‘The magic of the world's rarest blood type’ – BBC News reports on ways scientists are trying to replicate Rh null blood type aka ‘golden blood’, including use of stem cells: www.bbc.com/future/artic...

Our #MetcalfPrize winner Maria Di Biase @unimelb.bsky.social is full of surprises. On ABC Melbourne Mornings with Raf Epstein 🎙️Raf: “What did you want to be when you were a kid?” 🎸Maria: “I wanted to be a rock star!” Why she's a stem cell rock star: www.stemcellfoundation.net.au/maria_di_bia...

Hear from our 2025 #MetcalfPrizes winners – Dr Maria Di Biase and Dr Lachlan Harris – on ABC Radio Gold Coast Drive with Bern Young. Listen from 43.51 on yesterday’s show: www.abc.net.au/listen/progr... @qimrb.bsky.social @unimelb.bsky.social @asscr.bsky.social

Meet the winners of our 2025 Metcalf Prizes for Stem Cell Research: stemcellfoundation.net.au/2025_metcalf... 🧠 Dr Maria Di Biase @unimelb.bsky.social 🧠 Dr Lachlan Harris @qimrb.bsky.social They're already making headlines ahead of the award ceremony on the Gold Coast today. @asscr.bsky.social

‘Scientists discover new way to shape what a stem cell becomes’ – How do stem cells know what to become? New @colorado.edu study offers key insights: www.eurekalert.org/news-release... Paper: doi.org/10.1038/s415...

👻 No tricks, just good science and lots of treats - 10 days till #ASSCR2025 on the Gold Coast! Registrations close soon! www.asscrmeeting.com.au/registration

Please join us for the last Stem Cell Conversation for 2025! Join us to celebrate an amazing year of conversations and hear some highlights from the ASSCR NSW and VIC EMCR Symposia: Exploring Retinal Disease and Infection-Driven Colonic Repair See you Wednesday 5/11/25 at 11-11:30 AM AEDT.

‘Could stem cell therapy help keep weak hearts beating after a heart attack?’ – Results of an international clinical trial: www.scimex.org/newsfeed/cou... Paper: doi.org/10.1136/bmj-...

‘A medical miracle: is period blood the most overlooked opportunity in women’s health?’ – @theguardian.com an on potential use of menstrual blood samples in medical research, quoting our Board member Prof Caroline Gargett, who discovered endometrial stem cells: www.theguardian.com/society/ng-i...

‘Scientists are racing to grow human teeth in the lab’ – CNN reports on research progress on creating lab-grown teeth, including a recent @kingscollegelondon.bsky.social study: edition.cnn.com/science/lab-... Paper: doi.org/10.1021/acsm...

‘Gray hair could play surprising role in cancer defense, study suggests’ – Researchers in Japan reveal how pigment-producing stem cells in hair follicles can ‘respond to stress in dramatically different ways’: www.foxnews.com/health/gray-... Paper: doi.org/10.1038/s415...

‘Alternatives to animal testing are the future — it’s time that journals, funders and scientists embrace them’ – Interesting read in @nature.com on NAMS aka ‘novel alternative methods’ using stem cells differentiated into almost any cell type in the body: doi.org/10.1038/d415...

Congratulations to Prof Caroline Gargett for receiving the 2025 #ASSCR President's Award 👏 We're fortunate to have Caroline serve on our Board as an independent non-executive director; chair of the science and ethics committee; and chair of the Metcalfs jury.

‘Study reveals how bacteria-made sugar triggers intestinal stem cell regeneration’ – University of Toronto shows ‘unexpected way’ gut microbiome contributes to health, furthering study of colorectal cancer and inflammatory bowel disease: www.utoronto.ca/news/study-r... Paper: doi.org/10.1016/j.st...

‘How Mesoblast’s founder proved the shorters wrong’ – Immunologist-turned-businessman Silviu Itescu talks to The Australian Financial Review about how his ‘gamble to bring stem cell treatments to market is finally paying off’: www.afr.com/companies/he... @mesoblaste.bsky.social

‘Scientists grow mini human livers that predict toxic drug reactions’ – Human liver organoid platform developed by @cincychildrens.bsky.social and Roche ‘recreates immune-driven liver injury in the lab’: www.sciencedaily.com/releases/202... Paper: doi.org/10.1002/advs...

‘The Stem Cell Secrets of This Tiny Worm Could Help Unlock Human Regeneration’ – New findings from Stowers Institute for Medical Research on how flatworm stem cells regrow body parts: www.sciencealert.com/the-stem-cel... Paper: doi.org/10.1016/j.ce...

