Are stem cells drugs? At least for today, a federal court unambiguously ruled that the answer to this question for manipulated stem cells is “Yes”. The story has been reported in the media at New Scientist and Scope Blog. You can read over the key issues here. The court ruled in favor of the federal government and FDA and against […]
Court empowers FDA to regulate stem cells as drugs Read More »
Sellers of dubious stem cell treatments are playing their own versions of “stem cell shell” and definitely it is not to benefit patients. Remember that game where the slick guy on the street corner (at least in the movies) has three shells and one pea and he shuffles them around….then you are supposed to point
Stem cell shell game puts patients at risk Read More »
Rick Santorum. Expert on science and research funding? For the most part people would say “heck, no!” However, in fact, Santorum had a strong track record as a senator in supporting NIH funding. That’s a fact. But now Santorum has gone off the deep end. The former GOP Senator and Presidential primary hopeful is not exactly
It’s been a big couple months of headlines in the news for prostate cancer. I’m a prostate cancer survivor and cancer biologist so I spend probably more than my share of time thinking about prostate cancer and from a number of angles. A few days ago I got a test result suggesting I’m still in long-term
Updated: Do Vulcans Get Prostate Cancer and get surgery for it? Read More »
“I lied to patients,” testified a weeping, young woman in court related to a fraud allegation involving stem cells. She had worked as an office assistant at a company that injected bogus and potentially dangerous cow-based “stem cell” treatments into human patients. This company, which in different incarnations went by various names including Biomark in
Testimony in supermodel stem cell fraud case: “I lied to patients” Read More »
I like Texas. It is one of my favorite states. Over the last few years I’ve made many friends down in Texas. I also had the pleasure of having a meeting with your Governor, Rick Perry, about future stem cell policy. I’m hoping to meet with him again. I’m planning to visit your great state
Building stem cell bridges to the great state of Texas Read More »
A major scandal has erupted further regarding FDA monitoring of its scientists’ emails as reported by the NY Times. The FDA spied on the emails of its own scientists and other scientists. Some of the emails also involved correspondence with Congress and even the White House. Regardless of one’s position on what the FDA did,
In December 2011 I wrote a piece about a possible “perfect storm” of events that could crush stem cell research. Was I being too pessimistic? Now that we are into July 2012 making this fall very much closer on the horizon, how’s the forecast now? That perfect storm if anything seems more likely now. I
The perfect storm that may kill stem cell research this fall: moving closer Read More »
Does science need some kind of version of a Dr. Oz to tell the world about science in simple, easy-to-understand ways that don’t distort the science? I’ll admit I’m not a fan of Dr. Oz for a number of reasons, but I know he has legions of fans including my mom. One of the reasons
Dr. Oz vs Carl Sagan: risks & rewards of pop-sci media and writing Read More »
I love paradoxes. The great artist M.C. Escher was famous for his paradoxical drawings such as the one above. Paradoxes make people think in a whole new way about something they thought they understood. The stem cell field is full of paradoxes. Below I list my favorite ones. Some of these resonate with stem cell
Intriguing stem cell paradoxes: from Pepsi to Pluripotency Read More »