It was a shock to learn today that New York Stem Cell Foundation CEO and Co-Founder Susan Solomon had passed away yesterday after a long battle with ovarian cancer. I met Susan a few times over the years and was always struck by her positive energy. At a practical level she got big things done […]
Tributes to NYSCF leader & stem cell advocate Susan Solomon Read More »
I’m a Star Wars fan so I go into watching new Star Wars shows like the Obi-Wan Kenobi series already wanting to like them. It’s kind of akin to being a grant reviewer and being assigned a grant to review whose focus is already a passion of yours. However, after what I would call an
Obi-Wan Kenobi series review: lots to like but many plot holes Read More »
Over the past dozen years as I’ve written about stem cell clinics here on The Niche I’ve gotten to know many of those running the clinics including Dr. Mark Berman of Beverly Hills. It was therefore kind of a shock to learn that Berman died of last month. Michael Hiltzik of the LA Times reported
Thoughts on death of stem cell clinic leader Dr. Mark Berman Read More »
The past year was all over the place for the stem cell and regenerative medicine field. As you can see in my scoring of my 21 predictions for 2021, quite a few things were surprises in terms of what did and didn’t happen. Here’s an overview of the top stories of the year in our
Top stem cell stories of 2021: COVID, diabetes, human embryos, clinics in court Read More »
The push for de-extinction of woolly mammoths is a perfect example of when one notion can be both fun and a rotten idea. You can’t let the coolness push you down a bad path. You can see my new YouTube video covering the main points of this post from our YouTube channel further down. Please
Why De-extinction of Woolly Mammoths is Still a Bad Idea Read More »
Although in my years as a stem cell biologist I haven’t yet been in a leadership role at the International Society for Stem Cell Research or ISSCR, unproven stem cell clinics have claimed that I somehow speak for ISSCR. I am just a standard member of the group like thousands of other researchers. In fact,
Recommended reads: ISSCR guidelines pushback, TB outbreak from regen product, pubs Read More »
The FDA filed two suits against unproven stem cell clinic firms in 2018 seeking permanent injunctions against them including US Stem Cell in Florida and Cell Surgical Network, et al. here in California. There’s been a major new development in this story that I see as good news. Court rejects US Stem Cell clinic appeal
US Stem Cell clinic loses appeal, could impact pending Cali case? Read More »
CRISPR applications in the real world The “breakthrough” gene-editing tool, CRISPR Cas9, has been utilized for various purposes since its popularization and commercialization in the early 2010s. While possible uses of gene editing in humans tend to get the most attention, the application of CRISPR-Cas9 also encompasses the animal world and the analysis of a
CRISPR critters advancing science & agriculture Read More »
Introduction to CAR-T cells CAR-T cells are an exciting cutting-edge technology that has been garnering great interest including in the stem cell field. Potential therapeutic uses of CAR-T, which stands for Chimeric Antigen Receptor T-Cells (CAR-T), are being studied in clinical trials as immunotherapies to potentially fight cancer as well as many other diseases by
CAR-T cells review: cancer & a critical look at possible uses in aging & COVID-19 Read More »
Stem cell clinics and suppliers have been getting into the business of making promotional films to generate more revenue, but now there’s something very different in the cinematic stem cell arena called From Jail Cell to Stem Cell by filmmaker Doug Orchard. It is at its heart an exposé film about some in my view particularly concerning stem
Review of clinic exposé film From Jail Cell to Stem Cell Read More »