Over the last few weeks, I have enjoyed talking with and interviewing Dr. Allan Wu, of The Morrow Institute on stem cell cosmetic procedures. I was impressed greatly by his talk at the World Stem Cell Summit last year. Dr. Wu is a fellowship trained Surgical Molecular Biologist with a background in Molecular Embryology and a board …
Interview with Regenerative Surgeon, Dr. Allan Wu Read More »
In the comments section of a recent post on adult stem cell treatment safety on this blog, the CEO of RNL Europe, Glenn McGee made the philosophical statement that “silence kills science”. It’s an interesting thought and I think to some extent there is truth in it. Openness, data-sharing, dialogue…these are all good things. In …
The LA Times has an opinion piece out today by Michael Hiltzik criticizing CIRM. It’s deja vu all over again. The LA Times has shown itself to be very biased against CIRM over the years. Hiltzik specifically has been very hostile to the stem cell agency. I see their coverage of CIRM as unbalanced, never focusing …
Real message from the LA Times: no change at CIRM will ever be good enough for us Read More »
I recently did a poll asking folks how they thought blogging would affect an academic’s career and got 50 responses. The results suggest that most respondents thought it was not particularly harmful to one’s career. 18% and 4% thought it mildly and strongly negative, respectively. Far more were enthusiastic as 52% and 6% thought it …
How does blogging affect an academic career? In poll most think it is a bit positive Read More »
CIRM Board Members continue to discuss the proposed changes in response to the IOM report (see pic above). There seems to be a slight majority in favor of the proposed changes amongst the board, however several board members are saying they need more time to consider the proposed changes and are uncomfortable voting today. As …
CIRM Board: Will it hold a quick shot vote today on dramatic changes? Read More »
I just received a copy of CIRM’s proposed response to the IOM recommendations. Regarding what I believe to be the most important element, revamping the CIRM Board (aka ICOC), I was interested to see that CIRM (via President Jonathan Thomas) recommended that all institutional members of the Board no longer vote on whether to fund …
“Solomonic” CIRM Proposal: Institutional Board Members Would not Vote on Grants Read More »
Human cloning is an important issue at both scientific and societal levels. Earlier I included a guest post from bioethicist, Arthur Caplan, on human cloning. Today I am posting a short Q&A with Nobel Laureate John Gurdon. I asked Gurdon three specific questions and below each I have listed his answer. My sense is that …
Nobel Laureate John Gurdon not a fan of idea of human cloning Read More »
I deal with many patient advocates and that is one of my favorite parts of my job. They are wonderful! However some go above and beyond the call of duty and are model advocates in my opinion. Others do some great things, but also some negative things such as attacking the FDA publicly, which serves …
The model of a patient advocate: what are the key elements of success? Read More »
Hungarian Mit nevezünk őssejtnek? Az emberi test több száz különböző, a mindennapi életünkhöz nélkülözhetetlen sejttípusból épül fel. Ezen sejtek biztosítják testünk folyamatos működését, felelősek szívverésünkért, azért, hogy agyunk gondolkodik, vesénk megtisztítja vérünket, hogy lekopó bőrsejtjeink pótlódnak stb. Az őssejtek egyedi feladata az összes különféle működő sejttípus előállítása. Az őssejtek felelősek az új sejtek képződéséért. Az …