Scientists found however, that feeder cells and serums derived from other animal cells introduced disease-causing agents that compromised the quality of the cell lines.
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But for the clinical translation of this technique, one would want to know whether the observations made with animal cells would also hold for human cells.
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The artificial organs were created in a laboratory using human amniotic fluid and animal foetal cells.
Fortunately Chiron, Sanofi-Aventis and others are avidly pursuing new, more flexible incubation techniques that will replace chicken eggs with vats of animal or human cells.
To the extent that epigenetic marking is involved in creating social status, then, status may be being maintained by the animal's cells as they replicate.
From 30 precious milligrams drilled out of the sample they extracted mitochondrial DNA. The mitochondria, a cell's power packs, are the much-modified descendants of bacteria that took up residence in the ancestors of modern animal and plant cells a billion years ago.
The ease of collection, and the ability to use "allogenic" cells from other rats rather than having to harvest the animal's own cells and culture them, meant a treatment was available not weeks after a stroke, when the damage was done, but in this case minutes.
Through further experiments in human cells and animal studies the researchers found that a protein called NF-kB lured zinc into the immune cells that responded fastest to fight infection.
The problem is that it is difficult to conduct studies of RF in the laboratory using cells and animal models.
In another application, scientists selectively stimulated brain cells in animal models of Parkinson's disease, a disease that involves the disruption of information-processing in the brain.
Neural networks are computer programs that, as their name suggests, behave rather like nerve cells in an animal's brain.
In one instance a doctor successfully cured a mouse of type 1 diabetes by transplanting umbilical cord stem cells into the animal's pancreas.
Their concern was two-fold: Many fear that cultivating human cells close to mouse cells might allow animal viruses to move into the human population.
And Geron of Menlo Park, Calif. is performing animal studies on a variety of different cells derived from human embryonic stem cells, aiming to treat spinal cord injury, heart disease and diabetes.
And Geron (nasdaq: GERN - news - people ) of Menlo Park, Calif. is performing animal studies on a variety of different cells derived from human embryonic stem cells, aiming to treat spinal cord injury, heart disease and diabetes.
He picked this animal because its body has a mere 959 cells, of which 302 are nerve cells.
Animal studies have shown that stress damages brain cells to the point where it can inhibit neurogenesis (the growth of new brain cells).
When a natural nerve network learns something, the connections between the individual cells change in ways that cause the animal to react more suitably in the future.
In animal experiments, such transplants mature into adult nerve cells and insinuate themselves into the damaged cord, restoring at least some movement to an otherwise paralysed body.
But ultimately, she would like to avoid the awkward process of collecting egg cells from the northern wombat, and clone the animal instead.
From this endeavour, it was found that Columba livia's DNA holds about 17, 300 genes - the codes used by cells to implement the biochemistry needed to build and maintain the animal's body.
In mammals, this kind of epigenetic modification has been assumed to last only during the life span of a particular animal, because such changes are usually erased in the sperm and egg cells.
Recent animal studies have shown that stimulating the entorhinal cortex improved the growth of brain cells in adult mice and appeared to enhance memory for locations and spatial knowledge.
Scientists studying cancer in two very different animal species, Tasmanian devils and dogs say they found evidence that some cancer cells are being passed between animals through physical contact, like sex or biting.
Crucially, these changes are generally passed on to the daughter cells produced when a cell divides, and are thus perpetuated throughout an animal's life.
Animal tests, described in the journal Cell Stem Cell, have now used modified skin cells to repair the insulation.
Because they are derived from human cells with human diseases, they are likely to be more effective than some forms of animal testing.
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Some animal data may also indicate it reverses the disease's cause: damage to the insulin-producing cells in the pancreas.
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