Americans eat tens of millions of turkeys each year on Thanksgiving, but what the heck is a turkey really? It’s a heckuva of strange bird, isn’t it? They are so big my 110-lb dog Mica won’t go after them. Also, this year during the pandemic we may be eating a lot less turkey collectively so …
Fun, geeky turkey facts for the Thanksgiving dinner table Read More »
After all this time writing on The Niche here since 2010, I still haven’t entirely resolved certain blogging dilemmas including when a patient discloses something. It’s kind of a jungle out there on the internet. What kinds of tough blogging dilemmas do I face? I’m just going to give you some examples of the more common …
Stem cell blogging dilemmas: patient disclosures, lawsuits, & more Read More »
Some scientists, even on Halloween, might be relatively immune to the fear of things that nonetheless freak out many everyday normal people. Brains, powerful lasers, antibiotic resistant genetically-modified bacteria, potent viruses, radioactivity. The list goes on and on. Mutant cells and animals. DNA containing cancer-causing genes. So as Halloween approaches, what does scare the heck out …
Maybe we can use science as an escape from politics during the last week or so before the election? I hope so. Here are my weekly recommended reads. Several papers ended up relating to nucleus, cell and embryo size and space as well as chromatin, which is very interesting. Cell and chromatin biology pubs, media …
Weekly science reads: CRISPR, stem cells, cell size & space, more Read More »
CRISPR applications in the real world The “breakthrough” gene-editing tool, CRISPR Cas9, has been utilized for various purposes since its popularization and commercialization in the early 2010s. While possible uses of gene editing in humans tend to get the most attention, the application of CRISPR-Cas9 also encompasses the animal world and the analysis of a …
It’s encouraging to see that the states including now Arkansas via their attorney generals (or is it attorneys general?) are taking more action against stem cell clinic firms, but the big scope of AG action has somewhat surprised me. Arkansas AG suit The latest AG action on a stem cell clinic type firm comes from …
Arkansas adds to wave of state AG actions vs. stem cell clinics Read More »
As a researcher, is there ever enough time to get to everything that you want to read especially in newer areas like stem cells, organoids, and CRISPR, without even including non-scientific reads like Shakespeare or a new novel or something like that? Hopefully, putting together lists of recommended reads like today’s post is helpful. I …
Weekly reads on organoids, COVID, CRISPR, cold chromatin, more Read More »
Are Trump and the Republican Party showing major hypocrisy over Trump’s use of experimental COVID-19 therapies in part developed by Regeneron using embryonic and fetal cells? The Internet is kind of blowing up over this. Trump’s collision with stem cells For example, people are directly confronting Trump on Twitter over his recent all caps tweet …
Trump, GOP hypocrisy on Regeneron COVID-19 fetal, stem cell work Read More »
The State of California is considering re-funding its stem cell agency, CIRM, to the tune of more than $5 billion dollars, but the issue has generated surprisingly little media attention. The main coverage has been by David Jensen over at California Stem Cell Report. Prop 14 polling data non-existent in public domain To my knowledge, …
Prop 14 polling on CIRM re-funding stays moderately upbeat Read More »
Here are some recommended stem cell and other reads for the week ranging from COVID developments to prosecutors finally catching up with a stem cell surgeon who had many patients die to a list of interesting pubs. Because Trump now has COVID, I wondered on Friday if he might consider trying unproven stem cells or …
Recommended reads: Yamanaka review, stem cell indictment, COVID, MYC, more Read More »