Search Results for: biotech

The Vatican Stem Cell Meeting…is mixing religion and science a good idea?

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Why does it worry me that the Vatican is having a stem cell conference? One of the hallmarks of Democracy is separation of church and state. When states mix religion into politics and government, the results have during human history been disastrous. Equally dismal has been the relationship between religion and science. Ever since the […]

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Anti-cure impact of Errant EU stem cell patent decision

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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

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The news of CIRM and clinical trial: don’t forget the patient

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As much as so many were excited yesterday about the enrollment of the first patient in a CIRM-funded clinical trial, I did not see a mention of a very important element. The patient. Our excitement about the clinical trial moving forward is understandable, but we also need to keep a sober perspective on the fact

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Everything you need to know about publishing in the iPS cell field

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I have posted before about publishing trends in the iPS cell field here and in here…. but where do things stand today? Here, I provide an important update. What’s going on now? Here I provide answers to the key questions.   How many papers are there on iPS cells? An interesting and unexpected trend for

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California pays its sports coaches alone more than the entire payroll of CIRM

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CIRM-

There has been a largely media-fed hullabaloo about the salary for the new Chair of CIRM, the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, $400,000. Now don’t get me wrong, that sounds like a lot of money to me personally, but we need to put it in perspective and when we do, the salary is reasonable and

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Clinical Trials Part II: Viacyte Director of Stem Cell Research Dr. D’Amour speaking today in Seattle

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Viacyte is one of the most exciting biotechs in the stem cells for diabetes space. Dr. Kevin D’Amour, Director of Stem Cell Research at Viacyte, gave an excellent, extremely interesting talk Friday morning: Developing an Encapsulated Stem Cell Therapy for Diabetes. Viacyte talk In the talk, Dr. D’Amour gave a very detailed description of their

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Why invest in stem cells? Progress, Patients, and Patents

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Why invest in stem cells? 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

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Great news: FDA gives ACT the green light bringing hope to millions of people with blindness

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advanced-cell-technology

The FDA has given Advanced Cell Technology (ACT) the go ahead to begin their clinical trial using retinal progenitor cells derived from hESC by clearing the company’s IND application, bringing hope to those with vision loss and even blindness. The trial will be a combined Phase I/II to treat Stargardt’s Macular Dystrophy and has huge

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