How sure are you that your last paper was right? Could you be wrong about something big even though you are sure you are right? The reality is that there’s a bigger chance than you think that you are totally wrong about many things, especially those you are most sure that you are right about. […]
Humbling lessons from the Umbrella Man about science Read More »
Does the Planned Parenthood icon at left send chills down your spine, because according to the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) and most Republican Leaders, it should scare you greatly. An opinion piece today in the WSJ provides an extreme perspective on the debacle in which the Komen Foundation last week dropped support for Planned Parenthood,
Refuting the WSJ’s propaganda piece on Planned Parenthood Read More »
The Komen foundation has had a rough couple weeks, huh? First, it said it would not longer provide support to Planned Parenthood under pressure from anti-choice extremists, some of whom appear to have infiltrated Komen itself. Predictably, there was a firestorm of criticism that has damaged Komen and arguably may have actually been quite helpful
Lessons from the Komen Fiasco and Propaganda Wars Read More »
What’s the Witherspoon Institute? Most of you know about the 2 scientists who for their own reasons want to kill embryonic stem cell (ESC) research and with it the hopes for millions of people. Relatively new on most of our radar screens, however, is an extremist right-wing “think tank” called The Witherspoon Institute, which I
Secrets of the Witherspoon Gang Read More »
What does it take to succeed in research including for science newbies? Here are some key ingredients in my opinion after 22 years in academic science. Passion. One important ingredient that we cannot necessarily change significantly about ourselves, but that I think nonetheless is crucial for success, is a true excitement for science. Sometimes people
While my gel was running: advice for success for science newbies Read More »
About two months about Geron shocked and disappointed the stem cell community by dropping its stem cell program. The move was reportedly made for financial, not scientific reasons. Biotech companies have to be financially sound in order to help stem cell researchers turn science into cures and Geron’s leadership had to do what it thought
What does Geron’s departure mean for ACT? Some perspectives Read More »
CIRM, the California stem cell agency, has funded hundreds of grants during its relatively short existence. You can do searches of these grants through a handy dandy web portal that CIRM has made available–it’s a very cool tool and I commend CIRM for making it available. I wish the tool had more options however including
Word Cloud of Every CIRM-funded grant yields some surprising insights Read More »
Sometimes a top scientist makes news with a quote on research and that happened with Ian Wilmut recently on stem cells. Move away from research on human ES cells (hESC) in favor of very new and still largely unclear trans-differentiation technology? I say, no way. But, Bradley Fikes of the North County Times has reported
Ian Wilmut, Dolly’s dad, says dump hESC? What does this mean? Read More »
What is the Personhood movement ? Remember those folks who were pushing an amendment in Mississippi that would have defined the one cell fertilized egg as a full blown person with all the same rights as a living, breathing, thinking Mississippian? Now the new battlefront for their movement is California. They want to get an
Is a fertilized egg a Californian? Personhood movement brings battle to California Read More »
The grapevine is afire with the Geron news and there are many interpretations out there of what it means and why it happened. Based on several accounts from folks who remain anonymous, here is the most probable prediction of what happened to lead us to yesterday’s announcement. Geron has been worried for a long time
The Scarlett letter? What the experts really think about Geron Read More »