We have reached a watershed moment. The FBI has gotten very interested in stem cells. In my opinion we are on the cusp of a flood of arrests by the FBI of folks selling illegal stem cell treatments. Selling non-approved FDA stem cell treatments, particular those involving transport of the stem cells across state …
FBI seems poised for flood of arrests for stem cell tourism Read More »
The Republican Party is really the “kill them all and let God sort them out” kind of party. Their latest craziness in the arena of science is toying with the notion of shutting down the NIH entirely or at least the ability of NIH to issue any new grants. So perhaps their new mantra is …
Kill them all and let God sort them out: what happens if the Republicans shut down NIH? Read More »
What really happens to cells after they a stem cell transplant into a patient? Once these cells, which have spent weeks in a lab environment, are injected into a person, what happens next? This is arguably the most important question in the regenerative medicine field, but there are few answers. We are literally mostly in …
Stem cells gone wild? What really happens after a transplant Read More »
A version of the compromise budget deal for the remainder of this fiscal year has been released. This is the bill that the House and Senate are supposed to pass this week, and that President Obama must sign by Friday to prevent the Federal Government from shutting down. Originally, Republicans were aiming to cut the …
A group of researchers led by Evan Snyder (paper discussed here) published a paper in PNAS on a new type of neural stem-like cell whose pluripotency can be turned ON or OFF by turning the v-myc gene ON or OFF using a conditional system of expression, called a “Tet-ON” system. In this system, tetracycline or its …
“Alternative” to IPS cells, ICSP, are very cool, but for now a no-go for the FDA Read More »
Everyone has been understandably stressed about how the ongoing federal legislative process might effect funding for research including stem cell research. Particularly worrisome was the proposal from the new Republican-controlled House of Representatives to cut $100 billion from the budget. Today brought news (reported at one of my favorite blogs, The Great Beyond) that in …
Great news: Initial GOP list of proposed cuts mostly spares NIH! Read More »
CIRM announced today that it had appointed Ellen Feigal, M.D., to be its first VP for Research Development. Dr. Feigal will begin the job on Jan. 31. Dr. Feigal is a graduate of UC Davis Med School (where I am writing this from; go UC Davis SOM!) and is currently Executive Medical Director for Global …
CIRM Appoints UC Davis Grad and Executive Med Director of Amgen as VP Read More »