Who reads this blog? A bunch of cool people including in science, educators, reporters, and patient advocates around the world. Some of them contact me, almost always to say nice things. Sometimes not so nice. To my knowledge this blog remains the only one in the world on stem cells written by a faculty level …
What’s wrong with Romney? Romney is quoted today as saying it would take an “act of God” for him to lose the GOP nomination. A miracle, I guess? Perhaps, but I say that if he is the GOP nominee it would take a miracle for him to beat Obama. Last night Mitt Romney, the GOP …
I’ve now been blogging about stem cells here on The Niche for nearly 2 years, but why do I keep doing it? I’m by no means the only one who blogs about stem cells, but it is just that professors still are reluctant in the stem cell field to blog. Two outstanding blogs that tied …
Do we still need iPS cells if transdifferentiation is so cool? Wait, how did we get to the point that people are asking me that extreme question? When iPS cells were first introduced to the world by Shinya Yamanaka, who I think will win the Nobel Prize sometime in the next few years, some folks went …
Transdifferentiation does not make iPS cells obsolete Read More »
Imagine my surprise as Republicans here in the U.S. have contributed mightily to stem cell research recently. Wait, what? There is a perception that when it comes to stem cell research and particularly embryonic stem cell research that there is a political divide with Republicans opposed to it and Democrats for it. Of course it …
Surprise! How Republicans are doing their part for stem cell research Read More »
Exactly two years ago today, I was lying in a hospital bed literally across the street from lab here at UC Davis. It seems unreal in a way, but painfully real it was and still is. On November 30, 2009, I had surgery for prostate cancer. Two years ago, things seemed pretty bleak. Now on …
My 2 years with cancer and what I learned from Steve Jobs Read More »
Spring End Nov. 2011 Here is an updated–Who’s who in the iPS cell field? …
What the heck happened to The New Scientist? An anti-embryonic stem cell piece they just recently published was an exercise in weird, moral obfuscation. Quite a few scientists and policy makers are fairly regular readers of The New Scientist. They might start reconsidering how they want to spend that $99/year. Why not use it to …
The New Scientist goes after ES cells with strange opinion piece Read More »
A year ago I did a post on scientific peer review and the dreaded Dr. No, but have things gotten any better? No. From everyone I have talked to, the answer would seem to be quite the contrary–things continue to move in the wrong direction. If you are not a scientist, but care about stem cell …
I Still Hate Your Paper: Dr. No and the Editors that are ruining Peer Review Read More »
The NY Times recently had an article ” ‘You Look Great’ and Other Lies” that listed six things NOT to say to a cancer or other patient, and then a few things you can always say. As someone who went through cancer surgery in late 2009, I’m not sure I totally agree with these, but they …