One of the most contentious areas in the regenerative medicine arena is whether a fat tissue product called stromal vascular fraction or SVF is a drug. The FDA says SVF, even in autologous form, is a drug. It is seeking an injunction against a California-based network of SVF clinics but lost the initial case. That […]
Recommend reads: FDA SVF warning, big Aspen grant, CSI finale invokes stem cells Read More »
I’ve been wondering how the new Google AI overviews feature on its search platform would turn out for various stem cell searches. Frankly, I had a bad feeling that Google was going to blow this. Unfortunately, it seems even worse than I anticipated. Let’s go through three examples and talk about why this is so
Google AI overviews on stem cells are a bust so far & endanger public health Read More »
I was interested to see that an organization called The Perinatal Stem Cell Society seems to have been upbeat about the new Utah stem cell law. That law sets up a likely conflict with the FDA and federal law over stem cells. In a nutshell, Utah now says you can sell non-FDA-approved stem cells in
Q&A with Kyle Cetrulo of The Perinatal Stem Cell Society on the FDA, state laws, & more Read More »
Stem cell hype is a big problem these days. It’s been going on for decades. Even some generally good citizens of the stem cell and regenerative medicine arena engage in it at times. Maybe a few of them don’t even realize what they are doing. I think a few journalists occasionally fall into the hype
Recommended reads: 3 infected in Mexico, stem cell hype, hearing restoration Read More »
We’ve known that most organs have resident stem cell populations for decades, but things have been less clear in the lung and it has only been relatively recently that lung stem cells have been definitively characterized. Why is so important? Lung stem cells, whether endogenous or made in the lab, have the potential to help
Recommended reads: lung stem cells, Utah stem cell law, Ozzy gets cells Read More »
Looking for some stem cell good news? You’ll like today’s post. One mission of this blog The Niche is to promote rigorous science-based regenerative medicine, which can lead to investigating and writing about not-so-upbeat stuff. Risky clinics. People getting hurt. Patient lawsuits. Serious FDA, FTC, or state AG regulatory developments. Such actions can be good
Recent stem cell & regenerative medicine good news Read More »
If you remember Monty Python, then you probably recall John Cleese. We’ll start with Cleese’s stem cell baloney. Not spam. Secret to eternal youth? John Cleese extols virtues of stem cell treatment, The Guardian. I’ve written before about John Cleese’s stem cell anti-aging efforts. As I told the author of The Guardian piece, I love
When a vendor of important reagents like antibody supplier Abcam charges big money, those high Abcam prices could negatively impact research in the long run. Some of the prices are so high that buying just a few antibodies could take up a small but meaningful slice of an entire R01 grant. Sky-high Abcam prices I’ve
Weekly reads: abundant Abcam prices, speedy aging & cancer, stemmy CAR-T, more on STAP Read More »
A new paper on stem cells for paralysis from a Mayo Clinic team has sparked a bit of legitimate hope but also some hype in the media. The publication was in Nature Communications. It is entitled “Intrathecal delivery of adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells in traumatic spinal cord injury: Phase I trial.” The approach was direct injection
Perspectives on new stem cells for paralysis paper & media coverage Read More »
What is immune rejuvenation? How would that work and what would be the benefits? As we age, our immune systems can change in unhelpful and unhealthy ways. One such change is a drift in the balance of production of different kinds of immune cells. Such a shift can lead to too many of some immune