Search Results for: pain

Weekly reads: Xist & autoimmune disease in women, Crohn’s disease, dumb headline of the week

Xist ,auto immune disease

Readers of The Niche have asked me many questions about stem cells for autoimmune disease but the puzzle of why women get these conditions more often than men hasn’t come up before here. For instance, why is MS so much more common in women than men? It’s remained somewhat of a mystery over the years. …

Weekly reads: Xist & autoimmune disease in women, Crohn’s disease, dumb headline of the week Read More »

Weekly stem cell reads: cancer paper mess at DFCI, H3.3, knees, surfer keeps on posting

Sholto David, stem cell, cancer retractions

It’s another one of those ‘double-grant’ weekends of grant writing (on brain cancer) and reviewing, but I’m still trying to find a bit of time for some other reading. There was some important news this week including a big mess of problematic papers at Dana Farber Cancer Institute (DFCI). Recommended reads Here’s the new WaPo …

Weekly stem cell reads: cancer paper mess at DFCI, H3.3, knees, surfer keeps on posting Read More »

Weekly reads: FDA OKs 2 gene therapies for sickle cell, new Paolo Macchiarini series, Fujifilm

Marie Tornyenu, Casgevy gene therapies for sickle cell

The big news broke Friday that the FDA approved two new gene therapies for sickle cell disease. While the approvals were expected and the actual use of these treatments will be complex on several levels, this is a historic development. 2 FDA-approved gene therapies for sickle cell Friday’s news follows on recent UK approval for …

Weekly reads: FDA OKs 2 gene therapies for sickle cell, new Paolo Macchiarini series, Fujifilm Read More »

Weekly reads: stem cells for MS, good news x2, extending dog years, Neuralink updates

stem cells for MS

For about as long as I’ve been writing The Niche, people have been asking about stem cells for MS. There’s a huge need for new therapies. While a chemo-based approach with autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) looks to work for certain cases of multiple sclerosis (although not yet approved in the US), other cell …

Weekly reads: stem cells for MS, good news x2, extending dog years, Neuralink updates Read More »

Weekly reads: Mammoth De-extinction update, space babies, Alzheimer’s, MSCs don’t help knees

George Church De Extinction Mammoth

What’s more important than Woolly Mammoth de-extinction research in the stem cell arena? Only maybe a 10,000 other things. Still, the mammoth de-extinction efforts  capture people’s attention much more than the average research story. Mammoth De-extinction update Is de-extinction only a pipette dream? This startup has a big, expensive plan to find out, Popular Science. …

Weekly reads: Mammoth De-extinction update, space babies, Alzheimer’s, MSCs don’t help knees Read More »

Did US Stem Cell Clinic defy FDA injunction? New injured patient suit sparks questions

Dr. Antonio E Blanco MD, US Stem Cell

It feels like I’ve been writing about the Florida clinic US Stem Cell for a very long time. The FDA has been aware of them for about as long. It was only after reports of patient injuries that the FDA at last took action on US Stem Cell and its subsidiary US Stem Cell Clinic. Several …

Did US Stem Cell Clinic defy FDA injunction? New injured patient suit sparks questions Read More »

Stem cell therapy cost in 2024: data & analysis

stem cell therapy cost

How much does stem cell therapy cost in 2024? How have prices changed? To authoritatively answer these questions now we need data from the present and past along with expert perspectives. Some surprises come up in this new analysis. In this article Intro  | Stem Cell Therapy Cost: $10,000-$20,000 | Why do stem cells cost so much? …

Stem cell therapy cost in 2024: data & analysis Read More »

Weekly reads: gene therapy nod, Nature pub ethics, CRISPR LDL

Multipotent & totipotent vs pluripotent stem cells, very early human embryos totipotent stem cells

Totipotency literally means all powerful, but it refers in biology to specific cells. These cells can make every type of cell in the body of an organism plus the extraembryonic tissues needed for development. This includes humans. So if you could reprogram human cells like blood or skin cells into totipotent stem cells, you might …

Weekly reads: gene therapy nod, Nature pub ethics, CRISPR LDL Read More »

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

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 …

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