Just how often do press releases (PR) get science wrong? A new paper came out from the lab of Matthias Lutolf in Nature Materials that seems interesting. Using a special matrix, reprogramming of cells reportedly worked better. Good stuff. However, a (PR) from the home institution of EPFL and media pick up on the story used …
Squeeze PR on stem cell paper evokes STAP cell bad vibrations, gets corrected Read More »
The FDA has sent a Warning Letter to the Irvine Stem Cell Treatment Center. The leader of Irvine Stem Cell Treatment Center is Dr. Thomas Gionis and the letter was addressed to him. Interestingly, this letter, dated December 30, 2015, contains redactions. At one time this clinic was part of the larger Cell Surgical Network (CSN) …
FDA Warning Letter to Irvine Stem Cell Treatment Center Clinics Across US Read More »
The Nuffield Council on Bioethics has released an open call for information and comments on genetic modification, including on humans and other organisms. I strongly encourage readers to participate and voice your opinions, regardless of whether you lean toward caution or taking risks on genetic modification. Your input will be important for how the Nuffield …
Patients are increasingly being used as guinea pigs in the stem cell for-profit clinic world via what I call stem cell shot-in-the-dark procedures. The clinics have no logical basis for claiming that these treatments work and are safe. As the number of stem cell clinics continues to grow in the US and more physicians add on …
A stem cell shot in the dark: clinics experiment on patients Read More »
I try to catch up on my science reading over the weekends and evenings. Here’s my recommended weekend reading on stem cells & science. Did I miss anything especially cool? Let me know in the comments. Direct reprogramming of skin cells into insulin-producing cells. I love direct reprogramming. Healios and Athersys Enter Into Regenerative Medicine Partnership. …
Recommended weekend reading on stem cells & science Read More »
This is wild! George Church is amazing. And a screenshot below. Wow.
Forget retracting a paper, could Paolo Macchiarini try to get a retraction of Vanity Fair piece on his wild personal life an CV? Macchiarini is one of the more well-known stem cell and regenerative medicine researchers, and not always related to good news. You can see read posts I’ve done on him on this blog including …
Vanity Fair Dissects Stem Cell Surgeon Macchiarini in Exposé Read More »
A lot has been going on in the CRISPR world. Here are some key CRISPR updates. Editas has filed the paperwork on the road to going public as a company. Such an IPO, should it come to fruition, could raise billions of dollars. Will the other CRISPR companies like Caribou and CRISPR Therapeutics follow suit? Simplistically, …
New #CRISPR updates: Editas to go public, patent issues, dragons & more Read More »
What will the new year have in store for stem cells? 2016 promises to have many striking stem cell developments. Below are my top 20 stem cell predictions for what is to come this year in no particular order. Share your stem cell tea leaves in the comments please. Another stem cell biotech acquisition by pharma …
The New York Times recently asked 6 people what sci-fi movie or novel is most prescient today; in my view it’s GATTACA. The responses ran the gamut: Fahrenheit 451, The Martian, The Fifth Season, The Body Snatchers, Book of the New Sun, and Use of Weapons. To me of those 6, the best case can …
NYT asks which sci-fi work is most prescient today: I think GATTACA Read More »