Year: 2016

A feast of post-Thanksgiving stem cell news bites

March 1, 2021 / By
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Rainbow stem cell clones. From Scientific Reports: NF-kappaΒ-inducing kinase regulates stem cell phenotype in breast cancer. How to harvest stem cells from teeth Stem Cell Transplant Startup With Harvard Tech, Magenta Therapeutics, Gets $48.5M Neurogenic Radial Glia-like Cells in Meninges Migrate and Differentiate into Functionally Integrated Neurons in the Neonatal Cortex (from Cell Stem Cell). Researchers Grow Functioning Human Intestines, Nerves Using Stem …

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Tribute to Ted Harada, pioneering stem cell trial participant and ALS advocate

February 1, 2021 / By / 4 Comments
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It takes a great deal of courage to participate in a clinical trial, patients who make that choice are heroes in my book and one such hero with stem cells was Ted Harada who had ALS. Sadly, Ted passed away from a brain tumor called glioblastoma last month. When enrolling in a trial, you just never …

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SCOTS Study on Stem Cells for Vision: Still Questions as Patient Alleges Harm

February 1, 2021 / By / 2 Comments
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I’m hearing more questions from the community about alleged harm from stem cell clinics selling stem cells for a number of vision-related conditions and some concerns include the so-called SCOTS study. I first blogged about SCOTS early this year and back then I myself had questions too. Some commenters then raised concerns or questions about SCOTS in …

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Trump Has FDA in Crosshairs: Impact on Stem Cell Oversight?

February 1, 2021 / By / 1 Comment
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Will Trump trump the FDA? Our President-elect recently released his health care policy agenda and it looks like the FDA is a target in terms of reducing oversight. Over at the Washington Post, Carolyn Johnson has a nice article on this development. One point in the agenda in particular has caught people’s attention as potentially the key …

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Risky science metaphor: BDNF as ‘Miracle-Gro for the brain’

February 1, 2021 / By
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I appreciate fun linguistic approaches to explaining science such as a good science metaphor and I use them myself at times, but sometimes these end up risking doing much more harm than good. The best or should I say worst example I’ve heard recently is referring to a growth factor called BDNF as “Miracle-Gro for the brain”. …

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A collection of scientist responses to Trump election

February 1, 2021 / By / 3 Comments
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I’m organizing my own thinking on how Trump’s election will impact science and stem cell/regenerative medicine research in particular and will post on that soon, but for now here are some of the early responses I’ve seen where scientists comment on this big, unexpected event and key questions. These are in addition to the almost …

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Internal FDA Fighting on Sarepta Bad Omen for Stem Cell Oversight?

February 1, 2021 / By / 8 Comments
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The FDA caused major controversy by approving the drug Exondys 51 from Sarepta Therapeutics for treating Duchenne muscular dystrophy over the recommendations of a scientific panel it convened that had voted 7-3 against approval. Is this contentious Sarepta approval serve as a sign of how the FDA will deal with stem cells moving forward? Will the FDA approval, which …

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REGROW Act, Mark Kirk Lobbying & Contributions Yield Stem Cell Surprises

June 6, 2022 / By / 1 Comment
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The money behind a piece of legislation can provide unique insights into the back story and this is definitely true for the REGROW Act that would reduce FDA oversight of the investigational use of stem cells in patients. Senator Mark Kirk of Illinois, who is facing probable defeat next week in his reelection bid according to …

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Samantha Yammine: Multiple filters for stem cell research at Canadian stem cell conference

December 22, 2023 / By
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By Samantha Yammine, PhD Candidate in Derek van der Kooy’s lab at the University of Toronto. See tweets live from #TMM2016 via @SamanthaZY here. Last week, 430 Canadian scientists, trainees, industry professionals, science communicators and international guests gathered in the picturesque ski town of Whistler, British Columbia for the annual Till & McCulloch meeting (TMM). …

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Giant Pumpkin Stem Cell Supplement Cream: Halloween Satire

February 1, 2021 / By / 3 Comments
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We’ve bottled the power of giant pumpkin stem cell magic and are providing it to the world! Giant Pumpkin Stem Cell Elixir Anti-aging Supplement & Cream-In-OneTM is your ticket to a better life. What does this stem cell supplement do? It’s all good and huge! Celebrities are some of our biggest customers. Even if they …

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