New ISSCR President, Dr. Janet Rossant, kindly agreed to do an interview with me focused on the future of ISSCR, her plans for her tenure, and some key issues in the field. Dr. Rossant is Chief of Research at The Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto. 1. The stem cell arena is a very rapidly changing one …
The big stem cell buzz the last day or two has been the news exploding across mainstream media outlets about laboratory-produced human livers grown from stem cells. It’s good news to be sure as it would seem we might be one important step closer to a new reality for millions of people suffering from liver disease. …
Perspectives on human micro-liver-like structures made from iPS cells Read More »
In a shocker, Japan’s 2nd largest newspaper, Asahi Shimbun, published an editorial yesterday saying that iPS cells are being pushed too fast to the clinic for economic reasons. The piece was bluntly entitled “Too much of a rush for clinical trials with iPS cells”. Asahi Shimbun, with a circulation of 10 million, is taking a bold …
Asahi Shimbun Editorial: iPS Cells Rushed For Economic Reasons Read More »
Cellular Dynamics, the stem cell company founded by Dr. James Thomson, is filing for an IPO. Hat tip to David Jensen. The company, which will go under the stock symbol ICEL, is focused on iPS cell-produced products. They describe their portfolio as follows: Cellular Dynamics is developing and deploying a number of cell types derived from …
Cellular Dynamics IPO: big money, iPS cell IP rights, trade secrets Read More »
I just closed my blog’s poll on what are the most clinically promising pluripotent stem cells. Why close the poll now less than 12 hours after I opened it instead of leaving the poll open longer? You’ll find out soon enough. I can’t resist teasing you readers sometimes. iPS cells were the big winners in …
iPS cells top poll as most clinically promising pluripotent stem cells 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 recently did a series of 4 polls on potential roadblock issues in the iPS cell field. The impetus for these polls was my sense that there were substantial differences in views on whether iPS cells were now proven to be equivalent to ES cells in 4 key ways. Turns out the polls got a …
There was a time, not so long ago, when the religious right hailed the discovery of induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells. Headlines blared from the extreme right on the Internet such as, “Embryonic stem cells obsolete”. Even the same kind of thing, saying, “The stem cell debate is dead”. You see opponents of embryonic stem …
Why the extreme religious right are turning against iPS cells Read More »
Just how good are today’s iPS cells? Are they essentially functionally the same as ES cells? Take our polls below to let us know your thoughts.
One of my favorite stem cell scientists is Jeanne Loring of Scripps. She does great science and when you ask her questions, she frankly states her opinions and is clearly a gifted educator at heart too. Below is a Q&A interview I did with Jeanne on key issues of clinical translation of iPS cells. You …
Jeanne Loring interview: optimism on clinical translation of IPS cells Read More »