People are the real driving force in the stem cell and regenerative medicine field including my colleague Jan Nolta here at UC Davis. She is the Director of our Stem Cell Program. There’s also news about Stanford’s stem cell Director Irv Weissman. Jan Nolta receives award Jan’s lab is prolific and in many ways is […]
Weekly reads: Jan Nolta recognition, new director after Irv, FDA guidance Read More »
Great ideas and talented scientists are not enough as biomedical research needs funding and here in the U.S. that means having R01 grant success. The trends since 1995 are slowly heading the wrong way. The average age of getting your first R01 grant keeps getting older. There is also still a bit of a possible
Weekly reads: R01 grant trends, DPPA4, adult human neurogenesis debate Read More »
This week marked the release of new draft FDA guidance on cell and gene therapies. Is the FDA kind of like the guidance counselor at school or more like the principal? It probably depends on many factors. I also find it funny how pretty much everyone in academia and biotech industry works to be compliant
Weekly reads: New FDA guidance, brains, MSCs, senescence Read More »
I’ve been following the research related to human cloning now for more than a decade. Is human cloning more possible at this point? How do we even define such cloning? Did you know there are two types? The goal of this post is to educate you and in the process answer such questions. What’s in
Human cloning is more likely now but would you take the big risks? Read More »
It’s been a little quiet here on The Niche for the past week as I was off in Yellowstone National Park, but I’m back with this week’s recommended weekly reads including a section on organoids. First, I want to share a nature pic from the trip. A highlight was encountering a badger in Lamar Valley
Weekly reads: badgers, organoids, The Onion, & more Read More »
Although in my years as a stem cell biologist I haven’t yet been in a leadership role at the International Society for Stem Cell Research or ISSCR, unproven stem cell clinics have claimed that I somehow speak for ISSCR. I am just a standard member of the group like thousands of other researchers. In fact,
Recommended reads: ISSCR guidelines pushback, TB outbreak from regen product, pubs Read More »
My to-read list this weekend includes a range of papers along with various news & media including a report of two US research groups aiming to get CRISPR baby patents. More on that below. At long last a trip + fun thing to do in NYC Last week I took my first trip in more
Weekly reads: escape to New York, CRISPR baby patents, ISSCR guidelines, pubs Read More »
It was a couple of years back that researcher He Jiankui claimed he made three “CRISPR babies.” No one would think about doing any kind of rogue gene-editing again, right? Not even somatic gene edits. After all, as far as we know he’s in jail. We still don’t know the health risks that these three
Ukraine clinic plans to sell CRISPR enhancements: hair color, skin, & breast size Read More »
There are many ways to classify different stem cells including yours versus someone else’s cells, or in a clinical sense what we call an autologous vs allogeneic stem cell transplant. This post is focused on the difference between allogeneic (someone else’s cells) and autologous (your own) stem cell injections. As a stem cell biologist I
Autologous vs allogeneic: all you need to know on therapy Read More »
Sometimes change takes a very long time, but with brain organoids or advocating for better information for patients at Clinicaltrials.gov, after waiting you can see some interesting developments. These are two of the regenerative medicine stories of the week, along with some striking research papers. Clinicaltrials.gov Some of us have been advocating for improvements at
Regenerative reads: brain organoids, Clinicaltrials.gov change Read More »