Does science need some kind of version of a Dr. Oz to tell the world about science in simple, easy-to-understand ways that don’t distort the science? I’ll admit I’m not a fan of Dr. Oz for a number of reasons, but I know he has legions of fans including my mom. One of the reasons […]
Dr. Oz vs Carl Sagan: risks & rewards of pop-sci media and writing Read More »
Celltex is a clinic down in Texas most famous for isolating and growing up the stem cells that were given as a transplant to Texas Governor and one time GOP candidate for president, Rick Perry. The FDA audited Celltex in April for two weeks. Based on the audit of Celltex, the FDA issued a 483 form
Celltex future may hinge on a single word: drug Read More »
Medulloblastoma is the most common pediatric brain tumor. However, treatments for children who are diagnosed with so-called medullos have not evolved much over the years and are largely similar to treatments given to adults for other brain tumors. One frequent event in certain medullos is amplification of two members of the MYC family of oncogenes
New medulloblastoma paper suggests novel avenues to treat this childhood cancer Read More »
Celltex is an adult stem cell company in the great state of Texas that reportedly has produced adult stem cell products used for the treatment of more than 100 patients with stem cells. We don’t know much about Celltex (e.g. it has no website), but I was hoping to change that in part via a
Predictions heat up on FDA audit of Celltex Read More »
What is a wild type human? The pursuit of “normalcy” has seriously led some scientists astray and there is no better example than the recent microbiome studies that have drawn great attention in the media. I found one aspect of their study design profoundly disturbing. First to my core question. Is there even such as
Microbiome studies highlights the trap of the pursuit of the wild type human Read More »
I have an ongoing poll on people’s impressions of the big annual stem cell meeting, ISSCR 2012. I myself have been wishing I was in Japan for that meeting so I remain surprised at the trending of the poll toward the negative. By far the most common response has been a surprisingly ho-hum “so-so” evaluation
Wish list from 2012 attendees for ISSCR 2013: some crankiness Read More »
What scares scientists? What fears keep them up at night worrying? What makes them scream (if only in their heads)? As part of my elephant in the lab series tackling difficult but important topics for scientists, today I am talking fear! Earlier posts in this series included taboo topics about iPS cells, the dirty dozen
Fears of academic scientists: elephant in the lab series 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.
What are the best iPS cell papers so far? Read More »
Here is the scientist’s guide to insulting other scientists. Strap in.Scientists have special ways of using words to insult each other and believe me it can be vicious even if almost uninterpretable to those not fluent in that language. These insults are sometimes brutal or fatal career-wise, but also sometimes ironic and telling of our
The scientist’s guide to insulting other scientists Read More »
Why is the Texas stem cell company Celltex so super duper private about itself? I’m not sure. It has been the subject of much discussion in the stem cell field in the past year. Unfortunately, much of the news has been negative, largely related to their former head of ethics, Glenn McGee, who also was
Wondering why Celltex is still so silent Read More »