A big issue in the stem cell field is that firms increasingly are doing business in multiple countries. Associated with the increasingly international nature of the stem cell for-profit industry are emerging legal and ethical issues related to the transport of stem cell-based biological drugs across international borders. Think you can just FedEx human stem […]
Writing this blog I hear a lot of stuff about stem cells all across the globe. Some of this is noise, but some is signal (i.e. real). What seems to be a very real and worrisome trend is that unlicensed for-profit treatments in the Philippines have exploded in the last two years. I would characterize
From Russia with love or…stem cells? Read More »
The headline reads: ‘Adventurous’ woman sought to carry Neanderthal baby Supposedly Harvard Geneticist George Church, according to Der Spiegel magazine (and gazillions of other mainstream media outlets that translated the German piece including here), wants to clone a Neanderthal baby using an unholy combination of stem cell and genetics technologies. The only problem is that Church
Today the Supreme Court announced it would not hear the Sherley v Sebelius case, ending the court battle that has left embryonic stem cell research (ESCR) in what I’ve called a “big chill”. This is great news. It is all over the mainstream media. Even the rampant anti-science, pro-lifers have declared defeat. I’m not going
A great day for stem cell research: more on SCOTUS & details on BioTime news Read More »
I’ve received such a huge response (more than 20 nominees) for the Knoepfler Lab Stem Cell Person of the Year Award and the nominees to date are so awesome that I’ve decided for practical purposes to end the nomination period a bit earlier than originally planned. Thus, tomorrow Dec. 13 will be the last day
What’s the big deal about unproven stem cell treatments, patients often ask me. Why should patients avoid these? Because paradoxically such treatments, intended to cure disease, can have devastating negative consequences for your health. I’m doing an eight-part series, “Eight simple reasons not to get a stem cell treatment”. The first two blog posts were
It was near to a stem cell wonk’s heaven to be in the audience for a panel discussion, entitled Understanding the Legal and Policy Challenges to Stem Cell Research, here at the World Stem Cell summit in Florida late this afternoon. The stellar panel included Jeanne Loring of Scripps, Beth Roxland of Hofstra University and formerly of
WSCS2012: outstanding panel discussion on legal challenges to stem cell research Read More »
I’m here at the World Stem Cell Summit in Florida. I just was in the audience for a great panel discussion on The Role of States in Regulating Stem Cell Therapies. It was contentious but raised almost all of the key questions in this area. There was particularly interesting and vigorous debate between two participants,
Next month will be the 1st Houston Stem Cell Summit organized by Robin Young, who also organizes the New York Stem Cell Summit. I’ve been a bit tough on this meeting for a perceived lack of diversity in their program of speakers. I interviewed Robin Young (RY) about the meeting and found his answers quite interesting
Intriguing interview with Robin Young, Organizer of Houston Stem Cell Summit Read More »
There are legitimate arguments about the degree to which the FDA should regulate stem cell clinics and the point-of-care, for-profit stem cell industry. I’ve held debates about that on my blog with argument on both sides including a very valuable debate between Dr. Chris Centeno and Doug Sipp. However, increasingly it is looking like the
As stem cell industry explodes, can a static FDA keep up? Read More »