Somehow time has flown by so that I’ve been around for ages in the stem cell universe and some unproven stem cell clinic-type firms, like the well-known Panama stem cell clinic that sells autism “treatments”, are also long-timers. It’s been an odd parallel existence for more than a decade. Today’s post is focused on this […]
Fact-Checking Panama stem cell institute: cost, safety, efficacy, docs Read More »
Is a head transplant actually going to be an option for extending life or changing what it means to be human? What about brain transplants? Let’s lump head and brain transplants together. Any possibility of this happening in coming decades? How close are we to that reality in 2023? In today’s post I give an update.
Head transplant surgery update & fact check Read More »
The stem cell field has puzzled on and off for years over a constellation of papers on purported stem cells including so-called VSEL and MUSE cells. Many of us haven’t been convinced that these are real stem cells. I see VSEL and MUSE fitting into a larger pattern of dubious stem cell claims including the STAP
STAP cell deja vu? 28 VSEL papers flagged by Bik Read More »
Last week I wrote a long post detailing the troubling multimillion-dollar reverberations between the Duke Autism Center and a for-profit stem cell clinic. The clinic in Panama is The Stem Cell Institute. The potential entanglements raise a bunch of questions and concerns. They center on questionable, unproven autism “treatments”. In Duke’s case, their own clinical
More Duke Autism Center backstory: stem cell ‘magic’ & money Read More »
Back in May, the FDA cautioned a stem cell clinic firm called R3 Stem Cell and its leader David Greene about what they were doing. Importantly, the agency indicated that some of R3’s stem cells may be unapproved drug products. FDA and R3 Stem Cell While the FDA didn’t send R3 Stem Cell a formal warning
When people discuss “fat stem cells” they usually mean “stromal vascular fraction” or SVF. While references to fat or adipose stem cells can sometimes mean non-SVF materials, these days adipose SVF gets the most attention. But, does anyone have a clear picture of this biologic? Fortunately, it’s starting to come more into focus in recent years
What is stromal vascular fraction or SVF? Read More »
The perinatal stem cell clinic supplier Liveyon has had many issues recently including an FDA inspection that in my view didn’t go well and which I’ll return to in a minute. First, some background on the company and this troubled industry. E. coli and other pathogens ended up in some of the Liveyon product somehow
Dissecting Liveyon FDA inspection report & troubled perinatal stem cell industry Read More »
The birth-related stem cell clinic industry is a serious problem for patients, the stem cell field, and the FDA as the clinics sell more and more of what I think of as “zombie” injections. Zombie stem cells One of the biggest changes in the last 2 years in the unproven stem cell clinic arena was
Sales of zombie stem cells continue to mushroom Read More »
Who decides whether a stem cell therapy is “good” or “bad”, and should that kind of a judgment be more focused on direct patient perspectives such as their stem cell therapy reviews as consumers or based on biomedical science? Both? I’ve written before about how stem cell patients are increasingly thinking of themselves as consumers
Stem cell therapy reviews: knees, lung, autism, & Regenexx Read More »
When I read about a stem cell penis growth injection, what comes to mind first when you read that is “Ow!” The goal of today’s post is to fact-check this whole area. What’s in this article Stem cell penis growth | Risks |US Stem Cell Clinic claims |Does it work? | Does size matter? | Data check
Stem cell penile growth fact check Read More »