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 »
Stem cell clinic firms often come and go rather quickly, but a few like Regenexx have persisted and even become a brand name. I’ve been writing here on The Niche for more than eleven years about stem cell clinics. Regenexx has been around that whole time. Along with its founder Dr. Chris Centeno. Patients have …
The news of the week relates to an interim clinical trial report from gene-editing firm Editas on its CRISPR trial for a form of vision loss. On to that in a minute. What have you been reading the past week? Below, I include our weekly list of recommended reads. However, first I wanted to give …
The Niche weekend reads: Editas mess, The Niche updates, papers Read More »
It’s great when an idea like stem cells for osteoporosis just makes so much common sense, but it still requires data. A logical hypothesis is not enough. The point of today’s post is to fact-check the idea of using stem cells for such bone loss. A femur to stand on? Unfortunately, the take-home message is …
Boning up on stem cells for osteoporosis: good idea, little data so far Read More »
As part of our weekly reads I’m including one of my latest videos in our Stem Cell Channel on YouTube below. This particular video fact-checks stem cell face creams, but I’ve got quite a few more including on stem cell supplements, different kinds of stem cells and more. You might guess my view of such …
Weekly reads: stem cell videos, cystic fibrosis, papers Read More »
I remember seeing a cowboy-type TV show when I was a little kid where a guy pulled into town not slinging guns but selling snake oil. He stood right up on his wagon and started pitching the wonders of what he was selling. He had some buyers pretty quick. Eventually, someone like a sheriff or …
Snake oil history from century old elixirs to fake stem cells Read More »
I remember the first time I ran across an ad for a stem cell face cream and it wasn’t pretty. This was about 10 years ago. The stem cell cream in question made several claims that seemed highly doubtful. In a sense what the cream’s maker was selling was the idea of stem cell-based youth …
Fact-checking stem cell face cream: less than face value Read More »
One of the most common questions I’ve gotten over the last decade is, “how much does stem cell therapy cost?” They actually seem most often to want to know more specifically how much it should cost. To try to authoritatively answer this now in 2023 we need data from the present and past along with expert …
What to read when there are almost an endless number of stem cell and regenerative medicine pubs? Here are some suggestions including what I would say is a very unusual Nature paper on making egg cells from stem cells. If this could be done safely with human cells all the way to functional eggs, would …
Recommended regenerative medicine reads: making eggs, retraction, freezing, more Read More »
Our mission here on The Niche is primarily educational. We aim to make a transformative difference in educating readers across the globe about stem cells, regenerative medicine, and innovative biomedical science more generally including CRISPR gene editing. A major part of that mission involves fact-checking various medical claims about stem cells and other biologics like …
Our Educational Mission on The Niche Stem Cell Site Read More »