By Cátia Bandeiras, PhD Student at University of Lisbon, Portugal and Massachusetts Institute of Technology. See tweets from the conference using #ISSCR2017 @apulgarita I just wrapped up my stay at the Annual Meeting of ISSCR 2017, which happened in Boston. I decided to take advantage of the fact that I am living in Boston at […]
Hunting for computational approaches for stem cells at ISSCR2017 Read More »
In December of each year I make a list of stem cell predictions for the coming year, and I made 20 such predictions for 2017 so I’m wondering how I’m doing so far on these now that it’s June. Below is my work-in-progress scorecard for these so far. Positive news from Asterias on trial for stem cell-based
2017 stem cell predictions: score card at 1/2-way point Read More »
A company called Bioquark reportedly claims it intends to bring back the dead, as in deceased people or at least brain dead people, with stem cells. Or at least awaken their brains. If it works, would those people be like zombies? Is it ethical to experiment in this way on dead people? Bioquark We first
Bioquark “reawaken” the dead with stem cells plan just zombie fodder? Read More »
The Texas Legislature is considering three risky bills that would give free rein to stem cell clinics to profit big time off of patients by selling unproven and unapproved “stem cell treatments” that have little if any science behind them. I call one of these bills “Right to Profit” for clinics, which if these became
Risky Pro-Stem Cell Clinic Bills Still Alive in Texas Legislature Read More »
The Calexit and Texit state secession campaigns for California and Texas to leave the union, which are linked to Russian President Putin, are never going to be successful. However, if some Texas lawmakers and stem cell clinics there have their way, Texas would take a big step away from the rest of us on the stem cell
3 Dangerous Texas Bills Would Boost Stem Cell Clinics Read More »
Can science now cure MS in some patients with stem cells or is that near on the horizon? What about stem cells for other serious autoimmune disorders? What are the risks to patients in terms of health, money, and hope? What if patients must find $100,000 or $200,000 just to get into a clinical trial for
Burt Northwestern Stem Cell MS Trial Part 2: Marketing ‘Cure’-Like Outcomes? Read More »
Can California stem cell clinics make questionable marketing claims about their experimental, non-FDA approved offerings as long as they are not demonstrably false? Do such clinics not bear any legal requirement to provide informed consent to patients? A new court ruling raises such striking questions. San Diego stem cell clinic Stemgenex sells non-FDA approved experimental stem
Narrowed Stemgenex suit proceeds as court implies stem cell clinic loopholes Read More »
Two physicians are central to something called the SCOTS trial, Dr. Jeffrey Weiss and Steven Levy. Patients have claimed negative outcomes after participating in the trial. What’s going on here? SCOTS trial The recent NEJM paper reporting on the blinding of three patients in Florida may be just the beginning. More information has come out on negative
Dr. Jeffrey Weiss, SCOTS trial, & Patient Claims of Blindness Read More »
The Trump FDA commissioner nominee Dr. Scott Gottlieb could dramatically alter how the agency regulates investigational stem cell therapies. How might such changes unfold? There are potential upsides and downsides to the seismic shift that could be in the offing. Gottlieb has written in the past about his perception of FDA over-regulation of stem cells such
How Scott Gottlieb may transform the FDA’s approach to stem cells Read More »
The first report of the use of CRISPR gene editing in normal human embryos was published today as a short paper from a team in China. There have been rumors for over a year that more CRISPR human embryo papers were coming including some using normal embryos. Here’s one and we can now expect more even
Paper on 1st use of CRISPR in normal human embryos: problems remain Read More »