It’s a confusing time at the Vatican, which arguably has an international stem cell scandal of its own making on its hands. What the heck is going on? In an embarrassing move, they organized a stem cell conference for this year and then abruptly cancelled it, with the reason being that they had originally invited …
Recently, there has been a brewing controversy surrounding a journal called American Journal of Bioethics (AJOB), a company called CellTex, a bioethicist named Dr. Glenn McGee who founded and used to run AJOB until he recently resigned, and two University of Minnesota professors, Drs. Carl Elliott and Leigh Turner who have been publicly critical of …
Celltex versus University of Minnesota: support for Elliott and Turner Read More »
What’s the deal with the Pepsi stem cell myth? Does Pepsi have stem cells or ingredients from stem cells in it? No. Does the Pepsi corporation use embryonic stem cells to make Pepsi? No. These are myths. Nonetheless, pro-life extremists have been targeting Pepsi because of these fake connections between Pepsi and stem cells as …
SEC rules in favor of Pepsi on bogus stem cell propaganda complaint over 293 cells Read More »
Who reads this blog? A bunch of cool people including in science, educators, reporters, and patient advocates around the world. Some of them contact me, almost always to say nice things. Sometimes not so nice. To my knowledge this blog remains the only one in the world on stem cells written by a faculty level …
Are stem cells a drug? Should the FDA regulate them? Technically, the FDA calls stem cells “biologics”, but the FDA regulates stem cell products with the goal of ensuring safety and efficacy much the same as traditionally define chemical “drugs”. You can learn more about the FDA’s view of and concerns about stem cells here and here. …
A recent article in Nature News about a stem cell transplant company called Celltex got me thinking again about safety. The safety of stem cell-based therapies is kind of an obsession of mine. A question comes to mind. Are people realistic about what stem cells can do for them and the risks involved? The answer …
Celltex, RNL and phony worst case stem cell scenario comment Read More »
I’ve now been blogging about stem cells here on The Niche for nearly 2 years, but why do I keep doing it? I’m by no means the only one who blogs about stem cells, but it is just that professors still are reluctant in the stem cell field to blog. Two outstanding blogs that tied …
It wasn’t so long ago that I did a post explaining why after following the company for years, I finally bought a small amount of stock in the stem cell biotech, Advanced Cell Technology (ACT; symbol ACTC). In part it was motivated by my enthusiasm to see them publishing a paper, a very preliminary paper, …
If someone is not in a war, but someone else declares war on them or actually attacks them, I would say the reality is that war has started and there are two opposing sides. However, has that happened when it comes to stem cells? Are we in a stem cell war? There have been times …
The war propaganda myth of adult versus embryonic stem cells hurts everyone Read More »
If you care about contraception, you need to understand stem cells. And if you care about stem cells you should know more about birth control. Why? There is a big media to-do about federal guidelines related to health care organizations providing birth control. President Obama has gotten into the fray and in fact just today …
What do stem cells have to do with contraception? Read More »