What’s the latest on the now two-week-old STAP stem cell saga? More preliminary data from around the world. People continue to deposit their data into our crowdsourcing page with 8 reports so far and I know some of them are from top-notch labs. Only one of them is even slightly encouraging with a report of …
STAP stem cell update: more prelim data, missing data, & 2011 paper problems Read More »
Acid-induced pluripotent or even totipotent stem cells, called STAP stem cells, have thrown the stem cell field for a bit of a loop. For more background see my interview with the key public face of STAP, Dr. Charles Vacanti, as well as my review of their paper, my top 5 reasons for skepticism, and some other thoughts. Do you believe in …
Latest developments and scoops on STAP stem cells Read More »
I’m interested in tracking potential dynamic changes in people’s view of STAP stem cells. So about once a week I’m going to start a new poll on the extent to which you readers believe in them. Below is week two’s STAP poll. So if you’ve voted in the previous poll (which garnered more than 500 responses) you …
Do you believe in STAP stem cells new poll: week two Read More »
Update: I’ve set up a STAP new data page where people can share their results, thoughts, etc. The report of STAP stem cells has shaken things up. The idea that you can easily make powerful stem cells with a simple acid treatment or other sources of cellular stress has definitely caught the attention of the world of …
Invitation to crowdsource STAP stem cell follow up data here Read More »
If you take an ordinary cucumber and soak it in a mild acid solution of vinegar for a few weeks you get a pickle, which is where we find STAP stem cells. Recently, some scientists reported in Nature that if you take ordinary cells and soak them in a mild acid solution for 30 minutes, …
In a pickle over STAP stem cells: main reasons for skepticism Read More »
A new article in the major Japanese newspaper, Asahi Shimbun, just came out suggest major intellectual property (IP) and patent issues related to stem cells including the new stress induced STAP stem cells. The piece is entitled provocatively enough “Global patent war looms with epoch-making discovery of STAP cells“. That’s strong language. The article begins …
Big patent & IP implications or even ‘war’ from STAP stem cells? Read More »
I’ve been doing a poll on the extent to which people believe or do not believe in the stress-induced STAP stem cells reported in Nature last week. In just a few days of poll, we’ve got almost 400 respondents, which is great. It’s still not a scientific poll, but the results (above) are interesting for …
STAP stem cell poll: interesting results & regional differences Read More »
There’s a tremendous buzz about STAP cells (see more here and here). The buzz runs the gamut from true believers to complete non-believers and everything in between. What do you think? Take our poll below.
Here are some cool science reads to enjoy this weekend. Lab-grown sperm made from stem cells can’t swim, but are able to fertilize eggs, reports Eric Boodman over at STAT. Mouse-human neural crest chimeras: Not only a matter of black and white. Clever title. Antonio Regalado writes about a DNA App Store coming soon to a …
Weekend reads: sperm, stem cells, chimeras, STAP, DNA Apps Read More »
Just how often do press releases (PR) get science wrong? A new paper came out from the lab of Matthias Lutolf in Nature Materials that seems interesting. Using a special matrix, reprogramming of cells reportedly worked better. Good stuff. However, a (PR) from the home institution of EPFL and media pick up on the story used …
Squeeze PR on stem cell paper evokes STAP cell bad vibrations, gets corrected Read More »