Haruko Obokata was reportedly questioned by police in Japan today. The questioning relates to the STAP cell scandal that led to the retraction of two Nature papers. As first author of the papers, Obokata and other authors had reported that they could make IPSC-like cells simply via acid or other stress treatment. However, it is […]
Obokata questioned by police over STAP cell fiasco Read More »
Can stem cells mend a broken heart via cardiac regenerative medicine? The idea of the use of stem cells and regenerative medicine strategies for heart disease has taken us on a roller coaster ride over the years. There are many controversial questions still such as whether the adult heart has meaningful populations of endogenous stem
Stem Cells on Valentine’s Day: Cardiac Regenerative Medicine Read More »
For the first time I have ever seen in at least half a dozen years, a major newspaper in the form of The Boston Globe has published an editorial on FDA regulation of stem cells. The editorial, entitled “It should be safety-first on stem cell therapies”, argues that while we should take patient concerns into
Historic Boston Globe editorial on FDA, stem cells & patients argues safety first Read More »
The FDA in the past year or so has issued draft guidances on regulation of stem cells that would, if finalized, make it crystal clear that what many American stem cell clinics are selling are unapproved drugs. That would be a good thing for patients who are often being put at risk by many of
FDA meeting on stem cell regs: mostly who’s who of anti-regulation forces Read More »
What is stem cell snake oil? Stem cells are exotic things ensconced away in biomedical research labs, right? Well, maybe not entirely so these days. It turns out that you can try to sell products for a lot of money by slapping “stem cells” on the label including cosmetics. Take Nordstrom’s. It has 80 stem
Stem cell snake oil for sale at Nordstrom, Amazon, & Ebay? Read More »
Sounds recommended weekend reads for you to enjoy since it is Friday and almost the weekend including stem cells, CRISPR, cats, cloning, and more. Holy GMO, China wants to buy Syngenta. RetractionWatch says that Macchiarini will soon be out at Karolinska. For more on this “super surgeon” who used stem cells, see here regarding recent Vanity
TGIF weekend reads: stem cells, GMOs, #CRISPR, cats, cloning and more Read More »
A new report from the National Academies of Sciences (NAS), Engineering, and Medicine here in the US recommends a policy significantly more cautious on first read for 3-person IVF than that in place now in the UK. My initial take on this new 164-page report is that it is very well thought out and the
NAS proposes prudent US policy on 3-person IVF Read More »
California stem cell biotech, StemCells, Inc. ($STEM), has really struggled for years and its stock is now flatlining raising the question: can it cheat death? Will 2016 be the year that STEM turns things around? So far this year hasn’t started off that well. You can see the graph at right from today on the
Can StemCells Inc. Cheat Death? Read More »
The Japan Times has the first detailed account in English about Haruko Obokata’s new book, “That Day”. HT to blog reader Shinsakan. (update: another helpful piece on this from the WSJ). In the book, Obokata (who was widely blamed for the STAP cell fiasco) seeks to shift the blame to others according to the paper.
Obokata claims she was framed for STAP cell scandal Read More »
Last week I blogged about how the FDA had issued a warning letter to a series of three co-owned fat stem cell clinics across the US. What does this FDA action mean on the broader stem cell clinic arena, particularly to those selling fat stem cells? The FDA is still in the process of getting public comment
FDA warning points to tougher regulation of fat stem cells & clinics Read More »