The field of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC) has really shaken up science over the last half dozen years reversing our notion that differentiated cells are stuck in that fate, when in reality they are plastic and can “turn back the clock” to become embryonic stem cell-like cells. Now we have an iPSC paper in Nature, …
Surprising human genomic mosaicism means not all your cells have the same DNA Read More »
Pluristem Therapeutics Inc. is a publicly traded (NASDAQ) biotech Israeli company that is developing stem cell treatments based on the use of expanded placental stem cells called PLX cells. The Pluristem PLX drug is not approved for treating patients at this time in any country, however Pluristem has treated a handful of patients via something …
Money and stem cell ‘miracles’: Pluristem questioned on ethics Read More »
Why are most brain cancers so difficult to treat leaving the unfortunate patients who suffer from them in dire circumstances so often? The short answer is that we don’t know why. This lack of understanding is like a wall standing between the cures and us for these patients. We have to climb or knockdown this …
Brain cancer: why histones including H3.3 are so important Read More »
I was fortunate enough to do my postdoctoral studies at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center (aka “The Hutch”) in Seattle. I was a postdoc for more years than I’d like to admit, but it was a wonderful experience. The Hutch is the kind of place where you can imagine making the impossible become possible …
A tribute to Nobel Laureate E. Donnall Thomas, a true stem cell pioneer Read More »
I love collaborative science. I believe it advances science faster. An example? My lab recently collaborated with another lab here at UC Davis of Dr. Oliver Fiehn, a metabolomics guru. Our paper on this just came out in PLOS ONE here. Admittedly, we got scooped by another lab that published the first ever metabolomics paper …
New paper on iPS cell metabolomics: striking, yet incomplete metabolic reprogramming Read More »
I emailed Dr. Raymond Chung about the patent application that was filed with him and Hisashi Moriguchi as inventors and Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) as the assignee (owner). I have already heard from Harvard about the patent, but I also heard today from MGH Public Affairs Officer Sue McGreevey in response to my inquiry to …
Massachusetts General Hospital official statement on Moriguchi patent app Read More »
A team from the Salk Institute in La Jolla led by Inder Verma has reported dedifferentiation in a paper in Science some important findings that I believe make their paper in the top 10 as a candidate for paper of the year. The paper, entitled “Dedifferentiation of Neurons and Astrocytes by Oncogenes Can Induce Gliomas …
Dedifferentiation of neurons & astrocytes into glioma forming cells Read More »
The FDA warning letter that Celltex received in late September (but that just went public yesterday–see my initial reaction here) is a possible game-changer for that company in my opinion. Why? The letter outlined in great detail the FDA’s concerns with how Celltex manufactures its stem cell product ranging from lack of documentation to concerns about aseptic/sterile …
Will stem cell clinic Celltex reinvent itself after game-changing FDA warning letter? Read More »
Sugarland, Texas stem cell clinic, Celltex, is most well known for having done the stem cell treatment on Texas Governor Rick Perry. What’s up with Celltex this week? There has a lot of talk behind the scenes that something big has happened. Very recently Celltex put out a PR recently saying it had received a …
I’m getting some heat from some stem cell folks who think I should not have blogged about the Moriguchi iPS cell transplant case. Their argument seems to be it would have been preferable to either (A) not blog about the story at all or only minimally so fewer people would know about it or (B) …
Responding to critics of blogging the Moriguchi iPS cell story Read More »