What are examples of unipotent and multipotent stem cells? More broadly, stem cells have the ability to do two key things. They can make more of themselves through a process called self-renewal. Also, they have the ability to differentiate into other cell types. This latter property is called potency. Taken together this means by definition […]
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The National Academy of Medicine elected a cohort of new members including three stem cell researchers. It’s great to see our field and these great scientists get recognition. The new NAM stem cell researchers include Sally Temple, Connie Eaves, and Tippie MacKenzie. Here’s a little bit about each of them. Dr. Temple is a stem cell biologist
Weekly reads: NAM dubs 3 stem cell researchers, kick the 2 buckets, stem cell homing Read More »
I get great questions from readers of The Niche including, “Are there multiple ways to get stem cells?” The answer is “yes.” Why is this important? The different sources of stem cells can impact both their use in basic research and their potential clinically. My goal in today’s post is to give an overview of
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It’s always great to read about stem cell clinical trials that are looking encouraging. Stem cell clinical trials Proving a new therapy is safe and effective is so challenging. Remarkably, there are more than 9,300 stem cell clinical trials listed for a “stem cell” search on Clinicaltrials.gov. Of course, not all of these are actual
When people find out that I’m a stem cell researcher, a common question is whether there’s something they can take that is a stem cell activator. I’ve written before about whether there are stem cell boosts that one can do to try to be healthier. Sleep, stem cell activator and clonality Mostly when I bring
Weekly reads: stem cell activator, sleep & stem cells, clonal hematopoiesis Read More »
How promising is the idea of stem cells for MS? I have been working slowly as time permits on a piece more specifically about hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) for MS. Two new pieces caught my eye on this topic so I’ll start with those. Stem cells for MS NurOwn Found Safe, Shows Promise in
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A common question I hear from readers of The Niche is some version of, “Is stem cell therapy covered by insurance?” Sometimes they also ask about Medicare coverage. To be clear, I’m talking about unproven stem cell “therapies” here. The type clinics sell. It’s not FDA approved so generally insurance companies and Medicare will not
Is unproven stem cell therapy covered by insurance? Read More »
Does aging do something to time so it seems like as you get older that time goes by faster? Remember as a little kid when summer seemed to last forever and car rides could be agonizingly long? I’ve heard two theories on this. One is that the brain’s baseline of activity slows down with aging
Weekly stem cell reads: aging & cells, iPS cell mutations, gut, more Read More »
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
Weekly stem cell reads: space, plagiarism, HIV, diabetes, more Read More »
Parabiosis refers to the joining together of two animals, typically rodents in research. They become one interconnected living system that shares blood. Research on mouse parabiosis has sparked much interest in anti-aging therapies. These might utilize “young” materials to help older people. Our first recommended read is a parabiosis paper. Before we jump into that,
Weekly stem cell reads: parabiosis, UC Davis trial, HeLa lawsuit, gray hair Read More »