Word: lanza
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
Such evidence of homegrown humor often takes the form of the portmanteau: "hangry" as a word for hunger-induced anger, "procrasturbating" as one for procrastinating by masturbating. The interactions of the characters—Jeff (Jordan Ahnquist), Hunter (Joe Lanza), Heidi (Amy Barker), and Susan (Val Sullivan)—necessitate both the familiarity of raunchiness for hilarity's sake and the innocence of expression. From this dynamic, the most memorable moments are born: an entire number dedicated to the idea of a monkey riding a speedboat constructed around the theme of "Broadway musicals"; the hilarity of "What Kind...
Still, the rapid pace of the research means we may not have to wait long. "We really lucked out," says Lanza. "These iPS cells were just discovered a few years ago, and here we are three years later with a method safe enough to actually use in people." ACT plans to file a request for the first human trial using its cells sometime next year...
...Robert Lanza, chief scientific officer at Advanced Cell Technology (ACT), reported today in the journal Cell that his team has created stem cells using human skin cells and four proteins. The innovation builds on the breakthrough discovery in 2006 by Shinya Yamanaka, who similarly coaxed human skin cells to revert to a pristine, embryonic state by introducing four key genes into the cells, piggybacked on viruses. However, some of those genes are known to cause cancer, which made Yamanaka's stem cells - known as induced pluripotent stem cells, or iPS cells - unsuitable for human use. (See a graphic explaining...
Until now, no one has been able to create iPS cells without using viruses and genes. But Lanza and his team found a way around both: the researchers isolated the proteins made by the same genes Yamanaka used and "tagged" them with a message that allowed the proteins to slip easily into the cell. Yamanaka's method, on the other hand, relied on using viruses to ferry genes into the skin cell...
While the new iPS cells may be safer, even Lanza admits there is much that researchers still need to learn about how they will react once inside a patient's body. The most pressing question remains whether iPS cells - or the nerves, muscles or any of the 200 other types of tissues potentially generated from them - would act the same way as human embryonic stem cells, which were not created in a petri dish. "We don't know if iPS cells can do everything that normal human embryonic stem cells can do," says Lanza. "There are certainly...