The strange, doubt-filled story that iPS cells have already been transplanted into human patients is generating a great deal of interest today even as Harvard officially indicates it never approved any such work. According to the original Japanese newspaper report, Dr. Hisashi Moriguchi transplanted iPS cell-derived heart cells into patients, work approved by Harvard. The …
The following comment was posted on my blog post about the emerging, yet still confusing story reported by the major Japanese newspaper, raises doubts about the accuracy of the newspaper article. Harvard University, the Harvard Stem Cell Institute, Harvard Medical School, and Massachusetts Hospital have issued the following joint statement: “Hisashi Moriguchi was a visiting …
It seems like just yesterday I was blogging about how concerned I was that iPS cells might be used in early phase human clinical trials as early as next year and that would be high risk given safety concerns about iPS cells. Oh, it was yesterday. Now today….. Yomiuri Shimbun, one of the top newspapers …
The iPS cell field has run fast and furious over the past 6 years reaching a big milestone surprisingly quickly on Monday with Shinya Yamanaka winning the Nobel Prize. But is the field going too fast? In August I argued that iPS cells are not quite ready for primetime (i.e. clinical trial studies). Now in …
Are iPS cells being rushed to the clinic or has their time come? Read More »
The great news of Yamanaka and Gurdon getting the Nobel Prize for cellular reprogramming is still resonating in the stem cell field. My heartfelt congratulations to two amazing biologists! Also still ringing in my ears from so many people contacting me about what is becoming a somewhat infamous “empty” third slot that the Nobel Committee …
I have a poll running regarding who would have been the best choice to share the Nobel Prize with Shinya Yamanaka and John Gurdon, and so far the winner is Ian Wilmut, who cloned the first mammal, Dolly the sheep. I should have included another option to indicate the possible preference that NO ONE should …
Wilmut voted most-deserving of 3rd Nobel slot with Yamanka & Gurdon in poll Read More »
The stem cell community is buzzing today with excitement about the Nobel Prizes deservedly awarded to Shinya Yamanaka and John Gurdon for their pioneering work on cellular reprogramming. However, it is also just as worked up about the strange omission in this award of what could have been a third scientist awarded the prize for …
Poll: who should have shared in stem cell Nobel Prize in third slot? Read More »
I believe and have argued for years that Shinya Yamanaka, the discoverer of induced pluripotent stem cells (aka iPS cells) deserves the Nobel Prize. I’m very glad today that he received it. Some readers may find it a bit ironic that I believe so strongly in this way since over the years I have often …
Why Yamanaka deserved the Nobel Prize for induced pluripotent stem cells Read More »
Stem cell revolutionaries Drs. Shinya Yamanaka and John Gurdon have won the 2012 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine. Gurdon cloned for the first animal, a frog, and Yamanaka produced induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), a kind of stem cell with the power of pluripotency, but derived from ordinary non-stem cells. Gurdon’s work was based …
Nobel Prize 2012 for stem cells to Yamanaka & Gurdon: why only 2? Read More »
One of the questions I get asked most often is whether induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS cells) are well on their way to replacing ES (embryonic stem) cells. My answer? No. Not yet. iPS cells are great, but the original notion pushed by some that iPS cells would somehow replace ES cells, which would be …
Primary challenges facing iPS cells in late 2012 Read More »