One of the hottest topics in the biomedical world in 2015 is heritable human genetic modification including via germ cells. There is an unsettling sense that genetically modified human germ cells and eventually GMO human beings are likely coming even if science and society are not ready for it. There are a hodgepodge of laws against human […]
Proposed Moratorium on Genetic Modification of Human Germ Cells Read More »
Some American stem cell clinics that operate without FDA approval can give the appearance of being in the mainstream of academic stem cell research. Sometimes they go a step further to hint at or even say that they have some kind of federal approval as we saw in the past with the Stem.md website. Why
This is a guest post on Cancer stem cells By Aaron Goldman Much like the winter weather we’ve been enduring on the east coast, cancer research is advancing at a rapid clip! For decades, researchers have considered pools of “cancer stem cells” (CSC) as the subsets within a tumor which both initiate progression and underpin
On Thursday here at UC Davis School of Medicine we held our second annual Stem Cell Ethics Symposium. The symposium was organized by Drs. Mark Yarborough and Nanette Joyce as well as me. In this post I report on key take homes from the meeting and summarize the specific talks. As far as I know, this is one of the few
Meeting review of unique stem cell ethics symposium at UC Davis School of Medicine Read More »
I like football and for the 2nd year in a row, my favorite team the Seahawks are playing in The Super Bowl after their miracle finish against the Packers. I don’t believe in stem cell miracles for the most part, but I do wonder how many players on the two teams tomorrow have had “stem
Super Bowl full of stem cells? Read More »
A new stem cell clinical trial for Multiple Sclerosis (MS) in Canada is raising hopes amongst patients and researchers. According to the Ottawa Citizen, the trial will be led by Dr. Mark S. Freedman (pictured, photo from Ottawa Hospital), director of the multiple sclerosis research unit at The Ottawa Hospital and “The Canadian trials which
Landmark New Stem Cell Trial for Multiple Sclerosis Raises Hopes Read More »
When I started blogging in 2010 the stem cell arena was a very different place including the fact I could count the number of US stem cell clinics on one hand. This blog, called The Niche for many years, was just “Knoepfler Stem Cell Blog” back then. Also, back then the hot topic was the
Stem cell clinics, FDA, & giant, unapproved for-profit human experiments Read More »
The stem cell company Stemedica has made a name for itself in the media lately through hockey legend Gordie Howe, who received a non-FDA approved stem cell “treatment” in Mexico via Stemedica and its partner, Novastem. Howe, known as Mr. Hockey, had several strokes in late 2014 and his health was declining. Stemedica and Novastem
Olbermann Puff Interview on Stemedica & Gordie Howe Read More »
This week the big Winnipeg Free Press story on the Regenetek/Doug Broeska alleged stem cell fraud case broke (covered here on this blog). David Audley was quoted in the story as a Regenetek spokesperson so I asked him for further comment and below is what he emailed me for this post. David Audley: “1. GoodPartners
More on alleged stem cell clinic fraud: statement from David Audley Read More »
Is it the beginning of the end for dubious American clinics that sell transplants of unproven and non-FDA approved fat stem cell injections? As the year of 2014 was winding down, the FDA issued two key new draft guidances (see here and here) that could prove to be crash diets for these burgeoning fat stem cell clinics. (Update: As of
FDA to Put Mushrooming Fat Stem Cell Clinics on Crash Diet? Read More »