In all the time I’ve been a scientist I never worried about American science until the last month. Even during the first Trump administration, while there were challenges, I felt like things would generally be okay. Research continued. One of my daughters and I went to the Science March in 2017 in Sacramento. We bumped […]
Weekly reads: blowtorch to American science, stem cells for teeth & stroke Read More »
The marketing of what are loosely referred to as “regenerative peptides” including BPC-157 makes many health claims. Yet I can’t see that any have been conclusively proven to work in people. Even so, RFK Jr. claimed that the FDA was suppressing useful peptides. He mentioned this along with supposed suppression of “stem cells”. So maybe
RFK Jr. & claimed regenerative peptides like BPC-157 Read More »
It’s been an exhausting week for anyone who cares about the NIH and biomedical research, but in today’s weekly reads I want to talk about another kind of fatigue: stem cell exhaustion. Please subscribe to The Niche Before we get into that, I’d like to ask a favor: please subscribe to this site, The Niche.
Weekly reads: stem cell exhaustion, Lineage Cell trial, Iowa AG wins vs. clinics Read More »
There were many reasons for the U.S. Senate not to confirm RFK Jr. as HHS Secretary. Reasons that transcended politics. Nonetheless, Senate Republicans confirmed him today for that post. Some of them had voiced serious concerns before including one physician Senator, Dr. Bill Cassidy, but they all voted for Kennedy anyway. All except Mitch McConnell,
Initial reactions to RFK Jr. being HHS Secretary Read More »
I first learned about woolly dogs when researching woolly mammoth de-extinction. It turns out that there are or were many woolly creatures besides sheep. If you have to de-extinct something, I say let’s try to bring back the woolly dog and forget the mammoths. More on that in a minute. What are woolly dogs? Woolly
What were woolly dogs and should they be de-extincted over mammoths? Read More »
When I think of so-called aging supplements, visions of snake oil dance in my head. Possible benefits of supplements more generally have mostly not held up to long-term research. Supplements have risks too and so do purported longevity supplements. These pills claiming to fight aging are more in the realm of stem cell supplements that
Weekly reads: Altos Labs aging supplements pub, destructive NIH cuts, FDA warning, HSCs Read More »
What is Chara Biologics? Why did the FDA just warn them and another firm? FDA’s CBER keeps up fast pace of warnings Before we get into that, the FDA biologics branch, CBER, has more generally kept up an unprecedented pace of warning letters over the past 13 months. I wrote late last year how 2024
A Texas firm called INCELL Corporation has received an FDA warning letter about an amniotic product it manufactures. The letter was addressed to the firm’s founder and leader Dr. Mary Pat Moyer. The letter is somewhat unusual as Dr. Moyer is the Chief Science Officer of INCELL, and is an academic scientist with over 250
NAE member Mary Pat Moyer on FDA Warning Letter to her firm INCELL Corporation Read More »
Biologist and ancient DNA expert Beth Shapiro is becoming more well known for doing de-extinction research. Yet Shapiro used to be a de-extinction skeptic. Ten years ago she wrote “How to Clone a Mammoth.” In the book she mentioned serious challenges related to de-extinction. Now she is the CSO for a firm trying to make
Weekly reads: Beth Shapiro & de-extinction, mice with two dads, stem cell patches Read More »
What are possible side effects of stem cell therapy ? Patients often reach out to ask about such risks They usually refer to unproven stem cell clinics. Today’s post addresses the scope of stem cell therapy side effects and risks based on available hard data. It’s also important to discuss possible unknown risks. Stem cell
Stem cell therapy side effects & risks at clinics Read More »