Science Market Update

Stem cells are remarkable for the promise they hold to regenerate diseased or otherwise compromised organs and tissue in the body.  At the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio, researchers at the Barshop Institute of Aging and Longevity Studies are particularly focused on how a patient's own stem cells can be used to treat degeneration caused by aging, such as bone loss.  Proprietary cells (i.e. ones from your own body) are the best biological match for therapies to treat you, but the problem is that they're too mature and therefore much less effective than young cells in transforming themselves into new and useful parts.  Some people have begun to bank cells from birth, such as those from the umbilical cord, for a child's future need.  For the rest of us, there is the very real possibility of coaxing our own older stem cells into a more youthful, robust, and potent state by growing them on a younger scaffold.

San Antonio is about to celebrate the opening of a major new science research building: the STRF, or South Texas Research Facility on the campus of the University of Texas Health Science Center.  The 190,000sf state-of-the-art research facility is stretched over only three floors, so the building is low and long: 1000 feet long.  If you tipped over the Eiffel Tower...well, you get the idea.  UTHSCSA started planning the new lab and office space three years ago when it became clear that their research faculty was growing at a healthy rate, but their facilities were not keeping up.  When it is fully occupied, the STRF will house 350 faculty and staff members. Plans are to fill 60% of the building with current faculty and their research teams and to use the remaining space for new recruits, specifically 15 to 20 top scientists and their associates to be brought on board.

The four core programs moving to the STRF are:

1. Adult Cancer
2. Neurosciences
3. Healthy Aging
4. Regenerative Medicine

A team of researchers at the University of Texas Health Science Center San Antonio have recently discovered a possible explanation for the high rate of pneumonia in the elderly. Community-acquired pneumonia is the leading cause of death among the elderly and this new UT research may have revealed a possible treatment.

Texas A&M University, College Station

The National Institute of Health recently awarded Texas A&M University with a $3.5 million grant to improve upon the laboratory research facilities in the Interdisciplinary Life Sciences Building.  The $100 Million facility opened its doors last year.  Improvement funding was aimed at divisions such as structural biology, molecular virology, and drug discovery.  It will add 12,000 square feet of space to the 200,000 square foot building.