Many of this The Niche‘s readers ask about what my own lab’s research. What is the focus of the research of the Knoepfler Lab? You can go check out our lab website, but I thought it might be time to blog about what we are all about as a lab and what we have been […]
Knoepfler Lab: Our mission and research Read More »
Stem cell-based Regenerative Medicine has huge power for good in the clinic and at the same time great potential for economic development. Those two things go hand in hand. As I argued in my stem cell book, biotech commercialization of stem cells is not a bad thing, but rather if it is done responsibly it
Reflecting on Regenerative Medicine As A Brand Read More »
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 »
I’m hearing from multiple sources that momentum is building in Japan and even inside RIKEN itself for retraction of the STAP cell papers. This whole situation is a tragedy on so many levels and has become a no-win situation, but is it so bad at this point that retraction could possibly be the least terrible
Momentum for STAP paper retraction building Read More »
What does the future hold for CIRM? I asked former CIRM Board Chair and Prop 71 leader, Robert Klein, about that and more in the interview below. He also says some particularly exciting clinical trial and other developments in the stem cell field are coming soon. What got you excited for the very first time
Interview with Robert Klein on CIRM’s Future Read More »
What are Splashy Papers in science? I spend some hours each week reading and thinking about the recent scientific literature and I’m sure many of you do the same thing, but do we gravitate towards hyped “holy crap” papers? Every so often, a new paper erupts on the scene. It makes a big splash with
The ‘Holy Crap’ Effect: Reflecting on Splashy Papers Read More »
I recently posted on the dangerous situation with the Stamina Foundation. I discussed the controversy surrounding it that has impacted scientists, politicians, the media, and patients. Stamina’s unproven stem cell treatments in Italy should be of concern to everyone across the globe in the stem cell field. For example, here in the US where I
More on Stamina Foundation Controversy: Letter from Michele Simonato Read More »
By Jeanne Loring “Shared Labs Axed” was the headline for David Jensen’s blog about the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, the funding agency founded after voters approved Proposition 71, the “stem cell research and cures” initiative. I was there when the ax fell, in Los Angeles at the meeting of CIRM’s governing board, along with
Guest Post By Jeanne Loring: Efforts to Save CIRM Shared Labs Read More »
Let’s putting on our “thinking caps”….er, extra brains, get our geek on, and have some fun imagining where stem cell technology may lead us in the coming century. Unhappy with the one brain you have? Wouldn’t it be amazing to have a 2nd one too? A new one? Researchers have grown mini brain-like structures from
What would you do with an extra brain? Read More »
Was Einstein wrong on his definition of insanity? “Insanity”, said Einstein, “is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” But in science, how sane is it to expect experiments to give precisely the same results? How big a problem is irreproducibility in science? Experiments on that question have given variable
Was Einstein Wrong About Insanity? Read More »