Month: October 2018

Stem Cells in Space

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By Jeanne Loring Stem cells boldly go… Last week at the New York Stem Cell Foundation (NYSCF) conference at Rockefeller University in New York City, we announced our collaborative project to study the effects of microgravity on neurons derived from patient-specific induced pluripotent stem cells.  The press release is here. Susan Solomon, the CEO of …

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Stem cell clinic supplier Liveyon tries to regenerate itself after FDA recall

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You probably remember Liveyon. It’s a marketer of an “umbilical cord stem cell” product that was recently recalled by the FDA. The recall was due to adverse events that may have included E. coli contamination somewhere before it was injected into patients, some of whom apparently got sick. Since it seemed like this recalled product was …

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Anversa debacle vs. STAP cell train wreck & what’s next

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Remember when the Piero Anversa situation first made news or at least when you first heard about it? In the public domain, it was back around April 2014. I didn’t even do a whole post on it, but rather it made two bullet points in a post about a set of bad overall news including the latest …

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Stem cells for autism: time to hit pause in 2018?

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Stem cells for autism? After watching this area for many years, I’m not sure there’s any “there there”. There are logical reasons to think that certain stem cells might help many specific diseases, but in my view autism isn’t likely to be one of them. I hope I’m wrong, but today at least in 2018, …

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101-year old lady cured? Groundbreaking FTC Action on Stem Cell Clinic Marketing

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The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) took some strong action against specific stem cell clinics today and the physician behind them. I see this as really good news and it’s something I’ve been pushing for years. The clinics in question in part marketed unproven stem cells for sick kids. Frankly, iffy for-profit stem cell “treatments” for …

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Call for 31 Anversa retractions by Harvard; heart stem cell concept broken?

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In a stunner, Harvard and Brigham & Women’s Hospital reportedly have jointly called for the retraction of 31 papers on heart stem cell research authored by embattled heart stem cell researcher Piero Anversa. The scoop on this by STAT/Retraction Watch written by Ivan Oransky and Adam Marcus gives further details on this mess and past …

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Highlights of Science Writers DC Stem Cell Panel with FDA’s Peter Marks

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I’m enjoying attending and speaking at the annual Science Writers 2018 meeting in D.C. where I spoke this morning on a panel about stem cells. The session was specifically on the Wild West of stem cells. You can follow the meeting events on Twitter with the #sciwri18 hashtag. I had three wonderful fellow panelists, Marilynn Marchione of …

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FDA recalls Liveyon stem cell product: blow to big clinic supplier?

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The FDA has issued a recall of the main stem cell product of a California firm called Liveyon that is linked to unproven stem cell clinics. The recall seems to have been due to “adverse reactions.” An emerging big player in the birth-related stem cell clinic area? I’ve been hearing the name Liveyon pop up …

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Papers on artificial embryos and muscle stem cells

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If you are sick of the general news lately, I recommend turning to the wonder of cool science like the thought-provoking data in the duo of new stem cell pubs discussed below including on artificial embryos. Synthetic embryos A team led by Alfonso Martinez-Arias reports new findings in their Nature letter in the growing area …

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