Scientists around the world are campaigning in favor of sensible regulation of stem-cell therapies. We have two reactions: (1) kudos for this important work; and (2) it’s about time.
The highest-profile selling-stem-cells scandal at present is in Italy, where the Stamina Foundation has been described as a “criminal organization that has defrauded about a thousand patients since 2006 by administering a dangerous and unapproved [stem cell] treatment in exchange for money.” A profile in The Verge describes its founder, Davide Vannoni, as a “con man,” and a long article in Nature by scientists Elena Cattaneo and Gilberto Corbellini details their exhaustive (and exhausting) efforts to stop him:
We recommend that all scientists stand up for the scientific method. Science depends on public institutions and is done in the public interest — we have a duty to defend both.
The recent conference of the International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR) opened with a panel discussion about how to sort the real from the bogus treatments. (Note: none of this is in any way related to the STAP cells controversy.) ISSCR’s website includes a useful fact sheet, a backgrounder on “How Science Becomes Medicine,” and even, on the front page, a link to the 2010 60 Minutes investigative report on “21st Century Snake Oil.”
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