One of the bigger stem cell stories in the past week was that hockey legend Gordie Howe had received a stem cell ‘treatment” that had “miraculous” positive effects after having a few strokes over the last couple months. (update: see more on celebrities rolling the dice on unproven stem cells here). I am highly skeptical of […]
Checking Supposed Stem Cell Miracle for Gordie Howe Read More »
With a new document released today the FDA is more clearly on a path to regulate dubious stem cell clinics in the US. Update: in the years since this post, the FDA has more concretely defined autologous adipose stem cells as drug products. There are more than 100 such American clinics that are selling stem
FDA Draft Guidance Views Fat Stem Cells As Drugs Read More »
Brigham and Women’s Hospital cardiac stem cell researcher Piero Anversa along with collaborator Annarosa Leri (pictured) are suing both the hospital and Harvard Medical School as well as leaders at the institutions over a research misconduct investigation focused on Anversa and Leri. Boston Globe reporter Carolyn Johnson has been covering Anversa and for background on this new
Harvard Sued by Anversa Over Stem Cell Paper Misconduct Investigation Read More »
Every year I look into my stem cell crystal ball and make a top 10 list of stem cell predictions for the coming year. My predictions for 2015 will be coming up soon and I may bump them up to 20 predictions instead of 10 because there’s so much going on in the field. Stay
Stem cell crystal ball: how did my 2014 predictions fare? Read More »
Did you eventually get sick of the whole STAP mess and all the baggage that came with it? Stay tuned for STAP 2.0 or perhaps I should say STAP junior. Just as STAP is starting to fade a bit from our radar screens, there is unfortunately a new very problematic stem cell paper situation coming soon
STAP cell 2.0? New stem cell paper controversy ready to erupt Read More »
How cool is it that literally fuzzy new stem cells called “F-class cells” bring substantial new sharp focus to the cellular reprograming arena? Remember Project Grandiose led by the great stem cell scientist Andras Nagy? It’s a massive project intended to decipher what makes stem cells tick and how ordinary cells be changed or reprogrammed into powerful
Fuzzy New Stem Cells Bring Cellular Reprogramming into Focus Read More »
A hot topic in biomedical sciences is converting white “bad” fat into brown “good” fat. The latter type of adipose is viewed more positively because it seems to be associated with a relatively metabolically more active, leaner state. Could we somehow convert white adipose to brown adipose and in so doing have a beneficial effect
Harvard Predicts Fat Burning Stem Cell Pill To Replace Exercise Read More »
When I asked the readers of this blog what they felt was the biggest stem cell story of 2014 in a poll, they overwhelmingly picked the STAP cell scandal. For background on STAP you can toggle through the many STAP cell pieces on this blog here, see a STAP timeline, and a STAP image gallery. Basically,
STAP cells Voted as the Stem Cell Story of the Year for 2014 Read More »
NBC News did a big on-line story and even a NBC Nightly News Segment on dubious stem cell therapies on Friday. Normally a national news story on the problem of the mushrooming stem cell clinics selling unapproved “treatments” would be a positive development, but this otherwise very nicely done story might have a major error that could confuse millions
Did NBC News Err On Key Part of Their Stem Cell Report? Read More »
It’s been a seemingly rather quiet year on the FDA regulatory front in the US when it comes to direct-to-consumer stem cell interventions even as the number of dubious stem cell clinics continues to skyrocket. I requested an interview with the FDA to cover the key pressing issues in this arena. I want to thank
FDA on Key Stem Cell Regulatory Issues & Its Own Research Read More »