Is it worth it to do stem cell banking? When I was a kid I remember hearing about people having themselves frozen or even just their heads frozen shortly after death. The idea was to cheat mortality by preserving oneself or critical parts of oneself until some future date when scientists and doctors would have …
Cryogenics to stem cell banking: time for deposit? Read More »
Today there is an editorial piece in the WSJ about the recent court ruling giving the FDA authority to regulate stem cells grown in culture as drugs. As a stem cell scientist, I read this opinion piece with interest. Unfortunately it is behind a paywall, but I have outlined and discussed the key issues below. …
WSJ editorial on issue of stem cells as drugs misses the boat Read More »
“I lied to patients,” testified a weeping, young woman in court related to a fraud allegation involving stem cells. She had worked as an office assistant at a company that injected bogus and potentially dangerous cow-based “stem cell” treatments into human patients. This company, which in different incarnations went by various names including Biomark in …
Testimony in supermodel stem cell fraud case: “I lied to patients” Read More »
A stodgy old scientist once said to me that he was skeptical of scientific social media with its “twitting and the blobs” …..uh, you mean blogs? But maybe he wasn’t so off track in what he said, talking about a blog as “The blob”, reflecting his thinking of blogs as akin to monsters. Is blogging …
The Blob versus the blog: arguing how social media is changing science Read More »
What if I told you I believe that iPS cells really began in Seattle in the 1980s? Call me crazy? Read on. We hear a lot about how iPS cells were first created in 2006 in Japan by Shinya Yamanaka. I often say this myself. However, as is the case with so much in science, …
How iPS cells germinated in part in Seattle in the 1980s Read More »
It’s been another wacky week in the stem cell world ranging from the Zombie to the Magical. Well, at least it’s Friday, right? In the stem cell world a Friday is not that different than any other day as stem cells often require 7-days a week care, but still Fridays are nice. OK, the …
TGIF: The good, bad and zombie stem cell headlines for week of June 15 Read More »
Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) is one of the most devastating illnesses that the human race has ever faced. It literally destroys the brain, which shrinks as a result over time (see image at left from Wikipedia). The toll of AD is not only measured in hundreds of billions of dollars in health care costs and millions …
Can stem cells be used to treat Alzheimer’s Disease? Read More »
The guest post below was contributed by a stem cell advocacy elf. As the whack-a-mole world of dubious stem cell clinics and their treatment claims evolve, a not so new low (or high depending on how you look at it) has been reached. A sparkly website Stemaid.com courtesy of the folks that brought us the …
Earlier this year, Dr “LookGood” aka Dr. Steven Victor, cosmetic surgeon to the stars, received a warning letter from the FDA over how his clinic was handling stem cell-related procedures. The FDA listed 16 issues as problems. On April 20, Dr. Thomas E. Young of Young Medical Spa in Pennsylvania also received an FDA warning …
Have we crossed the tipping point to stem cell disaster? Read More »
Whether it is people or cells, how much control do we really have over their behavior? Very little. The Secret Service is at the center of a huge international scandal involving prostitution and potentially compromised nationally security. Clearly, the Secret Service failed to do their incredibly important job of protecting the President and national security, …