Two women in San Diego County are heading to jail after being convicted and sentenced for fraud related to stem cell treatments.The women injected concoctions of bovine stem cells from Germany and DMSO into patients. You can read the details of the original arrest here on the FBI website. According to a Modesto Bee article, Kathleen […]
A concerning trend in the for-profit stem cell field, but one that does not get enough attention, is self-experimentation by those selling (often unlicensed) stem cell treatments. In other words, the stem cell clinic leaders and docs often not only sell stem cell treatments to patients, but also they give themselves the same treatments, often repeatedly.
The dangers of stem cell self-experimentation: cartoon & discussion Read More »
The mesenchymal stem cell (MSC). So important and yet so misunderstood? People pronounce it in different ways. People isolate the MSCs in different ways. Each person’s MSCs are very different. Each lab’s MSCs are different. (see picture above of MSCs showing fibroblastic morphology; source is Wikipedia) Someone once told me that MSCs are the same
Would an MSC by any other name still smell as sweet? Read More »
Over the last few weeks, I have enjoyed talking with and interviewing Dr. Allan Wu, of The Morrow Institute on stem cell cosmetic procedures. I was impressed greatly by his talk at the World Stem Cell Summit last year. Dr. Wu is a fellowship trained Surgical Molecular Biologist with a background in Molecular Embryology and a board
Interview with Regenerative Surgeon, Dr. Allan Wu Read More »
Hundreds or even thousands of patients are getting stem cell procedures including right here in the U.S. Many key issues remain unresolved, but clinics and doctors are giving these treatments anyway to make money. Critical issues include lack of proper informed consent, lack of strong data on risks and benefits, huge costs, and so forth.
Comic on stem cell facelifts Read More »
Recently I spoke about cancer stem cells at a retreat. The presentation style was informal and enjoyable as it allowed for people to talk frankly about topics. It encouraged questions and outside-the-box thinking. As I was eating some yogurt at breakfast at the meeting awaiting my turn to speak, I decided I would scrawl my
My ‘back of napkin” list of top action items for cancer stem cell field Read More »
One of the most important elements of science is critical reading of papers. Most of us come into science as undergrads feeling somewhat naive about what we read in papers. Our default tendency is to believe most or all that we read as “true”. As we get more experienced, we realize that in fact if
Critically reading science papers: response to patient on MS stem cell literature Read More »
I’m on a roll with my stem cell predictions for 2013 (see all 10 here). First, I got it right with my #1 prediction that the Supreme Court would take a pass on the Sherley v Sebelius Case. Now, I read from excellent science writer David Cyranoski at Nature that Celltex is going to be
Stem cell predictions coming true: Celltex moves to offer transplants in Mexico Read More »
Sergei Filin, the ballet master of the famed Bolshoi Ballet in Moscow, was the victim of a nasty acid attack to the face and eyes. As the case remains under investigation, Filin was reportedly treated with a high-risk, unproven stem cell treatment to the eyes using umbilical cord stem cells. Allogeneic stem cell treatments are
Eyes of Bolshoi acid attack victim Sergei Filin treated with unproven stem cell therapy Read More »
The headline reads: ‘Adventurous’ woman sought to carry Neanderthal baby Supposedly Harvard Geneticist George Church, according to Der Spiegel magazine (and gazillions of other mainstream media outlets that translated the German piece including here), wants to clone a Neanderthal baby using an unholy combination of stem cell and genetics technologies. The only problem is that Church