Stem cell tourist traps
binary malaysia For many years, people have been traveling thousands of miles and paying thousands of dollars to receive unregulated treatments that promise cures. The most recent manifestation of this is "stem cell tourism."
A recent article in Nature Reports Stem Cells by Bryn Nelson discusses international efforts to inform patients of the facts about clinics that offer undocumented stem cell therapies. The International Society for Stem Cell Research is asking for public comment on a set of guidelines that will provides governments with guidance about regulating stem cell therapies within their borders.
Snake Oil Stem Cell "Therapeutics"
Chances are that a few of our Google ads (to the left) are advertising
stem cell treatments. Remember that if it seems too good to be true, it
probably isn't. Here's an archive of cautionary commentaries.
Remember why: Videos: Proposition 71, CIRM spotlights on disease, and more.
News and Commentary Archive
August 1, 2009A good nose for stem cellsBy: Natalie de Souza
binary option malaysia Cells can be delivered to the rodent brain noninvasively, via the nasal cavity. Stem
cell–based therapy is predicated on delivering cells to the afflicted
part of the body. Researchers now show that there may be an alternative
to direct surgical transplant for delivery of cells to the brain
...Read More
July 29, 2009The cell that might save sightBy: Amber Dance
Why stem-cell therapy could start with the eyes. Look to the retina as a likely site for the first success in stem-cell therapy. "The
eye is the best place to test proof-of-concept for stem cell-based
therapies," says Martin Friedlander of the Scripps Research Institute
in La Jolla, California. Friedlander is co-founder of EyeCyte, also in
La Jolla, whose investors include industry heavyweight Pfizer
...Read More
July 28, 2009Balancing Work and Life: A Conversation with George DaleyBy: Majlinda Lako, Ph.D., Susan Daher, Ph.D.
Dr. Daley's laboratory focuses on hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) in
disease and development, as well as on the genetic and cell biological
regulation of stem cell formation during embryonic development.
Research by members of his laboratory has exposed mechanisms of
resistance to imatinib (Gleevec) and identified novel compounds with
activity against Gleevec-resistant forms of BCR/ABL
...Read More
July 26, 2009Stem cell: what's in a name?By: Shahragim Tajbakhsh
Clearer
terminology could alleviate confusion: In the exploding field of stem
cell biology, confusion pervades among some newcomers, and even
veterans. The question is simple: When do we call a cell - stem cell?
...Read More
July 22, 2009 Mice made from induced stem cellsBy: David Cyranoski
options trading malaysia Technical feat shows that the different route to stem cells can indeed make a full mammal body. Two
teams of Chinese researchers have created live mice from induced
pluripotent stem (iPS) cells, answering a lingering question about the
developmental potential of the cells. Since Shinya Yamanaka of
Kyoto University in Japan created the first iPS cells in 2006,
researchers have wondered whether they could generate an entire
mammalian body from iPS cells, as they have from true embryonic stem
cells. Experiments reported online this week in Nature and in Cell
Stem Cell suggest that, at least for mice, the answer is yes
...Read MoreJuly 14, 2009Sperm-like cells made from human embryonic stem cellsBy: Heidi Ledford
Human
embryonic stem cells have been coaxed into forming sperm-like cells,
researchers report today. The cells have some of the hallmarks of
sperm — they can swim, for example — but require much more
characterization before they can be embraced as an experimental model
for the study of inherited diseases and infertility. Meanwhile,
the use of such cells to help infertile couples to have children
remains a distant prospect; in several countries, including the UK, it
would actually be illegal even if they were properly characterized
...Read More
July 12, 2009
Developing safe therapies from human pluripotent stem cells
By: Melissa K Carpenter, Joyce Frey-Vasconcells & Mahendra S Rao
Translation of human pluripotent stem cells into cell therapies will require the development of standardized tests for product consistency, stability, tumorigenicity, toxicity and immunogenicity
...Read More
June 11, 2009iZumi's plans to capitalize on iPS cellsBy: Monya Baker
iZumi
Bio, of S. San Francisco, California, launched quietly in 2007 as
excitement about induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells was reaching
fever pitch. In this profile, iZumi CEO John Walker and Beth Seidenberg
of iZumi investor Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers (KPCB) (Box 1)
talk to Nature Biotechnology about the West Coast startup and its goal
of turning iPS cells into a profitable business
...Read More
July 10, 2009Researchers Generally Happy With Final Stem Cell RulesBy: Constance Holden
Scientists
expressed satisfaction this week with the final guidelines on research
with human embryonic stem (ES) cells issued on Monday by the National
Institutes of Health (NIH). The new rules—which set out criteria
for determining which ES cell lines can be used in federally funded
experiments—give NIH discretion to approve old lines that don't meet
stringent modern ethical requirements. And they call for NIH to set up
a registry of eligible lines. The rules add up to "a major step in the
right direction for stem cell research," says stem cell researcher
George Daley of Harvard University
...Read More
July 7, 2009 US stem-cell research expands: Biomedical agency announces new funding policy for cell lines.By: Meredith Wadman
Nearly
11 years after Wisconsin-led researchers reported the first isolation
of human embryonic stem cells, the field became eligible this week for
