RFK isn’t even confirmed as HHS Secretary and things are going south already with an NIH freeze. What do I mean? NIH freeze could do lasting damage to biomedical research The Trump Administration has frozen many NIH processes including meetings such as study sections that evaluate grant proposals. No study sections means almost no new […]
It’s important to pay attention to science hype, which is the rationale for The Screamers Science Hype Awards. As far as I know, it’s the only award for science hype. Exaggerating research and medical potential clearly does harm. I wrote a few weeks ago about the nominees for the 2024 The Screamers Awards. Now it’s
Winner of The Screamers Science Hype Award: local TV stations pushing stem cell clinics Read More »
If you tell a scientist that they should be growing a spine, they might take you literally. For instance, if you say this because you want a scientist to show some courage and speak out about something difficult, instead they might try to make an actual human spine in a lab. We’ll start there this
Weekly reads: grow a spine, China clears MSCs, Denise Richards, stem cell soups Read More »
The U.S. Supreme Court could soon have a historic opportunity to limit the scope of FDA stem cell oversight. A large stem cell clinic firm now says it plans to ask SCOTUS to review a case it recently lost on appeal to the FDA. If SCOTUS takes the case, the FDA could find its powers
FDA stem cell oversight at risk as clinics to ask SCOTUS to weigh in Read More »
Professor Charles Brenner of City of Hope does great research, but I also applaud his efforts against longevity hype. Recently, Brenner and James Timmons publicly questioned some of the work of Harvard Professor David Sinclair. It’s a notable case of academics intensely disagreeing in the public space. Background While it’s interesting, it’s also a somewhat
Perspectives as Charles Brenner challenges David Sinclair on longevity claims Read More »
How close are we to having new stem cell therapies that work? The field is nearly there on several fronts, but we shouldn’t get ahead of ourselves. Last week I noted the “soon” in a Nature News headline “Stem cells head to the clinic: treatments for cancer, diabetes and Parkinson’s disease could soon be here.”
Weekly reads: stem cell therapies that work, exosomes, H3.3 K27M, Joe Rogan Read More »
One of the most common questions I get from patients is about stem cell therapy for knees. Can it help knee arthritis and pain? Today’s post is a fact-check of where things stand today in 2025 on stem cells for knee issues. You can watch a video overview of this stem cell therapy for knees
Stem cell therapy for knees 2025: fact-check, costs, risks Read More »
What are coral stem cells? It turns out that even corals have stem cells and they can grow new corals. Six years ago I found myself in the lucky position of snorkeling at the Great Barrier Reef in Australia. Stem cells were not on my mind. I did notice large areas of bleached and dead
Weekly reads: coral stem cells to the rescue, diabetes Read More »
Did you predict the major events in the stem cell and regenerative medicine field this year? I tried and today’s post are the grades on my predictions. Prediction is a key part of being a scientist even if we may not think about it that much. For instance, we have to try to predict what
Grading my 20 stem cell & regenerative medicine predictions for 2024 Read More »
Intermittent fasting must be good for stem cells, right? It’s not so clear. Like many things in biology, intermittent fasting can have seemingly opposite effects. Before we get into that, the news of the week is that the FDA approved Mesoblast’s Ryoncil MSC drug for some cases of pediatric GvHD. This has sparked lively discussion.
Weekly reads: intermittent fasting and stem cells, vet warning, blastemas Read More »