Stem Cells. Genetics. Longevity. Tracking the research as it happens. Share ≠ Endorsement. Not medical advice.
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Stem Cell Events in 2026 🗓️
stemcelltracker.com/events/
Stem Cell Tracker retweeted
BREAKING: For the first time, a therapy designed to reverse the age of cells has been tested in humans.
2 of the first 3 patients improved on their vision tests.
Stem Cell Tracker retweeted
A new injectable gel can rebuild worn-out spinal discs instead of just masking the pain.
Doctors working with US company ReGelTec are testing an injectable gel called Hydrafil for people whose spinal discs have worn down with age.
The discs are the cushions between your vertebrae, and as they dry out and flatten, they can cause years of back pain. Hydrafil is injected through a needle as a warm liquid, then firms up at body temperature into a water-rich, rubbery cushion that refills the damaged disc and restores its height.
In a study of 60 patients, average back pain scores fell from 7.3 to 2.1 out of 10 after a year, and disability scores dropped sharply too.
Today, most treatments for worn discs manage symptoms with painkillers, injections or physical therapy, and the last resort is surgery to fuse or replace the disc. A gel that rebuilds the cushion itself could offer something in between.
The early study had no comparison group, and five patients needed a procedure to remove gel that had shifted. A larger trial against a placebo procedure is underway, and the FDA has granted it Breakthrough Device status to speed its review.
source: Clerk-Lamalice, O., et al. Pain Physician. As reported in Injectable gel rehydrates collapsed spinal discs. Engineerine.
12 adults with type 1 diabetes got one infusion of islet cells grown from stem cells. After a year, 83% no longer needed insulin, none had a severe low, and their fear of low blood sugar fell by about 65%. $VRTX
healio.com/news/endocrinolog…
Babies born with half a working heart got help from a stem cell repair crew. In a trial of 40 infants with HLHS, those given laromestrocel during heart surgery had 1 major heart event vs 8 with usual care. The main goal, a stronger pump, was not met. $LGVN globenewswire.com/news-relea…
Source: Longeveron Announces Updated Results from ELPIS II Phase 2b globenewswire.com/news-relea…
Soft gels can now fold themselves into tissue shapes, like a paper snowflake that opens into a pattern. UIC scientists used patterns of light so parts swell and bend, guiding cells to grow curved tissue like cartilage and windpipe. Still in the lab.
bme.uic.edu/news-stories/new…
Your bladder keeps a spare repair crew next door. Stem cells where the ureter meets the bladder stay put on normal days, then move in to rebuild the lining after severe damage.
Source: Stem cell hub at ureter bladder junction rebuilds the injured bladder lining bioengineer.org/stem-cell-hu…
Stem Cell Tracker retweeted
BREAKING: Scientists edit DNA directly inside a living human for the first time
Readers added context they thought people might want to know
DNA has been edited directly inside living humans before; the first reported in vivo CRISPR gene editing occurred in 2021 for transthyretin amyloidosis. This announcement is the first clinical use of prime editing in vivo.
medpagetoday.com/neurology/gene…
nature.com/articles/d4158…
investors.primemedicine.com/news-releases/…
Insulin cells for type 1 diabetes got their blood supply weeks sooner. Karolinska researchers used an RNA switch so the cells call for blood vessels early, like ordering groceries before moving in. Human islets had blood flow in 12 days, not up to 42. sciencenews.dk/en/new-approa…
This week in stem cells:
○ The first patient given an iPS stem cell heart patch is recovering well.
○ 10 women with osteoporosis had 94% fewer broken bones after one stem cell drip.
○ Pruning unwanted cells made lab grown mini livers 3 times better at handling drugs.
Pruning makes better mini livers. Pitt scientists built SynBITE, a gene switch that tells unwanted cells in lab grown liver organoids to die, like a gardener clipping weak shoots. Drug processing jumped to 60% of real liver cells, up from about 20%.
medschool.pitt.edu/news/sele…
After one drip of their own stem cells, 10 women with advanced osteoporosis had 94% fewer broken bones in the next two years than in the two years before.
Source: Single Stem Cell Infusion Shows Promise in Advanced Osteoporosis, Suggests Study (Medical Dialogues) medicaldialogues.in/orthopae…
Up to 40% of mouse skin cells became neurons, up from about 3%, after UCLA scientists gave them a quick squeeze. Pushing cells through tiny channels loosens tightly packed DNA, like opening a stuffed suitcase so gene tools can reach what is inside. uclahealth.org/news/release/…
Brain building stem cells are easy targets for the COVID virus. UC Riverside found human neural stem cells let in safe lab copies of the virus, Omicron too. Blocking the cell's swallowing doorway cut entry by up to 85%. Next: test effects on brain growth.
news.ucr.edu/articles/2026/1…
Lab grown immune cells learned the local job in every organ. VIB scientists made early macrophage starter cells from human stem cells and put them in mice. They became microglia in the brain and matched the cleanup crews of the liver, heart and kidney.
press.vib.be/human-stem-cell…
Kids with severe heart defects often need surgery after surgery because their repair parts can't grow. Boston's new THUMPIN' project (up to $29.6M) aims to build living valves, vessels and patches that grow with a child, and one day a whole heart. seas.harvard.edu/news/boston…
Stem Cell Tracker retweeted
Money from the world’s increasingly prosperous technology entrepreneurs has been flooding into biomedical research. Is it changing how science is done?
go.nature.com/4sfUkDV
The first patient to get RiHeart, a heart muscle patch grown from iPS stem cells, is recovering well. A week after surgery she could breathe deeper, and she goes home Oct 22. Think of it as a living bandage that helps a tired heart grow new blood vessels.
Patient recovering well after iPS heart sheet surgery in Japan english.kyodonews.net/articl…
Source: Patient recovering well after iPS heart sheet surgery in Japan (Kyodo News) english.kyodonews.net/articl…