The Obama Administration today weighed in on human germline genetic modification such as via CRISPR via a note from John Holdren, Assistant to the President for Science and Technology, and Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. The White House indicated support for the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) and the National Academy […]
White House supports moratorium on heritable human CRISPR Read More »
How has President Obama done on science during his presidency so far? Obama has talked about science (most recently last night in the State of the Union address) and has held cool science fairs at the White House (see him watching a sciency kid shoot a marshmallow gun in the image). But, concretely beyond the
Obama Report Card on Science: Take Poll Read More »
The Vatican 2nd Stem Cell Meeting starts tomorrow and by the looks of the schedule, which was just recently posted, it should be a very interesting adult stem cell meeting. The range of speakers runs from patients to celebrity advocates such as Meredith Vieira to Nobel Laureate Dr. John Gurdon to stellar cancer researcher, Ron
Schedule is up for Vatican Stem Cell Meeting Read More »
Sometimes a stem cell cartoon has more impact than words. With growing pressure, including political pressure on the FDA, to deregulate the point-of-care, for-profit stem cell clinic industry, one can only imagine a future in which deregulation has taken its natural course…..that’s what I’ve done in the political cartoon above. A “double shot” takes on
Cartoon on the future of stem cell deregulation Read More »
Last night President Obama decisively won re-election over GOP candidate Mitt Romney. Democrats also won quite a number of Senate seats that only a few months ago seemed destined to go to the GOP. Why was it such a bad night for the GOP? I believe the reasons they lost give insight into a new
Why Mitt Romney lost: lessons for needed GOP course correction Read More »
Think you know Mitt Romney? I don’t feel like I do. I hope those sandwiches he’s handing out are PB&J….. Here are the 10 most surprising things about Romney that you might not know. 10. He’s fluent in French. Nothing wrong with that, but his very anti-European rhetoric doesn’t seem to fit with this. See
Most surprising things to know about Romney Read More »
Rick Santorum. Expert on science and research funding? For the most part people would say “heck, no!” However, in fact, Santorum had a strong track record as a senator in supporting NIH funding. That’s a fact. But now Santorum has gone off the deep end. The former GOP Senator and Presidential primary hopeful is not exactly
In December 2011 I wrote a piece about a possible “perfect storm” of events that could crush stem cell research. Was I being too pessimistic? Now that we are into July 2012 making this fall very much closer on the horizon, how’s the forecast now? That perfect storm if anything seems more likely now. I
The perfect storm that may kill stem cell research this fall: moving closer Read More »
The Texas State Medical Board reportedly approved new rules for the use of adult stem cells. The ruling was at least in part a result of Texas Governor and former GOP presidential hopeful, Rick Perry, strongly pushing the issue. Perry himself received a controversial, non-FDA approved stem cell transplant in 2011 as part of a
Rick Perry’s Texas two step spin on stem cells Read More »
They say politics makes strange bedfellows….remember the Witherspoon Council? These are the fellows who are the BFFs of the two scientists suing to stop federal funding of human embryonic stem cell (hESC) research. They also wrote a large, very stodgy tome about stem cell research, in which they mentioned me and this blog…kinda implying we
Witherspoon Council, Komen, and Fox News Read More »