I love stem cells, but I have to admit bionics is totally amazing as well. Both hold great promise for fixing up human beings as we injured or age. Today a major advance in vision correction via bionics was announced here at UC Davis that has really caught my attention. I was not involved in […]
Bionic eye here at UC Davis holds great promise for restoring vision Read More »
There is enormous interest in point-of-care for-profit stem cell commercialization by relatively small clinics hoping to hit it big here in the U.S. Some big investors have poured millions into these clinics that are treating patients with adult stem cell therapies. As I’ve talked with some of these folks they expect this market to grow dramatically
Surprising main obstacle to point-of-care stem cell commercialization by small clinics Read More »
Francisco Morales and Lawrence Stowe, have pleaded guilty to federal charges related to dubious stem cell treatments. The pair pled guilty to conspiracy charges related to introducing “misbranded and unapproved new drugs into interstate commerce”. The drugs in question? Stem cells. Patrick J. Holland of the FDA said “the FDA is committed to investigating those
Stem cell frauds Morales and Stowe plead guilty to federal charges: who’s next? Read More »
For years now we’ve had a war in the world of stem cells. The war has been primarily centered on embryonic stem cell research (ESCR). The reason I call it a “war” is that opponents of ESCR have declared a “culture war” on ESCR and ESC researchers. I don’t like the term “war”, but if
Update on stem cell culture war: from Pepsi to Personhood & Romney to rogue clinics Read More »
What are Conflict of Interests (COI)? The term COI is sometimes used inappropriately as a weapon by one party to attempt to discredit others. We see this more and more frequently in the stem cell field with boosters of for-profit, non-FDA vetted adult stem cell clinics attacking scientists for supposed COIs for what…..apparently for simply
Real and imaginary conflicts of interest: a helpful guide Read More »
The stem cell world is getting more complicated. There are more good guys and bad guys out there than ever. In the Old West, at least as portrayed in the old movies I used to watch as a kid, the bad guy often had a black hat and the good guy a white hat. In
Who’s who? How to tell the stem cell good guys from the bad guys Read More »
There has been a lot of attention about a Sutter clinical trial to use adult stem cells for the treatment of autism. I did a post on it here. After more reading, I’m scratching my head even more about the hypothesis at the heart of that trial, but I’m no autism expert. Emily Willingham, who knows
Over the years on a fairly regular basis I’ve been contacted by patients seeking information about stem cell treatments and stem cell clinics. Note that patients may want to check out my stem cell patient guide, which has key questions and advocates for a critical, skeptical view of these offerings. But in 2012 the number
Dubious stem cell clinics increasing and at epidemic levels Read More »
Autism affects millions of children in the U.S. alone; could stem cells for autism help? It is a perplexing spectrum of disorders with “autism” being an umbrella term for a host of related neurological illnesses. The negative impact of autism on our society transcends economics, but has been estimated at 10s of billions of dollars.
Stem cells for autism: are we there yet? Read More »
I keep seeing these eerie parallels between thalidomide & dubious stem cell treatments. What’s the first rule of medicine again? Do no harm! Rushing new medicines such as stem cell treatments to patients without appropriate preliminary studies to try to make money is like playing Russian Roulette with patients. Some of the time, everything will
Eerie parallels between thalidomide & dubious stem cell treatments Read More »