Some stuff on my mind for our TGIF Science this week. Research Funding Ups: NIH. Is it my imagination or is NIH funding slightly improving? This is the overall vibe I’m hearing from the trenches. Research Funding Ups and Downs: CIRM. CIRM funded some basic research to the tune of a total of $4 million, …
TGIF Science: funding, CRISPR v. NgAgo, secrets, Zika, & more Read More »
An important new Cell Stem Cell paper from Dieter Egli’s lab points to an inherent, serious problem with so-called 3-person IVF or mitochondrial replacement technology that warrants putting an immediate hold on all efforts to use it in humans. I have pasted the graphical abstract from the paper below. For years a few of us scientists and …
UK should freeze mitochondrial replacement as Egli paper ID’s serious problem Read More »
Labor law changes will mandate a pay increase to around $47,000 to start for the nation’s postdoctoral fellows because of overtime rules that in most cases will lead to a bump in postdoc pay. It’s about time, right? However, despite good intentions, some concerns have been raised about this new change in terms of potential unintended …
Poll: what’s your view of mandatory increase to postdoc pay Read More »
The fast-moving stem cell field has enjoyed remarkable progress in the past 10 years despite some issues such as instances of stem cell paper retraction. This “modern” stem cell era that includes induced pluripotent stem cells (IPSC) has been striking for progress despite some challenges such as issues with publications. As a maturing field it is important …
Higher apparent stem cell paper retraction rates versus cancer papers Read More »
2020 Update: early NgAgo reports have been mostly discredited and there is doubt on its function as a gene-editing method. What could be better than CRISPR for gene editing? A new genetic modification technology called NgAgo has some researchers really excited. How does it compare to CRISPR? I’ll admit it that as a scientist who works on …
Will new gene editing tech NgAgo challenge CRISPR? Read More »
A committee of the International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR) did one heck of a document dump yesterday on stem cell policy, releasing a whole bunch of policy recommendations on stem cells and more. The torrent from ISSCR included a 37-page policy statement itself as well as several papers in top journals including the …
The FDA has taken another action against a manufacturer of stem cell cosmetics in the form of anti-aging creams with a warning letter sent on April 20, 2016 to Crescent Health Center, Inc. The FDA noted a number of issues in the warning letter that it termed “serious violations”, but the biggest issue was that the agency …
FDA warning to stem cell cosmetics maker raises more questions about agency itself Read More »
Editor’s note. Caroline Simons attended both the April 28th (see her report on that here) and 29th Paris meetings on human gene editing/genetic modification. Today, we have her in depth report on the April 29th meeting. I have posted her piece in full with only minor edits. If you are in a rush you can …
In Depth Report from April 29th Paris Human Gene Edit Meeting Read More »
What are the top 10 stem cell websites? Where do you go to find the latest information and opinion on the stem cell and regenerative medicine fields? Today, that information flows almost from minute to minute via websites and from social media. This is a transformational difference from past decades when it would take months. …
10 go-to stem cell & regenerative medicine websites of 2016 Read More »
There’s been a lot of buzz the last few days about reviving the dead via stem cells. Is this possible? Who knows, but it would be very long odds. Could it lead to zombies? Not really, but there could be negative outcomes even if it seems to sorta work (more below). Bioquark, Inc. is a …
Beyond zombies: reviving dead people with stem cells & lasers? Read More »