‘Stem Cell Technique Could Preserve Endangered Bird Species’ – Scientists grow stem cells from bird species that can be frozen, ‘grown again', and inserted into an egg which is then incubated: www.caltech.edu/about/news/s... Paper: doi.org/10.1038/s415... @caltech.edu @keckschoolusc.bsky.social

‘Lab-grown human embryo model produces blood cells’ – University of Cambridge scientists generate human blood stem cells, offering future hope for patients in need of bone marrow transplants to use their own cells: www.theguardian.com/science/2025... Paper: www.cell.com/cell-reports...

‘Selfish sperm see older fathers pass on more disease-causing mutations’ – Interesting read in @newscientist.com on a paper that ‘clearly shows older fathers have a higher risk of passing on more pathogenic mutations’: www.newscientist.com/article/2499... Paper: doi.org/10.1038/s415...

‘Unlocking the Skin’s Natural Healing Power’ – study reveals ‘one of the earliest steps in how skin stem cells learn to repair tissue – knowledge that could help engineer improved skin grafts for transplantation’: medicine.yale.edu/stemcell/new... Paper: doi.org/10.1038/s414...

‘Why organ chips could transform cancer treatment and drug testing’ – CBC reports on progress of organs on a chip including a study of eight patients with esophageal adenocarcinoma by McGill University and @harvard.edu: www.cbc.ca/news/health/... Paper: doi.org/10.1186/s129...

‘Researchers discover a new type of diabetes in babies’ – International research team's discovery turns on advanced DNA sequencing technologies and ‘a new model of stem cell research’: news.exeter.ac.uk/faculty-of-h...

Congratulations to Declan Turner from the Rhiannon Werder Lab reNEW Melbourne for winning #ARTxSCIENCE2025 with ‘A Deep Breath’: renew.science/artxscience/... Rhiannon is one of our 2024 Metcalf Prize winners: www.stemcellfoundation.net.au/rhiannon_wer... We're announcing 2025 winners next month.

'John B. Gurdon, 92, Dies; Nobelist Paved Way for Cloning of Animals’ – @nytimes.com commemorates the scientist whose work ‘laid the foundation for stem cell biology and regenerative medicine’: www.nytimes.com/2025/10/07/s...

We're proud to support @asscr.bsky.social Rising Stars 🌟🌟 Congratulations to Ana and Kevin 👏

‘Scientists grow mini human brains to power computers’ – BBC News reports on ‘biocomputing’ using stem cells to create lab-grown brain organoids which are ‘attached to an electrode and them prompted to respond to simple keyboard commands’: www.bbc.com/news/article...

The Foundation and Cerebral Palsy Alliance are backing Associate Professor Atul Malhotra on his mission to develop cellular therapy aimed at repairing brain injury associated with preterm births. Read about his clinical trial using umbilical cord blood: stemcellfoundation.net.au/atul_malhotr...

‘Scientists Use Electricity To “Reprogram” the Immune System for Faster Healing’ – Trinity College Dublin team shows electrical stimulation to macrophages can help suppress inflammation and boost stem cell recruitment into wounds: scitechdaily.com/scientists-u... Paper: doi.org/10.1016/j.xc...

Congratulations to the 2025 Catalyst Prize winners! The team led by Christine Wells at University of Melbourne has been recognised by ASSCR for their exceptional impact in stem cell research over the past 5 years. #StemCellResearch #ASSCR #CatalystPrize #ResearchExcellence #Australasia

⏳ Early bird registration closes in 1 week on 3rd October for ASSCR 2025. 📅 10–12 Nov | 📍 QT Gold Coast Theme: Riding the Stem Cell Wave – from Innovation to Translation 🎟️ Register now: www.asscrmeeting.com.au/registration #ASSCR2025 #tSemCells #ScientificMeeting #InnovationToTranslation

Join the ISSCR for 2026 & get member benefits for the rest of 2025 at no cost! Connect with a global community of scientists, clinicians, industry professionals, students, and postdocs advancing stem cell research and regenerative medicine. Learn more👉 www.isscr.org/membership

‘Researchers produce human eggs from skin cells in scientific first’ – US researchers turn DNA from human skin cells into ‘functional’ eggs able to be fertilised by sperm in a lab: www.abc.net.au/news/science... Paper: doi.org/10.1038/s414... @ohsunews.bsky.social

‘Swapping old immune cells in the brain with fresh ones could treat disease’ – Interesting read in Nature following a ‘a spate of new studies’ on potential for immune cells called microglia to address brain conditions including Alzheimer’s disease: www.nature.com/articles/d41...

