Great ideas are the foundation of science, but funding makes great ideas become realities and a monopoly on funding hurts science. UPDATE: NIH data backs up our conclusions: overfunding wastes precious resources–give the money to smaller labs. Arguably the key driver of the exciting progress in stem cell research is funding. With the stakes so […]
Stem cell monopoly: do not pass go, do not collect $200,000 Read More »
What is status of research on Stem Cells in China Today is New Year’s Day for the Chinese New Year. Happy New Year! On the Chinese Calendar it is year 4708 instead of 2011. I hope year 4708 is a good one for you and your family. Today being Chinese New Year has got me
Happy Chinese New Year, Year 4708. Stem Cells in China Read More »
Last Fall’s mid-term election brought into office several new Republican Governors who during their campaigns used strong, anti-embryonic stem (ES) cell research rhetoric. For example, then candidate for Governor of Wisconsin, Scott Walker (now the Governor) used some of the strongest language, which was ironic considering that human ES cells were first produced in Wisconsin
New Republican Governors Start Attack On Most Promising Stem Cell Research Read More »
Could iPS cells replace ES cells? A new paper is out from a team at The Salk lead by Joseph Ecker that the methylomes of many different human iPS cells. Their conclusion is that while iPS cells and ES cells are generally very similar in terms of the global portions of the genomes that are
Could iPS cells replace ES cells? Read More »
If a stem cell could talk, what would it say or tweet? I imagine stem cells like teenagers. So much potential but at times difficult or unpredictable. Below is my take on what a stem cell being prepared for transplantation would Tweet. Life is too short to always take everything 100% seriously so here’s some
Tweets from a stem cell: humor Read More »
What is Contagious cancer? Can one creature directly give another creature cancer? It appears so in dogs and that cancer is highly contagious. Contagious cancer When we think about transplants of cells, we think about hospitals and high-tech equipment used to give patients stem cells or other types of cells to help treat them for
Contagious cancer: the allograft your dog doesn’t want Read More »
CIRM announced today that it had appointed Ellen Feigal, M.D., to be its first VP for Research Development. Dr. Feigal will begin the job on Jan. 31. Dr. Feigal is a graduate of UC Davis Med School (where I am writing this from; go UC Davis SOM!) and is currently Executive Medical Director for Global
CIRM Appoints Ellen Feigal, UC Davis Grad and Executive Med Director of Amgen as VP Read More »
There is a kind of invisible cultural wall between patients such as cancer patients and biomedical scientists like me, but this wall does not have to exist and indeed it is a negative wall as patients, scientists, doctors, agencies, and advocates can achieve far more together than apart. But the wall is surprisingly strong. Last
My Cancer: how I became an advocate too Read More »
What is stem cell-derived blood? In 2010 I blogged about the exciting finding that researchers could derive most blood cell types from stem cells. You can read more about that here. Here also is a video of Micky Bhatia discussing the findings: Mick Bhatia on turning skin cells into blood. Stem cell-derived blood Now comes a
Is stem cell-derived blood on the horizon? Read More »
Yesterday I wrote about how difficult it is to tell different cell lines apart, including normal stem cells and cancer stem cells, especially since some accumulate accumulate oncogenic mutations that may make them seem more similar. A new paper is coming out that makes this case on a genomic level. Tomorrow’s Cell Stem Cell edition
Devil in the details: small oncogenic lesions in iPS cells & ESC Read More »