What would be the most foolish, surprising, fun stem cell headlines on April Fools Day? 1) Family Research Council surprises world by announcing at April 1 press conference that they endorse embryonic stem cell research and arguing that it has great promise. They advocate pursuing both adult and embryonic stem cell research to help the …
These days when we think of the words “scientific” and “sin”, we might conjure up an image of a stem cell scientist being called a sinner by extremist anti-stem cell activists. As you know, I think that is bogus. In this article that’s not the kind of scientific sin I’m talking about. Rather, I’m talking …
Seven sins of scientists: starting with failure to cite Read More »
We have another Vatican stem cell meeting coming up this spring. This meeting raises some extremely important questions and complex issues at the interface of science, religion, philosophy and ethics. From the perspective of scientists, an important issue is whether (assuming one is invited) to attend such a meeting and if one does attend, is …
Vatican Stem Cell Meeting 2.0: from stem cells to prison cells to hell? 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 …
Lately I have been critical of an ultra-conservative political think tank-like foundation called the Witherspoon Institute. They have recently joined the federal lawsuit as friends of the plaintiffs suing to stop federal funding of embryonic stem cell research. The Witherspoon Council has just published a 100+ page report on stem cells in the very conservative, somewhat obscure …
Last year around this time I presented my first stem cell awards of the year, in that case for 2010. You can see whom I thought deserved awards here. Now it is time for our 2011 stem cell awards. These awards reflect my opinions and those not mentioned will hopefully forgive me as there is …
When I was at the recent World Stem Cell Summit, I had the opportunity to meet a ton of people from all different walks of life including other scientists in academia, folks in the biotech/pharma industry, and many inspiring patient advocates. A number of people were curious about my view on how the stem cell-related …
Update on stem cell biotechs: an ethical investment, but risky and requiring patience. Read More »
What should patients think about and ask about when they are considering a stem cell treatment, particularly from a for-profit, unproven stem cell clinic? Patient guide to stem cell therapies For better or worse, I am in the unique position in 2021 of being a stem cell scientist and also a former cancer patient. Looking …
There has been a largely media-fed hullabaloo about the salary for the new Chair of CIRM, the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, $400,000. Now don’t get me wrong, that sounds like a lot of money to me personally, but we need to put it in perspective and when we do, the salary is reasonable and …
California pays its sports coaches alone more than the entire payroll of CIRM Read More »
Podcast for Week of July 5 Topics –Stem Cell Tourism in the U.S. –CIRM –Article in the Hill by stem cell opponent –Stem cell hype on aging Podcast for Week of July 11 Topics: –two papers on stem cell-based tissue engineering and one on stem cell treatments for heart disease, –the Republican candidates for …