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 »
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 »
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 »
Some recent claims had me wondering whether Liz Parrish is the world’s most genetically modified person. She and her firm BioViva are making that claim. It’s an important question but maybe not for the reason many of us first might think. This is not really about one person. Instead, this is a weighty question because
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 »
It takes a lot to surprise me these days in the cell therapy and regenerative medicine space, but some news from Walgreens stopped me in my tracks yesterday. The firm most well known for its drug stores and pharmacies has been struggling recently. Perhaps as a way to try to turn things around, they recently
New Walgreens shopping list: q-tips, aspirin, & cutting-edge gene & cell therapies Read More »
Looking for some stem cell good news? You’ll like today’s post. One mission of this blog The Niche is to promote rigorous science-based regenerative medicine, which can lead to investigating and writing about not-so-upbeat stuff. Risky clinics. People getting hurt. Patient lawsuits. Serious FDA, FTC, or state AG regulatory developments. Such actions can be good
Recent stem cell & regenerative medicine good news Read More »
People often ask me about stem cells for autism or even their hope of an autism cure. I’ve explained that there is no new treatment for autism based on stem cells. There aren’t even mildly encouraging data. Note that it can be hurtful to the community to talk about an autism cure and disregarding neurodiversity.
I wrote a few weeks ago about a firm called RGCC or Research Genetic Cancer Center, which sells what I see as an unproven RNA therapy to clinics throughout the US. The approach is called supportive oligonucleotide therapy or SOT. After buying it from RGCC, the clinics then sell SOT injections for Lyme disease, other
US clinics selling unproven RGCC cell therapies in addition to SOT Read More »
What is immune rejuvenation? How would that work and what would be the benefits? As we age, our immune systems can change in unhelpful and unhealthy ways. One such change is a drift in the balance of production of different kinds of immune cells. Such a shift can lead to too many of some immune