Last week we lost Meri Firpo, a great scientist and dear friend in the stem cell community who touched many lives in positive ways. Today’s post is a tribute to Meri, who passed away from breast cancer. If you want to add a tribute please add a comment. Meri Firpo short bio Meri received her …
Tribute to pioneering stem cell scientist Meri Firpo Read More »
Are small clusters of cells that make up 5-day-old human embryos equivalent to children? Biologically and in terms of just common sense, the answer is “no.” These tiny spheres have around 100 cells and no organs. Actual people have many trillions of cells, brains, and other organs. Alabama law on embryos may block IVF About …
Totipotency literally means all powerful, but it refers in biology to specific cells. These cells can make every type of cell in the body of an organism plus the extraembryonic tissues needed for development. This includes humans. So if you could reprogram human cells like blood or skin cells into totipotent stem cells, you might …
Weekly reads: gene therapy nod, Nature pub ethics, CRISPR LDL Read More »
Out of the blue this past week we lost Kevin McCormack of CIRM to a heart attack. When I first heard, my reaction was that can’t be, but it is. About Kevin McCormack If you aren’t familiar with him, Kevin was officially Director of Patient Advocacy at our state’s Stem Cell Agency. However, he was …
Weekly reads: Kevin McCormack passes, HSCs & RXR, Ethics Read More »
It was a shock to learn today that New York Stem Cell Foundation CEO and Co-Founder Susan Solomon had passed away yesterday after a long battle with ovarian cancer. I met Susan a few times over the years and was always struck by her positive energy. At a practical level she got big things done …
Tributes to NYSCF leader & stem cell advocate Susan Solomon Read More »
The stem cell field lost a great scientist and friend this week with the passing of Meri Firpo from metastatic breast cancer. I’m going to post a tribute to Meri from several of us sometime this coming week. I’m in a bit of a somber mood but still trying to write, read, and do all …
Weekly stem cell reads: COVID, tail regeneration, aging Read More »
What’s the difference between multipotent stem cells, totipotent stem cells, and pluripotent stem cells? The goal of today’s post is to help you learn and be clear on the differences. What’s in this article Definition of stem cells |Totipotent vs pluripotent stem cells | Pluripotent stem cells | Multipotent stem cells | The best kind of stem …
Multipotent & totipotent vs pluripotent stem cells Read More »
Sometimes patients or my students ask me, “What are the best stem cells?” what information are they looking for? I think they often are looking for the most powerful stem cells so perhaps they should be asking, “What are totipotent stem cells?” Other times it seems what patients specifically want to know is what might …
What are totipotent stem cells & what can they do? Read More »
365 days a year, 24 hours a day stem cells are growing in labs around the world, providing a never-ending stream of data and products, with real hope, good news, and lots of surprises. You can see some past examples of good news in the stem cell and regenerative medicine field highlighted on The Niche here. …
Recent stem cell news: vision, brain organoids, & lab meat Read More »
As a scientist blogger, I have a lot to be thankful for as Thanksgiving approaches so I wanted to say “Thanks.” First, I want to thank the readers of this blog who make it a reality. If no one reads a blog, then pretty much it doesn’t exist for all intents and purposes. Second, I …