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Enter the Niche Reader Survey for chance at free stem cell swag

knoepfler-stem-cell-t-shirt-225x3001

It’s helpful for me to learn about the readers of this blog The Niche in terms of who you are and your backgrounds. Because some people may want to vote more than once on the types of posts they like the most, I’ve allowed re-voting on that poll. Free stuff Those who participate and leave …

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Mesoblast MSCs Quell Peds GvHD; On Road to FDA Approval?

MSCs-mesenchymal-stem-cells-stromal-cells-small

Graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) is counterintuitive In the weeks and months following a transplant, a major concern is the recipient’s immune system rejecting the “foreign” biological material. But in GVHD, the opposite happens: transplanted tissue unleashes a horde of T cells that spark a cascade of inflammation, within 100 days. Typically, GVHD follows a bone marrow …

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Sniffing Out Stem Cells Behind COVID-Skewed Olfaction

woman-smelling-food-COVID-19-Anosmia

In COVID-19, the sense of smell can diminish, vanish, or oddly skew, for weeks or months. The loss usually starts suddenly and is more than the temporarily dulled chemical senses of a stuffy nose from the common cold. As researchers followed up mounting reports of loss of olfaction, a surprising source of perhaps the longest-lasting …

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Authors on The Niche

Paul-Knoepfler

The Niche has had many authors over the years, focusing on expertise in the biomedical arena and in particular related to stem cells. I’ve invited many authorities in particular areas to write posts. Over the years I’ve written probably 99+% of the posts here on The Niche, but we’ve also had some great guest authors …

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Trying to connect the dots on CRISPR baby story paints a dark, cloudy picture

connect-the-dots

When I was a little kid I played this game called “connect the dots” or “dot-to-dot”, where you draw a line from dot-to-dot in numerical order and at some point a picture starts to emerge. I think kids and even some adults still play this today. They even come in extreme versions with hundreds or …

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News bites: CIRM, anti-MSCs, & human eggs from stem cells

human-eggs-from-stem-cells-Saitou

Stem cells are always in the news so what’s up in the last week or two? CIRM News The dialogue over CIRM’s future is picking up a bit of steam. The San Francisco Chronicle did an in-depth piece on CIRM some weeks back and then opined that they didn’t feel supportive of another round of …

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Is monkey cloning a breakthrough or a bad idea?

Monkey-clones

Is monkey cloning a good idea? We’re about to find out. A new Cell paper today reports the first cloning of monkeys via somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT), raising many questions. The paper from a team led by Qiang Sun is entitled, “Cloning of Macaque Monkeys by Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer.” The highlight bullet points …

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4 key reasons Mitalipov paper doesn’t herald safe CRISPR human genetic modification

CRISPR-dart-board

We can be confident that human genetic modification via CRISPR’ing of embryos soon will be safe and effective after that new exciting Mitalipov team paper, right? Wrong. The reality is far more complicated and interesting on the tech side. In a nutshell, I see the paper as a significant scientific, but not necessarily medical advance. …

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