Weekly Reads

The Niche’s recommended Weekly Reads on stem cell research and regenerative medicine.

Weekly reads: KRAS G12C, eLife journal controversy, bird iPSCs

KRAS mutations, KRAS G12C

If you’ve never heard of the KRAS G12C mutation, it’s a particularly frightening mutation present in numerous cancers. Like the MYC oncogene, many people view mutations in RAS as undruggable, but new efforts show some glimmers of hope. The drug Sotorasib has been approved by the FDA to target the KRAS G12C mutation. Here’s a […]

Weekly reads: KRAS G12C, eLife journal controversy, bird iPSCs Read More »

Weekly reads: chimera cat vs. chimeric rat, cheap sequencing, more

Venus, cat chimera

When you are a stem cell biologist and especially if you do a blog, you sometimes run across very strange things like a chimera cat. In this case, I stumbled on the whole topic of chimeric cats because I was searching for info on chimeric rats on Google. Of course, I was. It’s kind of

Weekly reads: chimera cat vs. chimeric rat, cheap sequencing, more Read More »

Weekly reads: upbeat stem cell clinical trials update, CRISPR ups & downs, story of 1st marrow transplant survivor

stem cell clinical trials

It’s always great to read about stem cell clinical trials that are looking encouraging. Stem cell clinical trials Proving a new therapy is safe and effective is so challenging. Remarkably, there are more than 9,300 stem cell clinical trials listed for a “stem cell” search on Clinicaltrials.gov. Of course, not all of these are actual

Weekly reads: upbeat stem cell clinical trials update, CRISPR ups & downs, story of 1st marrow transplant survivor Read More »

Weekly stem cell reads: bat stem cells, brainier organoids, more

bat stem cell

I’m working to send out a big grant on Tuesday so I’m busier than ever but a few stem cell and regenerative medicine stories caught my eye. I can’t write grants 24/7 without a few breaks although sometimes it feels like that’s what I’m doing. Bat stem cell derivation Pluripotent bat stem cells as a

Weekly stem cell reads: bat stem cells, brainier organoids, more Read More »

Weekly reads: stem cell activator, sleep & stem cells, clonal hematopoiesis

stem cells macrophages, stem cell activator

When people find out that I’m a stem cell researcher, a common question is whether there’s something they can take that is a stem cell activator. I’ve written before about whether there are stem cell boosts that one can do to try to be healthier. Sleep, stem cell activator and clonality Mostly when I bring

Weekly reads: stem cell activator, sleep & stem cells, clonal hematopoiesis Read More »

Recommended reads: stem cells for ALS treatment trial, epigenome editing, astronaut mutations, ‘3-person embryo’ DNA

stem cells for ALS treatment

A new stem cells for ALS treatment trial represents a big step forward. It’s early days still but this trial shows feasibility and provides a helpful foundation for moving forward. It also highlights challenges. The work is from a team led by Clive Svendsen. Stem cells for ALS treatment trial Here’s the study. Transplantation of

Recommended reads: stem cells for ALS treatment trial, epigenome editing, astronaut mutations, ‘3-person embryo’ DNA Read More »

Weekly reads: CRISPR, FDA stem cell loss, pioneering AMD study, MS, Verve Therapeutics

FDA stem cell policy flow chart.

The big news of the week was the big FDA stem cell in court by Judge Jesus Bernal here in California, who ruled in favor of a chain of stem cell clinics called Cell Surgical Network. The FDA had been seeking an injunction against the clinics. I believe the ruling was founded in part on

Weekly reads: CRISPR, FDA stem cell loss, pioneering AMD study, MS, Verve Therapeutics Read More »

Weekly reads: taste buds, organoids, good news on CRISPR safety

Taste buds diagram

As I’ve mentioned recently, it’s my busy time for medical school teaching and not long ago we did a GI lab that included one of my favorite structures in the course: taste buds. Taste buds The medical students seem fascinated with taste buds too. I can tell as their professor when something is particularly interesting

Weekly reads: taste buds, organoids, good news on CRISPR safety Read More »

Weekly stem cell reads: aging & cells, iPS cell mutations, gut, more

Stem cells aging

Does aging do something to time so it seems like as you get older that time goes by faster? Remember as a little kid when summer seemed to last forever and car rides could be agonizingly long? I’ve heard two theories on this. One is that the brain’s baseline of activity slows down with aging

Weekly stem cell reads: aging & cells, iPS cell mutations, gut, more Read More »

Subscribe to Our Newsletter

Be the first to know about the latest developments in stem cell and regenerative medicine research.