broad research funding by the US government. In final guidelines that
went into effect on 7 July, the National Institutes of Health (NIH)
established a process that will allow scientists who hold stem-cell
lines derived before this date to apply for their inclusion in an
agency-established registry of fundable cell lines
...Read More
July 4, 2009We must reverse the Bush legacy of stem-cell problemsBy: Christopher Thomas Scott, Jason Owen-Smith & Jennifer McCormick
Sir,
Your Editorial 'Stem-cell clarity' (Nature 459, 615–616; 2009) calls
for reason in deliberations by the US National Institutes of Health
(NIH) on public comments about proposed NIH guidelines for stem-cell
research. We agree that rules barring the use of the 21 previously
approved human embryonic stem-cell lines at the US National Stem Cell
Bank (NSCB) are bad policy, and stand in the way of scientific
progress. We trust that the NIH will permit use of approved and other
lines derived by the US National Academies' standards
...Read More
July 2, 2009Italians sue over stem cells: Government's exclusion of human embryonic cells from funding call sparks anger.By: Alison Abbott
Three
scientists are appealing against the Italian government's decision to
exclude human embryonic stem cells from a recent call for proposals to
fund stem-cell biology. The scientists' lawyer, Vittorio Angiolini, who
specializes in bioethics and human rights, filed the appeal with Rome's
administrative court on 24 June. He argues that excluding human
embryonic stem cells infringes on the constitutional freedom of
scientific research. The use of established lines of human embryonic
stem cells in research is legal in Italy
...Read MoreJuly 1, 2009Chief scientist quits California stem-cell agency: Departure raises questions over leadership at flagship centre.By: Erika Check Hayden
The
California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) in San Francisco
is again under the microscope, following the resignation of its chief
scientific officer and a call for its restructuring. Marie
Csete, a doctor and stem-cell biologist, has resigned from CIRM's top
science job, effective from 1 August. The move leaves CIRM without
medical leadership as it prepares to issue US$210 million in grants for
stem-cell research that aim towards clinical trials. "When it became
clear to me that my considered clinical advice was not respected, I
concluded that it made no sense for me to stay at CIRM," she says
...Read MoreJune 29, 2009FDA Regulation of Stem Cell–Based ProductsBy: Donald W. Fink, Jr.
Cell
self-renewal and the capacity to differentiate into multiple cell types
(pluripotency) are biological attributes casting stem cells as
attractive candidates for development of therapies targeting
indications that involve functional restoration of damaged tissues. In
the United States, clinical trials designed to demonstrate the safety
and effectiveness of stem cell–based products are regulated by the U.S.
Food and Drug Administration (FDA). To ensure that subjects enrolled in
a clinical study involving stem cell–based products are not exposed to
significant and unreasonable risk, the FDA reviews medical and
scientific information that encompasses delineation of product-specific
characteristics and preclinical testing to determine whether there is
sufficient safety assurance to permit initiation of human clinical
studies
...Read More
June 28, 2009Stem cells: The stress of forming blood cellsBy: Luc Pardanaud & Anne Eichmann
The
first heartbeat is an important moment in an embryo's life. The
biomechanical forces created by pulsatile flow promote the formation of
haematopoietic stem cells that equip the body with its mature blood
cells
...Read More
June 27, 2009The NIH Draft Guidelines on Human Stem Cell ResearchBy: Mary A. Majumder and Cynthia B. Cohen
With
new draft guidelines to govern federal funding of human stem cell
research, including human embryonic stem cell (hESC) research, the
National Institutes of Health (NIH) have again taken on one of the most
contentious endeavors of the day (1). There are positive aspects of the
guidelines (2), but concern is growing that prior approvals of many
widely used cell lines may not be in accord with specific wording
requirements in the draft guidelines; such cell lines would need to be
"grandfathered in" if research is to continue unimpeded (3). There are
also several surprising omissions, surprising because they come in
areas that are thoroughly addressed in the guidelines of the U.S.
National Academies of Sciences (NAS) (4–6), which have become the gold
standard for the conduct of stem cell research in the United States.
Further, there has been little comment on the kind of initiative that
would support future policy development
...Read More
June 26, 2009Medical Innovation Versus Stem Cell TourismBy: Olle Lindvall and Insoo Hyun Stem
cell tourism is criticized on grounds of consumer fraud, blatant lack
of scientific justification, and patient safety. However, the issues
are complex because they invoke questions concerning the limits of
acceptable medical innovation and medical travel. Here we discuss these
issues and articulate conditions under which "unproven" therapies may
be offered to patients outside of regular clinical trials
...Read More
June 23, 2009Diabetes stem-cell treatment looks to cell capsulesBy: Amy Coombs
Finding the right way to protect cells, and intellectual property, will be key for getting cell therapy to patients. Patients
with diabetes can show vast improvement after receiving transplants of
insulin-producing islets from cadavers. Though they must take drugs to
stall rejection of the transplanted cells, several hundred patients
with the most severe type of diabetes have benefited from the procedure
since it first became established in 2000. But the effects don't last.
