Search Results for: Bryan johnson

Weekly reads: MiMedX & Kimera Labs FDA warnings, NYT on Bryan Johnson, MUSE cell trial

AXIOFILL, MiMedx

Placental biologics firm MiMedx and exosome company Kimera Labs both recently received FDA warning letters. The letter to MiMedx was related to its placental biologics products and procedures. The new warning to Kimera Labs was about its exosome products and an amniotic product. Let’s compare these letters starting with the one to MiMedX. MiMedx warning letter […]

Weekly reads: MiMedX & Kimera Labs FDA warnings, NYT on Bryan Johnson, MUSE cell trial Read More »

Skepticism on the Bryan Johnson anti-aging extravaganza

Oliver Zolman, Bryan Johnson

Near-billionaire Bryan Johnson apparently does not like getting old and he’s trying to do something transformative about it. He and his team are experimenting in a big way.  As a 55-year-old myself, I can’t blame him for wanting to fight aging in general. However, his anti-aging project includes some extreme stuff. Will some in the

Skepticism on the Bryan Johnson anti-aging extravaganza Read More »

Tech Bro Manifestos, AI, and the Future of Biology (& Stem Cells)

Tech Bro Manifestos

How seriously should we take tech bro manifestos? Also, what do the tech bros — the billionaires and centimillionaires who made their fortunes founding, running, or investing in tech companies — have to say specifically about the future of biology including regenerative medicine and stem cell research related to AI? A fair bit, as it

Tech Bro Manifestos, AI, and the Future of Biology (& Stem Cells) Read More »

Grading my 20 stem cell & regenerative medicine predictions for 2024

Stem cell, crystal ball, predictions

Did you predict the major events in the stem cell and regenerative medicine field this year? I tried and today’s post are the grades on my predictions. Prediction is a key part of being a scientist even if we may not think about it that much. For instance, we have to try to predict what

Grading my 20 stem cell & regenerative medicine predictions for 2024 Read More »

Refreshing WSJ piece on longevity ‘guru’ David Sinclair

David sinclair, anti-aging

I’ve written before about concerns related to longevity research hype from Harvard professor David Sinclair. The media often eats up statements about longevity from Sinclair and a few other scientists in that space. There is also endless coverage of the latest exploits of wealthy health influencer Bryan Johnson. For that reason it was refreshing to

Refreshing WSJ piece on longevity ‘guru’ David Sinclair Read More »

Stanford’s Mike Snyder and wellness coach Tony Robbins together yield some puzzling research

Mike Snyder and Tony Robbins, Stanford Tony Robbins

What do you think of when I  mention Stanford professor Mike Snyder and self-help guru Tony Robbins together? I would not necessarily have imagined them forming a connection but science is full of surprises. I’ve admired Snyder’s work in genetics for a long time. I’m most familiar these days with Robbins for his interest in

Stanford’s Mike Snyder and wellness coach Tony Robbins together yield some puzzling research Read More »

Recommended reads: private cord blood bank disappointments, Mammoth genomes, Huntington’s CRISPR, Parkinson’s cell therapy

umbilical-cord-blood, umbilical cord blood stem cells

The private cord blood bank industry has promised families all kinds of great things over the years. A typical ad for such cord blood banks might say, “Your child may need cord blood in the future for a cure.” The industry also often uses the analogy of frozen cord blood as an insurance policy for

Recommended reads: private cord blood bank disappointments, Mammoth genomes, Huntington’s CRISPR, Parkinson’s cell therapy Read More »

Weekly reads: Vertex, stem cells for MS, Athersys, 900-day paper review at Nature

“While still early, these results support the continued progression of our VX-880 clinical studies, as well as future studies using our encapsulated islet cells, which hold the potential to be used without the need for immunosuppression,” said Bastiano Sanna, Ph.D., executive vice president and chief of cell and genetic therapies at Vertex.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals has a lot going for it right now on the cell therapy front. For instance, they have the strongest type 1 diabetes cell therapy pipeline after some recent acquisitions. Still it’s not a simple matter to succeed in the cell therapy space even with one therapy for one targeted disease. Trials are tough

Weekly reads: Vertex, stem cells for MS, Athersys, 900-day paper review at Nature Read More »