It was a couple of years back that researcher He Jiankui claimed he made three “CRISPR babies.” No one would think about doing any kind of rogue gene-editing again, right? Not even somatic gene edits. After all, as far as we know he’s in jail. We still don’t know the health risks that these three […]
Ukraine clinic plans to sell CRISPR enhancements: hair color, skin, & breast size Read More »
Can you really make living robots from stem cells called xenobots? How would this work? You take frog stem cells, supercomputers to tell you what to do with them, and you get xenobots? Well, kind of yes and no at this point. It’s a fascinating area. What are xenobots? What does the name “xenobot” bring
Xenobots: can you really make living robots from stem cells? Read More »
Every so often here on The Niche, I run some contests just to make things fun and today I have a new one to announce. The contest is for the best stem cell research images. Most often what people send in as entries are microscopy pictures, but you can use your imagination. You can see
The Niche 2021 stem cell picture contest: win $100 or swag Read More »
It seems like being somewhat skeptical would be an inherent part of being a biomedical scientist. But not always it seems. On the other hand, some of us take it to another level by science blogging out our skepticism about certain topics. Note that there’s something called the Skeptics Society that publishes a magazine Skeptic.
As Neuroskeptic blog ends, reflections on skeptical science blogging Read More »
Somehow time has flown by so that I’ve been around for ages in the stem cell universe and some unproven stem cell clinic-type firms, like the well-known Panama stem cell clinic that sells autism “treatments”, are also long-timers. It’s been an odd parallel existence for more than a decade. Today’s post is focused on this
Fact-Checking Panama stem cell institute: cost, safety, efficacy, docs Read More »
Would you eat lab grown meat? Envision biting into a warm juicy burger with all the trimmings. Lab grown meat intro If you are a burger fan, your mouth may already be watering. Or maybe you prefer steak or bacon? If you are a vegetarian or animal welfare advocate, however, you might be rather disturbed
Not Old MacDonald’s Farm: is the future lab grown meat? Read More »
What should we consider when seeing marketing for sexual enhancements like vaginal rejuvenation? Fact checking vaginal rejuvenation with stem cells When you read marketing terms like “stem cell treatment for sexual enhancement” or more specifically stem cells for “vaginal rejuvenation” what comes to mind? And are stem cell treatments a viable option for vaginal rejuvenation
Red flags on stem cells sold for vaginal rejuvenation Read More »
Does time seem somewhat warped to anyone else in 2020 even without having had COVID, which could alter brain function? It just seems like with everything going on that time simultaneously both drags and zooms by this year. One sort of reassuring element is that papers keep on being published so we can enjoy cool
Weekly reads: lab meat, crow brain biology, direct reprogramming, more Read More »
More states have taken action against stem cell clinic-related firms in the past year than ever before and now we can add Georgia to the list. Georgia adds to growing list of state AGs suing stem cell clinics The George Attorney General Chris Carr filed suit against several related firms (going by various names over
Georgia AG sues clinics & owner Justin Paulk Read More »
The FTC has sharply increased its oversight activities against stem cell and regenerative clinic firms. These new actions include quite a few warning letters. Here is the FTC database for COVID-19-related warning letters. Note that recently the FTC added a new, helpful option to view all of its warning letters here. It’s a good source
FTC fires off many warnings to stem cell clinics on COVID-19 Read More »