I talked last year about human genetic modification by CRISPR with George Church a year ago. Now we’ve followed up with a long chat on this topic going into much more detail and with questions on recent developments. Each question is listed numerically and then there is a back and forth on that question with George …
George Church chat: CRISPR people, Zika, weapons Read More »
The Capitol Times in Wisconsin ran a story just before the primary there on Bernie Sanders on Stem Cells, indicating that has held anti-stem cell research positions. It can sometimes be hard to figure out politicians’ positions on stem cells and what actions they might take. Update: See this poll on what people predicted the …
Stemedica announced it is teaming up with UC San Diego (UCSD) to do stem cell research. This fits with an increasing trend in the stem cell arena is the teaming up of clinical partners with very different backgrounds and priorities. For instance, academic institutions are more often working together with for-profit stem cell clinics. Another branch …
Muddier stem cell waters: Stemedica teams up with UCSD doc? Read More »
Last Thursday I participated in a meeting at Stanford Law School on human germline genetic modification hosted by Hank Greely (pictured at left), Professor of Law and Genetics at Stanford. The meeting was entitled, “Human Germline Modification: Medicine, Science, Ethics, and Law”. The panel included in addition to Hank and me, the following speakers: Marcy Darnovsky, Executive Director of …
Stanford Human Germline Modification Meeting: Medicine, Science, Ethics, & Law Read More »
StemCells Inc. is a top biotech company developing stem cell-based therapies. They have a deep pipeline that includes already ongoing trials for a variety of diseases. I invited company leadership to do an interview and they graciously accepted. Below is the interview with CFO Greg Schiffman (picture at left from LinkedIn) including what I thought …
Interview with StemCells Inc. leadership on hot topics Read More »
Parabiosis and aging When it comes to anti-aging science, creepy meets cool with “young blood” in new blood mixing studies just published. The researchers report that blood from young animals literally makes older animals younger. That striking claim is made by both of two independent teams. They published high-profile papers that just came …
We in the stem cell field should call this past week: A Nightmare on Stem Street. I can’t think of many weeks that have been worse for the stem cell field than this past one. I’m a new week is starting soon. It was a real nightmare, although I wish it was just something fictional …
The California Stem Cell Agency, CIRM, has a new board member. Actress, writer, and Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) advocate Lauren Miller recently joined the ICOC Board of CIRM via an appointment by Governor Jerry Brown. Miller and her husband, Seth Rogen, have both been active as AD advocates and formed an amazing organization to boost AD …
Interview with Actress, Writer, Advocate and New CIRM Board Member Lauren Miller Read More »
Stem cell research is exciting on many levels and provides real hope for treating an assortment of serious diseases and injuries in the future, but another potential positive of stem cells such as iPS cells is their use in producing modeling human tissues and organs to model diseases. A third positive, but often overlooked potential …
Stem Cells Will Reduce Need for Research Animals Read More »
Today’s post is an interview I did with Dr. Van Bokkelen covering 10 questions. Dr. Gil Van Bokkelen is Chairman and CEO of Athersys, Inc., a company that has focused heavily on stem cells and regenerative medicine for more than a decade. For more on Dr. Van Bokkelen’s background see additional bio section at the end of …