Search Results for: the niche

Weekly reads: Sarepta, epigenomics, FDA on eyedrops

Sarepa CEO interview.

The biotech Sarepta has had a complicated go of it with the FDA sometimes related to their Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) gene therapy efforts. In late 2016 I wrote about how there was some controversy as the FDA approved the Sarepta drug eteplirsen (Exondys 51) also for DMD, going against an advisory panel that had …

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Weekly reads: genome sequencing, chemical reprogramming 2.0

Human genome sequencing

I wrote earlier this week about genome sequencing of famous dead celebrities, pointing out that the trend seems full of ethical complexities. Genome news More broadly, sequencing the genomes of non-celebrities from hundreds or thousands of years ago can be important research. A new NYT piece covers such work on the Swahili people. Such research …

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Weekly stem cell reads: space, plagiarism, HIV, diabetes, more

blood stem cell biology

I took a cross-country road trip earlier this month that was pretty amazing and barely thought about stem cell research for the first time in years. We did run across one stem cell clinic in Florida by accident. I’ll write about that trip soon, but first we have our weekly reads including some very cool …

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Weekly reads: NIH grants, side effect of darker hair, FDA warning, CRISPR

Grant writers handbook, grants cartoon

The last six months I’ve been spending even more time than usual writing NIH grants (and a few others). The last two weeks have been especially busy on this front as I am getting an R01 renewal out the door. My paper reading lately has been mostly related to the grant writing I’m doing. Still, …

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Weekly reads: our new brain tumor paper, levitation, dear doctor, Japan, more

brain tumor, H3.3 K27M, ASCL1

There’s nothing quite like getting a new paper out as a scientist running a research lab so this week we can celebrate our new pediatric brain tumor study. I’ll start the weekly reads with that paper. Of course, getting new grants is amazing too but there’s more of a feel of completion after a paper …

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Overplaying N=1 in the stem cell therapy world

stem cell therapy

The regular emails and phone calls I get from patients asking questions about stem cell therapy are a powerful reminder of the fact that research in our field can be very personal. Sometimes individuals who receive experimental stem cell therapy (or other cell therapies) and seem to have a positive outcome can end up becoming …

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Weekly reads: fibroblasts, cancer stem cells, Parkinson’s

fibroblasts stained

It seems like the field of cell biology has mixed feelings about fibroblasts so I’m going to start off there with the recommended reads. But first, check out our stem cell YouTube channel as we are steadily heading toward 500 subscribers and 30,000 views. Please subscribe. I’ve pasted one of our top videos below, which …

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Hub of Regenerative Medicine & Stem Cell Meetings 2022

stem cell meetings 2022

Science must go on and so must stem cell meetings in 2022 with all those great conferences out there, but hopefully this year will be better than 2020-2021. It seems that way with the pandemic easing in the U.S. and many other places. On the other hand, COVID is spiking in Asia and other regions. …

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What is Matrigel, why a shortage, & alternatives?

Matrigel

Stem cell research relies on some unusual reagents at times including a cell culture product called Matrigel. One of the challenges with such reagents is that if they suddenly are back-ordered it could bring some research to a halt. Matrigel has been in short supply for the last year or so. These products also tend …

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Recommended reads: senolytics, cow iPS cells, big CIRM royalty

Senolytics Steve Horvath

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 …

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