Texas Governor and GOP presidential nominee wannabe, Rick Perry, seems to have stepped in it again when it comes to stem cells. It seems he put the cart before the horse on a grand scale, getting what appears to be an unlawful treatment and only now pleading for it to be legalized after the fact […]
Rick Perry & his first stem cell rodeo: it ain’t pretty Read More »
I know you care about stem cells and research, but do you know much about epigenetics? You should. If you do not understand epigenetics then you do not understand stem cells. Don’t be put off by the complicated sounding name “epigenetics”. It’s really simple conceptually and below is your easy-to-understand guide. Epigenetics controls nearly every
A layman’s guide to stem cell epigenetics Read More »
As much as so many were excited yesterday about the enrollment of the first patient in a CIRM-funded clinical trial, I did not see a mention of a very important element. The patient. Our excitement about the clinical trial moving forward is understandable, but we also need to keep a sober perspective on the fact
The news of CIRM and clinical trial: don’t forget the patient Read More »
Drs. James Sherley and Theresa Deisher are the two adult stem cell researchers who sued the federal government over federal funding of ESC research. They claimed that NIH funding of ESC research violated the law and also was unfair to them. This case has been bouncing around in various courts over the last couple years
Stem cell opponents appeal federal ruling: what does this mean? Read More »
Are street smarts important in science? Some of the smartest people I have ever met in my life were scientists. But some of these same people made the dumbest mistakes I have ever seen in my life. Why? Their raw brainpower and knowledge of science is amazing, but they seemed to lack common sense and
Science street smarts: how to succeed in science in the real world Read More »
Another sports stars has been publicly “outed” as having received a non-FDA approved stem cell therapy in a foreign country. First, the big news earlier this year in June was that NY Yankees Pitcher Bartolo Colon had received a stem cell treatment. Then we all heard that Texas Governor and, at the moment, leading GOP
Sports stars, Rick Perry, stem cells: how many more people will die? Read More »
The CIRM Grantee Meeting will wrap up today in San Francisco with more great talks I am sure. It has been an inspiring meeting and one that fills me with hope for stem cell science to help a huge number of patients. The meeting was kicked off with a talk by Craig Venter, the amazing
Venter: CIRM is the greatest scientific organization founded in our era. Read More »
Monday I did a post in response to an item that appeared in the Secondhand Smoke Blog by Wesley J. Smith where he invoked the opponents of ESC research favorite term to contrast so-called adult stem cell research with ESC research. In addition, he implied that George W. Bush deserved some of the credit for
Lessons from getting attacked by ESC research opponents Read More »
What’s big tent science? As a stem cell scientist I hear all the time about how the pipeline from the lab to the clinic is incredibly slow and terribly inefficient. Meanwhile millions of people have conditions that the current state-of-the-art medicine cannot effectively treat. Somehow we need to make a fundamental change to improve this
Big tent science: new ideas about clinical trials Read More »
George Bush deserves credit for iPS cells? No way. One of the weapons in the war against stem cell therapies is the use of a seemingly simple word: “ethical”. What does it mean to do ethical science in general and in particular what is ethical stem cell research? Who decides? According to the opponents of
News flash: George Bush deserves credit for iPS cells? Read More »