Yesterday, UC Davis Professor, Simon Chan, passed away. You can read more about Simon and the touching comments of many friends and colleagues of his here. When I heard the news, I felt like my heart stopped and I couldn’t breathe for a moment. How was this possible? It seems unreal. Ever since that moment …
What kind of laugh do you have and what kind of laugher are you? Chuckler? Giggler? Belly laugher? Quiet? Loud? Cry when you laugh? Can’t breathe when you laugh hard? Why do we laugh in the first place? There is actually a field of study of laughter called Gelotology, but despite this scientists do not really …
The science of laughing: what one’s laugh says about you, our Presidents, & Mitt Romney Read More »
I keep seeing these eerie parallels between thalidomide & dubious stem cell treatments. What’s the first rule of medicine again? Do no harm! Rushing new medicines such as stem cell treatments to patients without appropriate preliminary studies to try to make money is like playing Russian Roulette with patients. Some of the time, everything will …
Eerie parallels between thalidomide & dubious stem cell treatments Read More »
Where do things stand on the potential of stem cell treatments for multiple sclerosis (MS)? MS is an often devastating autoimmune disease in which the immune system attacks its own nervous system. More info can be found at the National MS website here. MS is a very serious health problem globally as about 400,000 people …
Stem cell treatments for multiple sclerosis: where do things stand? Read More »
All science, whether biology or physics, whether microscopic or at the solar system level, is about experiments. Sometimes we as a society forget that. In fact, experiments are at the heart of investigations as diverse as studying cells to exploring space to medical treatments. For NASA, the last week has been a tale of two …
NASA’s wickedly up & down week: broader lessons about science & medicine Read More »
Clinicaltrials.gov is where you want to go for finding a certain clinical trial and studies. Note that this U.S. database Clinicaltrials.gov includes international trials. It is a very powerful tool! Check it out here to do your own searches. Also follow me on Twitter for all the latest info and expert analysis: http://twitter.com/pknoepfler and this patient’s …
Tool to easily search for a stem cell clinical trial for your disease Read More »
There was a burst of feeling last night in the stem cell community as word began circulating that a federal court had ruled in favor of the FDA defining manipulated stem cell products as drugs. However, not everyone was pleased with the court ruling. The clinics most directly affected by the ruling were understandably upset, …
Refuting potential downsides to stem cell drug court ruling Read More »
Does science need some kind of version of a Dr. Oz to tell the world about science in simple, easy-to-understand ways that don’t distort the science? I’ll admit I’m not a fan of Dr. Oz for a number of reasons, but I know he has legions of fans including my mom. One of the reasons …
Dr. Oz vs Carl Sagan: risks & rewards of pop-sci media and writing Read More »
The metaformin story is very interesting, but why show picture of Bartolo Colon who got dubious stem cell treatment for arm injury? Some stem cell scientists express concerns about Osiris; see article by Alexey. Sweat gland story is interesting. Stem cells for heart disease is a key, exciting area, but still early days….still definitely one to watch! I have trouble …
TGIF: stem cell headlines according to Google & my take on them Read More »
The upcoming movie The Amazing Spider-Man with Emma Stone looks to be pretty cool and I’m not even a fan of Spider-Man. However, making me even more interested in it are the rumors that stem cells are part of the plot. Some folks view stem cells as superheroes able to cure almost anything including COVID-19, but …
Emma Stone dishes on spiderman and stem cells: very cool! Read More »