Stem cells are always in the news so what’s up in the last week or two? CIRM News The dialogue over CIRM’s future is picking up a bit of steam. The San Francisco Chronicle did an in-depth piece on CIRM some weeks back and then opined that they didn’t feel supportive of another round of […]
News bites: CIRM, anti-MSCs, & human eggs from stem cells Read More »
Cynata Therapeutics Limited has received approval from UK regulators to start a first-of-its-kind allogeneic IPSC-based trial of MSCs for graft versus host disease (GVHD). Cynata also had some big news a couple weeks back with a deal with Fujifilm. The company is aiming to recruit 16 patients to test whether the MSCs (a type of adult
Cynata approval for 1st ever allo trial of IPSC-derived MSCs for GVHD Read More »
I did a brief email Q&A interview with Dr. Bob Lanza of Advanced Cell Technology (ACT) on their new hES MSCs pre-clinical data for Multiple Sclerosis. I discussed the paper itself in a concise review yesterday here. Thanks to Dr. Lanza for doing the interview. 1. Were you surprised at the fact that the therapeutic
Interview with Bob Lanza on new ACT MSCs for MS paper Read More »
Advanced Cell Technology (ACT; $ACTC) has a new paper out on using human embryonic stem cells (hESC) to make MSCs with potentially powerful therapeutic potential. The paper, entitled Mesenchymal stem cell population derived from human pluripotent stem cells displays potent immunomodulatory and therapeutic properties, was published in the journal Stem Cells and Development. What’s the scoop on this
Review of New ACT Paper on hESC-derived MSCs Read More »
Is Advanced Cell Technology (ACT) on the road to cure Multiple Sclerosis (MS) using stem cells and specifically MSCs? Some folks seem to think it’s quite possible, but I remain skeptical. Still there have been some interesting developments. ACT has a relatively new patent filing for a mesenchymal stromal cell (MSC) product that was just
ACT patent filing for MSCs: of Dancing Mice & Multiple Sclerosis Read More »
I recently had a phone interview with Dr. Arnold Caplan, the founder of the MSC field. You can read parts 1 and 2 of the interview here and here. Today’s post, part 3, is focused on clinical use of MSCs. I want to start off today’s post with a wonderful quote from Caplan: “All MSCs
I’ve met people who are excited about using stem cells for Parkinson’s Disease. Some of these folks have Parkinson’s or are loved ones. Talking to them makes things real. It feel personal and not just scientific. The current treatment options are far away from what is needed for many people. I am optimistic that a
Weekly reads: Parkinson’s & the gut, sports, cat stem cells Read More »
How are things going with regenerative medicine and stem cells in Japan? It’s still an exciting time there, but I’ve noted a sense that it is a time of transition too in some ways. For example, government funding is perhaps less certain than in the past. Let’s start with a few articles on how the
Recommended reads: Stem cells in Japan, iPS cells for COVID & hearts, He Jiankui Read More »
Mesenchymal stromal/stem cells or MSCs are widely used by unproven clinics, but MSC research also suggests real promise in specific areas. Clinics mainly use adipose MSCs (often called SVF) or bone marrow MSCs. However, umbilical cord MSC preparations are getting more popular too. Many questions swirl around the use of MSCs including what exactly are
When I was first really getting into stem cells as a trainee the name Catherine Verfaillie came up as a scientist to watch in the adult stem cell area. It wasn’t too long after that though that I started hearing that some of the work from her lab at the University of Minnesota was being
Recommended reads: Nature Catherine Verfaillie retraction, Horvath paper, Vertex Read More »