If only humans could master regeneration. It seems like that would open the door to far better health. Maybe to longer life too. We can see how many other creatures innately can regenerate organs. I can see it in the lizards that run around in my garden. Every now and then I see one with […]
After all this time writing on The Niche here since 2010, I still haven’t entirely resolved certain blogging dilemmas including when a patient discloses something. It’s kind of a jungle out there on the internet. What kinds of tough blogging dilemmas do I face? I’m just going to give you some examples of the more common
Stem cell blogging dilemmas: patient disclosures, lawsuits, & more Read More »
Stem cell clinics and suppliers have been getting into the business of making promotional films to generate more revenue, but now there’s something very different in the cinematic stem cell arena called From Jail Cell to Stem Cell by filmmaker Doug Orchard. It is at its heart an exposé film about some in my view particularly concerning stem
Review of clinic exposé film From Jail Cell to Stem Cell Read More »
Up until now Utah hasn’t immediately come to mind as a hub for stem cell issues, but things are heating up there in 2019. Utah? I was going to do a blog post here on The Niche last month about perinatal (birth-related) biologics and stem cell-related supply companies in Utah. Some of their customers appear
‘Bottom of stem cell barrel’? Utah piece sparks legal threat Read More »
University of Minnesota bioethicist Leigh Turner has been threatened with a lawsuit by a stem cell clinic-related business. Lawsuit threats in this arena come up every so often and as much as they are unpleasant realities, they can also reveal some important aspects of the stem cell arena. Ars Technica reported yesterday that Leigh’s recent paper
Stem cell clinic-related biz threatens researcher with lawsuit, wants retraction Read More »
By Elliot Hosman Summary. A campaign calling for a moratorium on using CRISPR in human embryos was launched by a prominent French organization fighting for narrow understandings of life and family. A recent campaign calling for a ban on “transgenic” human embryos was launched by one of France’s most prominent organizations fighting for “science”-backed “one-man-one-woman”
Hateful politics infiltrate human genome editing debate in France Read More »
Here are some weekend science reads for you. A new type of “magic” mushroom? MIT Tech Review on lack of oversight of new GMO foods coming to your plate. DrugMonkey’s piece on lab labor and specifically whether undergrads “count” drew a lot of comments there. Of course they count in my view. Leonid Schneider goes after
Weekend science reads: lab labor, pubs, CRISPR mushrooms, money & more Read More »
Now we have an interesting panel starting on questions of governance on human gene editing. This will focus on institutional and national levels of governance. Pilar N. Ossorio, University of Wisconsin, Madison, and Morgridge Institute for Research, is introducing the panel. Key question: how should emerging technologies being governed? Jonathan Kimmelman, from McGill, was the first
Live Blogging #GeneEditSummit Day 2 Post #1: Governance of human gene editing Read More »
What should the stem cell field try to do about cowboy stem cell clinics? By this term I mean those that don’t follow the rules. They shoot stem cells into customers first and ask questions later. I’ve interacted with many patients over the years who are interested in stem cells. This interaction is growing much
Dilemmas When Patients Ponder Cowboy Stem Cell Clinics Read More »
Stem cell-based Regenerative Medicine has huge power for good in the clinic and at the same time great potential for economic development. Those two things go hand in hand. As I argued in my stem cell book, biotech commercialization of stem cells is not a bad thing, but rather if it is done responsibly it
Reflecting on Regenerative Medicine As A Brand Read More »