Can researchers use CAR-T for lupus? It’s always exciting when one’s home institution has an interesting new therapy in development. Here at UC Davis Health, there has been an increasing stream of such encouraging trials in the pipeline. I’ve written before about the promising trial of stem cells for spina bifida. Now there’s news related […]
Recommended reads: CAR-T for Lupus, CRISPR vision, journal closures Read More »
Stem cell hype is a big problem these days. It’s been going on for decades. Even some generally good citizens of the stem cell and regenerative medicine arena engage in it at times. Maybe a few of them don’t even realize what they are doing. I think a few journalists occasionally fall into the hype
Recommended reads: 3 infected in Mexico, stem cell hype, hearing restoration Read More »
We’ve known that most organs have resident stem cell populations for decades, but things have been less clear in the lung and it has only been relatively recently that lung stem cells have been definitively characterized. Why is so important? Lung stem cells, whether endogenous or made in the lab, have the potential to help
Recommended reads: lung stem cells, Utah stem cell law, Ozzy gets cells Read More »
If you remember Monty Python, then you probably recall John Cleese. We’ll start with Cleese’s stem cell baloney. Not spam. Secret to eternal youth? John Cleese extols virtues of stem cell treatment, The Guardian. I’ve written before about John Cleese’s stem cell anti-aging efforts. As I told the author of The Guardian piece, I love
People often ask me about stem cells for autism or even their hope of an autism cure. I’ve explained that there is no new treatment for autism based on stem cells. There aren’t even mildly encouraging data. Note that it can be hurtful to the community to talk about an autism cure and disregarding neurodiversity.
A new stem cells for ALS treatment trial represents a big step forward. It’s early days still but this trial shows feasibility and provides a helpful foundation for moving forward. It also highlights challenges. The work is from a team led by Clive Svendsen. Stem cells for ALS treatment trial Here’s the study. Transplantation of
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 »
David Weinberg over at Science-Based Medicine has his part two of a deep dive into the so-called SCOTS trial, which is a non-traditional pay-for-play study. I highly recommend it. SCOTS trial under the magnifying glass In this piece, Weinberg provides interesting background on the two people running SCOTS. I’ve had many concerns about the SCOTS
Recommended reads: engineered niche, ALS, SCOTS trial, human genome “done” Read More »
When we hear the word senile we might think stereotypically of an older person who has cognitive impairment, but some argue that senility can apply to cells too as they age and that such cells can be targeted by drugs called senolytics. Unfortunately, the supplements industry has picked up on this idea to sell iffy
Recommended reads: senolytics, cow iPS cells, big CIRM royalty Read More »
The fact that a person for the first time has received a heart transplant from a pig and it was a genetically modified pig made big news this week. Organ transplant waiting lists are a huge problem so if this kind of approach can be proven to be safe and effective, it would be a
Recommended reads: pig heart transplant, lasers, $11K pub fee Read More »