Should a company be able to have a gene patent and more generally and practically speaking can genes be patented? Patent and IP issues always raise a myriad of questions so what about a patent case on a company called Myriad? Complicated, right? If genes in their natural form cannot be patented, does that mean …
Myriad SCOTUS Decision: Can you have a gene patent? Read More »
Will intellectual property (IP) wars over patent rights to one of the most exciting new stem cell technologies hold back getting novel therapies to patients such as IPS cells? Unfortunately, it’s very possible. Induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells are very cool stem cells made from non-stem cells through a process called cellular reprogramming. iPS cells …
Putting the IP in iPS cells: patent war looming? Read More »
I emailed Dr. Raymond Chung about the patent application that was filed with him and Hisashi Moriguchi as inventors and Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) as the assignee (owner). I have already heard from Harvard about the patent, but I also heard today from MGH Public Affairs Officer Sue McGreevey in response to my inquiry to …
Massachusetts General Hospital official statement on Moriguchi patent app Read More »
Hisashi Moriguchi. He is arguably at the center of one of the biggest science scandals of 2012. This is the guy who lied about doing iPS cell transplants into human patients. He also lied about being affiliated with Harvard & its primary teaching hospital, Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), for many years after he left there. He …
Harvard spokesman: MGH withdrawing puzzling Moriguchi 2010 iPS cell patent application Read More »
There has been concern for months about the direction that the European Union was heading in regards to intellectual property (IP) rights and stem cell patent approaches. Now, a definitive decision banning embryonic stem cell (ESC)-based patents by the EU Court has dealt a severe blow to stem cell science in Europe. The European Court …
Anti-cure impact of Errant EU stem cell patent decision Read More »
Ideas are the foundation of stem cell research, but funding makes those ideas a reality. We talk a lot about governmental funding of stem cell research through CIRM and NIH. The funding from these agencies is essential and will undoubtedly lead to new treatments and cures, possibly for millions of patients. But there is another …
Why invest in stem cells? Progress, Patients, and Patents Read More »
Starting last year the FDA has focused much of its cell therapy oversight resources on birth-related firms, including both clinics and suppliers. The latest warnings went to RenatiLabs & Cell Genuity. Warnings to unproven perinatal cell therapy firms Earlier this summer the agency warned Regenative Labs. There have been quite a few letters to others in this …
FDA warns more perinatal cell therapy firms: RenatiLabs & Cell Genuity Read More »
It’s funny how sometimes there are many new articles about one general topic like this week with heritable (and somatic) human CRISPR gene editing and related tech. There are clear reasons for optimism in the somatic arena given advancing trials. Germline editing remains highly questionable in my view even just technically. Then there are loads …
Weekly reads: human CRISPR, MRT risks, private IRBs, skincare Read More »
I often learn about new supposedly stem cell-related products like the LifeWave X39 Patch from readers. Sometimes such products are used by tens of thousands of people, in my view potentially raising risks to the public. If nothing else, people might be spending their money on something that isn’t worth it. As a stem cell biologist, …
I tend to perhaps over-focus on human CRISPR or gene editing, but other applications including in agriculture are definitely going to be huge. CRISPR in agriculture One that I’ve been following for a long time is the use of CRISPR to prevent cows from growing horns. Why is that a big deal? Just in the …
Weekly reads: CRISPR chicks, HSCs, sequencing Mendel Read More »