Advanced Cell Technology (ACT) has confirmed that one of the patient in a clinical trial that it is running for treatment of macular degeneration, the leading cause of blindness worldwide, has shown a striking improvement in vision. The patient reportedly had 20/400 vision prior to treatment and now has 20/40 vision after treatment. ACT uses an […]
Striking improvement in vision in one ACT trial participant Read More »
I recently did a poll (still running here) about a hypothetical stem cell hotshot called Dr. Famous who might have published a recent paper that was sexy, but crappy. This situation sure rang a bell with a lot of people! In fact, a half dozen people contacted me directly (and privately) to talk about it
Go ahead & blog about Dr. Famous’ sexy, but crappy paper, most people say Read More »
To blog or not to blog? Sometimes that is the question and a tough one. Keep going or shut it down? Let’s say that you are a blogger and scientist. I am one of those people wearing both of those hats. A sexy paper comes out in your field. It’s all over the Internet and
To blog or not to blog about sexy, but crappy paper from Dr. Famous? Read More »
Harvard Stem Cell Institute (HSCI) is making a big announcement today about stems, the biggest they say in their almost decade-long existence. Last night I speculated/predicted some possible announcements. Today I’m betting they will announce the discovery of a novel factor called Betatrophin. More on Betatrophin in a minute, but first why do I think
What is Betatrophin & why is Harvard so excited about it? Read More »
It has been fascinating in the last year to see the unfolding story of mutations in histone variant H3.3 in pediatric glioblastoma and related tumors. It seems amazing that in just over a year, a whole new area of cancer research has rapidly progressed. As I discussed in a recent post, histone H3.3 is a
Allis lab Science paper on histone H3.3 in pediatric brain cancer Read More »
Dutch Wat zijn stamcellen? Het menselijk lichaam bestaat uit honderden verschillende celtypes welke stuk voor stuk essentieel zijn voor onze gezondheid. Deze cellen zijn ervoor verantwoordelijk dat ons lichaam gezond functioneert door onze hartslag te reguleren, onze hersenactiviteiten te reguleren, onze huid kan afschilferen, etc. etc. De unieke taak van stamcellen is dat ze elk
Wat is een stamcel? Read More »
Back-to-back papers (here and here) in Nature Biotechnology report the transdifferentiation (now often simply referred to as “direct reprogramming”) of plain old fibroblasts into brain cells called oligodendrocyte progenitor cells (OPCs). OPCs are a remarkably useful kind of brain cell that generates myelin, which insulates nerves. OPCs are thought to have great therapeutic potential for
Was sind Stammzellen? Der menschliche Körper enthält Hunderte von verschiedenen Zellarten, die für unsere tägliche Gesundheit wichtig sind. Diese Zellen sind verantwortlich für das tägliche Funktionieren unseres Körpers, wie das Schlagen des Herzes, das Denken des Gehirns, das Säubern unseres Blut durch die Nieren, das Ersetzen unsere Hautzellen, und so weiter. Die wichtige und einzigartige
Was sind Stammzellen? Read More »
The ISSCR Annual Meeting will be held In Boston, MA in June. In advance of the meeting I was looking through the Preliminary Program that showed up in my mail box and then I checked out the confirmed speakers page on the web. What a cool lineup of speakers, I thought, but something seemed different….at
ISSCR Breaks Tradition with 2013 Annual Meeting Read More »
Davis, CA and UC Davis are very unique. We were driving down to a favorite hiking spot, Putah Creek this past weekend, and noticed a sign along the way. It dawned on me just wildly unusual this sign we always drive by really is if you think about it (see at right). I think Davis,
Get your germplasm! Read More »