The stem cell paper of the week is a fun one about how capsaicin and nociceptors reportedly mobilize blood stem cells. However, since the authors only show this in mice, could it also happen in humans? They argue it’s likely happening in people too. Note that nociceptors are special structures in our bodies that sense […]
Spicy stem cell pathways & other recommended reads Read More »
Sometimes patients or my students ask me, “What are the best stem cells?” what information are they looking for? I think they often are looking for the most powerful stem cells so perhaps they should be asking, “What are totipotent stem cells?” Other times it seems what patients specifically want to know is what might
What are totipotent stem cells & what can they do? Read More »
I’ve been closely following the arena of stem cells for COVID-19 since the pandemic broke including the efforts of Mesoblast. Mesoblast unlikely to meet primary endpoints in Phase III COVID trial Now, the firm got bad news as its DSMB reported that they are unlikely to meet the primary endpoint for their Phase III trial
Mesoblast stock hit on gloomy data on stem cells for COVID-19 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
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Some key questions about stem cells often go unanswered like ‘where do stem cells come from?’ The goal of this post is for me as a stem cell biologist to answer your questions on stem cells. What’s in this article? The Niche | Adult stem cells | Where do stem cells come from? | What
Where do stem cells come from? Expert answers Read More »
This week we have some interesting new reading including both on the stem cell basic and translational fronts as well as on COVID-19 vaccines. COVID-19 vaccine considerations From Derek Lowe at In The Pipeline on COVID-19 vaccine expectations at Science Translational Medicine, Get Ready for False Side Effects. You can read my views on possible
Recommended stem cell reads: retractions, aging, COVID, CRISPR soldiers Read More »
What should we consider when seeing marketing for sexual enhancements like vaginal rejuvenation? Fact checking vaginal rejuvenation with stem cells When you read marketing terms like “stem cell treatment for sexual enhancement” or more specifically stem cells for “vaginal rejuvenation” what comes to mind? And are stem cell treatments a viable option for vaginal rejuvenation
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Even in COVID times the FDA continues its stepped-up efforts against stem cell clinics and patients are suing clinics more too, which I cover in today’s post along with recommended stem cell research pubs. One of the papers at the top of my to-read list is on 3D chromatin in stem cells. FDA Warning Letter
Weekly pubs & 2 stem cell clinics get bad news Read More »
After all this time writing on The Niche here since 2010, I still haven’t entirely resolved certain blogging dilemmas including when a patient discloses something. It’s kind of a jungle out there on the internet. What kinds of tough blogging dilemmas do I face? I’m just going to give you some examples of the more common
Stem cell blogging dilemmas: patient disclosures, lawsuits, & more Read More »
Can a heart repair itself via their own stem cells and do hearts have meaningful populations of stem cells? Science evolves Sometimes what we scientists all know to be true turns out later on to be wrong and there are clear instances of this in the stem cell field. For example for decades the dogma was
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