I’ve been following the research related to human cloning now for more than a decade. Is human cloning more possible at this point? How do we even define such cloning? Did you know there are two types? The goal of this post is to educate you and in the process answer such questions. What’s in […]
Human cloning is more likely now but would you take the big risks? Read More »
For more than a year in my first job as a scientist I isolated cells from umbilical cord veins and then tossed the tissue away, never realizing there was more there that could be useful in the form of something called Wharton’s jelly. What’s in this article Umbilical cord histology & Wharton’s jelly | What
What is Wharton’s jelly & its possible clinical uses? Read More »
Something called the 14-day rule on growing human embryos in the lab helped keep a tough question in check for a long time: when is it ethically wrong or just practically unwise to continue growing a human embryo for research? There is no good answer based on science or anything else. ISSCR moves beyond strict
Risks rise as ISSCR drops strict 14-day rule on human embryo growth in the lab Read More »
It was a couple of years back that researcher He Jiankui claimed he made three “CRISPR babies.” No one would think about doing any kind of rogue gene-editing again, right? Not even somatic gene edits. After all, as far as we know he’s in jail. We still don’t know the health risks that these three
Ukraine clinic plans to sell CRISPR enhancements: hair color, skin, & breast size Read More »
It seems like being somewhat skeptical would be an inherent part of being a biomedical scientist. But not always it seems. On the other hand, some of us take it to another level by science blogging out our skepticism about certain topics. Note that there’s something called the Skeptics Society that publishes a magazine Skeptic.
As Neuroskeptic blog ends, reflections on skeptical science blogging Read More »
There are many ways to classify different stem cells including yours versus someone else’s cells, or in a clinical sense what we call an autologous vs allogeneic stem cell transplant. This post is focused on the difference between allogeneic (someone else’s cells) and autologous (your own) stem cell injections. As a stem cell biologist I
Autologous vs allogeneic: all you need to know on therapy Read More »
Organoids and especially brain organoids, which are made from pluripotent stem cells, are one of the most interesting developmental biology technologies of the last half a dozen or so years. Still some folks can’t help but get carried away when thinking about brain organoids it seems. A new Science paper from a team led by
Dissecting that Neanderthal brain organoids Science pub Read More »
How much does platelet rich plasma or PRP injection cost? We might start by first talking about how to define PRP. PRP is an extract from blood enriched for platelet growth factors. There are many ways of making PRP and products are very heterogeneous. Some preps may contain actual platelets or fragments of platelets. These
How much does platelet rich plasma or PRP injection cost? Is it a good option? Read More »
Today’s post announces the winner of the 2020 The Screamers Science Hype Award. Since this is the inaugural year for The Screamers, I’m just going to give out one main award: Overall Worst Science Hype. Science Hype Award to FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn Remarkably, the winner of the overall The Screamers Award for Science Hype
2020 The Screamers Science Hype Award goes to Stephen Hahn Read More »
When my wife and I were expecting our first daughter way back in the nineties, we received a paper pamphlet about cord blood banking. Back then, I was a graduate student at UC San Diego School of Medicine working toward my Ph.D. in Molecular Pathology and my wife was in medical school at the time
Fact-checking, pros and cons of cord blood banking Read More »