As I am writing this, a revolution in medicine and science is building up steam around the world called Genomics. Let me clue you in so you do not miss the boat on this dramatic change coming in our lives. Genomics means the study of genomes. A genome is the complete sequence of an organism’s DNA, […]
The Genomics Revolution: move over blood type, here comes your genotype Read More »
What will we define as a success for any given stem cell biotech like ViaCyte? In academia, even if we do pre-clinical, translational kind of biomedical sciences, we still do not often think about what it takes to succeed in industry. Even if we very much want our research to make a difference for patients,
What really happens to cells after they a stem cell transplant into a patient? Once these cells, which have spent weeks in a lab environment, are injected into a person, what happens next? This is arguably the most important question in the regenerative medicine field, but there are few answers. We are literally mostly in
Stem cells gone wild? What really happens after a transplant Read More »
I’ve been lecturing on stem cells as a professor here at UC Davis School of Medicine for many years so I can answer common questions such as “What are stem cells?” The medical students ask many great questions. They are always interested in clinical applications. The goal of today’s article is to help you have
What are stem cells? Definition & applications Read More »
To find out how people feel after getting stem cells I plan to regularly do a stem cell poll on impressions. Last week I posted a stem cell treatment poll. I was curious about people’s experiences and attitudes toward non-FDA approved stem cell treatments. During my time as a stem cell scientist and educator, I
Surprising stem cell poll results Read More »
What is the valley of death of science and biotech? For those of us conducting stem cell research, especially human stem cell research, I don’t have to tell you how expensive it is. Even just doing pre-clinical or basic science research costs a fortune. When you start talking about the kind of pre-clinical research specifically
The valley of death: stem cells, biotechs, and money Read More »
Viacyte is one of the most exciting biotechs in the stem cells for diabetes space. Dr. Kevin D’Amour, Director of Stem Cell Research at Viacyte, gave an excellent, extremely interesting talk Friday morning: Developing an Encapsulated Stem Cell Therapy for Diabetes. Viacyte talk In the talk, Dr. D’Amour gave a very detailed description of their
We’ve all been closely following Geron and its work on ES cells. This morning there was a fantastic session here at the ASGCT meeting in Seattle on Clinical Trials on Stem Cells. Talk by Geron One of the speakers was Geron VP, Jane Lebkoswki, PhD: Development of Human Embryonic Stem Cell-Based Therapies for Treatment of
Stem Cell Clinical Trials Part I: Geron VP Lebkoswki speaking today in Seattle Read More »
There were three talks today on iPS cells here at the American Society for Gene and Cell Therapy meeting or ASGCT meeting in Seattle. Dr. James Ellis made the interesting case that it may be preferable to make iPS cells using genetic methods (while everyone else seems to be saying that non-genetic methods will be better).
News on iPS cells from some top scientists at ASGCT meeting today Read More »
Why invest in stem cells? Ideas are the foundation of stem cell research, but funding makes those ideas a reality. We talk a lot about governmental funding of stem cell research through CIRM and NIH. The funding from these agencies is essential and will undoubtedly lead to new treatments and cures, possibly for millions of
Why invest in stem cells? Progress, Patients, and Patents Read More »