In about a month my new book, Stem Cells: An Insider’s Guide, should be available as an e-book from the publisher and from Amazon. It’s available for pre-order now at Amazon here. The “real” book (i.e. the one made of paper) should be available in September. The book costs $29. Any writers out there interested in doing […]
Stem Cells An Insider’s Guide: More on My New Book Read More »
Every now and I then I try to take some time to think about the focus of this blog and the direction it is going. In the most recent case, I got the feeling that perhaps I have giving too discouraged or negative an impression on the blog lately….focusing too much on the challenges and
Why I am very optimistic about the future of the stem cell field Read More »
A new paper suggests a hopeful short-term safety profile of laboratory-grown stem cells for treatment of arthritis, but there are some important limitations to the study too. A debate continues to bubble over whether to classify laboratory-propagated stem cells as biological drugs. A persistent issue has been whether the growth of stem cells in culture
Short-term safety of lab-grown stem cells for arthritis: encouraging, but key caveats Read More »
I recently did a poll on people’s reactions to the new paper reporting use an all-chemical approach to making iPS cells through cellular reprogramming. I got a good number of responses relatively quickly. The results so far suggest that by far most people think it is too soon to know the importance of this new
Stem cell field mostly taking a wait-and-see attitude toward all chemical iPS cells Read More »
What does homologous use mean? Navigating the arena of clinical use of a biologic such as stem cells or differentiated cells made from stem cells can be challenging. There are many important issues including what defines “minimal manipulation” of biologics such as cells. One particular issue that is critically important and has drawn less attention
Time to bone up on homologous use in the stem cell field Read More »
What the heck is going on with Intellicell Biosystems, Inc. (SVFC, also SVFCE), a stem cell corporation run by Dr. Steven Victor? Why are some on Wall Street seeming so bullish on the company lately? What’s the real story and the facts? What is the key background on this company? Wall Street has been buying
Wall Street Weirdness Over Stem Cell Biotech Intellicell (SVFC) Read More »
A FOIA request that I made with the FDA in mid-December 2012 has at long last revealed letters from Celltex to the FDA that previously were not in the public domain. The reason for the FOIA and for these blog posts is to shed some light on important issues that particularly relate to patient safety. I
I’m doing a series of posts on my recent conversation with BioTime CEO and pioneer of the stem cell field, Dr. Mike West. You can read Part 1 and Part 2 on Geron, ACT, and the history of the pluripotent stem cell field, particularly embryonic stem cells (ESCs). Today in Part 3, I am focusing on
Mike West Interview Part 3: key flaw in stem cell field Read More »
Texas Governor Rick Perry just announced that he will not run again for governor. This political development has important impact in the stem cell field, particularly in the state of Texas. Perry is one of the biggest advocates of certain types of adult stem cell commercialization. When he is no longer governor there will be impact
Celltex advocate Rick Perry will not run again for Texas governor: stem cell impact Read More »
New ISSCR President, Dr. Janet Rossant, kindly agreed to do an interview with me focused on the future of ISSCR, her plans for her tenure, and some key issues in the field. Dr. Rossant is Chief of Research at The Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto. 1. The stem cell arena is a very rapidly changing one