Month: February 2012

Celltex, RNL and phony worst case stem cell scenario comment

A recent article in Nature News about a stem cell transplant company called Celltex got me thinking again about safety. The safety of stem cell-based therapies is kind of an obsession of mine. A question comes to mind. Are people realistic about what stem cells can do for them and the risks involved? The answer …

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The black hole: grants eat up most of scientists’ lives

Biomedical science is all about data, discoveries, brainstorming, and ultimately making a difference in patients’ lives, right? Isn’t it true? Well, hmmm….. I wish that were true and maybe at some point in the past it was true. Nowadays there is a different reality. The black hole at the center of most biomedical scientists’ universes …

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Vatican Stem Cell Meeting 2.0: from stem cells to prison cells to hell?

Get-out-of-Hell-Free-Card-300x1701

We have another Vatican stem cell meeting coming up this spring. This meeting raises some extremely important questions and complex issues at the interface of science, religion, philosophy and ethics. From the perspective of scientists, an important issue is whether (assuming one is invited) to attend such a meeting and if one does attend, is …

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Can science be a 9-5, Mon-Fri job for trainees?

Some colleagues of mine (not all faculty) around the country have been having a heated email debate on which I have been an eavesdropper of sorts. The topic? How many hours should trainees in science (grad students and postdocs) work in the lab per week? Or as they put it in their emails: “Can trainees …

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Why is the human brain super-sized?

human-brain

Why do people have such a big brain compared to other animals? Vertebrate embryonic development is a highly conserved process, particularly in the earliest phases. (note: you may find this September 2020 post on regulation of bee brain size to be interesting.) A wide variety of vertebrate animals including humans start out with embryonic body plans …

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Are Republican leaders anti-science? Take our poll

I recently did a poll to which we’ve gotten a large number of responses asking the question: Is Obama anti-science? You can still take that poll here. The result so far indicate that vast majority believe that Obama is not anti-science. While 18% believe his policies are a mixed bag, only 2.6% flat out say …

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