Is it the beginning of the end for dubious American clinics that sell transplants of unproven and non-FDA approved fat stem cell injections? As the year of 2014 was winding down, the FDA issued two key new draft guidances (see here and here) that could prove to be crash diets for these burgeoning fat stem cell clinics. (Update: As of …
FDA to Put Mushrooming Fat Stem Cell Clinics on Crash Diet? Read More »
With a new document released today the FDA is more clearly on a path to regulate dubious stem cell clinics in the US. Update: in the years since this post, the FDA has more concretely defined autologous adipose stem cells as drug products. There are more than 100 such American clinics that are selling stem …
FDA Draft Guidance Views Fat Stem Cells As Drugs Read More »
A hot topic in biomedical sciences is converting white “bad” fat into brown “good” fat. The latter type of adipose is viewed more positively because it seems to be associated with a relatively metabolically more active, leaner state. Could we somehow convert white adipose to brown adipose and in so doing have a beneficial effect …
Harvard Predicts Fat Burning Stem Cell Pill To Replace Exercise Read More »
You can jailbreak your iPhone, but perhaps you can jailbreak a cell too to turn it into a stem cell. In his very cool talk up here at the Till & McCulloch Meeting on Stem Cells yesterday, Andras Nagy characterized the reprogramming process to make iPS cells as “jailbreaking” cell fate. Nagy described some intriguing studies done on …
Two emerging acronyms in the for-profit stem cell world that remain unknown to most academic stem cell scientists, but that are generating the most buzz are: SVF and CAL. These are two fat acronyms. What? These acronyms relate to adipose (fat) stem cell-based procedures. SVF stands for “stromal vascular fraction”. SVF is, for lack of …
SVF & CAL are two fat stem cell acronyms generating a lot of buzz Read More »
The pursuit of “normalcy” has seriously led some scientists astray and there is no better example than the recent microbiome studies that have drawn great attention in the media. I found one aspect of their study design profoundly disturbing. First to my core question. Is there even such as thing as a normal person? As …
Dr. Zannos Grekos has administered so-called stem cell-based treatments to patients, at least two of whom have died following treatment in the last couple years. It is an understatement to say that Grekos is in serious hot water with various authorities at the state and federal levels. In the case of a 77-year old man …
Happy 4th of July everyone! In American history, another year has passed since our independence and it’s been one, in the stem cell field, of plenty of fireworks and more is sure to come. We have had the beginnings of three FDA-approved human ES cell-based clinical trials and also trials of other sorts meaning the …
Stem Cell Fireworks: what would our founding fathers think? Read More »
Congress is looking for ways to cut spending and one way they are considering is cutting the Dept. of Defense Prostate Cancer Research Program (DoD PCRP). The DoD PCRP has an incredible track record for funding the best cancer research and has pushed forward research leading to important clinical trials. Cutting the DoD PCRP is …
Help save prostate cancer research, make a difference on the day after Father’s day! Read More »
A new paper on stem cells for paralysis from a Mayo Clinic team has sparked a bit of legitimate hope but also some hype in the media. The publication was in Nature Communications. It is entitled “Intrathecal delivery of adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells in traumatic spinal cord injury: Phase I trial.” The approach was direct injection …
Perspectives on new stem cells for paralysis paper & media coverage Read More »