USC researcher reveals how to better master stem cells’ fate

By Cristy Lytal

Qi-Long Ying and a team of researchers have discovered new ways to encourage human embryonic stem cells like these to self-renew. (Photo/Courtesy Qi-Long Ying) Qi-Long Ying and a team of researchers have discovered new ways to encourage human embryonic stem cells like these to self-renew.
(Photo/Courtesy Qi-Long Ying)

USC scientist Qi-Long Ying, PhD, MSc, and a team of researchers have long been searching for biotech’s version of the fountain of youth — ways to encourage embryonic stem cells (ESCs) and epiblast stem cells (EpiSCs) to endlessly self-renew, or divide to produce more stem cells.

In a pair of studies published in Nature Communications in September and a study in The EMBO Journal in August, Ying and his team revealed some of the ways that ESCs and EpiSCs retain their pluripotency, or ability to differentiate into virtually any kind of cell. … Read More »

October 18th, 2013|Announcements|

Research team discovers protein’s ability to help and hinder cancer

By Cristy Lytal

Can the same gene prevent and promote cancer? When it comes to liver cancer, the gene that codes for P53, a protein found in humans and many other animals, can indeed do both.

In a pair of articles published in Oncogene and the Journal of Hepatology, Qi-Long Ying, PhD, associate professor of cell and neurobiology at the Eli and Edythe Broad Center for Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research at USC, and a team of researchers revealed that P53 can both help and harm a liver exposed to carcinogenic chemicals. … Read More »

October 18th, 2013|Announcements|

VIETNAMESE VISITORS SEE VALUE IN VENOM

A group of top government science and technology officials from Vietnam visited USC on Sept. 17, touring the Health Sciences Campus and meeting with researchers. … Read More »

October 18th, 2013|Announcements|

High school students hit the lab for summer learning at Keck School

By Leslie Ridgeway

Jason Chen and Diana Zhou, both seniors at Diamond Bar High School, part of the Summer High School Advanced Research Program, work on a device they designed and built to measure reaction time. They envision using a form of the device in a future medical technology designed to warn surgeons of potential errors during procedures. (Photo/Jon Nalick) Jason Chen and Diana Zhou, both seniors at Diamond Bar High School, part of the Summer High School Advanced Research Program, work on a device they designed and built to measure reaction time. They envision using a form of the device in a future medical technology designed to warn surgeons of potential errors during procedures.
(Photo/Jon Nalick)

While many high school students were spending their summer working at coffee shops and restaurants or on their tans, a group of more than 20 students from private and public high schools throughout the Los Angeles area dug in to intensive science projects as part of a new program based at the Keck School of Medicine of USC.

The Summer High School Advanced Research Program (SHSARP) gave students eight weeks of hands-on experience in several labs, including ophthalmology, cell and neurobiology and preventive medicine at the Keck School, and at the USC School of Pharmacy, USC School of Dentistry, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, and the USC Viterbi School of Engineering. … Read More »

October 18th, 2013|Announcements|

Friends’ Facebook, MySpace photos affect risky behavior among teens

By Alison Trinidad

Teenagers who see friends smoking and drinking alcohol in photographs posted on Facebook and MySpace are more likely to smoke and drink themselves, according to a new study.

“Our study shows that adolescents can be influenced by their friends’ online pictures to smoke or drink alcohol,” said Thomas W. Valente, PhD, professor of preventive medicine at the Keck School of Medicine of USC and the study’s principal investigator. “To our knowledge, this is the first study to apply social network analysis methods to examine how teenagers’ activities on online social networking sites influence their smoking and alcohol use.” … Read More »

October 18th, 2013|Announcements|