Humans have big brains, right? In fact, they are downright supersized. But is that always such a good thing? As it turns out, no. Size matters, but bigger is not always better for brains at least. When I was in high school, my biology teacher had us do the requisite frog dissection and offered extra …
When it comes to brains, bigger is not always better Read More »
As long as I can remember, Easter has been a part of my life and for better or worse there are two things that as a kid symbolized Easter above all else for me. Eggs Chocolate Someone once told me that chocolate is proof that God exists. When it comes to eggs, they were omnipresent …
The 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic, April 12th, is rapidly approaching and I think there are some lessons there for the stem cell field. The Titanic was hyped as a marvel of modern technology, widely advertised as huge, unsinkable and fast. An unexpected combination….almost too good to be true. This portrayal of …
I did a poll (below) on the best stem cell journals overall and the results of our readers were overwhelming. They loved this poll. Also as an update in 2020, you might find this more recent post on the “best” stem cell journals to be of interest. What is the best stem cell journal? What …
The Best Stem Cell Journals: Analysis and Perspectives Read More »
How has prostate cancer changed my life? On Sunday I was working on grading some papers before dinner when up popped a “you’ve got mail” kind of message. The email said that my PSA (the blood test for prostate cancer) test results were ready. Yay! I was diagnosed with a serious prostate cancer about 28 months …
Prostate cancer and PSA tests: perspectives of a young survivor Read More »
Below is the Vatican letter that would seem to be an unequivocal slap in the face to pro-life extremists and you can find it on the web too here. For whole story of how the Vatican gives these groups like Family Research Council “no credibility whatsoever” read here.
Does the Vatican view the American pro-lifers as a bunch of wacky extremists? An article today certainly suggest this. What’s going on? The Vatican, Catholics more generally, and “pro-lifers”, as designated by the Catholic website CatholicCulture.org are still apparently very much at odds over a now cancelled Vatican conference on stem cells that would have included …
Why aren’t there are super pygmy vertebrates? For most vertebrate animals, their early embryonic development unfolds in extremely congruent fashions. Embryo growth is stem cell-dependent and in large part, despite different gestational periods, the molecular and cellular machinery that controls vertebrate development is almost perfectly conserved. Yet at maturity vertebrates end up with a range …
The stem cell research field is hot. It has been a sexy field for a long time, only made the sexier by the discovery of iPS cells in 2006. Not surprisingly, the number of publications on stem cells is increasing and there is an ever-increasing number of journals devoted specifically to stem cells. Interest in …
Vote in our poll for your favorite stem cell journal Read More »
I am currently researching an article on the “discovery” of stem cells and the earliest stem cell research. Stay tuned for that. As I’ve been educating myself on the early history of stem cells I became familiar with a scientist that I had not previously heard of during my career who played a key role …
Dr. Florence Sabin, Great American Scientist and Trailblazer for Women in Science Read More »