Is trying to clone a woolly mammoth all just science hype? Hype is a bad thing and it hurts science in major ways. Hype channels resources away from valuable scientific pursuits and flushes them down the toilet. Hype makes people have unrealistic expectations so they end up disappointed by even very important science if it […]
Cloning the mammoth: more than science hype? Read More »
It seems like a lot of my blogs have the word “baldness” in them, huh? The latest post today is on the apparent inverse correlation between baldness and pediatric cancer, not using stem cells to try to treat baldness. You might be scratching your head (bald or not) at this point. The connection is
How baldness can prevent kids cancer? Read More »
Cancer invokes powerful feelings so it is not surprising that there are a lot of harmful myths and urban legends out there about it. As a cancer researcher and cancer survivor, I can see it from both the biomedical research side and the patient side. Here’s my top 10 list of myths & legends about
Harmful cancer myths & urban legends Read More »
Recently, there has been a brewing controversy surrounding a journal called American Journal of Bioethics (AJOB), a company called CellTex, a bioethicist named Dr. Glenn McGee who founded and used to run AJOB until he recently resigned, and two University of Minnesota professors, Drs. Carl Elliott and Leigh Turner who have been publicly critical of
Celltex versus University of Minnesota: support for Elliott and Turner Read More »
A month ago I did a very widely read piece on cosmetic applications of stem cell technologies in the U.S. called “from boobs to baldness”. Many cosmetics websites asked for permission to run the piece and it was re-run in a number of languages around the world as well. It is clear there is big
From boobs to baldness 2.0: Cosmetic stem cell clinics proliferate Read More »
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
What’s wrong with Romney? Read More »
It wasn’t that long ago that I blogged about how some wacky folks were boycotting Pepsi because allegedly stem cells were involved in the production of Pepsi and its testing of sugars. You’ve heard of Diet Coke? Coke Zero & Pepsi Free? Maybe there has to be a Stem Free Pepsi? Really? Now the Washington
Stem cell myths: from Pepsi to Obama & snowflake babies Read More »
A recent article in Nature News about a stem cell transplant company called Celltex got me thinking again about safety. The safety of stem cell-based therapies is kind of an obsession of mine. A question comes to mind. Are people realistic about what stem cells can do for them and the risks involved? The answer
Celltex, RNL and phony worst case stem cell scenario comment Read More »
Why do people have such a big brain compared to other animals? Vertebrate embryonic development is a highly conserved process, particularly in the earliest phases. (note: you may find this September 2020 post on regulation of bee brain size to be interesting.) A wide variety of vertebrate animals including humans start out with embryonic body plans
Why is the human brain super-sized? Read More »
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
Why I am still blogging here on The Niche Read More »