What’s more important than Woolly Mammoth de-extinction research in the stem cell arena? Only maybe a 10,000 other things. Still, the mammoth de-extinction efforts capture people’s attention much more than the average research story. Mammoth De-extinction update Is de-extinction only a pipette dream? This startup has a big, expensive plan to find out, Popular Science. …
Paolo Macchiarini is one of a small group of people in the stem cell universe whose misconduct has blown up in the press. Piero Anversa, Haruko Obokata, Hwang Woo-Suk, and some operators in the unproven stem cell clinic sphere come to mind. Macchiarini published quite a few seriously problematic papers, some of which just hung …
Weekly reads: late Macchiarini retractions, stem cells & Lululemon Read More »
There’s been much discussion about issues related to stem cells in the reproductive space such as human embryo models and differentiating stem cells into gametes, but there’s also interest in stem cell-assisted IVF. In this kind of method, stem cells are employed to make tissue cells such as ovarian stromal cells to support production of …
Weekly reads: stem cell-assisted IVF, Takeda MSC trial, reporters getting stem cells Read More »
Most of us have heard of organoids but what about the related model called an “assembloid”, which is a term growing in use including from organoid researcher Sergiu Pasca of Stanford? Before we jump into that, be sure to enter The Niche stem cell image contest for your chance to win $100 or some swag. …
People often ask me what are the most promising stem cell therapies in development and new data suggest we should add stem cells for epilepsy to the list based on work by Neurona Therapeutics. I’ll start off the weekly recommended reads with this new mouse paper on cell therapy for epilepsy. Neurona Therapeutics: stem cells …
There has been a steady stream of encouraging data on stem cells for MS. Particularly for certain kinds of MS. A new study adds to this upbeat direction. Good news on stem cells for MS Haematopoietic stem cell transplantation for treatment of relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis in Sweden: an observational cohort study, Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery, …
Weekly reads: stem cells for MS, Kimera Labs IND, FDA lawsuit Read More »
It feels like we are marching towards a future in which key aspects of human reproduction, including the use of artificial wombs, could be substantially different than for most of history. The FDA is considering allowing a clinical trial for use of artificial wombs in people. Human trials of artificial wombs could start soon. Here’s …
Weekly reads: artificial wombs, mice with rat brains, Neuralink Read More »
Retraction Watch has been a great resource for those of us who have been following research misconduct. They widely cover and conduct research on retractions, corrections, and other developments in this space. Unfortunately, there’s been plenty to write about even just within the stem cell and cell therapy arena, which is my primary interest. Think …
CRISPR gene editing has made rapid progress heading from bench to bedside. Perhaps the fastest has been its progress toward clinical use to combat sickle cell disease. We’ll start with a new paper on one major effort here. CRISPR gene editing. This process often involves cutting DNA, which then can be used as an opening to …
Weekly reads: CRISPR sickle cell, Parkinson’s, pig-human chimera concerns Read More »
Many avenues are being pursued to get stem cell therapy to the clinic for eye conditions. These different approaches employ a variety of stem cell types. In some cases, such as with iPS cells, the stem cells themselves are not transplanted. Instead, the iPS cells are used to make differentiated eye cells, such as RPE …
Weekly reads: stem cell therapy for eyes research, DMD, cheating death, cancer sensors Read More »