Can cells produced from autologous induced pluripotent stem cell (IPSC or IPS cell) cultures sometimes be immunogenic in patients? This key question has remained somewhat unsettled due to varied findings over the years (e.g. see here), but many of us had generally felt in the last couple years that IPS cell derivative immunogenicity in an …
IPS Cell Immunogenicity, Clinical Insights, & Possible Solutions Read More »
Recently I was at the World Alliance Forum in San Francisco (WAFSF), a great meeting on stem cells and regenerative medicine. WAFSF had some excellent talks and I saw one session on the use of stem cells to treat vision impairment that was particularly striking. World Alliance Forum in San Francisco (WAFSF) This session’s all-star lineup included Drs. David …
WAFSF stem cell vision talks: Hinton, Tsukamoto, Klassen, Takahashi Read More »
What happens if we start using induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells clinically in humans? A cool new paper recently came out that gets us closer to being able to predict an answer. It’s an important question as iPS cell-derived cellular products are getting closer to clinical use. For example, the first iPS cell-based clinical trial …
Cool, encouraging new preclinical study on monkey iPS cells Read More »
Yesterday was a crazy day for the STAP cell situation. We had RIKEN releasing a scathing internal investigatory report and then some folks in the media got all worked up about a single PCR assay result that Dr. Ken Lee posted on ResearchGate. Some of the reporters/science writers hyped their headlines/articles on this situation as though …
Dr. Lee STAP Result, Hyped by Media, in Proper Context Read More »
Advanced Cell Technology (ACT; $ACTC) has a new paper out on using human embryonic stem cells (hESC) to make MSCs with potentially powerful therapeutic potential. The paper, entitled Mesenchymal stem cell population derived from human pluripotent stem cells displays potent immunomodulatory and therapeutic properties, was published in the journal Stem Cells and Development. What’s the scoop on this …
Acid-induced pluripotent or even totipotent stem cells, called STAP stem cells, have thrown the stem cell field for a bit of a loop. For more background see my interview with the key public face of STAP, Dr. Charles Vacanti, as well as my review of their paper, my top 5 reasons for skepticism, and some other thoughts. Do you believe in …
Latest developments and scoops on STAP stem cells Read More »
If you take an ordinary cucumber and soak it in a mild acid solution of vinegar for a few weeks you get a pickle, which is where we find STAP stem cells. Recently, some scientists reported in Nature that if you take ordinary cells and soak them in a mild acid solution for 30 minutes, …
In a pickle over STAP stem cells: main reasons for skepticism Read More »
The recent publication of two Nature papers by a team in part led by Dr. Charles Vacanti on acid treatment produced stem cells (so-called STAP stem cells) has been a blockbuster story in the stem cell field and has grabbed major global media attention as well. For background my review of the paper here and more thoughts here. Many …
Interview with Charles Vacanti on STAP Cells: Link to Spore Stem Cells & More Read More »
In two Nature papers (here and here) published today researchers report the astounding finding of reprogramming differentiated cells back to a pluripotent or even totipotent state simply by exposing the cells to extreme environmental stress, creating cells they called STAP cells. Update: see more thoughts on STAP stem cells here. STAP cells: stressing the cell …
A team led by Shinya Yamanaka has published a new study reporting analysis of defective induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells in the journal PNAS. Part of what I liked so much about this paper is that it tackled a very real, but controversial area of stem cell research. By this I mean the reality that a …
Review of New Yamanaka Paper on Defective iPS cells Read More »