A risky new Florida stem cell law is likely to come into effect in a matter of weeks as the state senate and house both unanimously passed versions of their respective stem cell bills. I imagine that Florida Governor Ron DeSantis will sign it. It will be effective July 1, opening the door to unproven […]
Upcoming new Florida stem cell law risks far more consumer harm in that state Read More »
It was another crazy week for me with tons of grant work, but news and research in the regenerative medicine world keep on popping up including a paper on MSCs for MS. I’ve realized that even when I’m trying to take a short break, I often see science and signs of stem cells popping up
Weekly reads: stem cells everywhere, MSCs for MS?, nanostickers, Makary update Read More »
The FDA has a new CBER Director Dr. Vinay Prasad. CBER is the FDA’s biologics branch that handles things like cell therapies and vaccines. The branch has been in near-constant upheaval this year. For a time, Scott Steele was acting CBER Director. It wasn’t clear if he was there in a temporary capacity or would
FDA critic Vinay Prasad to run CBER: more politics than experience? Read More »
What are pericytes? What about brain pericytes? How are they different than brain parasites? Pericytes on the brain Someone once asked me my favorite type of cell. As a cell biologist, I easily can’t pick just one. It’s like asking a parent to pick their favorite child. However, I will say that pericytes and microglia
Readers of The Niche will probably recall that I’ve been critical of Google Search on stem cells. The search engine giant does unintended promotion of unproven stem cells and the clinics that sell them, like a Ukrainian clinic whose website Google still seems to view as the world’s expert on stem cells for autism, which,
Google’s Gemini AI schools Google Search on its risky stem cell results Read More »
Stem cells can be serious business, but sometimes stories come along that are just fun like a lady running a marathon dressed as a stem cell. How cool is this: “Louise Cato from Somerset is doing the run to raise money for the charity Anthony Nolan, after her dad had a bone marrow transplant over
Weekly reads: stem cell marathon, Ray Therapeutics, stem cells making you fat? Read More »
The Trump Administration just quickly gutted the FDA including key leadership. What is going to be the impact of this sudden purge? Former Commissioner Robert Califf recently said it is the end of the FDA as we’ve known it. Those are dramatic words, but they seem on the money to me. As a biomedical scientist
Why the FDA & CBER leadership purge will be so bad for biotech Read More »
Some of you may know that gardening is one of my hobbies and I see it as akin to science, even like growing stem cell cultures. Tomatoes are my favorite thing to grow. About ten years ago I started sprouting my own tomato plants from seed. It’s surprisingly easy with grow lights. This way you
Weekly stem cell reads: tomato stem cells, FDA blacklist, CALEC, odd RFK Jr. summit Read More »
A new Florida stem cell bill directly challenges the FDA and its CBER branch. If passed, which seems relatively likely, the Florida bill would become of state trend. A Utah stem cell law and a broader Nevada biologics law legally okay non-FDA approved biologics. These and other pending state efforts pose major risks to FDA
Florida stem cell bill is part of state trend to sidestep FDA Read More »
What’s life as an academic scientist really like now? It’s gotten worse in the U.S. recently. There’s more stress about funding including on levels that we can’t control. I’m writing too many grant proposals these days. I’m wondering how much researchers are now using AI for grant writing, which I have not done. Does AI
Weekly reads: robot scientist, stem cell sperm make a baby, assembloids & sense Read More »