Yesterday I posted an interesting interview with ICMS President Dr. Ricardo Rodriguez. I again thank Rodriguez for participating. Please note that one issue that I had already raised to Dr. Rodriguez was that I could not find the membership of their IRB listed on their website and this was apparently just addressed as that information can …
Wait, what’s that taboo elephant doing in the IPS cell lab? You don’t see it? I’m starting a new series called “The Elephant in the Lab” where I discuss controversial laboratory topics that people are usually too afraid to publicly discuss. We are starting with iPS cells. (for a description and definition of iPS cells …
Taboo topics about iPS cells: the elephant in the lab series Read More »
A new article out by Susan Mitchell covers the key elements of a brewing, serious conflict in Ireland over stem cells. You can read the piece here, but warning you have to pay to read it. Here in this blog post I analyze the situation and give important quotes from the article. A pro-adult stem …
For a long time many of us in the stem cell field have been worried about dubious stem cell treatments, so-called ‘stem cell tourism’. How do we stop it or at least fight back to keep people safe and help them avoid losing what is often their life savings? Many activities related to stem cell …
The ultimate antidote to stem cell tourism in the U.S. Read More »
It has been a week to think about mentors and I posted somewhat autobiographically on how to find and be a good mentor a few days ago. Also along these lines, I asked one of the great mentors of all time, Irv Weissman, about his early career and who were the mentors that made the …
At last year’s ISSCR 2010 Meeting in San Francisco, President Irv Weissman talked about the dangers of unvalidated stem cell treatments. He talked about the responsibility of stem cell scientists to stand against these and the importance for scientists not to endorse or serve on advisory committees of companies peddling such products and “therapies”. As …
Stem cell tourism: from bad to worse from 2010-2011 Read More »
One of the greatest and most infuriating ironies of the stem cell-based regenerative medicine universe is that while the FDA strictly regulates the progress of therapy development by Advanced Cell Technology (ACT) and Geron and other legitimate companies, at the same time mysteriously the FDA essentially leaves completely unregulated the companies within the U.S. offering …
Stem Cell Scientists KO’d in round one versus unproven clinics: where’s the FDA? Read More »
I’ve been lecturing on stem cells as a professor here at UC Davis School of Medicine for many years so I can answer common questions such as “What are stem cells?”. The medical students ask many great questions. They are always interested in clinical applications. The goal of today’s article is to help you have …
What are stem cells? Definition & what they are used for Read More »
Stem Cell Tools CIRM CIRM TV CSHL Expert Chats on Stem Cells (very cool) Stem cell wiki European Stem Cell Portal Stem cells NIH Stem Cell NY Times article collection ISSCR Cell Stem Cell — the journal Stem Cells — the journal Stem cell video Stem Cell Chromatin info Recommended Stem Cell Blogs …
Update in 2020: It seems now after all these years that the consensus in the now more mature field is that IPSCs and ESCs are nearly identical in most cases, and both have some of the same translational challenges such as teratoma-forming activity. It’s interesting to read this post from nearly 10 years ago and …
iPS cells coming into focus: not quite so similar to ESC after all Read More »