stem cells
US Stem Cell Clinic ordered to halt controversial treatment that blinded 4 patients
A federal judge issued an order [June 25] barring a Florida-based stem-cell company from performing an unapproved procedure that blinded ...
Why an FDA legal victory won’t stop controversial stem cell clinics
When the Food and Drug Administration won a landmark lawsuit [June 3] against a stem cell company, health officials hailed ...
Making eggs and sperm from stem cells would create ‘ethical, social and legal conundrums’
Until recently, the only way to make eggs or sperm was the old-fashioned way: in the ovaries and testes. In ...
Gene therapy’s fight against ‘bubble boy’ disease may have yielded a safe cure
“Cure” is a strong word, but the authors are confident that it has been achieved ...
Japan wants to use stem cells to treat paralysis—but ethical questions remain
On February 18, 2019, The Asahi Shimbun reported, “Ministry [of Health, Labor and Welfare in Japan] OKs 1st iPS [induced pluripotent ...
Can pig-human chimeras meet our growing demand for transplantable organs?
Experiments show pig-human chimeras might be able to farm human organs for transplantation and disease research. But would it be ...
Parents are banking their kids’ baby teeth as a stem cell ‘insurance policy’
When Karen Davis attended a presentation at a dental conference in 2013, she unexpectedly discovered a service that could help ...
Building a better mini brain: How these tiny organoids can boost fight against Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s
It’s your favorite organ, self-assembling, ready to go ...
Japan approves stem-cell therapy for spinal cord injuries—but does it even work?
Japan has approved a stem-cell treatment for spinal-cord injuries. The event marks the first such therapy for this kind of ...
Viewpoint: We aren’t doing enough to protect people against ‘false promises’ of unproven stem cell treatments
In an announcement of no surprise, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) again officially warned a company it previously warned in ...
Can gene therapy offer a cure for sickle-cell disease?
[I]n November, six months after [21-year-old Manny] Johnson became the first patient to receive an experimental therapy aimed at curing ...
Attacking Parkinson’s with ‘reprogrammed’ stem cells
Japanese neurosurgeons have implanted ‘reprogrammed’ stem cells into the brain of a patient with Parkinson’s disease for the first time ...
‘Reprogramming’ skin cells to treat chronic wounds
By reprogramming wounded cells to a 'stem-cell-like' stage could help treat chronic sores ...
Stem cells’ ‘memories’ of past injuries may contribute to chronic inflammation
Stem cells, famous for replenishing the body’s stockpile of other cell types throughout life, may have an additional, unforeseen ability ...
Canada’s shady stem cell clinics
Doctors selling dubious stem cell treatments isn’t just a problem in the U.S., suggests a new study published in Regenerative Medicine. Clinics ...
Did California’s $3 billion stem cell bet pay off?
It was an extraordinary political proposal: Approve a $3 billion bond measure to fund the cutting-edge science of stem cell ...
Who should pay for million-dollar life-saving gene therapies?
While life-changing and life-saving gene therapies are going on the market, they have price tags that many cannot pay for ...
Genetics of socialization revealed through study of rare Williams Syndrome
One of the things that makes us human is how we socialize with one another. What drives our social behavior ...
Making sense of crowdfunding for unapproved stem cell treatments
When FDA approval for a technology or treatment lags behind demand, crowdfunding steps in. Desperate patients or their families launch ...
Human muscles from stem cells: Advance could aid research into muscular dystrophy, other diseases
Muscle created with stem cells is not quite as strong as the researchers would like. But they think these new ...
Gene therapy creates boy’s replacement skin from his stem cells
Doctors treated a 7-year-old boy’s devastating genetic skin disease—junctional epidermolysis bullosa—by genetically modifying his stem cells to create a new ...
New transplantation era beckons if we’re ok with growing organs in pigs
Some day, human organs from pigs may fill the organ gap, and the needed science and engineering is advancing rapidly, ...
The future is here: 3 ways technology can improve sustainability
Generating energy and using more land for crops increases atmospheric greenhouse gas levels. So does livestock farming. But there are ...
Vampire therapy: Can blood from the young fight aging?
Billionaire venture capitalist Peter Thiel has expressed his reluctance to age quite vocally. He has also put his money where ...
How human chimeras could revolutionize science and medicine
The NIH appears ready to fund scientists who want to make and study human chimeras. What can we hope to ...
Should FDA crack down on stem cell clinics?
Stem cell clinics operating in the U.S. market cures for nearly every kind of disorder without evidence they work or ...
Chimera alert? Myths and facts of human-non-human animal hybrids in medicine
Science is making leaps and bounds creating part human and part non-human animal tissues and organs. The applications are medical, ...
