Harvard Stem Cell Institute (HSCI) is making a big announcement today about stems, the biggest they say in their almost decade-long existence. Last night I speculated/predicted some possible announcements. Today I’m betting they will announce the discovery of a novel factor called Betatrophin. More on Betatrophin in a minute, but first why do I think …
What is Betatrophin & why is Harvard so excited about it? Read More »
Below, guest blogger, John Carbona gives us his account (including pictures) of Day 2 of the Vatican Stem Cell Meeting, which included a talk by Nobel Laureate John Gurdon. Note, you can read John’s post on Day 1 of the meeting including more great pictures here. Friday, April 12, 2012 The Second International Vatican Adult …
John Carbona on Day 2 of Vatican Stem Cell Meeting including Gurdon Talk Read More »
One of my inspirations as a stem cell blogger was the pioneering Nature blog, the Niche. I was disappointed when it ended in 2009, but it still is a model of what excellence in science blogging is all about. In this piece today, I interview the co-Founder of the Niche, Dr. Natalie DeWitt. DeWitt now …
Interview with Natalie DeWitt, Founder of Nature’s pioneering stem cell blog, the Niche Read More »
The headline reads: ‘Adventurous’ woman sought to carry Neanderthal baby Supposedly Harvard Geneticist George Church, according to Der Spiegel magazine (and gazillions of other mainstream media outlets that translated the German piece including here), wants to clone a Neanderthal baby using an unholy combination of stem cell and genetics technologies. The only problem is that Church …
Stem cell revolutionaries Drs. Shinya Yamanaka and John Gurdon have won the 2012 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine. Gurdon cloned for the first animal, a frog, and Yamanaka produced induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), a kind of stem cell with the power of pluripotency, but derived from ordinary non-stem cells. Gurdon’s work was based …
Nobel Prize 2012 for stem cells to Yamanaka & Gurdon: why only 2? Read More »
What are the most important iPS cell papers so far? 1) Yamanaka’s first paper on mouse iPS cells. Revolutionary. Intriguing perspectives presented in day 1 of the iPS cell field. Interesting statements such as Myc is required. Also take a look at those other reprogramming factors that he tested…there’s a tremendous amount there, largely unexamined. …
The anti-stem cell folks have the University of Minnesota in their crosshairs of late, even making personal attacks on specific stem cell scientists. What the heck? Let me explain what is going on. The propaganda arm of the anti-stem/anti-women’s rights movement is the National Right to Life News (NRLN). This is one of those extremist …
Anti-stem cell extremists attack Univ. of Minnesota and specific scientists Read More »
Last year around this time I presented my first stem cell awards of the year, in that case for 2010. You can see whom I thought deserved awards here. Now it is time for our 2011 stem cell awards. These awards reflect my opinions and those not mentioned will hopefully forgive me as there is …
Sometimes a top scientist makes news with a quote on research and that happened with Ian Wilmut recently on stem cells. Move away from research on human ES cells (hESC) in favor of very new and still largely unclear trans-differentiation technology? I say, no way. But, Bradley Fikes of the North County Times has reported …
Ian Wilmut, Dolly’s dad, says dump hESC? What does this mean? Read More »
This morning on day two of the World Stem Cell Summit here in Pasadena, Rudy Jaenisch of the Whitehead Institute gave the scientific keynote address. It was a fabulous talk. Jaenisch, accurately described by Bernie Siegel as a true giant of the stem cell field, outlined the key issues facing the field of highly pluripotent …
Jaenisch’s 5 key action items for the ES and iPS cell field Read More »