Search Results for: US Stem Cell

Questions on National Academies in vitro gametogenesis (IVG) meeting sponsorship

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in vitro gametogenesis, IVG

Research on in vitro gametogenesis or IVG is jumping ahead and such work could one day lead to new infertility treatments. In vitro gametogenesis is the process of producing gametes (sperm and eggs) from stem cells. Those powerful stem cells, called iPS cells, can be made from ordinary adult cells like skin or blood cells. […]

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Why did Duke autism team halt its troubling pay-for-play program?

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Almost two years ago I publicly called on the FDA to freeze the unproven cord cell expanded access program (EAP) at the Duke Autism Center. Duke has been infusing kids with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) with unproven cord cells and requiring large payments for this. The cost was as much as $15,000. A halt and a

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Weekly reads: Sarepta, epigenomics, FDA on eyedrops

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Sarepa CEO interview.

The biotech Sarepta has had a complicated go of it with the FDA sometimes related to their Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) gene therapy efforts. In late 2016 I wrote about how there was some controversy as the FDA approved the Sarepta drug eteplirsen (Exondys 51) also for DMD, going against an advisory panel that had

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Trends in retractions as AI arms race on misconduct looms

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stem cell paper retractions, retraction watch

There has been a big jump in paper retractions in science over the last 20 years. What’s going on? How do the trends in the stem cell field compare to other fields like cancer research and more broadly? Is AI going to change the dynamic between those engaging in misconduct and those who are looking for misconduct

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Weekly reads: Macchiarini pub, cloned journal, Mammoth genome, tweet of the week

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Paolo-Macchiarini

Remember Paolo Macchiarini, the famous-turned-infamous so-called “stem cell surgeon” who ended up in legal trouble and with trial participants who died? Before we get into this we have a new feature for our weekly reads, which is the stem cell and regenerative medicine tweet of the week. See that at the bottom of the post.

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Weekly reads: genome sequencing, chemical reprogramming 2.0

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Human genome sequencing

I wrote earlier this week about genome sequencing of famous dead celebrities, pointing out that the trend seems full of ethical complexities. Genome news More broadly, sequencing the genomes of non-celebrities from hundreds or thousands of years ago can be important research. A new NYT piece covers such work on the Swahili people. Such research

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Weekly reads: UC Davis Medical School diversity, CRISPR, Parkinson’s

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UC Davis Medical School

It’s been almost seventeen years that I’ve been a professor here at UC Davis Medical School. It feels like home. I enjoy teaching our first-year medical students each year. Some end up doing research in my lab. Our school recently got a nice write-up over at STAT News by Usha Lee McFarling on the diversity

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How many academic scientists could pass a likable person test?

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likable person test

What if there was a likable person test that we could take to see how other people really view us scientists?  How would that work? It turns out that a sense of likability might be more influential in academia than some of us might think, but it’s often problematic too. This came to mind because

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Weekly reads: oocytes from males, David Sinclair longevity inc, diabetes, He Jiankui

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David Sinclair

A team led by Harvard professor David Sinclair had a recent Cell paper on reprogramming to fight aging that I reviewed here on The Niche. I thought the paper was exciting and important. Note that in vivo reprogramming was first done more than a decade ago. Sinclair did have a novel fast-forward aging method and overall

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