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
The Niche top posts of 2016 Read More »
Does the new gene editing method NgAgo work or not? If not, what happened? The answers to both questions seem to depend on who you ask and what you read. As much as CRISPR has been the revolutionary in the genetic modification technology arena over past methods, could CRISPR itself in the next few years
Controversy over CRISPR challenger NgAgo irreproducibility reported Read More »
Haruko Obokata wrote a book about the STAP cell scandal telling it from her perspective. Fom all accounts I’ve seen, she has sought in her writings to shift the blame away from herself. She even claimed she was framed by other scientists. To say I’m skeptical would be an understatement. Will this book have any
Haruko Obokata (小保方 晴子) book is a #1 best seller Read More »
Media in Japan are reporting that Waseda University will shortly revoke the Ph.D. of STAP cell scientist Haruko Obokata (小保方 晴子). A hat tip to blog reader Tom on this story. The thesis contained plagiarized material and problematic data as did the Nature papers on which she was first author. Those papers were retracted and
Waseda reportedly will revoke Haruko Obokata (小保方 晴子) doctorate Read More »
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
Recommended weekend science links 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
PubPeer founder neuroscientist Brandon Stell Read More »
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
Scientists and suicide Read More »
I’ve seen many crazy things over the years doing this blog including exploits of Haruko Obokata . 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
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 »