By Jeanne Loring “Mutation” and “cancer” are eye-catching words for a headline; add “stem cells” and there is a good chance that a lot of people will hear about it. These words have been liberally used in the press to describe the results of a recent publication: “Human pluripotent stem cells recurrently acquire and expand […]
Mutations in pluripotent stem cells: No, the sky is not falling Read More »
Can science now cure MS in some patients with stem cells or is that near on the horizon? What about stem cells for other serious autoimmune disorders? What are the risks to patients in terms of health, money, and hope? What if patients must find $100,000 or $200,000 just to get into a clinical trial for
Burt Northwestern Stem Cell MS Trial Part 2: Marketing ‘Cure’-Like Outcomes? Read More »
Dr. Richard Burt of Northwestern University has been doing cutting edge research on the use of stem cells for autoimmune disorders for more than a decade. The core idea behind the work that Burt and other research teams are doing is that stem cells may have revolutionary potential to somehow counteract the autoimmunity that causes
Burt Northwestern Stem Cell MS Trial Part 1: Big Promise & Tough Questions Read More »
This morning my local paper The Sacramento Bee ran a full-page, super splashy ad for the local stem cell clinic, Nervana. Remarkably the ad says, “As Seen in The Sacramento Bee”, referring to an article by reporter Claudia Buck that ran in the past in the SacBee Insight section that raised many concerns and questions about Nervana. I may have
Splashy SacBee Ad for Stem Cell Clinic Nervana Raises More Questions Read More »
Would you believe in a stem cell miracle? Sometimes the mainstream media stumbles in its coverage of the stem cell world and a recent CNN puff piece on a patient of stem cell clinic Celltex is a prime example of just how extreme this can get. The CNN piece focuses on a Celltex patient who self-reports perceived
A nation of stem cell miracles? CNN puff piece on clinic patient & Trump blows it Read More »
The Scientists March on Washington (aka March for Science @ScienceMarchDC) is one of the biggest science movements I’ve ever seen. It’s gone from zero to sixty in about 2 seconds now with hundreds of thousands of supporters, but some important questions are arising about this event and its organizers. I continue to be enthusiastic about the March, but this week I’ve
4 key questions for March for Science organizers & what info I gathered on them Read More »
What were the top posts here on The Niche for the past year? I’ve listed some of them below along with some posts from 2015 that remain highly read. Some top 2016 posts 20 Nominees for Stem Cell Person of the Year 2016 Award REGROW Act is Attack on Science-Based Stem Cell Trial Oversight Will new
The Niche top posts of 2016 Read More »
Concerns over stem cell clinics allegedly causing blindness or other vision problems have been increasing in 2016. If this is in fact happening, the extra sad part of this is that some clinics have claimed that they are doing the opposite: improving vision in patients. What are the concerns? Earlier this year a publicly-traded stem
2nd lawsuit alleging a U.S. stem cell clinic caused blindness Read More »
South Africa is facing a stem cell scandal related to what a health policy news outlet called Spotlight there characterizes as illegal experiments by ReGenesis Biotechnologies, the company at the heart of the controversy. It had a contract with a governmental health provider agency, now apparently suspended. The report begins this way: “The Medicines Control Council
South Africa grapples with “illegal” stem cell experiment scandal Read More »
For quite a while there San Diego-based stem cell business Stemedica had a good run of publicity with reports of high-profile professional sports legends getting stem cells and the media reporting apparent good outcomes for stroke recovery, but more recent times have yielded some different publicity. An investigative report by KPBS reporter David Wagner raised some
Where does stem cell business Stemedica go from here after KPBS investigative report? Read More »