Embryonic

A breakthrough in stem cell research has again raised the specter of human cloning. The discovery by a team at Oregon Health and Science University moves the world incrementally closer to that result, but its more immediate effect will be to spur efforts to regenerate healthy tissue for the injured and the ailing. Although it's reasonable to worry about where such a discovery may lead, those concerns shouldn't stop researchers from exploring the restorative properties of stem cells. The promise of stem cells is that they can develop into many different kinds of tissues rather than being locked into a specific cellular fate.

A pouch full of brand-new cells may one day reduce the need for people with Type 1 diabetes to take daily insulin shots. ViaCyte Inc. of San Diego has already used its technique to cure diabetes in hundreds of mice, says Eugene Brandon, one of the company's directors. ViaCyte hopes to begin human trials of its implants, which are made from embryonic stem cells, by 2013, aided by $26 million in grants and loans from the California Institute of Regenerative Medicine, the state's stem cell funding agency.

Here is a selection of some new offerings at the prestige end of the market, many predicated on exclusive ingredients and newfangled technology: Super Cream from 3LAB, exclusively at Barneys, joins that brand's high-priced roster but remains its most expensive launch to date. Co-founder Erica Chung attributes the $875 price to the cream's Intelligent Targeting Device technology, which is supposed to drive collagen and elastin to the cells that need it the most. The Bee Venom Mask from Heaven Skin Care became an overnight sensation when word came out that Kate Middleton, wife of England's Prince William, used it. Soon to be available in the U.S., the $560 Limited Edition Golden Bee Venom Mask contains a high concentration of bee venom, which is supposed to have something of a Botox effect on the skin.

Two hundred Turkish intellectuals last month launched an Internet signature campaign for an apology to Armenians for the 1915 massacres. "My conscience does not accept the insensitivity showed to and the denial of the Great Catastrophe that the Armenians were subjected to in 1915," the brief statement reads. "I reject this injustice and for my share, I empathize with the feelings and pain of my Armenian brothers and sisters. I apologize to them."

The government issued final rules Monday expanding taxpayer-funded research using embryonic stem cells, easing scientists' fears that some of the oldest batches might not qualify and promising a master list of all that do.

A race is on to find a way to cure Type 1 diabetes by regenerating the insulin-producing cells in the pancreas that are lost in the disease. Without them, the body is unable to metabolize sugar, forcing patients to compensate by injecting themselves with insulin several times a day. One popular strategy has been to try to get embryonic stem cells or induced pluripotent stem cells -- which can theoretically become any type of human cell -- to...

Human embryonic stem cells can partly restore vision in blinded rats and may offer a source of transplants for people with certain eye diseases, such as macular degeneration, researchers from Advanced Cell Technology Inc. in Worcester, Mass., reported Wednesday. The team induced embryonic stem cells to mature into retinal cells, then implanted them in rats genetically engineered to go blind. Soon the rats were able to follow lights with their eyes.

British scientists have converted embryonic stem cells into sperm and used them to grow live mice, a feat that could lead to new treatments for fertility, the team reported in the journal Developmental Cell. Out of 256 attempts, seven mice resulted from the work, with six living long enough to reach adulthood. However, the animals were unusually small or large and died within five months of birth, apparently because they lacked normal controls over gene activity.

Caltech researchers have imaged the blood flow inside the heart of a growing embryonic zebrafish. The results demonstrate for the first time that blood flowing at a high velocity over cardiac tissue is an important factor in the development of the heart -- a result that could have profound implications for surgical techniques and genetic engineering. They reported in the current issue of Nature that they were able to get high-resolution video of the growing heart.

Almost 14 months after President Bush first allowed federal funding of limited human embryo cell research, U.S. scientists remain frustrated by a lack of access to the controversial cells, researchers told a Senate subcommittee Wednesday. The number of laboratories making the cells available to scientists has begun to increase, senators were told.