Month: May 2014

Update on Cell Surgical Network IRB Status

Cell-Surgical-Network

The Cell Surgical Network is a for-profit network of clinics offering various stem cell-related interventions, which began with the California Stem Cell Treatment Center. I have interviewed Drs. Elliot Lander and Mark Berman of the Network in past (Part 1, Part 2) and I raised some concerns about the network in a follow up Part 3 post, …

Update on Cell Surgical Network IRB Status Read More »

TGIF! Some attempts at humor to release STAP cell stress

STAPcartoon2014

Sometimes a situation is so bad or stressful that it just calls out for some comic relief and the STAP cell mess seems to be one of those. Below are various silly attempts at STAP humor to hopefully release some of that stress. (By the way you might enjoy this 2020 piece on whatever happened to …

TGIF! Some attempts at humor to release STAP cell stress Read More »

RIKEN rejects Obokata appeal on alleged STAP cell misconduct

Obokata-press-conference

A RIKEN committee has rejected an appeal by Dr. Haruko Obokata regarding its finding of research misconduct related to two papers in Nature claiming the production of so-called STAP cells and STAP stem cells. Earlier the committee had ruled that Obokata had allegedly engaged in misconduct and that there problems with the research. Obokata appealed …

RIKEN rejects Obokata appeal on alleged STAP cell misconduct Read More »

Perspectives on Lee Lab F1000 Paper that STAP Cell Method Does Not Work

GFP+-germ-cells

A paper has been published reporting that repeated attempts to make so-called “acid bath stem cells” have failed. At the end of January it was claimed in two Nature papers that a mild acid treatment created pluripotent or even totipotent stem cells that that the authors termed “STAP cells” or “STAP stem cells” (collectively referred …

Perspectives on Lee Lab F1000 Paper that STAP Cell Method Does Not Work Read More »

Parabiosis and young blood anti-aging in mice

Parabiosis

    Parabiosis and aging When it comes to anti-aging science, creepy meets cool with “young blood” in new blood mixing studies just published. The researchers report that blood from young animals literally makes older animals younger. That striking claim is made by both of two independent teams. They published high-profile papers that just came …

Parabiosis and young blood anti-aging in mice Read More »

Did Obokata get a fair shake on STAP cell mess?

Obokata-press-conference

Whether STAP cells are real or baloney, much went wrong with the actual STAP cell Nature papers and the research reported in them by Obokata and her co-authors. Who is responsible for these two deeply flawed papers? I’m not sure we have enough information at this time to know definitively how responsibility/blame should be apportioned, …

Did Obokata get a fair shake on STAP cell mess? Read More »