‘AI reveals hidden features of a developing embryo model’ – University of Michigan team uses AI to examine culture data of human embryoids: www.eurekalert.org/news-release... Paper: doi.org/10.1126/scia... @umich.edu

‘NASA is sending human cells to the Moon on high-tech microchips that mimic astronaut organs’ – Organ-on-a-chip tests aim to ‘help NASA prepare targeted protections for each crew member based on real biological responses’ in deep space: www.earth.com/news/nasa-av...

‘Banking baby teeth: companies may be misleading parents with outrageous claims’ – @bmj.com investigation raises concerns about UK companies advertising the value of tooth banking services to parents, including possible treatments for autism and diabetes: doi.org/10.1136/bmj....

‘The mini placentas and ovaries revealing the basics of women’s health’ – interesting read in Nature on ways lab-made organoids that mimic reproductive tissues ‘could point to treatments for common conditions such as pre-eclampsia and endometriosis’: doi.org/10.1038/d415...

‘Hidden Plant Stem Cells Could Hold the Key to Feeding the Future’ – US scientists at Cold Spring Harbour Laboratory discover hidden stem cell regulators connected to growth and crop size: scitechdaily.com/hidden-plant... Paper: doi.org/10.1016/j.de... @cshlnews.bsky.social

‘Bayer moves Parkinson's cell therapy into Phase III trial’ – News wire @thomsonreutersnews.bsky.social reports on 'the third phase of human testing of an experimental stem cell therapy for Parkinson’s disease': www.reuters.com/business/hea...

‘If tiny lab-grown 'brains' became conscious, would it still be OK to experiment on them?’ – Coverage following a perspective paper on the possibility of consciousness in human brain organoids: www.livescience.com/health/neuro... Perspective paper: doi.org/10.1016/j.pa...

‘The quite simple way this group of Australians could save lives’ – SBS News reports on calls by the Leukaemia Foundation for young people aged 18 to 35 to urgently consider stem cell donation: www.sbs.com.au/news/article... September is #bloodcancer month.

‘UniSA scientists awarded $2.9m to investigate genetic causes of deadly childhood brain cancer’ – Stem cell technology will be used to investigate genetic abnormalities in children with diffuse midline glioma to identify better treatment options: www.unisa.edu.au/media-centre...

‘Scientists make most authentic kidney replicas so far’ – University of Southern California team develops organoids that ‘could help scientists study how kidneys develop and function, probe their diseases, and test therapies: www.science.org/content/arti... Paper: doi.org/10.1016/j.st...

What is open science? 🤔 To celebrate #OpenScienceWeek, we're sharing why we give away our data, protocols, and resources to everyone. Featuring our #openscience friends at @chanzuckerberg.bsky.social, NASA, @addgene.bsky.social, and NIH.

‘3D printed mini-placentas offer a new way to study pregnancy complications’ – University of Technology Sydney researchers create placental organoids that ‘shed light on complications like preeclampsia’: theconversation.com/3d-printed-m... Paper: doi.org/10.1038/s414...

‘Tiny Lab-Grown Spinal Cords Could Hold the Key to Healing Paralysis’ – US researchers combine 3D printing, stem cell science and lab-grown tissues to explore a new approach for treating spinal cord injuries: scitechdaily.com/tiny-lab-gro... Paper: doi.org/10.1002/adhm...

‘Stem cell discovery could be key to healing tough-to-fix fractures’ – @pennmedicine.bsky.social study reveals ability of a stem cell originating in skeletal muscle to turn into bone: www.pennmedicine.org/news/stem-ce... Paper - doi.org/10.1073/pnas...

‘Space travel may accelerate the aging of stem cells as much as tenfold, study says’ – @ucsandiego.bsky.social study finds space stressors like microgravity and cosmic galactic radiation speed up molecular ageing of blood stem cells: www.nbcnews.com/science/scie... Paper: doi.org/10.1016/j.st...

‘Placental Stem Cells Allow Researchers To Study Pregnancy Complications’ – stem cells created from placenta of full-term pregnancies offer 'powerful platform' to investigate preeclampsia and preterm birth: www.technologynetworks.com/tn/news/plac... Paper: doi.org/10.1016/j.pl...