I’ve been writing The Niche now for more than 13 years and the idea of stem cells for ALS has been around that whole time. Unfortunately, it has been slow going on this front, but there are still reasons for hope. Probably now much more than ever before. I’ll start with news on one path …
Weekly reads: stem cells for ALS, cell wrinkles, editors quit Read More »
With the pandemic still here but less severe there are more in-person conference opportunities including stem cell meetings. It seems certain that moving forward though that there will be far more virtual opportunities too. That’s a good thing. You can see last year’s stem cell & regenerative medicine meetings 2022 page too. 2023 stem cell …
Hub of regenerative medicine & stem cell meetings 2023 Read More »
Does Medicare cover stem cell therapy? Readers of The Niche have regularly asked this question. They’re curious about insurance coverage too. The answer is “no” in almost every case, with some notable exceptions I’ll get to at the end of the post. Still, clinics appear to have already been charging Medicare for what collectively adds …
The big news of the week was the big FDA stem cell in court by Judge Jesus Bernal here in California, who ruled in favor of a chain of stem cell clinics called Cell Surgical Network. The FDA had been seeking an injunction against the clinics. I believe the ruling was founded in part on …
Weekly reads: CRISPR, FDA stem cell loss, pioneering AMD study, MS, Verve Therapeutics Read More »
The FDA stem cell clinic problem just continues to grow, while the agency has been oddly quiet in this space for more than a year. It’s been a major disappointment, particularly as in recent years FDA leadership had implied that bold action was coming. Their own words spiked expectations that the agency would tackle unproven …
Eight years ago two new Nature papers broke on the scene reporting supposed STAP cells with one of the senior authors, Charles Vacanti of Harvard, most well known previously for making the so-called “Vacanti mouse” along with his brother Joseph. The Vacanti mouse had a bioengineered human ear growing on its back. While STAP cells …
Recommended reads: Dux, 3D printed ear brings Vacanti mouse to mind, AMD, more Read More »
Parabiosis refers to the joining together of two animals, typically rodents in research. They become one interconnected living system that shares blood. Research on mouse parabiosis has sparked much interest in anti-aging therapies. These might utilize “young” materials to help older people. Our first recommended read is a parabiosis paper. Before we jump into that, …
Weekly stem cell reads: parabiosis, UC Davis trial, HeLa lawsuit, gray hair Read More »
Some people consider the brain to be equivalent to a living computer and in that sense it’s too bad that computers don’t have the equal of neural stem cells to help them fix themselves. Is the internet one big neural network-like web? There was a quake in the stem cell internet as CIRM’s main website …
Weekly reads: neural stem cells, CRISPR brain, Vertex, cytoplasm surprise Read More »
How much promise is there today for stem cell therapy for heart disease? Where do things stand with the clinical research? Patients regularly ask me these kinds of questions. The goal of today’s post is to update you on where things stand. What’s in this post Stem Cell Therapy | Clinical Trials | Delivery of …
Stem cell therapy for heart disease: what you need to know Read More »
I am in the unique position of being a stem cell scientist who has no commercial interest in selling therapies so I can be impartial on giving patients and consumers guidance. In today’s post I give an overview of stem cell therapy and provide an expert, unbiased guide to navigating this area. This post is …
Updated patients guide to stem cell therapy for 2024 Read More »