What’s more important than Woolly Mammoth de-extinction research in the stem cell arena? Only maybe a 10,000 other things. Still, the mammoth de-extinction efforts capture people’s attention much more than the average research story. Mammoth De-extinction update Is de-extinction only a pipette dream? This startup has a big, expensive plan to find out, Popular Science. […]
We all know people who seem far younger than their age, which feeds into the idea of biological age. It’s often in the news these days and all over social media. Some people who are fighting high-profile battles with aging are also doing something I call “health flexing.” I also called these folks by another
Biological age, health flexing, & stabs at rejuvenation Read More »
Neil Riordan may be most well-known for running the Panama stem cell clinic called simply enough the Stem Cell Institute, but he also has a U.S. firm Signature Biologics. The Panama clinic sells unproven umbilical cord cells grown in a lab for a host of medical conditions. I’ve had many concerns about it over the
FDA warns Neil Riordan U.S. perinatal firm Signature Biologics Read More »
It feels like we are marching towards a future in which key aspects of human reproduction, including the use of artificial wombs, could be substantially different than for most of history. The FDA is considering allowing a clinical trial for use of artificial wombs in people. Human trials of artificial wombs could start soon. Here’s
Weekly reads: artificial wombs, mice with rat brains, Neuralink Read More »
I’ve been more interested in histones and their modifications versus DNA methylation when it comes to epigenetics and chromatin. In part this has just been because I have studied histones so much more. For example, we have been knocking out the two histone variant H3.3 genes, H3f3a and H3f3b, now for a decade. My lab also
Weekly reads: DNA methylation, H3 K27M in glioma, memory wipe, teeth Read More »
I’ve been thinking more about the steady stream of epigenetic clock research out there. How convincing is the research on such clocks? Do they tightly relate to human biological age? The related notion of turning back such hypothetical clocks to reverse aging is exciting but controversial. It doesn’t help that some are hyping all of
Is DNA methylation destiny? Diving into new epigenetic clock research Read More »
A days ago the news came about Mesoblast not getting FDA approval for its MSC product for GvHD. The MSC area has had a rough few years with various clinical trials including for COVID. The “stem cells for heart disease” arena has also had a tough time. Here’s more news along these lines: BioCardia pauses enrollment in PhIII trial
Weekly reads: BioCardia, HeLa suit, illegal bio lab in CA Read More »
Altos Labs is an intriguing multi-institution experiment in so-called rejuvenation research all rolled into one biotech. This relatively new entity headquartered in California has multiple Nobel laureates in the biomedical field in leadership. Even more importantly it has a large group of great researchers leading its individual research labs. This all leads to high expectations,
Some surprises from new analysis of Altos Labs papers Read More »
The Bay Area biotech Conception Bio has an intriguing name. What does “conception” mean here? Scientists can make many things from stem cells. For example, lately I’ve written a lot about stem cell-based human embryo models. Another intriguing area is called in vitro gametogenesis or IVG, where Conception Bio is a leader. IVG means making
Weekly reads: Conception Bio & IVG, MYC, Stanford Prez resigns Read More »
Who is David Sinclair and why is he all over the media related to anti-aging efforts? This post is my effort to fact-check Sinclair’s statements in the context of the broader rejuvenation arena. In the process I also review his most recent paper from my view as a stem cell and cancer biologist interested in
Review of new David Sinclair paper, supplements & anti-aging glitz Read More »