Scientist He Jiankui(贺建奎) has been sentenced to 3 years in prison by Chinese authorities. Two collaborators also will go to jail. A piece in Science by Dennis Normile on the sentencing of He Jiankui ID’d the other two: “His collaborators were identified as Zhang Renli, of a medical institution in Guangdong province, and Qin Jinzhou, from a Shenzhen …
Perspectives on CRISPR baby guy He Jiankui (贺建奎) going to jail Read More »
Last year around this time I took my annual plunge to make 20 predictions for the coming year for the stem cell and regenerative medicine field. I even made a crystal ball graphic to highlight the complexity of the stem cell ecosystem into which these predictions were embedded (see image) for 2019. How’d I do? …
B+ on my report card on my 20 stem cell predictions for 2019 Read More »
Masayo Takahashi is a leading stem cell researcher doing translational and clinical research on vision. She’s doing pioneering work on using pluripotent stem cells as a basis for helping patients with vision loss such as due to macular degeneration. She won The Niche’s Stem Cell Person of the Year Award in 2014 and a number …
Masayo Takahashi (高橋 政代): exciting vision work advancing including with photoreceptors Read More »
The NIH announced the launch of the 1st autologous induced pluripotent stem (IPS) cell trial for vision loss in the U.S., focused on macular degeneration. The protocol is based on a solid foundation of pre-clinical animal studies: “Researchers at the National Eye Institute (NEI) are launching a clinical trial to test the safety of a …
1st autologous IPS cell clinical trial for vision loss in the US Read More »
Umbilical “stem cell” supplier Liveyon has suspended sales of its products according to the WaPo after a harsh FDA warning letter. While not fully shutting off the tap to the perinatal stem cell clinic universe, as other suppliers including in Utah seem to be continuing, this Liveyon voluntary hold will equal a major reduction in …
Why did clinic supplier Liveyon halt sales but others kept going despite FDA? Read More »
A variety of states have stepped up to address unproven stem cell clinics within their borders and the latest is Vermont. According to the VTDigger and writer Anne Wallace Allen, the Vermont Medical Society is planning a number of steps to address this situation. For example, at their encouragement a Vermont lawmaker will introduce legislation …
Michael Le Page over at The New Scientist reports on a new paper describing the birth of monkey-piglet chimeras. Unlike most such primate embryo chimeras formed in research in the past, these were allowed to be born. A litter of ten from the new monkey-pig research, two of which were chimeras, all rather quickly died …
Monkey-pig chimeras pub discouraging for similar human research toward organ transplants Read More »
By Jeanne Loring 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 blast off! It’s good to get out of the lab occasionally to get a different perspective. Last Thursday, December 5, I got a very different perspective, in Cape Canaveral, Florida, where I got to watch the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft be launched by …
Stem cells blast into space: Jeanne Loring on the big launch & project specs Read More »
Friday and Saturday showed a burst in FDA activity related to unproven stem cells and regenerative products including a warning letter to the unproven perinatal “stem cell” provider Liveyon. This was an unusual 48-hour period and a very good one for those who believe in science-based regenerative medicine but in my view a bad day …
FDA spike: clinic supplier Liveyon warning letter & 483s; notice on exosome harms Read More »
Washington Post reporters William Wan and Laurie McGinley have a new piece on the unproven regenerative clinic firm the Lung Health Institute. This article has a number of surprises and new insights. Previously the Lung Health Institute was called just the Lung Institute. It was recently acquired by the publicly-traded company H-CYTE, stock symbol HCYT. In the …
‘I’d need a drink’: WaPo deep dive on clinic firm Lung Health Institute Read More »