Remember former Trump’s FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb? Gottlieb’s back in the news in an interesting way related to the upcoming second Trump administration. I just wrote about what to expect from new FDA Commissioner nominee Marty Makary. In that piece, I noted that Scott Gottlieb first came to lead the FDA after a record of […]
Weekly reads: Scott Gottlieb v. RFK Jr., DNA typewriters, Arnold Caplan Read More »
What happens if unproven stem cell clinic firms like GIOSTAR start getting okays from the FDA to do clinical trials? On the one hand, it could reflect a positive trend of stem cell clinic firms working with the FDA and toward compliance. Having more robust data. However, I worry about some of these types of
Is there a proven stem cell therapy for vision loss? When I started The Niche back in early 2010, one major area of hope was that there might one day be a stem cell therapy for vision loss or even blindness. Maybe even a cure for blindness. While we’re not there yet as a field,
Cancer stem cells are stem cell-like cells in many tumors that are key contributors to the ability of tumors to persist and recur after treatment. For those reasons, they are also thought to be major targets, including of emerging therapies. Data also suggest that some therapies may create new types of cancer stem cells leading
Weekly reads: cancer stem cells, encouraging findings, Trump & NIH, proteomics Read More »
What do patients who go to stem cell clinics really think of their experiences? It can be hard to get good data on this important question. For that reason, it was great to see a new article on this topic. With perhaps around 2,000 unproven clinics in the U.S., these firms are likely to have
There should be more stem cell awards. Why not recognize more scientists and advocates? I used to do a Stem Cell Person of the Year Award. I have thought about bringing it back. What do you think? Scroll through some past posts on the Stem Cell Person of the Year Award. ISSCR gives out stem
Weekly reads: Rusty Gage & stem cell awards, ASCL1, stem cells for a vulture Read More »
New research on stem cell patches is exciting. However, more broadly, “stem cell patches” can mean very different things. What I’m talking about here are the types of patches that can repair holes or other problems with tissues. This is a powerful regenerative approach. In contrast, I’m not a fan of the type of stem cell
Weekly reads: stem cell patches, helicase editing, hearing loss, Astellas, Dr. No Read More »
Remember cryonics, the idea that you could hit pause on human life? This relies on the super-cold power of liquid nitrogen or some other ultra-freezing method. Apparently cryonics is still a thing and there are people with even just their heads frozen. A new story claims a different way to hit the pause button on
Weekly reads: hit pause on human life, CIRM pause, 23andMe data, blast from the past Read More »
I’ve written before about so-called test-tube burgers and bacon and other lab grown meat. Test-tube burgers Cells like muscle and fat progenitor cells are the basis for these products. Sometimes stem cells may come into play for such “test-tube burgers” as I generally call this type of lab meat. Cost seems to be a main
Weekly reads: test-tube burgers, CRISPR for space travel, more tuft cells Read More »
People often ask me what is the most promising new cell therapy and while it is difficult to choose just one, I often highlight the promise of stem cells for diabetes. Here in the U.S., early data from diabetes clinical trials by Vertex look encouraging. Other teams worldwide are also working in this space and