It’s another one of those ‘double-grant’ weekends of grant writing (on brain cancer) and reviewing, but I’m still trying to find a bit of time for some other reading. There was some important news this week including a big mess of problematic papers at Dana Farber Cancer Institute (DFCI).
Recommended reads
- Here’s the new WaPo piece on the DFCI situation: 6 studies to be retracted by scientists at Harvard-affiliated hospital. Dozens of other papers are going to be corrected. Part of what’s sad about this story is that despite the depressing scope of the problems here, it’s still kind of unsurprising these days. No shock. There are just so many problematic papers out there more generally. It’s an interesting side note that the WaPo cites the blog For Better Science in a piece on the DFCI paper retractions. Big media sometimes avoid citing (and linking to) blogs even if those websites were key sources for stories. Nature also interviewed the author Sholto David and linked to his post on DFCI.
- Can Stem Cells Eliminate the Need for a Knee Replacement? Bloomberg. Also see my info post on stem cells for knees.
- New tool for tracing blood cells’ ancestry might one day help predict disease risk, STAT News. Here’s the original Nature paper: Deciphering cell states and genealogies of human hematopoiesis.
- Gene Therapy Allows an 11-Year-Old Boy to Hear for the First Time, NYT. I’m going to have more on this story this coming week including a broader look at cell therapy for hearing loss.
- Aberrant DNA repair reveals a vulnerability in histone H3.3-mutant brain tumors, NAR. These histone mutant tumors are an area of major interest for my lab.
- Big Wave Surfer Shane Dorian Posts Stem Cell Update and Mental Backdoor Barrel, Surfer.com. Why am I including this? It’s so awful in my view that this surfer guy keeps posting positively about his stem cell experience but neglects to mention that his buddy who went with him to get the stem cells died right after the “treatment.” Did Dorian get free or discounted stem cells for agreeing to publicize the results? He has no choice but to keep posting? In his latest Instagram post he also includes the tag for the Tijuana stem cell clinic he went to. Damn.