For better or worse, I am in the unique position of being a stem cell scientist and also a former cancer patient. Looking on the bright side this gives me a unique perspective on things compared to many of my colleagues. I know there are thousands of people out there looking for more practical information […]
Patients guide to stem cell treatments for 2021 Read More »
Now that the ISSCR annual meeting is over, some overall stem cell trends are evident from the meeting in terms of the direction of the stem cell field. This was one of my favorite ISSCR meetings. Translation expectation and upbeat tone. The overall vibe at the meeting was a sense of excitement and optimism about the
5 big picture stem cell trends at ISSCR 2016 Read More »
Dr. John Dick gave a great talk yesterday on cancer stem cells here at ISSCR 2016. Below I summarize his talk and as always with these meeting blogs, the post is not polished and is more of a stream of the speaker’s main points. He started out broadly with a nice introduction to this area of
Thought provoking talk from John Dick at ISSCR 2016 on cancer stem cells Read More »
An elderly woman in Australia reportedly died shortly after receiving a fat stem cell transplant. Sheila Drysdale passed away hours after getting an adipose stem cell treatment a few days before Christmas in 2013. That death is now being investigated by the coroner there. Not only is this death in Sydney distressing in it of
Woman’s death after “no big deal” fat stem cell therapy: coroner investigating Read More »
Stem cell studies continue to make big news with a mixed bag of trends including for stem cell biotech, and some good stem cell news and others not so much. Mesoblast ($MESO) had its stock suspended for quite so time recently in anticipation of a big announcement. When that news came today it was discouraging in
Stem cell biotech bites: Mesoblast, BioTime, MS, FDA Warning, & More Read More »
Here are some headlines & articles worth a look and some thought on stem cell and biomedical science more generally. Gallup finds in a new poll that 60% of Americans surveyed find human embryonic stem celsl research “largely acceptable”. On the other hand human reproductive cloning is highly frowned upon, sandwiched in the “highly unacceptable
Weekend reads: ES cell research polls well, Gordie Howe, MS, IPS cells, and more Read More »
I wrote yesterday about two cases of science media hype on CRISPR and on stem cells for strokes. The latter case on stem cell hype stirred the most discussion and even some harsh words in the comments. As this stem cell stroke story on an encouraging but very small, preliminary study has unfolded across the
Stem cells for stroke hype analysis: 9 very different headlines Read More »
The REGROW Act would drastically weaken FDA regulation of experimental stem cell therapies. I’ve criticized it in numerous posts (see those here) for its radical ideas that would put patients and the stem cell field at risk. I’m not the only one concerned about it as both ARM and ISSCR oppose it too. Now 10 top patient advocacy
Ten patient groups oppose REGROW Act that would gut stem cell oversight Read More »
The fast-moving stem cell field has enjoyed remarkable progress in the past 10 years despite some issues such as instances of stem cell paper retraction. This “modern” stem cell era that includes induced pluripotent stem cells (IPSC) has been striking for progress despite some challenges such as issues with publications. As a maturing field it is important
Higher apparent stem cell paper retraction rates versus cancer papers Read More »
A committee of the International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR) did one heck of a document dump yesterday on stem cell policy, releasing a whole bunch of policy recommendations on stem cells and more. The torrent from ISSCR included a 37-page policy statement itself as well as several papers in top journals including the
ISSCR Releases Flood of Stem Cell Policy Docs Read More »