Forum for Science, Industry and Business
Sponsored by:     Siemens  n-tv 
Search our Site:

Topic (optional):

 

Home Reports Life Sciences Content

From stem cells to organs: The bioengineering challenge

next article
18.02.2008

For more than a decade, Peter Zandstra has been working at the University of Toronto to rev up the production of stem cells and their descendants. The raw materials are adult blood stem cells and embryonic stem cells. The end products are blood and heart cells – lots of them. Enough mouse heart cells that they form beating tissue.

 

To do this, he has been applying engineering principles to stem cell research – work that has just earned him recognition by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). The society will induct him as a Fellow during its Annual Conference, being held in Boston from February 14 to 18.


...more about:
Heart Stem Zandstra

Starting with computer models of stem cell growth and differentiation (the process by which a stem cell matures into its final form), Zandstra has moved on to develop more sophisticated culture methods that fine-tune the microenvironments to guide the generation of the different cells types that make up the mature cells in our tissues: heart cells for the heart or blood cells for blood.

"If you describe something mathematically, you have a much better understanding of it than if you just observe it," he says. "And it's also a powerful way to test many different hypotheses in silico before going into the lab and doing the much more difficult experiments in vitro."

Dr. Zandstra, the Canada Research Chair in Stem Cell Bioengineering, also held a prestigious NSERC Steacie Fellowship. The Steacie prize - which goes to six select Canadian professors annually – allowed Zandstra to extend his work from mouse to man.

“There's only so much we can do with mouse cells,” notes Dr. Zandstra. “Now if we can also figure out how to get human embryonic stem cells to differentiate on command to generate functional adult-like cells, you can begin to think about the kinds of medical conditions you could treat with them.”

Doré Dunne | Source: EurekAlert!
Further information: www.nserc.ca

Further Reports about: Heart Stem Zandstra

next article

More articles from Life Sciences:

nachricht New cancer target for non-Hodgkin's lymphoma
24.11.2009 | New York- Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center/Weill Cornell Medical College

nachricht New hydrogen-storage method discovered
24.11.2009 | Carnegie Institution

All articles from Life Sciences >>>

B2B Search

Product / Service
Company / Organisation

Latest News

Daycare may double TV time for young children

24.11.2009 | Studies and Analyses

Insomnia prevalent among cancer patients who receive chemotherapy

24.11.2009 | Studies and Analyses

How green is your house?

24.11.2009 | Social Sciences

VideoLinks

Event News

Multidisciplinary meeting on Urological Cancers aims to benefit cancer patients

20.11.2009 | Event News

'Golden Age' for clinical psychology in Northern Ireland

20.11.2009 | Event News

New Perspectives in Marine Anti-Fouling Research

11.11.2009 | Event News