Stem Cell Study: Balancing blood supply

Utpal Banerjee, the Irving and Jean Stone Professor and chairman of Molecular, Cell and Developmental Biology co-authored a study showing that two-way signaling from two different sets of cells is necessary for bloody-supply balance, both to ensure that enough blood cells are produced to respond to injury and infection and that blood progenitor cells remain available for future needs.

Life Science Professor, Robert Modlin named AAAS fellow

Robert Modlin, professor of Microbiology, Immunology and Molecular Genetics, has been named a fellow of American Association for the Advancement of Science for “distinguished contributions toward understanding human antimicrobial pathways, including Th1/Th2 cytokines, TLR 2 recognition of microbial lipoproteins, and the role of vitamin D in immunity.”

UCLA stem cell researchers reprogram human skin cells to become nerve cells

William Lowry, an assistant professor of Molecular, Cell and Developmental Biology, and associate researcher Saran Karumbayaram, have taken human skin cells, reprogrammed them into cells with the same unlimited property as embryonic stem cells, and then differentiated them into neurons while completely avoiding the use of animal-based reagents and feeder conditions throughout the process.

A new study finds key differences between established and new human embryonic stem cell lines.

Amander Clark, assistant professor of Molecular, Cell and Developmental Biology, and colleagues recently found that established human embryonic stem cell lines, including those approved for federal research funding, differ from newly derived human embryonic stem cell lines. This finding highlights the importance of continuing to derive new stem cell lines so that researchers can better understand the ability of these cells to make every cell in the human body.

Powerful mathematical model greatly improves predictions for species facing climate change

Robert Wayne, professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, recently led research that produced the most comprehensive mathematical model ever devised to track the health of populations exposed to environmental change. The team’s groundbreaking integral projection model allows researchers to link many different data sources simultaneously. Scientists can now change just a single variable, like temperature, and see how that affects many factors for a population.

Established human embryonic cell lines vary from newly derived stem cell lines

Amander Clark, UCLA assistant professor of Molecular, Cell and Developmental Biology, and colleagues recently found that established human embryonic stem cell lines, including those approved for federal research funding, differ from newly derived human embryonic stem cell lines. This finding highlights the importance of continuing to derive new stem cell lines so that researchers can better understand the ability of these cells to make every cell in the human body.