There’s nothing quite like getting a new paper out as a scientist running a research lab so this week we can celebrate our new pediatric brain tumor study. I’ll start the weekly reads with that paper. Of course, getting new grants is amazing too but there’s more of a feel of completion after a paper […]
Weekly reads: our new brain tumor paper, levitation, dear doctor, Japan, more Read More »
A new Nature paper argues that young CSF fights brain aging. Young CSF vs. young blood CSF is the cerebrospinal fluid that surrounds the brain, including those of young mice. The claim is that when young CSF is injected into the brain/CNS cavity of old mice, it makes the aged brains seem younger. And function
Nature paper claims young CSF fights brain aging in mice Read More »
This week marked the release of new draft FDA guidance on cell and gene therapies. Is the FDA kind of like the guidance counselor at school or more like the principal? It probably depends on many factors. I also find it funny how pretty much everyone in academia and biotech industry works to be compliant
Weekly reads: New FDA guidance, brains, MSCs, senescence Read More »
Sometimes a paper really catches your eye like a new Cell Stem Cell pub reporting eye-like structures grown on brain organoids. The paper is Human brain organoids assemble functionally integrated bilateral optic vesicles. Let’s take a quick look at this paper, its context, and the potential big-picture implications. Brain organoids with “eyes”? At first glance,
A look at “eyes on the brain organoids” Cell Stem Cell paper Read More »
I’ve been asked many times over the years if stem cell injections at for-profit clinics can help brain function, but recently the more common query is whether brain supplements such as Prevagen actually work. I’m skeptical of both unproven stem cell injections and supplements that are supposed to somehow help the brain, but some of
Jellyfish on the brain: a critical look at Prevagen Read More »
Anyone with a seemingly only semi-functional nervous system now post-election might be turning to science to help their brains bounce back. Here are some of the things I’ve been reading or hope to soon. In good news for the stem cell and regenerative medicine field, especially here in California, it looks like us California voters
Does time seem somewhat warped to anyone else in 2020 even without having had COVID, which could alter brain function? It just seems like with everything going on that time simultaneously both drags and zooms by this year. One sort of reassuring element is that papers keep on being published so we can enjoy cool
Weekly reads: lab meat, crow brain biology, direct reprogramming, more Read More »
My lab’s new paper in Communications Biology focused on high-grade pediatric glioma that have mutant histone variant H3.3 and we did something fairly novel that we are calling reciprocal CRISPR. Kids with these tumors have a near zero survival rate within a few years of diagnosis so we as a field desperately need something new to give
Reciprocal CRISPR gene editing in pediatric glioma: defining mechanisms & testing drugs Read More »
What’s new in the stem cell, cell therapy, and regenerative medicine world as well as biomedical science more generally including cancer? There’s quite a bit of news as reflected in media pieces and new pubs. Today’s post is focused on pubs that just came out. For last week’s recommended reads see here. Oct4-Sox2 Nucleosome Binding
OCT4-SOX DNA dance, PRC2, a noisy competition & more cell weekly reads Read More »
What’s the deal with Michael Schumacher and his Hail Mary stem cell procedure. Usually when we hear about celebrities getting unproven stem cells, it’s the celebrity themselves or their PR machine hyping it in exchange for something like free treatments or even money from those offering the stem cells for sale, but in the past
Probing F1 legend Michael Schumacher stem cell juice story Read More »