Last week two new papers came out echoing each other about the dangers of bogus “therapies” being offered by predatory stem cell clinics and the risks they pose to patients. The first was from the Pew Charitable Trusts entitled: ‘Harms Linked to Unapproved Stem Cell Interventions Highlight Need for Greater FDA Enforcement’ with a subtitle: … Continue reading Two voices, one message, watch out for predatory stem cell clinics
Alzheimer’s disease
Meet the people who are changing the future
Kristin MacDonald Every so often you hear a story and your first reaction is “oh, I have to share this with someone, anyone, everyone.” That’s what happened to me the other day. I was talking with Kristin MacDonald, an amazing woman, a fierce patient advocate and someone who took part in a CIRM-funded clinical trial … Continue reading Meet the people who are changing the future
A true Hall of Fame winner
Dr. Larry Goldstein: Photo courtesy UCSD You know you are working with some of the finest scientific minds in the world when they get elected to the prestigious National Academy of Sciences (NAS). It’s the science equivalent of the baseball, football or even Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. People only get in if their … Continue reading A true Hall of Fame winner
Cashing in on COVID-19
Coronavirus particles, illustration. Courtesy KTSDesign/Science Photo Library As the coronavirus pandemic continues to spread, one of the few bright spots is how many researchers are stepping up and trying to find new ways to tackle it, to treat it and hopefully even cure it. Unfortunately, there are also those who are simply trying to cash … Continue reading Cashing in on COVID-19
You can bank on CIRM
Way back in 2013, the CIRM Board invested $32 million in a project to create an iPSC Bank. The goal was simple; to collect tissue samples from people who have different diseases, turn those samples into high quality stem cell lines - the kind known as induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC) - and create a … Continue reading You can bank on CIRM
What would you like to know about stem cell research? This is your chance to ask the experts.
There’s a lot of fiction, a lot of misinformation surrounding stem cells and stem cell research. There are claims that are not based on solid science and clinics that are offering so-called “treatments” that are unproven, even dangerous for patients. Now you have a chance to talk to the experts in the field and get … Continue reading What would you like to know about stem cell research? This is your chance to ask the experts.
Time and money and advancing stem cell research
The human genome Way back in the 1990’s scientists were hard at work decoding the human genome, trying to map and understand all the genes that make up people. At the time there was a sense of hope, a feeling that once we had decoded the genome, we’d have cures for all sorts of things … Continue reading Time and money and advancing stem cell research
CIRM-Funded Researchers Develop Chimeric “Mighty Mouse” Model to Study Alzheimer’s Disease
Dr. Mathew Blurton-Jones, leader of team that developed the chimeric "Mighty Mouse" model at the University of California, Irvine In ancient Greek mythology, a Chimera was a creature that was usually depicted as a lion with an additional goat head and a serpent for a tail. Due to the Chimera's animal hybrid nature, the term … Continue reading CIRM-Funded Researchers Develop Chimeric “Mighty Mouse” Model to Study Alzheimer’s Disease
Advancing stem cell research in many ways
Speakers at the Alpha Stem Cell Clinics Network Symposium: Photo by Marco Sanchez From Day One CIRM’s goal has been to advance stem cell research in California. We don’t do that just by funding the most promising research -though the 51 clinical trials we have funded to date clearly shows we do that rather well … Continue reading Advancing stem cell research in many ways
The Sad Lane: How I navigated one of the happiest times of my life while my mom was losing hers to Alzheimer’s
In 1983 President Ronald Reagan named November as Alzheimer's Awareness month, to raise awareness about the growing impact the disease was having on Americans. At the time there were less than two million people with the disease. Today that number has grown to more than five million and is expected to reach 16 million by … Continue reading The Sad Lane: How I navigated one of the happiest times of my life while my mom was losing hers to Alzheimer’s
The Stem Cellar 