Chalk up another exciting development for the stem cell and regenerative medicine field in 2014 related to diabetes. It’s been a huge year. (Update: read my Fall 2019 interview with ViaCyte here.) For the first time ever, an ES cell-based device has been transplanted into a diabetic patient. ViaCyte working together with Dr. Robert Henry …
Diabetes Stem Cell Milestone: ViaCyte Transplants 1st Patient Read More »
All the recent high-profile papers that are having troubles are bumming me out, with the latest example being the “Betatrophin” Diabetes paper from Harvard last year. Yesterday it was called into major doubt by a new Cell paper from a group led by Jesper Gromada at Regeneron. The authors of the original 2013 Betatrophin paper–Doug Melton’s team at Harvard– indicated …
The Betatrophin Blues after Harvard Diabetes pub Read More »
There has been considerable discussion about the whether the media hyped the recent Harvard stem cells for diabetes paper (see top 10 takeaways of that paper). I believe that this was greatly hyped. This Harvard publication reported production of insulin-secreting cells from human embryonic stem cells (hESC). Newspapers around the world widely exaggerated the potential impact …
Stem cells for Diabetes: the danger of the word ‘cure’ Read More »
The idea of using stem cells for treat Type I Diabetes is very promising and could have huge practical impact. Real progress has been achieved toward this goal over the last decade. In perhaps another decade there might be a validated treatment. A new stem cell paper has just come out in Cell from Harvard in this …
Takeaways From Harvard Stem Cells for Diabetes Paper Read More »
Type 1 Diabetes is a huge global problem. Where are the solutions that would compliment or replace insulin therapy for diabetics? There haven’t been too many that have gotten very far, which makes the news of a potential stem cell-based therapy moving along in the pipeline all the more exciting. ViaCyte (see more posts here, …
Great News: FDA Nod For ViaCyte IND of Diabetes Stem Cell-Based Product Read More »
UPDATE: Unfortunately the Betatrophin paper discussed here originally back in 2013 has now largely been proven to have come to incorrect conclusions (for more read this). Today Harvard Stem Cell Institute (HSCI) reported the discovery, in a paper in Cell by Harvard Professor Doug Melton, of a powerful new hormone called Betatrophin that can stimulate …
Looking for some stem cell good news? You’ll like today’s post. One mission of this blog The Niche is to promote rigorous science-based regenerative medicine, which can lead to investigating and writing about not-so-upbeat stuff. Risky clinics. People getting hurt. Patient lawsuits. Serious FDA, FTC, or state AG regulatory developments. Such actions can be good …
Recent stem cell & regenerative medicine good news Read More »
My lab is focused in part on chromatin states in stem cells and cancer including heterochromatin. In fact, my lab’s website is chromatin.com. Heterochromatin is dense, often inactive chromatin. By H&E staining and electron microscopy, heterochromatin looks dark compared to the rest of the nucleus, largely composed of euchromatin. Toward the end of my postdoc …
Weekly reads: heterochromatin, H3.3, Mesoblast bump Read More »
The Mayo Clinic does some great research on stem cells and regenerative medicine. However, at times I’ve felt that a few Mayo researchers are overexuberant. This mainly relates to certain not-yet-proven stem cell and related offerings. Fitting with that perception, the Mayo website also has some inaccurate stem cell content that leans toward overstating things. …
Key Mayo Clinic stem cell webpage is overexuberant & outdated Read More »
Vertex Pharmaceuticals has a lot going for it right now on the cell therapy front. For instance, they have the strongest type 1 diabetes cell therapy pipeline after some recent acquisitions. Still it’s not a simple matter to succeed in the cell therapy space even with one therapy for one targeted disease. Trials are tough …
Weekly reads: Vertex, stem cells for MS, Athersys, 900-day paper review at Nature Read More »