Research Horizons at Cincinnati Children's Research Foundation
Explore highlights of the exciting research happening at Cincinnati Children's Research Foundation with Research Horizons. Each issue features recent studies published by Cincinnati Children's investigators. By combining cutting-edge research and education with the best in pediatric care, we are striving to improve the lives of children and families everywhere.This issue features these news briefs:
In addition, you will find the following feature stories that highlight some of our many world-class researchers:
Stem cells are currently the 800-pound gorilla in the corner of biomedical science. Considered by some as a threat to the sanctity of human life, hailed by others as its savior, and misunderstood by most, how can they help medicine in ways that do not offend the sensibilities of the people who could benefit from them? [more]
Stem cells are currently at the core of a great deal of scientific research – and debate. But what scientists know is that stem cells are not a single entity – they encompass a broad range of cell types, taken from different times and places in the body. To understand where the term arose, we need to think about how the human body maintains itself into old age. [more]
What decides the fate of a cell? In the earliest stages of embryonic development, what tells it to become a muscle or a nerve cell; or to go on to form a liver or a heart? These questions are at the core of the research of Jim Wells, PhD, and his team in the Division of Developmental Biology. [more]
Stem cells may be getting all the attention, but germ cells are the ones that get things started. In a lab culture they give rise to pluripotential stem cells – the current superstars of biomedical research – and in the embryo they carry the genetic code of future generations. [more]
In the US alone, some seven million people have what plastic surgeon Jesse Taylor, MD, calls “defects in bony continuity” so severe, it is difficult to adequately repair them with surgery. [more]
Cut your finger and your skin cells go into overdrive. Break a bone and repair starts immediately. But get an injury to the brain and spinal cord, and the body’s normal healing mechanism just sits there. Masato Nakafuku, MD, PhD, wants to know why. [more]
