The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has joined an investigation into how four Chicago transplant recipients contracted HIV and hepatitis C from a single organ donor. Hospital officials have confirmed that two patients from the University of Chicago Medical Center, one from Northwestern Memorial Hospital and one at Rush University Medical Center tested positive [Sign in to read the full article...]

A research team from the United States and a second one from Japan have found ways to coax human skin cells to act like powerful embryonic stem cells without using human embryos or controversial cloning techniques, sidestepping ethical obstacles facing the field, the Toronto Star reports. The results, reported last week, could revolutionize stem-cell research [Sign in to read the full article...]

Cloned embryos have been created from an adult monkey for the first time, leading scientists to speculate that cloning human embryos using stem-cell therapies is a significant possibility, the Times of London reports. Researchers at the Oregon National Primate Research Center created two colonies of embryonic stem cells from embryos cloned from the DNA of [Sign in to read the full article...]

Four Chinese transplant recipients are under close watch after the donor of their organs was later found to have a cancerous tumor, the web site news.gov.hk reports. Hong Kong’s Hospital Authority said the 46-year-old donor died in Queen Elizabeth Hospital on Oct. 26 after several days of intensive therapy for a fall. At the time, [Sign in to read the full article...]

Researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine have discovered a way to transplant new blood-forming stem cells in the bone marrow of laboratory mice, effectively replacing their immune systems. The study was published in the Nov. 23 issue of Science. Many aspects of the technique would need to be adapted before it can be [Sign in to read the full article...]