Imagine regularly having someone rub your face all over with the equivalent of a small roller covered with spikes and doused with either your blood or someone else’s and you have what’s called vampire facials. There’s more news that this is a very bad idea. Vampire facials linked to more HIV cases “Vampire facials” promoted […]
Weekly reads: HIV from vampire facials, CAR-T, FDA warns Regenative Labs Read More »
Today’s post takes a close look at the exosome manufacturer Kimera Labs in the context of the main exosome companies. What are exosomes? Exosomes are microscopic bubbles or vesicles produced by cells. Exosomes contain many cellular substances that are biologically active. Some of these materials may be helpful clinically, while others could pose risks. Clinical outcomes
Review of where Kimera Labs fits into sphere of exosome companies Read More »
I started The Screamers a few years back as a biomedical science hype award. It’s kind of in the spirit of an Ig Noble Prize in the sense of an alternative “award”, but in this case for hype. In 2020, sadly the FDA Commissioner at the time Stephen Hahn won The Screamers award for a
2022 The Screamers Science Hype Award goes to The BBC Read More »
I’ve tried to find some time to do some stem cell and other regenerative medicine reading too, but it’s been a busy week of teaching for me as a professor in our new academic year for the UC Davis School of Medicine. I help to teach the Histology part of the first-year curriculum. It’s an
Regenerative medicine reads: retraction, FDA warning, CAR-T, ARM CEO Read More »
Cloning is one of those topics that both fascinates and kind of scares people, especially the idea of duplicating people. I regularly cover the topic here on The Niche because stem cell technologies are involved. Also, one form of the process sometimes called “therapeutic cloning” involves embryonic stem cells. Duplicating mammals has now long been
Weekly reads: freeze-dried cloning, FDA signals, stem cell escapees Read More »
The last six months I’ve been spending even more time than usual writing NIH grants (and a few others). The last two weeks have been especially busy on this front as I am getting an R01 renewal out the door. My paper reading lately has been mostly related to the grant writing I’m doing. Still,
Weekly reads: NIH grants, side effect of darker hair, FDA warning, CRISPR Read More »
I’ve had concerns about an American unproven clinic firm called R3 Stem Cell for many years. They sell unproven stem cell-related “treatments” via dozens of affiliated locations. I put quotes around treatments because in my view there is no good evidence here for claims of treating numerous serious illnesses. The goal of today’s post is
Review of troubling R3 Stem Cell clinic chain Read More »
How does one go about cheating death? As I get older, fighting aging seems more relevant. Having battled a potentially fatal cancer also gave me a taste of mortality. In biomedical research, it seems like living longer has become an obsession for some recently. Cheating death with cell therapies or other regenerative approaches? Could stem
Cheating death via regenerative medicine or stem cells? Read More »
If there’s one area of biologics where the FDA has been consistently busy lately it’s the perinatal cell therapy space. The agency has made it clear in the last year that allogeneic birth-related cell products are often drugs requiring premarket approval. This has mainly manifested at a practical enforcement level. We’ve seen actions taken in
End of FDA “grace period” impacted perinatal cell therapy biotechs Read More »
Many of you readers know tech guru Peter Diamandis for his great X PRIZE, but he’s also involved in the regenerative medicine world including a new effort called Fountain Life. Teaming up with life coach Tony Robbins and others for Fountain Life raises some red flags for me. What’s in this article Peter Diamandis and
Review of Peter Diamandis Fountain Life clinics: more than stem cell hype? Read More »