Here are some recommended weekend science reads and links including stem cells, CRISPR, and clones. Woo-Suk Hwang & his dog clones…all started with Snuppy (pictured): Disgraced Scientist Clones Dogs, And Critics Question His Intent.Now in 2020, I wonder where Hwang is and what is he doing? I’m going to look into it. Human gene editing …
David Jensen reports on the future of CIRM as a “beautiful machine”. CIRM funds brain cancer research in a big way: Funding a clinical trial for deadly cancer is a no brainer. Glioblastoma is a fatal tumor that needs new clinical approaches so this is exciting. One of the goals of my lab is to find new …
Weekend science reading: fantastic found links including on CIRM Read More »
It’s a shame that National Geographic (NatGeo) has become part of a corporate empire that is not always consistent, to put it nicely, with data-based reality. Can NatGeo maintain its credibility and impact, when it is owned by a climate change denier (quoted for example as dissing folks as “extreme greenies”) who also has other …
TGIF: NatGeo sell out, GM Humans, Wild West, Science backstabbing, & more Read More »
For the past few years post-publication peer review (PPPR) has grown in influence and one particular website, PubPeer, has become the primary go-to place specifically for blunt PPPR. The kind that happens in journal clubs in labs across the world. Comments on PubPeer have led to numerous serious corrections and retractions of flawed articles. I’m most …
Why do some scientists commit suicide and can such suicides be prevented? Clearly it can be hard or even impossible to tell from the outside what things may be like on the inside for anybody whether they are a scientist or not. Last year the world of science, and in particular the stem cell and …
I’m doing a series of interviews with leaders in the field on human germline modification with the first interview in this series with George Church and today’s second in this series is a conversation I had with Dr. Jennifer Doudna, a pioneer in CRISPR-Cas9 technology. Doudna is a Professor in MCB and Chemistry as well …
Jennifer Doudna Interview on CRISPR, Human Gene Editing Read More »
I’ve seen many crazy things over the years doing this blog. There was the Moriguchi IPS cell fraud, the electric stem cell bra, the stem cell supermodel case, the stem cell soup No. 7 aphrodisiac, the STAP cell scandal….and the craziness goes on. Today there’s a new one that even surprised me. Haruko Obokata, lead STAP …
Haruko Obokata 小保方 晴子-like Game Character Conducts ‘Dangerous Research’ Read More »
The last two years at Nature Magazine have seen a surprising wave of paper retractions. In 2013 and now just so far in 2014, Nature has retracted a total of 14 papers. How unusual is that? Historically, Nature retracts relatively few papers, perhaps just under two per year on average. What the heck has been going on in 2013-2014? Let’s break it …
Could Nature’s 2-year torrent of paper retractions be a good thing? Read More »
Stem cell-based Regenerative Medicine has huge power for good in the clinic and at the same time great potential for economic development. Those two things go hand in hand. As I argued in my stem cell book, biotech commercialization of stem cells is not a bad thing, but rather if it is done responsibly it …
Comedian John Oliver has an absolutely blistering segment (see below) on Dr. Oz in which he skewers the physician huckster. The video includes incredibly telling Oz testimony before Congress in which the celebrity doctor seems frankly pretty pathetic and cannot answer even simple questions about his selling of arguably snake oil on his show. Oz likes to …
Ear-itating: Awesome Oliver Invokes Vacanti Mouse While Blistering Dr. Oz Read More »