Debate gets local

Nation's largest adult stem cell lab opens in Sugar Land amid contentious debate

Stem cells remain a hotly contested issue and Celltex was careful to highlightits political and ethical standing at its ribbon-cutting event.
Photo by Tyler Rudick
The Celltex Therapeutics facility in Sugar Land will be the largest adult stemcell lab and bank in North America.
Photo by Tyler Rudick
Stem cell research is still in its infancy. As of now, the FDA has not licensedany type of treatments involving cultured stem cells.
Photo by Tyler Rudick
Photo by Tyler Rudick

Celltex Therapeutics — a biomedical company headed by Stanley Jones, the doctor behind Rick Perry’s recent experimental stem cell procedure — recently unveiled its new Sugar Land laboratory. The massive 15,000-square-foot facility will be the largest adult stem cell lab and bank in North America, offering clients an advanced culturing process licensed from Korean firm RNL Bio to reproduce mass quantities of healthy cells that can be stored for potential future use.

Fees start with an introductory charge of $4,873 plus an annual fee of $150. Clients can withdraw 50 million stem cells for $1,759.

“The Houston area has an international reputation for its willingness to test and develop new ways to help those who are ill,” Celltex chairman and CEO David Eller told a crowd of about 30 guests at the ceremony in mid-December. “The adult stem cell treatment used at Celltex will prove enormously beneficial to many, many people.”

Celltex was careful to highlight its political and ethical standing at its ribbon-cutting event which involved a flag-raising ceremony, the reading of a congratulatory letter from Rick Perry, a Bible story and a group prayer.

A typical adult stem cell treatment involves extracting stem cells from a patient's fat tissue. The cells are cultured at a lab like Celltex and then reinjected back into the patient. Treatments are thought to allow stem cells to replace damaged tissue, potentially helping conditions like Alzheimer's disease, diabetes, Parkinson's and multiple sclerosis.

Research is still very much in its infancy. As of yet, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has not licensed any type of treatments involving cultured stem cells.

Stem cells remain a hotly contested issue and Celltex was careful to highlight its political and ethical standing at its ribbon-cutting event which involved a flag-raising ceremony, the reading of a congratulatory letter from Rick Perry, a Bible story and a group prayer.

Since the 1990s, the debate over stem cell use has split into two camps roughly along political party lines.

On one side are those who champion research using embryonic cells — the biological building blocks drawn from human embryos that can develop into any type of cell. Embryonic stem cell research struggles with rejection issues when cells are introduced into a patient’s system.

On the other side of the debate are those who favor research using adult stem cells, which are extracted from fully-grown consenting patients. Adult stem cells have a more limited use, but face virtually no patient rejection problems, a fact Celltex officials mentioned on several occasions throughout the opening ceremony and subsequent facility tour.

Both adult and embryonic methods have potential. Federal funding restrictions, however, have limited embryonic studies, which opponents question from a moral standpoint based on their use of discarded embryos from private fertility clinics.

"I think there's a happy medium for all of us. I don't care where the source comes from. I'm a Christian and have ethical values. If there aren't results, though, I'm ready to admit to that. Those people are misleading the media in a way."

"People who don't like us tend to be embryotic researchers," Celltex vice president Donna Lee told CultureMap. "Their projects are getting cut left and right because of safety reasons. Without a doubt, they're very protective of their field and that's why we don't bother them at all."

"I think there's a happy medium for all of us," she continued. "I don't care where the source comes from. I'm a Christian and have ethical values. If there aren't results, though, I'm ready to admit to that. Those people are misleading the media in a way."

Texas emerged as a battleground for stem cell research this summer, with Rick Perry promoting millions of Texas dollars in adult stem cell research initiatives as the FDA attempts to regulate a growing number of unapproved stem-cell treatments.

Perry, who opposes embryonic research on moral grounds, sees economic and biomedical opportunities for his state through adult stem cell research. Though excited about the funding possibilities, scientists and physicians have voiced patient safety concerns about approving stem cell treatments too quickly.

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retirement news

5 Houston suburbs deemed best places to retire in 2026 by U.S. News

Visit The Woodlands/Facebook

The Woodlands is one of the best place to retire, according to U.S. News.

Houston-area suburbs should be on the lookout for an influx of retirees in 2026: A new study by U.S. News and World Report has declared The Woodlands and Spring as the 4th and 5th best cities to retire in America, with three others making the top 25.

The annual report, called "250 Best Places to Retire in the U.S. in 2026" initially compared 850 U.S. cities, and narrowed the list down to a final 250 cities (up from 150 previously). Each locale was analyzed across six indexes: Quality of life for individuals reaching retirement age; value (housing affordability and cost of living); health care quality; tax-friendliness for retirees; senior population and migration rates; and the strength of each city's job market.

Midland, Michigan was crowned the No. 1 best place to retire in 2026. The remaining cities that round out the top five are Weirton, West Virginia (No. 2) and Homosassa Springs, Florida (No. 3).

According to U.S. News, about 15 percent of The Woodlands' population is over the age of 65. The median household income in this suburb adds up to $139,696, which is far higher than the national average median household income of $79,466.

Though The Woodlands has a higher cost of living than many other places in the country, the report maintains that the city "offers a higher value of living compared to similarly sized cities."

"If you want to buy a house in The Woodlands, the median home value is $474,279," the city's profile on U.S. News says. "And if you're a renter, you can expect the median rent here to be $1,449."

For comparison, the report says the national average home value is $370,489.

Spring ranked as the 5th best place to retire in 2026, boasting a population of more than 68,000 residents, of whom 11 percent are seniors. This suburb is located less than 10 miles south of The Woodlands while still being far enough away from Houston (about 25 miles) for seniors to escape big city life for the comfort of a smaller community.

"Retirees are prioritizing quality of life over affordability for the first time since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic," said U.S. News contributing editor Tim Smart in a press release.

The median home value in Spring is lower than the national average, at $251,247, making it one of the more affordable places to buy a home in the Houston area. Renters can expect to pay a median $1,326 in rent every month, the report added.

Elsewhere in Houston, Pearland ranked as the 17th best place to retire for 2026, followed by Conroe (No. 20) and League City (No. 25).

Other Texas cities that ranked among the top 50 best places to retire nationwide include Victoria (No. 12), San Angelo (No. 28), and Flower Mound (No. 37).

The top 10 best U.S. cities to retire in 2026 are:

No. 1 – Midland, Michigan
No. 2 – Weirton, West Virginia
No. 3 – Homosassa Springs, Florida
No. 4 – The Woodlands, Texas
No. 5 – Spring, Texas
No. 6 – Rancho Rio, New Mexico
No. 7 – Spring Hill, Florida
No. 8 – Altoona, Pennsylvania
No. 9 – Palm Coast, Florida
No. 10 – Lynchburg, Virginia

houston the woodlands spring league city pearland conroe suburbs us news & world report seniors retirement best places to live

Debate gets local

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retirement news

5 Houston suburbs deemed best places to retire in 2026 by U.S. News