As I first reported, the FDA conducted a two-week audit of Texas adult stem cell firm, Celltex, sometime in April. Today I received a copy of the so-called “483 report” of that audit. It is basically a summary of problematic issues that the FDA says need to addressed. The FDA report is cause for some […]
Surprising FDA audit report of Celltex a blow to dubious stem cell clinics Read More »
Celltex is an adult stem cell company in the great state of Texas that reportedly has produced adult stem cell products used for the treatment of more than 100 patients with stem cells. We don’t know much about Celltex (e.g. it has no website), but I was hoping to change that in part via a
Predictions heat up on FDA audit of Celltex Read More »
Last year one of the biggest events in the stem cell field was biotech Geron punting its embryonic stem cell (ESC) program. Much consternation followed. Some folks opposed to ESCs happily pronounced ESC research dead. Some folks in favor of ESC thought the world was ending a year early. Others tried to look on the
The stem cell gestalt of Geron Goodbye and the future of ACT Read More »
The International Cellular Medicine Society (ICMS) is viewed somewhat skeptically by the stem cell community, but they are undeniably an important player in the stem cell world. A few weeks ago I interviewed ICMS President, Dr. Ricardo Rodriguez (see interview here), and then I provided recommendations here to the ICMS to improve their organization including a less adversarial
ICMS posts 483 report of FDA audit: still awaiting news on Celltex Read More »
Yesterday I was kind of harsh on the microbiome researchers whose work has been so widely discussed in the NY Times and elsewhere. I went so far as to call it “fatally flawed” because the researchers picked their research subjects for “normalcy” and went so far as to manipulate the subjects by requiring that 80%
Fecal yogurt and more microbiome musings Read More »
The pursuit of “normalcy” has seriously led some scientists astray and there is no better example than the recent microbiome studies that have drawn great attention in the media. I found one aspect of their study design profoundly disturbing. First to my core question. Is there even such as thing as a normal person? As
I have an ongoing poll on people’s impressions of the big annual stem cell meeting, ISSCR 2012. I myself have been wishing I was in Japan for that meeting so I remain surprised at the trending of the poll toward the negative. By far the most common response has been a surprisingly ho-hum “so-so” evaluation
Wish list from 2012 attendees for ISSCR 2013: some crankiness Read More »
Why do professors leave one institution and go to another? The reasons why say a lot about academia. This is kind of a taboo topic in science, but very important. Once upon a time…. Two decades ago when I was a technician in the Pathology Department at UCSD School of Medicine and then still when
Why professors leave: elephant in the lab series Read More »
What if I told you I believe that iPS cells really began in Seattle in the 1980s? Call me crazy? Read on. We hear a lot about how iPS cells were first created in 2006 in Japan by Shinya Yamanaka. I often say this myself. However, as is the case with so much in science,
How iPS cells germinated in part in Seattle in the 1980s Read More »
This wild week started with an alarm clock ringing at 4:45AM Monday morning and me schlepping myself to Sacramento Airport to fly down to my former hometown of La Jolla, CA to meet Guv Perry of Texas. The small group had a great talk. I’m not naive enough to imagine us all singing Kumbaya together around
Scientists meeting with politicians like Rick Perry of Texas Read More »