Blogs for May 2017

It recently came to our attention, from this article, that only one in three Americans can name an actual living scientist. As a large biotechnology company, filled with talented and dedicated scientists, we think that is ridiculous. We want to introduce you to some of our staff who are, in fact, Actual Living Scientists.

The next scientist in our series is Kristin Jacobsen. Kristin just celebrated 6 years with Bio-Techne at the R&D Systems site (and Bio-Techne Headquarters) in Minneapolis, MN. Kristin not only works in Protein Development, she also recently completed her MBA at the University of...

The ability to mobilize the immune system to fight cancer has revolutionized the way we treat this disease. It’s no surprise that Cancer Immunotherapy was a prominent topic at the 2017 American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) annual meeting. Despite the successes associated with immunotherapy there are still many questions to be answered. Investigators at AACR provided a nice framework for future research by posing both big picture and mechanistic questions. Why does immunotherapy work only for a small percentage of patients? What are the mechanisms of cancer resistance and how can we overcome them? What role does the tumor microenvironment play? What model system is most appropriate for preclinical studies? What about combination therapy? How do you evaluate the utility...

Astrocytes are the most numerous glia cells in the central nervous system (CNS). They help to maintain the health and function of the CNS, by providing metabolic support to neurons, clearing neurotransmitters from synapses, supporting blood-brain barrier endothelial cells, regulating extracellular ion concentrations, forming and maturating synapses, and modulating synaptic plasticity. Astrocytes have also been implicated in neurodegenerative diseases. CNS injury and disease induce astrocytes to undergo reactive astrogliosis, which involves both biochemical and structural changes to astrocytes. Previous studies from the lab of Dr. Ben Barres at Stanford University School of Medicine characterized two different types...

We have captured this month's most interesting, innovative, and maybe some of the strangest examples of stem cells in the news from around the world.

Sparking Faster MSC Differentiation into Schwann-Like Cells - Iowa State University
Researchers at Iowa State University have developed a nanotechnology that uses a 3-D Nanostructure and circuit boards that stimulates the differentiation of Mesenchymal Stem Cells (MSCs) into Schwann-like cells. Their technology could be the solution to an otherwise long and expensive process by which MSCs are pushed to a Schwann-like fate and could hold promise in accelerating studies looking to promote...