The Niche has had many authors over the years, focusing on expertise in the biomedical arena and in particular related to stem cells. I’ve invited many authorities in particular areas to write posts. Over the years I’ve written probably 99+% of the posts here on The Niche, but we’ve also had some great guest authors …
When I was a kid there was this commercial on TV for Chiffon margarine (fake butter) with the slogan, “It’s not nice to fool mother nature!” As a kid I thought it was dumb but kind of funny. A modified version of that mother nature advertising slogan has become a cultural tagline. Don’t mess with …
Don’t mess with (mother) Nature: why risk taking on a powerhouse journal? Read More »
Could He Jiankui have faked part or all of his CRISPR babies story? If so, how? Why? Or to put it another way, almost everyone seems to be assuming the story is real, but should we be more skeptical? Should we flip things around and assume the story isn’t entirely kosher until proven otherwise? I once …
History tells us to be more skeptical of He Jiankui’s CRISPR baby story Read More »
The news that CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing in its current form may not work in a substantial fraction of people due to many of us having immunity to Cas9 came as a shock to many, but if you think about it, maybe it’s not so surprising. I don’t see it as the end of the world. A (preprint) from …
Keep calm & CRISPR on: perspectives on report of human Cas9 immunity Read More »
There is a scientist’s dilemma: should you speak out on important, sometimes controversial issues in science, where you not only can potentially have positive impact, but also risk being attacked for it? Or do you remain silent? I’ve now been blogging for more than 7 years. I’ve battled the often exploitive for-profit stem cell clinics …
Scientist’s dilemma: find a public voice on big issues or stay silent? Read More »
2,000 is a big number. As of this week I’ve now published 2,000 posts here on The Niche since I started back in early 2010. I can’t quite believe it myself. To celebrate that milestone, I have revamped The Niche in terms of its organization and style with the help of a very skilled web …
The Niche’s 2,000th post: where do we go from here? Read More »
It was just over a decade ago that I started making websites and it’s been a wild ride. My first site was at the domain name www.chromatin.com, which I was fortunate to have been able to get for a good deal way back when…I think in 2005. You can see here an early 2007 copy …
~10th anniversary of my 1st website: reflecting on wild ride Read More »
What were the top posts here on The Niche for the past year? I’ve listed some of them below along with some posts from 2015 that remain highly read. Some top 2016 posts 20 Nominees for Stem Cell Person of the Year 2016 Award REGROW Act is Attack on Science-Based Stem Cell Trial Oversight Will new …
When potentially game changing new technologies are reported such as NgAgo gene editing, both scientists and the public get excited, but especially if such new reports stem from a single paper it is wise to take a cautious approach for a while. The key question is whether the new findings will turn out to be …
Nature Biotechnology looking at NgAgo paper amidst reproducibility concerns Read More »
Over at RetractionWatch, their team does a great job following retractions of science papers. Sadly, the number of published manuscript retractions gives them more than enough material to post several times a day. There’s another phenomenon going on that I think might warrant their increased attention: the possibly rising number of retractions or corrections of science …
Science press releases behaving badly: time to start tracking their retractions? Read More »