At U.S. clinics advertising unproven stem cell treatments, roughly two-thirds of the clinicians may be physicians, but a new study suggests these doctors are often trained in specialties unrelated to the services they provide. “About half of the companies we examined offer unproven stem cell treatments for conditions (for) which they do not have a
This paper on Trends in Cell Biology has been yesterday by Research Group on Stem Cell Aging, Leibniz Institute on Aging – Fritz Lipmann Institute (FLI), Beutenbergstr. 11, 07745 Jena, Germany with the following highlights: The quiescence stage of stem cells has beneficial and adverse effects on stem cell aging. Stem cell quiescence delays stem
Crystallized drug prevents immune system rejection of transplanted pancreatic islet cells. When medical devices are implanted in the body, the immune system often attacks them, producing scar tissue around the device. This buildup of tissue, known as fibrosis, can interfere with the device’s function. MIT researchers have now come up with a novel way to
Study may be a step toward shelf-stable versions of the hormone, which is used to control diabetes. Patients with type 1 diabetes have to regularly inject themselves with insulin, a hormone that helps their cells absorb glucose from the bloodstream. Another hormone called glucagon, which has the opposite effect, is given to diabetic patients to
If there’s anything that drives legitimate stem cell scientists up a wall, it’s their being lumped in with clinics offering unwary customers supposedly effective disease treatments through stem cell injections. So you can understand why a documentary series titled “The Healthcare Revolution,” which is partially funded by a network of clinics that are hawking unproven therapies and
A reconfigurable “body-on-a-chip” model could transform drug development by simultaneously measuring compound efficacy and toxicity, for both target cells and other organs, such as the heart and liver. These findings, published in Science Translational Medicine, demonstrate the ability of a body-on-a-chip model to truly revolutionise biomedical research and personalised medicine through more accurate and efficient preclinical
A study was conducted under the UK Regenerative Medicine Platform as part of the work of the Cell Behaviour, Differentiation and Manufacturing Hub. It comprised part of the Pluripotent Stem Cell Platform (PSCP) project funded by the Medical Research Council, the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council
National Institutes of Health scientists have used human skin cells to create what they believe is the first cerebral organoid system, or “mini-brain,” for studying sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD). CJD is a fatal neurodegenerative brain disease of humans believed to be caused by infectious prion protein. It affects about 1 in 1 million people. The
We have arrived at a special moment in health care. Innovative, life-changing gene therapies are here that will cure or ease debilitating diseases. Yet these expensive treatments are entering a market structure that was not built to price them. Congress will likely need to play a part in developing a new paradigm for financing such
Bluebird bio Inc on Friday set a price for its gene therapy, Zynteglo, at 1.58 million euros ($1.78 million) over five years, after winning conditional approval in Europe this month to treat a rare genetic blood disorder. The company proposed an installment plan, with 315,000 euros paid up front and four additional annual payments due