After two years, islet function begins to decline, and unless more
cells are transplanted, patients eventually return to full insulin
dependency
...Read More
June 19, 2009NIH draft seen as 'working compromise'By: Stu Hutson
Draft
guidelines on stem cell funding issued by the US National Institutes of
Health (NIH) in mid-April might block federal funding for experiments
that rely on certain commonly used stem cell lines. "I think our
main concern is that some perfectly valid lines don't get ruled out on
a technicality," says Geoff Lomax, a lead member of the Interstate
Alliance on Stem Cell Research (IASCR), an organization established in
2007 to promote stem cell research collaboration
...Read More
June 15, 2009Another look at "Stem cell fate dictated solely by altered nanotube dimension"By: Klaus von der Marka, Sebastian Bauerb, Jung Parka and Patrik Schmukib
In
their article, Oh et al. (1) reported that stem cell behavior on TiO2
nanotubes can be controlled solely by altering nanotube diameter
...Read More
Reply to von der Mark et al.: Looking further into the effects of nanotube dimension on stem cell fateBy: Seunghan Oh, Karla S. Brammer, Y. S. Julie Li, Dayu Teng, Adam J. Engler, Shu Chien, and Sungho Jin
In
their Letter to the Editor, von der Mark et al. (1) stated that they
found adhesion, proliferation, migration, and osteogenic
differentiation of rat bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) to be
highest on 15-nm TiO2 nanotubes and to be dramatically decreased on 70-
and 100-nm nanotubes (2, 3). These findings are contrary to our results
with human mesenchymal stem cells
...Read MoreJune 13, 2009
In Brief: Stem cells in Maryland:A subsidiary of Korea-based biotech RNL Bio is expanding into Germantown, Maryland, where it is building a stem-cell research and development and manufacturing facility. The 930-square-metre building will be completed by the end of June, according to Donna Lee, director of business development, who says the company is hiring 50 lab technicians. By 2014, the company expects to double its floor space and hire stem-cell researchers. "There is a need for continuing studies on characteristics of the cells themselves and different disease indications," Lee says. RNL Biostar and parent company RNL Bio carry out research on therapies based on adult-derived stem cells.
..Read More
June 11, 2009India's first true stem cell trialsBy: Killugudi Jayaraman
The
Drug-Controller General of India (DCGI) has given the go-ahead for the
first clinical trials designed to test stem cell products. Stempeutics
Research of Bangalore launched a combined phase 1 and phase 2 trial on
April 22 to evaluate whether its stem cell products can benefit people
who have experienced myocardial infarction and individuals with
critical limb ischemia (CLI)—a condition that often requires amputation
...Read More
June 9, 2009Stem Cells: Micro-reprogrammingBy: Natalie de Souza
Researchers
use microRNAs to more efficiently generate induced pluripotent stem
cells in the mouse. The search for methods to reprogram somatic cells
to pluripotency without permanent modification of the genome is
ongoing. In a recent report, Robert Blelloch and colleagues at the
University of California, San Francisco, add microRNAs to the growing
list of factors that can increase the efficiency of this process
(Judson et al., 2009)
...Read More
June 6, 2009Irving Weissman: ISSCR's President-ElectBy: Henry Nicholls
Irving
Weissman, the incoming president of the International Society for Stem
Cell Research (ISSCR), promises not to shy away from speaking his mind
during his term. His goal to serve as a vocal advocate for the society
should come as no surprise, given that he has been outspoken throughout
his 50+ years in the stem cell field
...Read More
June 5, 2009US regulator wades into stem cell therapies for heart diseaseBy: Randy Osborne
The
US Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) draft guidance on cell therapy
for cardiac disease has been given a muted welcome by clinicians and
industry—not least because it may bolster the reputation of a field
that thus far has enjoyed more than its fair share of charlatans and
quacks. One impetus for the April release of the guidelines is problems
cropping up with existing bone marrow–-derived cell therapies for heart
disease in the clinic. "My intuitive sense is that they'd had some
issues [with companies doing cell therapy heart research] already,"
says attorney Edward J. Allera, chairman of Buchanan Ingersoll &
Rooney's food and drug group in Washington, DC. "Educated players
understood this was coming," he says
...Read More
June 3, 2009Stem-cell clarity: The NIH guidelines on stem-cell research are a good first step, but some revision is needed.Editorial
The
proposed guidelines on federal funding for stem-cell research issued in
April by the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) are a welcome
effort to assert ethical and regulatory leadership over this field-especially given the vacuum in oversight left by the previous US
administration. Yet concerns aired by the scientific community during
the public comment period that closed last week have underscored the
need for the NIH to revise the guidelines to allow the responsible
progress of research
...Read MoreJune 1, 2009Stem-cell therapies closer to the clinic: Human induced pluripotent stem cells made without addition of genes.By: David Cyranoski
A
group of researchers in the United States and South Korea today
announced a leap towards safe, clinically useful patient-specific stem
cells. If the researchers are right, clinical trials on the induced
pluripotent stem (iPS) cells, which can turn into virtually any cell
type and potentially be used to treat disorders ranging from spinal
cord injury to diabetes, could start within two years
...Read More
