By Jeanne Loring “Shared Labs Axed” was the headline for David Jensen’s blog about the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, the funding agency founded after voters approved Proposition 71, the “stem cell research and cures” initiative. I was there when the ax fell, in Los Angeles at the meeting of CIRM’s governing board, along with […]
Guest Post By Jeanne Loring: Efforts to Save CIRM Shared Labs Read More »
The Knoepfler Lab conducts stem and cancer cell as well as chromatin/epigenetics research at the UC Davis School of Medicine. Our team has two big picture goals: (1) catalyzing the development of more effective treatments for cancers based on targeting stem cell-related machinery in tumorigenesis and (2) producing safer stem cell-based regenerative medicine therapies. We are particularly
A big, fat elephant in “the room” of the commercial stem cell field today is something called stromal vascular fraction or SVF, made from human fat tissue or adipose. If you care at all about stem cells or the stem cell field more generally, you had better educate yourself on SVF. You can learn a
Law and Order SVF: what is stromal vascular fraction? Read More »
I recently interviewed Drs. Elliot Lander and Mark Berman of the Cell Surgical Network. It’s an affiliated chain of clinics selling stem cell interventions for more than a dozen medical conditions. You can read Part 1 here and Part 2 here of the interview where we cover 10 important questions. Today is Part 3, where I explain why their answers
Cell Surgical Network Series Part 3: Key Concerns Read More »
Today I am posting Part 2 of my interview with Drs. Lander and Berman of the Cell Surgical Network. You can read Part 1 here, which is an interesting look inside the Network. The final portion of this blog post series, Part 3, is my take on their answers and you might not be surprised that
Cell Surgical Network Interview Part 2: SVF, FDA, & Homologous Use Read More »
The Cell Surgical Network is a large and growing group of affiliated stem cell clinics across the US. The Network providers use stromal vascular fraction (SVF) interventions for a host of conditions on a for-profit basis. Drs. Elliot Lander and Mark Berman lead the Network. They agreed to do a Q&A interview with me. Below is Part 1,
Elliot Lander & Mark Berman Interview Part 1: A Window into Cell Surgical Network Read More »
Osiris, a cellular therapy biotech, recently received a so-called “untitled letter” from the FDA. The text of the letter seems on the whole negative in my opinion, while the company’s public reaction to the letter on the other hand could be seen paradoxically as rather cheery. What’s going on here? With Halloween coming, one has
Osiris FDA Letter: Trick or Treat? Read More »
What is “radically deterministic” cellular reprogramming? Jacob Hanna’s lab recently published a very high profile Nature paper on nearly 100% efficient iPS cell formation based on targeting a factor called Mbd3. This super efficiency is a major departure from past reported efficiencies. This morning here at the Till & McCulloch Stem Cell Meeting in Banff,
Jacob Hanna on Radically Deterministic Reprogramming @TMM2013 Read More »
What can clouds tell us about a stem cell legal court case strategy such as USA v. Regenerative Sciences? It turns out, quite a lot. In about a week a Federal Appeals Court Case will begin to review the ruling in the USA v Regenerative Sciences that favored the FDA. This is arguably one of
USA v Regenerative Sciences Word Clouds are Illuminating Read More »
We all have heard the expression “eyes on the back of one’s head”, but a nose on top of one’s head? What the heck? A Chinese doctor has apparently grown a new nose on top of a patient’s forehead. The patient had his nose damaged by an injury and then also ravaged by infection. It
Doc grows new nose on top of patient’s head Read More »