Researchers from the International Mouse Phenotypic Consortium have published the comprehensive phenotypes of more than 3,300 knockout mice, describing mouse models for 360 diseases.

LONDON – A $1 billion program to develop vaccines against emerging infectious diseases that, like Zika and Ebola viruses, have the potential to cause serious epidemics, will be launched at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

Mitochondrial DNA with mutations was sometimes preferentially replicated after spindle transfer to donor eggs, with the end result that the mutated mitochondria were once again dominant after transplantation.

Spinalcyte LLC, of Houston, reported results from phase II animal studies testing human dermal fibroblasts (HDFs) for transplantation in intevertebral disc degeneration.

Scientists from Harvard University have engineered stomach cells to have functional similarities to pancreatic beta cells, including the ability to produce insulin and prevent hyperglycemia (high blood sugar) when they were transplanted into mice.

Asterias Biotherapeutics Inc., of Fremont, Calif., and Biotime Inc., of Alameda, Calif., along with Biotime's wholly owned subsidiary ES Cell International Pte Ltd., have entered into a share transfer agreement through which Biotime will re-acquire from Asterias shares of capital stock of Biotime subsidiaries Cell Cure Neurosciences Ltd. and Orthocyte Corp.

Researchers at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center have developed a method for identifying cell lines that could be used as a chemical screen to simultaneously predict multiple pathway-level effects of drugs.

Researchers from Harvard Medical School and the Brazilian Universidade de Sao Paulo have discovered a gene variant that could counteract the effects of mutant dystrophin.