FDA green lights stem-cell clinical trial for Lou Gehrig’s disease

The Maryland company NeuralStem has the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s permission to test its spinal cord stem cells in twelve patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. The approval comes a month after the FDA placed Geron’s planned clinical trial on hold for a second time. NeuralStem’s trial had also previously been placed on hold by the FDA in February before receiving the go-ahead in September.  Read more

Submit your stem cells

Submit your stem cells

By Elie Dolgin, cross-posted from the Great Beyond The National Institutes of Health started accepting applications today to evaluate which human embryonic stem cells will be eligible for federal dollars. A panel of nine scientists, lawyers and ethicists — led by Jeffrey Botkin of the University of Utah — will scrutinize submissions to ensure that they meet the new requirements for informed consent from embryo donors. The working group’s “expertise and sound judgment will help NIH move forward in this important effort,” NIH director Francis Collins, who will have the final say on the eligibility of particular lines, said in  … Read more

CIRM signs agreement to collaborate with Germany on stem cell research

The California Institute of Regenerative Medicine has collected a sixth country for its international collaborations. German and Californian scientists will be able to submit joint grants for collaborative projects that focus on immunology. Researchers would, however, be funded by their respective governments.  Read more

Reply to question about cell therapies for diabetes

I recently got this query in my inbox: I would like to know how to find research trials on the reprogramming and induced pluripotent stem cells. My son was diagnosed three years ago with type l diabetes and his doctor believes that he would be a good candidate for one of these research trials. How do we go about finding these research trials and what do we need to do to get him involved, David is 21 years old. Any help would be greatly appreciated as he would like to help further research and end diabetes.  Read more

Big list publications from the last big stem cell meeting

Listening to scientific talks makes me nervous; it’s so easy to conflate and confuse fast-flowing information. At the most recent meeting of the International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR) this July in Barcelona, I frequently found myself wishing for the slower pace of reading the relevant source material. Others must also want such a list, I reasoned. So, with a great deal of help, and no little cutting and pasting, Nature Reports Stem Cells put it together.  Read more

Congratulations to John Gurdon and Shinya Yamanaka on the Lasker Prize

https://www.genengnews.com/specialreports/sritem.aspx?oid=62812927John Gurdon of Cambridge University and Shinya Yamanaka of Kyoto University have been awarded the Lasker prize, also called the American Nobel. (I imagine anyone reading this blog already knows who they are.: frog cloner and cell reprogrammer)  … Read more

Stem-cell company charged with hype

Stem-cell company charged with hype

By Elie Dolgin Cross-posted from The Great Beyond US regulators accused a stem cell biotech company on Tuesday of inflating claims about an early stage cell therapy. The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) charged Bothell, Washington-based CellCyte Genetics Corporation, along with its former chief executive and former chief scientific officer, with duping investors into believing that its experimental stem cell technology was nearing human trials. “CellCyte and its senior officers knew that it would take years of research to determine whether the stem cell discovery could be developed into a viable product,” said Marc Fagel, director of the SEC’s  … Read more