Does aging do something to time so it seems like as you get older that time goes by faster? Remember as a little kid when summer seemed to last forever and car rides could be agonizingly long? I’ve heard two theories on this. One is that the brain’s baseline of activity slows down with aging …
Weekly stem cell reads: aging & cells, iPS cell mutations, gut, more Read More »
People are the real driving force in the stem cell and regenerative medicine field including my colleague Jan Nolta here at UC Davis. She is the Director of our Stem Cell Program. There’s also news about Stanford’s stem cell Director Irv Weissman. Jan Nolta receives award Jan’s lab is prolific and in many ways is …
Weekly reads: Jan Nolta recognition, new director after Irv, FDA guidance Read More »
I love stem cell research but experiments that have practical possible future applications in medicine like for vision loss are especially interesting to me. On the other hand basic research on core transcription factor mechanisms like by MyoD also really grab me. We cover some of this stuff and other ground in today’s recommended reads. …
Something called NIH continuous submission for frequent grant reviewers is now a thing of the past. This is kind of a big deal. It’s got to be a challenge for the NIH to get enough qualified reviewers to serve on study sections as grant reviewers. The recruitment of reviewers just probably got even harder with …
NIH continuous submission for frequent ad hoc reviewers is quietly dropped Read More »
What do a Panama stem cell clinic and the Duke Autism Center have in common? More than I might have imagined. It’s a remarkable story that needs telling. Duke Autism Center There is a puzzle when it comes to the controversial idea of using cord blood for autism. Why? Because two of the strongest proponents …
Duke Autism Center has Panama clinic to thank for $10s millions? Read More »
A solid new, blinded placebo-controlled Phase II study from the Duke Autism Center clearly shows no benefit of cord blood for autism. Surprisingly, the team has said they are encouraged by the results. As a result, they apparently will continue this kind of work anyway despite their data. In contrast, I see the data as a …
Duke Autism Center trial: no benefit of cord blood for autism Read More »
There’s never enough time to get all of one’s science reading done, but we can try! It helps to have a list of “to-read” articles, whether actual research articles or media pieces. In the old days, I remember my mentors saying they literally had “piles” of journal articles on their coffee tables, bathrooms, bedrooms, etc. …
Weekly recommended science reads: stem cells, CRISPR, cancer & more Read More »
Retraction Watch broke the news that Haruko Obokata of the STAP cell train wreck now has a 4th paper retraction. The publication related to the controversial idea that adult tissues have pluripotent potential or actual pluripotent stem cells in them so it was kind of foundational for the debunked STAP cell idea. It also reminds …
4th Obokata retraction after Harvard investigation: STAP saga finally over? Read More »
Where do things stand today in 2020 with IPS cell research? It’s been 14 years since they were first reported, but they continue to make news. Back in 2006 I was wrapping up my postdoc with Bob Eisenman at The Hutch in Seattle, largely studying Myc, when Shinya Yamanaka published his first induced pluripotent stem …
IPS cell field update: easy culture, Parkinson’s, scarring, immune cells, & mutations Read More »
Once upon a time this blog and major outlets around the world were regularly writing about a Japanese stem cell researcher named Haruko Obokata (小保方 晴子). Whatever happened to Obokata and the other folks directly involved in STAP cell research? First, a bit of background because maybe still a few people never heard of STAP cells …
Whatever happened to the STAP cell scientists including Haruko Obokata? Read More »