Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) is one of the most devastating illnesses that the human race has ever faced. It literally destroys the brain, which shrinks as a result over time (see image at left from Wikipedia). The toll of AD is not only measured in hundreds of billions of dollars in health care costs and millions …
Can stem cells be used to treat Alzheimer’s Disease? Read More »
I was going to have a quick lunch of a delicious bowl of soup today and after a couple bites, I noticed a thick, dark curly hair in my soup. Crap! After my head shaving (see pic at that link) for the St. Baldrick’s fundraiser 2 months or so ago, which I did along with my …
The Soupome-If you find someone else’s hair in your soup, should you still eat it? Read More »
Two articles in today’s New York Times got me thinking about how science can be pursued privately or publicly. I believe that getting that mix of public and private science right will directly determine the fate of humanity. In a pop-science NYT piece, James Gorman writes about how people may in the not so distant …
Lessons from The Hunger Games about balancing science: public versus private Read More »
Regenerative Sciences, Inc. just announced in a press release (PR) that John C. Malone (pictured above in their PR), Ph.D. has “joined the Regenexx Team”. Malone has infused the restive stem cell company with millions in cash. Regenerative Sciences is the adult stem cell company run by Dr. Chris Centeno of the Centeno/Schultz Clinic that is locked in …
I put up a poll asking readers what the single most important issue is today for the future of science. You can still vote. Going into this I thought “funding” would come out of top, but instead by a large margin readers voiced most concern over the anti-science climate in the U.S. It really is …
Poll results on most important issue for future of science: anti-science climate Read More »
Of course stem cells and their caretakers never sleep or take the weekend off, right? But still TGIF! Last week we had some really good and some ugly stem cell headlines that I covered here. How was this week? Good. ES cell differentiation requires chromatin compaction. A PLoS Genetics paper by a team led by Yuhong …
TGIF: stem cell headline weekly review for May 11 Read More »
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 »
The Mainstream Media has cranked up its hyping of stem cell cosmetics and sports medicine just in the last week or so. It’s really disturbing. The message is unmistakable: stem cell-based sports medicine and cosmetics are cutting edge new medicines that because they work for the stars will also work for ordinary people too. ….Or …
Media is a hot mess over stem cell cosmetics & sports medicine Read More »
I’m discussing the seamier side of science in a seven part series on what I call scientific sinning, including science hype. The first three pieces in this series covered Failure to Cite, Paper or grant killing and a Need for Speed. Today we talk about how bad it can get when scientists hype their work and I’m going …
The guest post below was contributed by a stem cell advocacy elf. As the whack-a-mole world of dubious stem cell clinics and their treatment claims evolve, a not so new low (or high depending on how you look at it) has been reached. A sparkly website Stemaid.com courtesy of the folks that brought us the …