It was my pleasure recently to talk at length with Dr. Michael West, CEO of the Stem Cell Biotech, BioTime (BTX). West has been at the helm of BioTime since 2007 and is a true pioneer in the stem cell field. He founded Geron (GERN) and was a top leader at Advanced Cell Technology (ACT; stock […]
Interview with BioTime CEO Michael West Part 1: a little stem cell history Read More »
Are MUSE cells for real? Stem cells come in different types that vary in a key property called “potency”, but very few are pluripotent. The more potency, the greater the flexibility of a stem cell to make other cell types. Flexibility in the cellular world is power. The most powerful stem cells generally used are
Jury is still out on purported adult pluripotent stem cells despite new MUSE paper Read More »
Is it really deja vu all over again with allegations of potential wrongdoing in a paper on human cloning? “Say it isn’t so!”, is basically the universal reaction I’m getting from people in the stem cell field. Well, sadly it seems to be so folks. What’s going on? Allegations have emerged on a website called
Human cloning Cell paper under investigation: some perspectives Read More »
The Board of Directors of the Coalition for the Advancement of Medical Research (CAMR) announced today that they have voted to dissolve the organization. CAMR is effectively at an end. The CAMR Board has decided, as described in an email, to “transfer its mission and its resources to an outstanding colleague organization, the Alliance for Regenerative
We had the big news last week that for the first time ever, human embryo cloning (aka “therapeutic cloning”) worked to produce apparently normal embryonic stem cells. I posted about it a few times here, here, and here. I have tried my best to be factual, open minded, and realistic about the issues. Frankly, the
Stem cell field stumbles on cloning dialogue Read More »
What is a pluripotent stem cell and which version is the best? Adult stem cells are very powerful and important, but it is basically now an established fact that pluripotent stem cells will have important, unique applications in the clinic. Adult stem cells are not a panacea and we need pluripotent stem cells too. But
Which pluripotent stem cell type is most clinically promising? Take our poll Read More »
Will intellectual property (IP) wars over patent rights to one of the most exciting new stem cell technologies hold back getting novel therapies to patients such as IPS cells? Unfortunately, it’s very possible. Induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells are very cool stem cells made from non-stem cells through a process called cellular reprogramming. iPS cells
Putting the IP in iPS cells: patent war looming? Read More »
There was a time, not so long ago, when the religious right hailed the discovery of induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells. Headlines blared from the extreme right on the Internet such as, “Embryonic stem cells obsolete”. Even the same kind of thing, saying, “The stem cell debate is dead”. You see opponents of embryonic stem
Why the extreme religious right are turning against iPS cells Read More »
One of the most common myths is that stem cells are a zero sum game. What’s a zero sum game? It’s a dynamic where the overall good in a given situation or system stays the same. What this means is that in a zero sum game, if something is good for one person, it must
The myth of stem cells as a zero sum game Read More »
One of my favorite stem cell scientists is Jeanne Loring of Scripps. She does great science and when you ask her questions, she frankly states her opinions and is clearly a gifted educator at heart too. Below is a Q&A interview I did with Jeanne on key issues of clinical translation of iPS cells. You
Jeanne Loring interview: optimism on clinical translation of IPS cells Read More »