Weekly Reads

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

Recommended reads: Shinya interview, MYC-MAX & extra digits, microglia as a therapy, oocyte maintenance

N-myc, heterochromatin

The proto-oncogene MYC is one of those factors studied in thousands of papers. MYC and its dimerize partner MAX are also seemingly involved in just about everything. They have crucial roles in many kinds of stem cells including adult and embryonic stem cells. One way or another MYC induction seems very helpful for cellular reprogramming […]

Recommended reads: Shinya interview, MYC-MAX & extra digits, microglia as a therapy, oocyte maintenance Read More »

Recommended reads: Nature Catherine Verfaillie retraction, Horvath paper, Vertex

Catherine Verfaillie retraction, Catherine Verfaillie

When I was first really getting into stem cells as a trainee the name Catherine Verfaillie came up as a scientist to watch in the adult stem cell area. It wasn’t too long after that though that I started hearing that some of the work from her lab at the University of Minnesota was being

Recommended reads: Nature Catherine Verfaillie retraction, Horvath paper, Vertex Read More »

Recommended reads: gov scientists fear Trump 2nd term, MYCT1 in HSCs, in vivo editing

Trump

I’ve only met one scientist who was openly a Trump fan, but I’m sure there are more out there. Still, it seems most scientists are no fans of the former president. A new WaPo piece highlights how federal scientists are worrying about a possible second term for the former president. Government scientists & a second

Recommended reads: gov scientists fear Trump 2nd term, MYCT1 in HSCs, in vivo editing Read More »

Recommended reads: FDA warning on stem cells for pets, chromatin, aging & HSCs

Safari Stem Cell, stem cells for pets

When I first saw the new FDA warning on stem cells for pets and the logo for the company that received it, I was surprised in a few ways. I don’t recall ever seeing such a letter and the logo is something else. We’ll get into all of that in a moment, but first, since

Recommended reads: FDA warning on stem cells for pets, chromatin, aging & HSCs Read More »

Weekly reads: diabetes, GvHD, Novo Nordisk & regenerative medicine, HDACs

mesenchymal cells

Do many in the regenerative medicine field have favorite types of stem cells? Some seem to think there’s a tension between those working on pluripotent stem cells like iPS cells and those working with MSCs. I don’t see it that way, though. Whatever stem cells work best for a particular condition should be used and,

Weekly reads: diabetes, GvHD, Novo Nordisk & regenerative medicine, HDACs Read More »

Recommend reads: FDA SVF warning, big Aspen grant, CSI finale invokes stem cells

SVF

One of the most contentious areas in the regenerative medicine arena is whether a fat tissue product called stromal vascular fraction or SVF is a drug. The FDA says SVF, even in autologous form, is a drug. It is seeking an injunction against a California-based network of SVF clinics but lost the initial case. That

Recommend reads: FDA SVF warning, big Aspen grant, CSI finale invokes stem cells Read More »

Recommended reads: CAR-T for Lupus, CRISPR vision, journal closures

CAR-T for Lupus

Can researchers use CAR-T for lupus? It’s always exciting when one’s home institution has an interesting new therapy in development.  Here at UC Davis Health, there has been an increasing stream of such encouraging trials in the pipeline. I’ve written before about the promising trial of stem cells for spina bifida. Now there’s news related

Recommended reads: CAR-T for Lupus, CRISPR vision, journal closures Read More »

Recommended reads: 3 infected in Mexico, stem cell hype, hearing restoration

muscle stem cell hype

Stem cell hype is a big problem these days. It’s been going on for decades. Even some generally good citizens of the stem cell and regenerative medicine arena engage in it at times. Maybe a few of them don’t even realize what they are doing. I think a few journalists occasionally fall into the hype

Recommended reads: 3 infected in Mexico, stem cell hype, hearing restoration Read More »

Recommended reads: lung stem cells, Utah stem cell law, Ozzy gets cells

normal lung alveoli indicating examples at1 and at2 cells

We’ve known that most organs have resident stem cell populations for decades, but things have been less clear in the lung and it has only been relatively recently that lung stem cells have been definitively characterized. Why is so important? Lung stem cells, whether endogenous or made in the lab, have the potential to help

Recommended reads: lung stem cells, Utah stem cell law, Ozzy gets cells Read More »

Recommended reads: John Cleese, surprising human embryo study, stem bank scandal, reprogramming & aging

John Cleese stem cells anti-aging, John Cleese

If you remember Monty Python, then you probably recall John Cleese. We’ll start with Cleese’s stem cell baloney. Not spam. Secret to eternal youth? John Cleese extols virtues of stem cell treatment, The Guardian. I’ve written before about John Cleese’s stem cell anti-aging efforts. As I told the author of The Guardian piece, I love

Recommended reads: John Cleese, surprising human embryo study, stem bank scandal, reprogramming & aging Read More »

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