Search Results for: stem cell biotech

Weekly reads: Vertex & CRISPR Therapeutics, Arnold Caplan death, MS genetics

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CRISPR Therapeutics

The biotechs Vertex and CRISPR Therapeutics have an interesting relationship as biotechs. They are partners are multiple levels but also are very different as companies including in size. There’s been a key development in one of their partnerships. Before we jump into that, please check out the video version of my 20 stem cell and […]

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Weekly reads: clonal expansion, Golden Retriever cancer, FTC hits genetics firm on testi-phony-als

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clonal selection

Let’s start this week’s digest with a discussion of clonal expansion and mutations during cell and gene therapy development. Here’s the article that brought this to mind. Sickle cell gene therapy process may cause cancer-linked mutations in blood stem cells, Fierce Biotech. Clonal expansion This is a story about a non-CRISPR gene therapy using a

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Weekly reads: Verve Therapeutics, Casgevy UK OK, GDNF, MYC

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Sekar Kathiresan, Verve Therapeutics

Some folks can view data from early, small clinical trials too skeptically or overly enthusiastically, and maybe that’s going on with some preliminary results from Verve Therapeutics. Good news? Bad news? I’m going to start with two articles about the same news that have very different vibes. What do I think? On the whole, I

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Weekly reads: Google, CIRM, young Swedish bone marrow

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Google stem cell side effects

For me, this was another week of heavy grant writing but also taking on Google again. How? Over how badly its search engine often performs on stem cell queries. I have a new piece at MedPage Today. It’s focused on the problem of Google Search promoting unproven stem cell clinic websites. Google still prefers stem

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Weekly reads: Mammoth De-extinction update, space babies, Alzheimer’s, MSCs don’t help knees

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George Church De Extinction Mammoth

What’s more important than Woolly Mammoth de-extinction research in the stem cell arena? Only maybe a 10,000 other things. Still, the mammoth de-extinction efforts  capture people’s attention much more than the average research story. Mammoth De-extinction update Is de-extinction only a pipette dream? This startup has a big, expensive plan to find out, Popular Science.

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Weekly reads: BioCardia, HeLa suit, illegal bio lab in CA

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mesenchymal cells

A days ago the news came about Mesoblast not getting FDA approval for its MSC product for GvHD. The MSC area has had a rough few years with various clinical trials including for COVID. The “stem cells for heart disease” arena has also had a tough time. Here’s more news along these lines: BioCardia pauses enrollment in PhIII trial

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Some surprises from new analysis of Altos Labs papers

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Altos Labs

Altos Labs is an intriguing multi-institution experiment in so-called rejuvenation research all rolled into one biotech. This relatively new entity headquartered in California has multiple Nobel laureates in the biomedical field in leadership. Even more importantly it has a large group of great researchers leading its individual research labs. This all leads to high expectations,

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Weekly reads: Conception Bio & IVG, MYC, Stanford Prez resigns

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Conception Bio, IVG

The Bay Area biotech Conception Bio has an intriguing name. What does “conception” mean here? Scientists can make many things from stem cells. For example, lately I’ve written a lot about stem cell-based human embryo models. Another intriguing area is called in vitro gametogenesis or IVG, where Conception Bio is a leader. IVG means making

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Weekly reads: Sarepta, epigenomics, FDA on eyedrops

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Sarepa CEO interview.

The biotech Sarepta has had a complicated go of it with the FDA sometimes related to their Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) gene therapy efforts. In late 2016 I wrote about how there was some controversy as the FDA approved the Sarepta drug eteplirsen (Exondys 51) also for DMD, going against an advisory panel that had

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Review of where Kimera Labs fits into sphere of exosome companies

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Kimera labs exosome

Today’s post takes a close look at the exosome manufacturer Kimera Labs in the context of the main exosome companies. What are exosomes? Exosomes are microscopic bubbles or vesicles produced by cells. Exosomes contain many cellular substances that are biologically active. Some of these materials may be helpful clinically, while others could pose risks. Clinical outcomes

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