I invited Nobel Laureate Shinya Yamanaka to do an interview on the future of clinical translation of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC). He provides some intriguing new insights into the iPSC field and the broader stem cell arena. PK: The Takahashi Team’s active Clinical Study using iPSCs to make RPEs to treat Macular Degeneration has …
Shinya Yamanaka Interview on Clinical Use of IPSC Read More »
On May 13, 2011 I published a post entitled “Friday the 13th for iPS cells”. That day was indeed Friday the 13th and there were some reports in Nature of concerns about iPS cells in terms of immunogenicity and this had followed on the heels of reports on significant genomic and epigenomic warts in iPS …
Stem Cell TGIF on Friday the 13th: My Reactions to the Big Recent Stories Read More »
In a shocker, Japan’s 2nd largest newspaper, Asahi Shimbun, published an editorial yesterday saying that iPS cells are being pushed too fast to the clinic for economic reasons. The piece was bluntly entitled “Too much of a rush for clinical trials with iPS cells”. Asahi Shimbun, with a circulation of 10 million, is taking a bold …
Asahi Shimbun Editorial: iPS Cells Rushed For Economic Reasons Read More »
When are iPS cell-based therapies ready to be tested in actual people? It’s the million or perhaps even billion dollar question of today in the stem cell field. I realize that perhaps it is also a dangerous question, politically-speaking, for me to ask in a public forum, but patient lives as well as potentially the …
I’ve been fortunate to interview some of the greats in the stem cell field for this blog and host debates between key players. Please note that just because I have interviewed folks does not mean I agree with them or that they agree with me. The point is to establish dialogue on key issues. As …
It is always exciting when a biomedical technology as revolutionary as iPS cells is on the cusp of being used in patients for the first time. In the last few days stories have reported about how a proposed clinical trial based on iPS cells has completed several regulatory steps and is closer to starting. This …
Sometimes a post here on The Niche (named after the stem cell niche) sparks a debate between expert stem cell researchers and often that gives much more depth to a topic. Such was the case with my post this week on where things stand with stem cell therapy for heart disease. It led to a …
Weekly reads: Melton leaves Harvard, Fuji, BBC blunder, stem cell niche, more Read More »
When it comes to stem cells on Twitter and other social media, who do you follow now? Why them? Who are the top stem cell and regenerative medicine influencers to follow on Twitter and elsewhere in 2022? Stem cells on Twitter: great content amongst the noise Top stem cell and regenerative medicine influencers on Twitter. …
50 influencers on stem cells on Twitter to follow in 2022 Read More »
A quick review of the publicly-traded stem cell stocks I’ve been following in 2021 finds mostly discouraging news, but a few firms relatively outperformed the other publically-traded biotechs. One had some great news today. In this post, I’m doing a brief overview of how things went this year in the regenerative medicine space. I’m going …
2021 scorecard for stem cell stocks: REGN, VCEL, CCEL, LCTX did best Read More »
I’m going to start off today’s recommended reads post with some stem cells for vision developments. I had some fun the last 2 weeks as people sent in their entries for our $100 stem cell picture contest. I’ll announce the winner this week. It’s going to be hard to choose given the great entries. Stem …
Weekly reads: Stem cells for vision loss & recommended pubs Read More »