Bone marrow was the first stem cell source to be widely used in clinical transplant surgery to replace damaged bone as a result of injury or chemotherapy. Unfortunately, bone marrow grafts are painful, and the appropriate donor is not always available when the need is there. Now research at the University of California Los Angeles' Broad Center of Regenerative Medicine has demonstrated successfully that stem cells from the patient's own fat (i.e. adipose tissue) can be made usable for bone damage treatment. Bone marrow is, after all, the soft, fatty tissue inside your bones that contains immature cells (aka stem cells) that give rise to all of your blood cells. So looking to fatty tissue from another part of the body to produce mesenchymal cells has made sense all along, though it has taken the efforts of several UCLA teams to show how it can be done in an animal model.
Tags: University of California Los Angeles, Stem cell research, cancer research, Southwest, California, Los Angeles, UCLA, Research, Stem Cell, Biotechnology Vendor Showcase, BVS, science solution
Tags: University of California Los Angeles, Medical Device Technology, Ozcan Nano/Bio Photonics Lab, crowdsourcing, Microscopy, Lab-on-a-chip Technology, Southwest, Los Angeles, UCLA, innovative solution, Biotechnology Vendor Showcase, BVS
The 29th Semiannual Los Angeles Biotechnology Vendor Showase™ Event (BVS) at UCLA on April 5th, 2012 was a success with close to 600 researchers looking at a wide variety of new products. Attendees had the opportunity to investigate the latest technology, enjoy a free catered lunch, and take fun Science Ninja photos!
Tags: CA, University of California Los Angeles, vendor shows, Southwest, California, University of California, Los Angeles, UCLA, Biotechnology Vendor Fair, Ucla Connection Opportunity, Biotechnology, California Research Conference, california research seminar, life science researcher event, Life Science Technology, laboratory sales
Los Angeles scientists will have the opportunity to investigate the latest technology in less than 8 weeks at one of the year’s best UCLA laboratory science marketing events. This year the Biotechnology Vendor Showcase™ Event in Los Angeles is expected to attract over 600 university science researchers actively seeking new products and services for life science research.
Tags: CA, University of California Los Angeles, vendor shows, Southwest, California, University of California, Los Angeles, UCLA, Biotechnology Vendor Fair, Ucla Connection Opportunity, Biotechnology, California Research Conference, california research seminar, life science researcher event, Life Science Technology, laboratory sales
Stem cell research at the University of California Los Angeles' Jules Stein Eye Institute has led to a limited clinical trial that has produced astounding results for two patients with a form of macular degeneration that had progressed to the point of causing near blindness. A short time after receiving stem cell injections the two women began to regain vision, enabling them to function independently in ways they couldn't before the procedure. The story was broadcast on NPR and other media sources with some restraint (it was a small study, with only two patients so far), but obvious excitement (it worked!). On the part of the researchers, the trial procedure held limited expectations for success, in part because the quantity of stem cells they utilized was fairly small. The results were all the more wondrous for coming as a real surprise, not least of all for the patients themselves.
Tags: University of California Los Angeles, Stem cell research, Southwest, California, Los Angeles, UCLA
Tags: University of California Los Angeles, biomedical sciences, biomedical research, Southwest, California, Los Angeles, Neuroscience, UCLA
Researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles, have discovered a new stem cell that assists in repairing lung airways. The discovery is significant because the airways are vital in protecting the body from airborne toxins. The airways contain glands that defend the body by producing and then removing mucus, a process which cleanses the lungs of infectious agents and environmental toxins. The study's findings have major potential for advancement in the field of lung regeneration.
Tags: Stem cell research, California, UCLA, Stem Cell, Southwest Region
For over 70 years, the Harbor-UCLA Medical Center has been home to one of the most distinguished hospitals and medical research centers in the country.
Tags: University of California Los Angeles, California, UCLA, new construction, Southwest Region
Now, rather sooner than one might have wished, that vision of a less-car-dependent populace is being put to the test. It's being called Carmageddon, the closure of the 405 Fwy through the heart of LA for an entire weekend this July 15th (at midnight) through the 17th. What will this human science experiment in the living laboratory tell us about Angelenos' prognosis for survival in a more sustainable world?
According to a UCLA Newsroom report entitled "The Day the 405 Stood Still":
At UCLA, shutting down is not an option: With a major hospital to run, summer camps to attend and petri-dish experiments to keep alive, university officials expect 8,000 to 10,000 people on campus.
UCLA Today in its "UCLA braces for Carmageddon" piece adds:
More than 1,900 hospital employees will keep UCLA’s two hospitals purring, with several hundred doctors, nurses and other staff bunking in campus residence halls in case of an emergency. Roughly 200 children will attend long-ago promised sports camps, about 200 MBA students start classes, and 150 teachers from China will arrive at LAX to begin teacher-training on campus.
UCLA Medical Center's response to the potential nightmare is to put itself on high alert, take measures to see that it continues to function normally, and make on-campus housing available for commuting staff "in case of an emergency." Presumably that emergency would be impassable roads. They don't seem to anticipate an influx of patients as a result of the freeway closure, though the way the event is being imagined in science fiction terms makes it sound like casualties are inevitable. Will road rage turn into rioting and looting? Will there be a mass psychiatric meltdown? Will people trip on the unfamiliar laces of their walking shoes? Rest assured, more police will be out (on bicycles?), according to UCLA Today's article:
The UCPD and UCLA Transportation are among the departments scheduling extra staff to make sure everything runs smoothly, and both UCPD and the LAPD are considering overnighting in UCLA dorms.
Tags: University of California Los Angeles, Southwest, California, Los Angeles, Sustainable Architecture, UCLA, Event, laboratory