Despite the COVID-19 pandemic there are still some research things we can do including data analysis as well as reading new papers and media articles on science, including regenerative medicine. If the weather’s good and you have wi-fi (or you print articles still on paper) you can even do this out in the fresh air and sunshine, if the weather cooperates.
Here are some recommended recent science and regenerative medicine reads. At the end I add what might be the worst case of science hype I’ve seen in 2020 so far at the intersection of stem cells and COVID-19.
First some COVID-19, novel coronavirus resources:
- The Johns Hopkins count and map page of coronavirus cases and deaths by country. They also included numbers of recovered patients.
- The COVID project page has similar info but focused just in the U.S. and by state, but importantly they also have the number of tests done and negative results.
- The Worldometer page for coronavirus cases tends to have the most up-to-date numbers.
And now some science pubs and media articles.
- IPS cells made from a 114-year-old person. “First supercentenarian-derived stem cells created.” Is there any limit on how old a person can be in terms of making IPS cells from them? I doubt it. This opens the door to regenerative therapies much later in life and modeling of aging.
- From Stem Cells, “Selective killing of leukemia cells: Yamanaka factors’ new trick”
- 2nd person cured of HIV thanks to stem cell transplant.
- From a group of authors led by Dieter Egli in Cell Stem Cell, “How Safe Are Universal Pluripotent Stem Cells?” This concern has also crossed my mind. There is a ton of interest in universal cells including from a firm called Universal Cells that was acquired by Astellas. I really like their logo/motto (see above).
- Plasticity of Lgr5-Negative Cancer Cells Drives Metastasis in Colorectal Cancer
- Clinical impact of clonal hematopoiesis in patients with lymphoma undergoing ASCT: a national population-based cohort study
- “Shrimp” grown from stem cells by startup Shiok Meats in Singapore.
Mondo Hype. And finally, some really mind boggling hype from the Daily Mail about supposed miraculous treatment of COVID-19 patients with stem cells. We’ll see how the rest of the year goes, but this might win the prize as the worst science-medicine hype of 2020. Phrases at the top in bold print said this, “Chinese doctor claims he made a breakthrough in coronavirus pandemic with stem cell injections – having 100% success rate after treating nine mostly elderly patients.” I’ve written before about the hype of stem cells for COVID-19, but also some possible biotech therapeutic products that could be reasonably tested.
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