Does the Vatican view the American pro-lifers as a bunch of wacky extremists? An article today certainly suggest this. What’s going on? The Vatican, Catholics more generally, and “pro-lifers”, as designated by the Catholic website CatholicCulture.org are still apparently very much at odds over a now cancelled Vatican conference on stem cells that would have included […]
Why aren’t there are super pygmy vertebrates? For most vertebrate animals, their early embryonic development unfolds in extremely congruent fashions. Embryo growth is stem cell-dependent and in large part, despite different gestational periods, the molecular and cellular machinery that controls vertebrate development is almost perfectly conserved. Yet at maturity vertebrates end up with a range
Why aren’t there vertebrate super pygmies? Read More »
The stem cell research field is hot. It has been a sexy field for a long time, only made the sexier by the discovery of iPS cells in 2006. Not surprisingly, the number of publications on stem cells is increasing and there is an ever-increasing number of journals devoted specifically to stem cells. Interest in
Vote in our poll for your favorite stem cell journal Read More »
I am currently researching an article on the “discovery” of stem cells and the earliest stem cell research. Stay tuned for that. As I’ve been educating myself on the early history of stem cells I became familiar with a scientist that I had not previously heard of during my career who played a key role
Dr. Florence Sabin, Great American Scientist and Trailblazer for Women in Science Read More »
I started my series on the sins of scientists last week with a piece called “Failure to Cite”. “Failure to cite” refers to the practice whereby some scientists choose not to cite the papers of their competitors, to make their own seem more novel, or as payback to folks they consider their “enemies”. In today’s
Seven sins of scientists part 2: paper or grant killing Read More »
What would be the most foolish, surprising, fun stem cell headlines on April Fools Day? 1) Family Research Council surprises world by announcing at April 1 press conference that they endorse embryonic stem cell research and arguing that it has great promise. They advocate pursuing both adult and embryonic stem cell research to help the
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Anyone getting tired of those anti-stem cell activists folks slamming Pepsi for supposedly using stem cells in their flavor research, when in reality the cells in question are not stem cells? Maybe the Pepsi-haters are too as they are now reportedly on the case of Kraft and Nestle too as well as Campbell’s, which makes
Anti-stem cell activists target Kraft, Campbell’s and Nestle Read More »
If you ever had a really bad day, March 13, 2012 might have been just such a bad day for one Dr. Steven Victor, aka “Dr LookGood”, because he received an official warning letter from the FDA. Why? Dr. Victor, who reportedly greets each patient with the catch phrase “You look so much more beautiful than your picture”, is
Dr Lookgood, dermatologist to the stars, gets FDA warning letter Read More »
What does the FDA define as “minimally manipulated” when it comes to biologics such as stem cells? You will be shocked to find out, but they include irradiation and treatment with the super toxin/carcinogen, ethylene oxide. In a recent post I discussed the issue of an apparent “minimal manipulation” exception (some might even call it a
A guide to Guide to Safe Use of Plastics. Our entire world is full of plastics these days to the point that we ourselves are now partially made of plastic literally. When you hear someone say that another person is so “plastic”, slang meaning artificial, these days it is kind of literally true, but for
Helpful Concise Guide to Safe Use of Plastics Read More »