way to create a “home away from home” for stem cells in the form of artificial muscle fibers. They’ve also identified the particular “soup” of molecules and nutrients necessary to keep the cells in their most potent, regenerative state.

Stempeutics Research, a group company of Manipal Education & Medical Group and a joint venture with Cipla Group, announced that the Drugs Controller General (India) has granted limited approval for manufacturing and marketing of Stempeutics’ stem cell-based biological product Stempeucel® for the treatment of Buerger’s disease.

New global guidelines for stem cell research and translation outline best practices and demand rigor, oversight, and transparency. Guidance addresses key scientific, ethical, social, and policy challenges raised by new technologies and emerging areas of stem cell discovery and application.

Stem cells have been used successfully, for the first time, to promote regeneration after injury to a specialized band of nerve fibres that are important for motor function.

The key to a new cellular therapy for diabetes may lie in the stomach, according to the results of a new study; researchers have used stomach cells to create “mini-organs” that produce insulin when transplanted in mice.

Nanotechnology is being heralded by many researchers as the future of medical science. A new study published this week in Nature Biotechnology provides an incredible insight into this brave, new, miniaturized future.

Despite huge advances, around half of kidney transplants will be rejected by the host’s immune system within 10 years of the operation. Research using molecular profiling sheds new light on the mechanisms behind this frustrating rejection.