When the FDA has a major problem with something, it can issue a warning letter or more rarely it can file suit in court for an injunction against the particular party. The FDA has now done both of these things on different fronts with Beverly Hills stem cell clinic doctor and cosmetic surgeon, Dr. Mark Berman. […]
What new papers and news in the stem cell sphere caught your eye? Here are some recent items that seem notable to me. Diabetes relief in mice by glucose-sensing insulin-secreting human α-cells. This paper reports cellular reprogramming to insulin-producing cells in mice. They reprogrammed α-cells with Pdx1 and MafA proteins. ‘Mitophagy inhibits amyloid-β and tau pathology and reverses
Recent stem cell pubs & news: reprogramming, chromatin, single-cell, Astellas, & more Read More »
I keep a yearly hub of stem cell & regenerative medicine meetings here on The Niche. Below I’ve pasted the list for 2019, which continues to grow. If you don’t see yours listed, send me an email with the info including a link (knoepflerATucdavisDOTedu). These meeting listings are not endorsements and I try to make
Stem cell & regenerative medicine meetings for you to go to in 2019 Read More »
Historically, the main route of proposed healing via stem cell therapy was cell replacement. In this way of thinking the transplanted cells engrafted (took up home) in the patient’s tissue and replaced dead or diseased cells. However, interest continues to grow in other possible modes of healing by stem cells that don’t rely on cell
4 possible roles for stem cell therapy besides cell replacement Read More »
A new Florida bill (Bill 65 of 2019) could make the practices of stem cell clinics a felony. At the same time it would open the door to patients receiving still experimental stem cells that have at least started the clinical trial process. What’s going on? A number of states have been stepping up action
New Florida bill mixes RTT spirit with turning unproven stem cell sales into a felony Read More »
There is real hope for treating spinal cord injury with stem cell-based therapies in the future. However, unfortunately regulators in Japan have taken a major misstep in approving a not-ready-for-primetime mesenchymal stem cell (MSC)-based approach to spinal cord injury. Their decision is dangerous and unwise. In a Nature piece (linked to above) by David Cyranoski
Japan’s dangerous gamble approving unproven stem cells for spinal cord injury Read More »
The birth-related stem cell clinic industry is a serious problem for patients, the stem cell field, and the FDA as the clinics sell more and more of what I think of as “zombie” injections. Zombie stem cells One of the biggest changes in the last 2 years in the unproven stem cell clinic arena was
Sales of zombie stem cells continue to mushroom Read More »
In the past month or two there has been a steady stream of good news in the stem cell and regenerative medicine world. Here are three examples starting with Fate Therapeutics. Fate Therapeutics Fate Therapeutics announced the first US IND for an induced pluripotent stem cell (IPSC)-related product. Its cleared product, FT500, is an off-the-shelf
Stem cell & regenerative medicine good news including Fate Therapeutics Read More »
The Joint Commission apparently has given some kind of seal of approval to the unproven stem cell clinic-related firm, the Lung Institute, or as it is now often called the Lung Health Institute. For me this raises concerns about the Joint Commission itself or at least its ambulatory care accreditation program through which Lung Health
Red flag for Joint Commission for its gold seal approval to former stem cell clinic firm Read More »
For a long time at the end of each year, I’ve been making stem cell predictions for the coming year. Most often I’ve been making a “top 20” list of predictions and today’s post has my list for 2019. You can see how I did for 2018 here, which might have been my best year
20 stem cell & regenerative medicine predictions for 2019 Read More »