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 »
Just the phrase “dire wolf de-extinction” evokes many things including Game of Thrones. It seems very cool. However, the new claim by biotech Colossal Biosciences that they brought back these unique canines (they were real but are now extinct) seems to me about as real as those giant mythical canines on the TV show. Yet
Calling out colossal baloney on supposed dire wolf de-extinction Read More »
New FDA Commissioner Marty Makary has brought on Dr. Tracy Beth Hoeg (or Høeg) as a special assistant. Hoeg has had some controversial views on COVID. She has seemed skeptical of certain elements of vaccination, masking, and school closing. What struck me is that she also has offered unproven cell therapies at a clinic here
New Makary FDA aide Dr. Tracy Hoeg has offered unproven stem cells Read More »
I want to discuss a recent development with Humacyte and the FDA, but first, please check out a new video below that is a discussion between student Parmin Sedigh and me on the idea of stem cells for heart disease. Parmin has also written for The Niche and has her own site too. I am impressed
Weekly reads: Humacyte, retinal stem cells, stem cell therapy for knees & hearts Read More »
How bad could things get with RFK Jr. changing the FDA’s approach to unproven stem cells? I’ve been asking myself this for months since Kennedy’s post that mentioned stem cells on X. New developments suggest things will get much worse. Up until about a week or two ago, my feeling has been that things could
“Very scary”: Per Marks, RFK Jr. aiming for weaker regs on unproven stem cells Read More »
Peter Marks resigned last week as CBER director and now Dr. Scott Steele is the new acting biologics branch director. Marks resigned under pressure and went out firing back, referring to lies and other issues of HHS Secretary RFK Jr. One of the first things I thought when I heard about Marks’ departure was, “who
Most of us want longevity, especially if our quality of life remains generally solid as we age. The combination of length and quality of life is sometimes called “healthspan.” How do we get the maximum health span? Easier said than done. Not all of the obstacles are biological either. Unfortunately, accompanying all the legitimate research
Weekly reads: Topol on longevity biz, Peter Marks out at FDA, timeless NIH grant advice Read More »
Jay Bhattacharya just got confirmed to lead the NIH yesterday. In that role, there are reasons to think he may discourage or even stop some important research and funding. As a stem cell biologist, I’ve been looking out for indications of possible restrictions on our field’s work during the new administration. Bhattacharya’s statements signal potential
NIH Director Jay Bhattacharya could oppose fetal tissue & some stem cell research Read More »