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Hype and All That

The US Securities and Exchange Commission filed charges against the stem cell company CellCyte for "falsely telling investors that the company's cutting-edge stem cell technology had been proven successful and was headed for human trials." According to The Scientist, CellCyte licensed stem cell-delivery compounds in 2005 and said that organ repair trials in humans would start in 2008. "The company really tried to take advantage of the hype over stem cells to give the false impression that they were on the verge of clinical trials when really it was just an early stage project that was going to require years of additional research and testing," SEC attorney Steven Buchholz says.

Randy Lieber, the company's acting chief financial officer says, "Once we realized the technology didn't do what the VA told us it would do, we discontinued working on that technology."

The Scan

Positive Framing of Genetic Studies Can Spark Mistrust Among Underrepresented Groups

Researchers in Human Genetics and Genomics Advances report that how researchers describe genomic studies may alienate potential participants.

Small Study of Gene Editing to Treat Sickle Cell Disease

In a Novartis-sponsored study in the New England Journal of Medicine, researchers found that a CRISPR-Cas9-based treatment targeting promoters of genes encoding fetal hemoglobin could reduce disease symptoms.

Gut Microbiome Changes Appear in Infants Before They Develop Eczema, Study Finds

Researchers report in mSystems that infants experienced an enrichment in Clostridium sensu stricto 1 and Finegoldia and a depletion of Bacteroides before developing eczema.

Acute Myeloid Leukemia Treatment Specificity Enhanced With Stem Cell Editing

A study in Nature suggests epitope editing in donor stem cells prior to bone marrow transplants can stave off toxicity when targeting acute myeloid leukemia with immunotherapy.