The Cell Surgical Network is a for-profit network of clinics offering various stem cell-related interventions, which began with the California Stem Cell Treatment Center. I have interviewed Drs. Elliot Lander and Mark Berman of the Network in past (Part 1, Part 2) and I raised some concerns about the network in a follow up Part 3 post, […]
Update on Cell Surgical Network IRB Status Read More »
A RIKEN committee has rejected an appeal by Dr. Haruko Obokata regarding its finding of research misconduct related to two papers in Nature claiming the production of so-called STAP cells and STAP stem cells. Earlier the committee had ruled that Obokata had allegedly engaged in misconduct and that there problems with the research. Obokata appealed
RIKEN rejects Obokata appeal on alleged STAP cell misconduct Read More »
Whether STAP cells are real or baloney, much went wrong with the actual STAP cell Nature papers and the research reported in them by Obokata and her co-authors. Who is responsible for these two deeply flawed papers? I’m not sure we have enough information at this time to know definitively how responsibility/blame should be apportioned,
Did Obokata get a fair shake on STAP cell mess? Read More »
Dr. Haruko Obokata held a news conference today in Japan about the STAP cell controversy. It was very painful to watch. I’m a softy so at moments I felt somewhat sad for her as I watched, but as a scientist I have to say the STAP situation has been very bad for the stem cell
Obokata STAP news conference: thoughts, questions & open discussion Read More »
A simple proposal to make STAP protocols clearer 日本語版はこちら By Jun Seita Detection of a GFP signal driven by the Oct3/4 promoter was extensively used to define STAP cells in the original STAP papers [1, 2] and similar approaches have been employed by many third-party attempts to reproduce STAP cells. On the other hand, it
Guest post by Dr. Jun Seita: A simple proposal to make STAP protocols clearer Read More »
I just heard some very good news on the regenerative medicine front, a new Regenerative Medicine Bill. US Senators Barbara Boxer and Mark Kirk today introduced The Regenerative Medicine Promotion Act, which would keep track of and promote regenerative medicine efforts. This is really exciting and provides hope. One of the neat things about this
Great News: Senators Boxer & Kirk Introduce Regen Med Bill Read More »
What’s the latest on the now two-week-old STAP stem cell saga? More preliminary data from around the world. People continue to deposit their data into our crowdsourcing page with 8 reports so far and I know some of them are from top-notch labs. Only one of them is even slightly encouraging with a report of
STAP stem cell update: more prelim data, missing data, & 2011 paper problems Read More »
Turns out the show on stem cells that I and some others in the stem cell field will be on with Stephen Hawking that is airing next Monday, February 3rd, on the Science Channel is called “Stem Cell Universe with Stephen Hawking” (scroll down in this linked page to near the bottom as of Jan. 29
Stem Cell Universe with Stephen Hawking: TV show graphic and link Read More »
Tonight, President Obama will give his “State of the Union” annual address on how our country is doing. I’m guessing he will say the state of the union is positive, but with challenges. What is the state of the union for stem cells in America today? Overall I think it’s extremely encouraging and the field
Stem Cell State of the Union Read More »
I’ve updated our stem cell quiz, which has long been a reader favorite. Give the quiz a try! By answering these 50 questions you can see how much of a stem cell expert you are and how well you keep up on the developments in this fast moving field. It’s also fun and you might
Are You Really A Stem Cell Expert? Take our Stem Cell Quiz Read More »