The Komen foundation has had a rough couple weeks, huh? First, it said it would not longer provide support to Planned Parenthood under pressure from anti-choice extremists, some of whom appear to have infiltrated Komen itself. Predictably, there was a firestorm of criticism that has damaged Komen and arguably may have actually been quite helpful […]
Lessons from the Komen Fiasco and Propaganda Wars Read More »
The Susan G. Komen Foundation has done so much good over the years in its fight against breast cancer that it is particularly disturbing to learn that they have betrayed women. Betray is a strong word and I don’t use it lightly, but I think it is appropriate in this case. To me the pink
Komen Foundation Betrays Women Read More »
Do we still need iPS cells if transdifferentiation is so cool? Wait, how did we get to the point that people are asking me that extreme question? When iPS cells were first introduced to the world by Shinya Yamanaka, who I think will win the Nobel Prize sometime in the next few years, some folks went
Transdifferentiation does not make iPS cells obsolete Read More »
Lately I have been critical of an ultra-conservative political think tank-like foundation called the Witherspoon Institute. They have recently joined the federal lawsuit as friends of the plaintiffs suing to stop federal funding of embryonic stem cell research. The Witherspoon Council has just published a 100+ page report on stem cells in the very conservative, somewhat obscure
A critique of the Witherspoon Institute stem cell report Read More »
When I make the argument as I have repeatedly on this blog and in other contexts that as a whole the Republican Party and its leadership are anti-science, one of the counter arguments fired back at me is that Obama is himself anti-science. My initial reaction to this “Obama is anti-science” argument is somewhat visceral,
Is Obama anti-science? Read More »
What’s the Witherspoon Institute? Most of you know about the 2 scientists who for their own reasons want to kill embryonic stem cell (ESC) research and with it the hopes for millions of people. Relatively new on most of our radar screens, however, is an extremist right-wing “think tank” called The Witherspoon Institute, which I
Secrets of the Witherspoon Gang Read More »
Federal funding of human embryonic stem cell (hESC) research is hanging by a tenuous thread at the moment. While currently legal, such funding is at the mercy of a legal case making its way through the courts. The latest stop for this case is a review by a 3-judge panel of the DC Circuit Court.
Update on embryonic stem cell court case Read More »
Just when I thought that the myths about stem cells, particularly embryonic stem cells, couldn’t get any more fantastic (as in based on fantasy), we have some bright folks out there thinking that soda (pop, coke, pepsi, whatever you call it) is made using embryonic stem cells. The headline goes: Pepsi is using embryonic stem cells
Stem cells in my Pepsi? New crazy stem cell myths Read More »
Doris Taylor is heading southeast? Texas is holding up a Texas-sized magnet for stem cell super star researchers and it is working. The upper mid-West is reeling from the departure of two stem cell superstars in less than one year and both went South to Texas. First in May 2011, we had the departure of
It’s difficult to dispute that statement, but is email good or bad for science? Scientists are addicted to email. Superficially, it is easy to make the case that email is good for science. Email allows scientists all over the world to rapidly communicate with each other in ways that simply were not possible prior to
Is email bad for science? Read More »