A Stem Cell Zoo: basic and translational research on comparative mammalian species

Event Details

Date:

Tuesday, 24 November 2015

Time:

12:00 pm - 1:00 pm

Room:

Large Seminar Room, Level 3,

UQ Location:

Queensland Bioscience Precinct (St Lucia)

URL:

http://www.qaafi.uq.edu.au/qaafi-science-seminars-2015

Event category(s):

Full Description:: The recent advent of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) has transformed our ability to explore the embryonic development, and origins of disease, in comparative mammal species. Because iPSCs are adult cells that have been reprogrammed to an embryonic stem cell-like state, they also afford unprecedented prospects for cell-based therapies and regenerative medicine. Our research uses iPSCs in efforts towards developing therapies for osteoarthritis in dogs and horses, devil facial tumour disease in the Tasmanian devil, and to better understand the pathogenesis of Hendra virus in horses. iPSCs from the platypus and Tasmanian devil have also allowed us to explore, for the first time, the evolution of the genes and regulatory mechanisms involved in establishing pluripotency in mammals.