RNL Bio has been accused of allegedly smuggling stem cells out of Korea to treat patients in Japan and China without going through customs. But there is more trouble. RNL Bio faces additional challenges as reportedly (AsiaOne News) the Korean Government is weighing whether to charge RNL criminally based on their stem cell treatments being illegal […]
RNL Bio had a challenging year in 2012 in my opinion. It was sued in U.S. court for stem cell fraud by Korean national patients living in the U.S. It had a legal tussle, still ongoing, with former partner Celltex over custody of Celltex’s banked patient stem cells. Well, it seems to me that 2013
RNL Bio charges for alleged stem cell smuggling raise larger questions Read More »
For the second year in a row (see awards 2011), Advanced Cell Technology (ACT; stock symbol ACTC) is my stem cell biotech of the year. Their trials for different forms of macular degeneration (here and here and here) are progressing well and as a stem cell scientist I really appreciate the fact they are publishing their
Stem cell biotech of the year 2012: Advanced Cell Technology (ACTC) Read More »
Stem cell blogs make a big contribution to the stem cell world. Which is the best? It’s a tough choice. This year my pick is stemcellassays.com by Alexey Bersenev as 2012 Stem Cell Blog of the Year. You can also follow Alexey on Twitter here. Congrats to Alexey. Alexey’s blog consistently is outstanding in that it
Stem cell blog of the year 2012: stemcellassays.com by Alexey Bersenev Read More »
In previous years I’ve done yearly predictions for the coming year’s events in the stem cell world (see predictions for 2011 and 2012 predictions). I did pretty well in my predicting stem cell events for this year (see analysis here) scoring a respectable 70%. Isn’t that a C-?,you might ask. No, when it comes to
My stem cell predictions for 2013 Read More »
Every year I make predictions about what the following year will bring us in the stem cell field. For example, last year I made some predictions for 2012 and I shortly will do a post on my predictions for 2013. First, how did I do with my predictions for this year, which I made in
More and more often I find myself chatting with reporters and science writers about stem cells. They want to know more for background on articles on topics ranging from core stem cell scientific issues to stem cell clinics. Over time I’ve realized I’ve been telling reporters and science writers some consistent things that amount to
Reporters & sci-writers guide to interviewing stem cell clinics: key questions Read More »
I recently attend a conference in Florida called The World Stem Cell Summit. It was very enjoyable and unique in that it brings together and is open to all constituents of the stem cell world. I gave a couple talks and did an “expert” luncheon at this meeting, but what I enjoyed most was talking
Perfect storm dodged: what are three key challenges for stem cell field going into 2013? Read More »
Here on The Niche I’m giving out a Stem Cell Person of the Year Award for 2012 along with all my other annual awards (e.g. best stem cell journal, paper, blog, comic, activist, etc). 2020 update: you can see future winners of the award here. The Person of the Year winner will get recognition for
Stem Cell Person of the Year Finalists: time to vote Read More »
Often on this blog I focus on challenges or problems in the stem cell universe, but sometimes it is important to focus on the good news and 2012 had much of that. There are more stem cell-based clinical trials than ever before and there is good reason to believe that many FDA-approved stem cell products
The good news about stem cells for 2012 Read More »