What’s up with Advanced Cell Technology (ACT) and Geron? ACT announced today that it has treated two patients in its clinical trials: one for Stargardt’s Macular Dystrophy (see official trial page for a lot more info) and one for Dry Age-Related Macular Degeneration (see official trial page here for a lot more info). The patients underwent […]
The latest scoop on ACT and Geron Read More »
What is ISSCR doing about unproven stem cell clinics? One of the greatest and most infuriating ironies of the stem cell-based regenerative medicine universe is that while the FDA strictly regulates the progress of therapy development by Advanced Cell Technology (ACT) and Geron and other legitimate companies, at the same time mysteriously the FDA essentially
ISSCR KO’d in round one versus unproven clinics: where’s the FDA? Read More »
Two companies, Advanced Cell Technology (ACT) and Geron, both HQ’d here in California, have FDA-approved early stage clinical trials in the works. Geron’s trial has already started and reportedly now has enrolled at least two patients. The trial is of course for the safety of Geron’s GRNOPC1 oligodendrocyte product made from human ES cells for
Advanced Cell Technology and Geron: allies or competitors? Read More »
Yamanaka may have found a way to give exogenous Myc the boot from the iPS cell universe. It has always been a frustration in the iPS cell field that Myc, a proto-oncogene, is so important for reprogramming. Yes, you can make iPS cells (especially mouse) without Myc, but it can be orders of magnitude harder,
New iPS cell method: drop Myc or not yet? Read More »
A Federal Appeals Court ruled 2-1 today to overturn Judge Lamberth’s injunction against federal funding of ES cell research. Great news! You can read the decision here (warning: big pdf). A key part of the ruling was the following: “the plaintiffs are unlikely to prevail because Dickey-Wicker is ambiguous and the NIH seems reasonably to
Victory for science and patients: what the appeals court ES cell ruling means (UPDATE) Read More »
The tragic 9.0 earthquake and tsunamis that hit Japan a few weeks ago are having lasting consequences not only for Japan, but also for the world via radiation. One area of particular concern is the radiation that has leaked and is continuing to leak from the damaged nuclear reactors. At this point, the radiation
A reality check on the radiation spreading across the globe Read More »
What is Contagious cancer? Can one creature directly give another creature cancer? It appears so in dogs and that cancer is highly contagious. Contagious cancer When we think about transplants of cells, we think about hospitals and high-tech equipment used to give patients stem cells or other types of cells to help treat them for
Contagious cancer: the allograft your dog doesn’t want Read More »
There is a kind of invisible cultural wall between patients such as cancer patients and biomedical scientists like me, but this wall does not have to exist and indeed it is a negative wall as patients, scientists, doctors, agencies, and advocates can achieve far more together than apart. But the wall is surprisingly strong. Last
My Cancer: how I became an advocate too Read More »
Cancer is a class of diseases that are intimately linked to stem cells. In fact, I would go so far as to call some types of cancer cells and stem cells, cousins. This concept, of a tight relationship between stem and cancer cells, is under intense investigation but at the same time it is something
Disease Focus Series: Cancer Read More »
One question I am frequently asked by readers and colleagues is “what other stem cell blogs or bloggers can you recommend that are written by a stem cell scientist and updated on a regular basis?” The simple but surprising answer: there are none. It’s lonely out here in cyberspace! (2020 update: The good news today
How many scientist bloggers does it take to change a light bulb? Read More »