The FDA issued a historic statement today promising to more clearly define its regulatory policies on stem cell therapies and to take strong action on some stem cell clinics that it views as “bad actors”. I’ve never the FDA use such clear-cut language before. I give big kudos to new FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb. It already […]
Six questions as FDA takes new shot at stem cell clinics Read More »
It’s a difficult, but very important road to conclusively prove that an investigational stem cell therapy is both safe and effective in order to get final approval FDA or equivalents in other countries. For this reason, it is beneficial to highlight even small, but positive steps forward including encouraging pre-clinical data. Today I’m doing a
Stem cell therapy review of good news: UC Davis, Asterias, Cynata, Mesoblast, ViaCyte Read More »
What happens following pluripotent stem cell transplants into the brain? Are human IPS and ES cells going to function similarly in this context? We recently published a new translational paper on the behavior of human pluripotent stem cells when transplanted into the adult mouse brain in collaboration with my great UC Davis colleague, Dr. Veronica Martinez-Cerdeno.
Getting a stem cell shot or injection is completely 100% safe, right? An NFL star recently found out just how wrong that stem cell clinic mantra turned out to be. NFL stem cell shot Jordan Reed, tight end for the Washington Redskins, has had issues with his big toe. He apparently thought that a stem
Iffy stem cell shot in big toe, not what NFL star was hoping Read More »
The stem cell clinic StemGenex was sued almost a year ago related to allegations about their marketing claims. This proposed class action suit, Moorer v. StemGenex, now includes five named patients involved as one can see from the new fourth amended complaint court document. The five total named patients involved in the suit include four new
Lawsuit against stem cell clinic StemGenex expands to 5 patients Read More »
Is there a stem cell connection between the brain and aging? Could a type of brain stem cell or the exosomes it secretes control whole body aging? A recent big Nature article from the lab of Dongcheng Cai argues an emphatic “Yes” to these questions, at least in mice. In the Zhang, et al paper, entitled
Review of Nature paper: stem cell exosomes on the brain and aging Read More »
“Are you a motivational speaker?” is how a recent stem cell job ad for a sales position related to stem cell clinics begins. This ad that popped up on Monster earlier this summer is a revealing window on stem cell clinic practices. What’s inside, in my opinion, is cause for concern. Lately we’ve seen more and more ads for stem
Hallelujah it’s raining money? Stem cell job ad is window into clinics & their finances Read More »
University of Minnesota bioethicist Leigh Turner has been threatened with a lawsuit by a stem cell clinic-related business. Lawsuit threats in this arena come up every so often and as much as they are unpleasant realities, they can also reveal some important aspects of the stem cell arena. Ars Technica reported yesterday that Leigh’s recent paper
Stem cell clinic-related biz threatens researcher with lawsuit, wants retraction Read More »
Here are some stem cell weekend reads for your enjoyment along with various links and headlines. Some science pubs that caught my eye: Human Neural Stem Cell Biodistribution and Predicted Tumor Coverage by a Diffusible Therapeutic in a Mouse Glioma Model High-Content Screening in hPSC-Neural Progenitors Identifies Drug Candidates that Inhibit Zika Virus Infection in
TGIF: stem cell weekend reads & links Read More »
Stem cells to cure baldness? I get asked all kinds of questions as a blogging professor including about the use of stem cells for cloning of humans, sexual enhancement of some kind (see posts here and here) and even that question above about stem cells to cure baldness. Many want to know if a real baldness treatment is coming based on
A hairy question: stem cells to cure baldness 2017? Read More »