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Alzheimer's disease, a progressive, neurodegenerative disease of the central nervous system, is the most common form of dementia. It is estimated that 44 million people worldwide have Alzheimer’s disease or a related dementia. Alzheimer’s disease has proved difficult to treat, mainly because the symptoms of the disease only emerge years after disease onset. The treatments that are currently available for Alzheimer’s disease only help to ease the symptoms of the disease; they do not slow or stop its progression. The goal of Alzheimer’s disease research is to develop effective therapies that stop or prevent the underlying cause of the disease.

In a recent edition of...

We have captured this month's most interesting, innovative, and maybe some of the strangest examples of stem cells in the news from around the world.

June 2017 Go Everywhere with Bio-Techne Travel Grant Awarded to PhD Student from the Indian Institute of Chemical Biology!

Bio-Techne launched its Go Everywhere Travel Grant Program which awards $1000 USD (or equivalent) to 1 researcher each month to attend the meeting of their choice. This grant program allows the researcher to attend more targeted meetings in their field and provides funding to support both small and large scientific associations that promote discovery and collaboration.

The recipient of the June 2017 grant is Titli Nargis, a PhD Student at CSIR-Indian Institute of Chemical biology in...

It was another exciting year for science at the 2017 International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR) Meeting! Playing on the meeting theme, ‘Science Insightfully Delivered’, there was a palatable emphasis in presentation topics focusing on translating stem cell research to the clinic. The translational aspect was complemented by some great posters and lectures highlighting cutting-edge science being done by the stem cell research community. Here are a couple of scientific hits and themes that we identified from the meeting.

Zika Virus and Brain Model Systems

The generation of induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells has become a routine task in many laboratories. Across the globe, scientists are using published or commercial reprogramming methods to create iPS cells that further their studies in regenerative medicine, disease modeling, and drug discovery. As we noted in a previous blog post, questions about experimental reproducibility are percolating to the top of major issues that the stem cell field must address in order to confidently guide basic...

The butyrophilins are closely...

We have captured this month's most interesting, innovative, and maybe some of the strangest examples of stem cells in the news from around the world.

SMER28 and iPSCs Pave Possible New Treatment Option for Anemic Patients – Harvard News
Researchers from Boston Children’s Hospital have, for the first time, used patient-derived iPSCs to create red blood cells in humans with Diamond-Blackfan Anemia (DBA). DBA patients lack the erythroid cells needed to generate mature red blood cells. The team of researchers, which includes George Q. Daley and Leonard Zon, performed a chemical screening of...

It recently came to our attention, from this article, that only one in three Americans can name an actual living scientist. As a large biotechnology company, filled with talented and dedicated scientists, we think that is ridiculous. We want to introduce you to some of our staff who are, in fact, Actual Living Scientists.

The next scientist in our series is Martin Ramsden, PhD. Martin has been with Bio-Techne for 8 years at the R&D Systems site (and Bio-Techne Headquarters) in Minneapolis, MN. Martin works in our Commerical Development Department, which develops...

It recently came to our attention, from this article, that only one in three Americans can name an actual living scientist. As a large biotechnology company, filled with talented and dedicated scientists, we think that is ridiculous. We want to introduce you to some of our staff who are, in fact, Actual Living Scientists.

The next scientist in our series is Kristin Jacobsen. Kristin just celebrated 6 years with Bio-Techne at the R&D Systems site (and Bio-Techne Headquarters) in Minneapolis, MN. Kristin not only works in Protein Development, she also recently completed her MBA at the University of...

The ability to mobilize the immune system to fight cancer has revolutionized the way we treat this disease. It’s no surprise that Cancer Immunotherapy was a prominent topic at the 2017 American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) annual meeting. Despite the successes associated with immunotherapy there are still many questions to be answered. Investigators at AACR provided a nice framework for future research by posing both big picture and mechanistic questions. Why does immunotherapy work only for a small percentage of patients? What are the mechanisms of cancer resistance and how can we overcome them? What role does the tumor microenvironment play? What model system is most appropriate for preclinical studies? What about combination therapy? How do you evaluate the utility...

Astrocytes are the most numerous glia cells in the central nervous system (CNS). They help to maintain the health and function of the CNS, by providing metabolic support to neurons, clearing neurotransmitters from synapses, supporting blood-brain barrier endothelial cells, regulating extracellular ion concentrations, forming and maturating synapses, and modulating synaptic plasticity. Astrocytes have also been implicated in neurodegenerative diseases. CNS injury and disease induce astrocytes to undergo reactive astrogliosis, which involves both biochemical and structural changes to astrocytes. Previous studies from the lab of Dr. Ben Barres at Stanford University School of Medicine characterized two different types...