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Cord blood for cerebral palsy: mostly discouraging new trial data

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umbilical-cord-blood, umbilical cord blood stem cells

Some notable newly published Phase II data from the Duke cord blood for cerebral palsy trial unfortunately doesn’t give much reason for optimism that this approach is going to have a substantial positive effect for these kids. The double-blinded, placebo-controlled study did not find a meaningful benefit overall from infusions of autologous cord blood (ACB) for […]

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Reactions to California’s new stem cell law on non-FDA approved clinic offerings

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stem-cell-clinics-southern-california-e1471543154180

What does the wide stem cell and regenerative medicine community think of California’s new stem cell law requiring that clinics selling non-FDA approved stem cell offerings make specific disclosures to prospective customers and that the state medical board keep track of how this all unfolds? You probably already know that I am supportive of the

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Mulling over that Mitalipov human embryo CRISPR pub, still many questions

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human-embryo-modification

What really happened at the DNA level in the experiments in that high-profile CRISPR of human embryos paper from a team led by Shoukhrat Mitalipov at OHSU? Is the team right that they successfully conducted CRISPR of human embryos to correct a mutant gene, as they reported in their Ma, et al. Nature paper? Or is the Egli,

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Doubts raised on key points of Nature paper on CRISPR gene editing of human embryos

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Egli-Mitalipov-preprint

Is it possible that CRISPR gene editing actually didn’t happen in many of the human embryos in that big Nature paper that made such news a couple weeks back? Some doubts have emerged that call the main conclusions of the paper into question and argue that more definitive studies are needed to be sure. An

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4 key reasons Mitalipov paper doesn’t herald safe CRISPR human genetic modification

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CRISPR-dart-board

We can be confident that human genetic modification via CRISPR’ing of embryos soon will be safe and effective after that new exciting Mitalipov team paper, right? Wrong. The reality is far more complicated and interesting on the tech side. In a nutshell, I see the paper as a significant scientific, but not necessarily medical advance.

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FDA chides US doc who genetically modified human embryo in reported 3-person IVF

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John-Zhang-with-3-person-IVF-baby

The FDA sent a stern letter today to Dr. John Zhang, PhD, MD, the physician who last year created a genetically modified human embryo in the U.S. and then exported it to Mexico where he self-reported creating a genetically modified baby boy. While the genetically modified baby created in Mexico was reportedly seemingly OK, it’s not clear

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3 Ways Stem Cells Theoretically May Help John McCain Beat Brain Tumor

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John_McCain_brain-cancer-e1500667982554

I was really sad when I heard about John McCain’s diagnosis with a glioblastoma, a particularly nasty type of brain tumor that we study in my lab when it shows up in children. My own battle with prostate cancer starting almost 8 years ago might have sensitized me to this news even though I’m in

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Upcoming Right-To-Try debate: NYU’s Roxland and Goldwater’s Sandefur

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Right-To-Try-Debate-Roxland-Sandefur

Should patients have the Right To Try experimental therapies that could be unsafe and ineffective? What if those patients have a terminal illness and no reasonable prospects of being helpful to conventional medicine? Doesn’t it make perfect sense to let them try a risky approach if they want to do so? On the other hand,

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