Yesterday I was kind of harsh on the microbiome researchers whose work has been so widely discussed in the NY Times and elsewhere. I went so far as to call it “fatally flawed” because the researchers picked their research subjects for “normalcy” and went so far as to manipulate the subjects by requiring that 80% …
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 thing as a normal person? As …
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 »
Why do professors leave one institution and go to another? The reasons why say a lot about academia. This is kind of a taboo topic in science, but very important. Once upon a time…. Two decades ago when I was a technician in the Pathology Department at UCSD School of Medicine and then still when …
Why professors leave: elephant in the lab series Read More »
What if I told you I believe that iPS cells really began in Seattle in the 1980s? Call me crazy? Read on. We hear a lot about how iPS cells were first created in 2006 in Japan by Shinya Yamanaka. I often say this myself. However, as is the case with so much in science, …
How iPS cells germinated in part in Seattle in the 1980s Read More »
This wild week started with an alarm clock ringing at 4:45AM Monday morning and me schlepping myself to Sacramento Airport to fly down to my former hometown of La Jolla, CA to meet Guv Perry of Texas. The small group had a great talk. I’m not naive enough to imagine us all singing Kumbaya together around …
Scientists meeting with politicians like Rick Perry of Texas 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 »
I’m sitting here in Davis, CA USA wishing I was in Japan for ISSCR 2012. I’m also wondering what I’m missing. Is it a great meeting? So so? Kind of boring? If you are at ISSCR 2012 please take our poll and let us know what you think of the meeting so far. Last year …
On Monday I had the privilege to participate in a very unique meeting down in San Diego, CA with Governor Rick Perry of Texas. The focus was on the future of stem cell translational research and clinical application. The small meeting was hosted by Jerry Henberger of the Parkinson’s Association of San Diego, at the Scripps …
Meeting with Rick Perry to build stem cell bridges Read More »
Taxpayer supported government grants + scientists’ work = closed access publisher profits (derived from payments from taxpayers + scientists) This simple equation embodies all that is wrong with today’s predominant system of publishing. In fact, it is an indictment of closed access publishers. The profits of closed access publishers come at the expense of science …
The case for open access publishing embodied in a single equation Read More »