What is St. Baldrick’s? Thousands of kids in America get cancer each year and need our help. One of the best organizations in the world, St. Baldrick’s Foundation, is dedicated to helping these kids. This is a wonderful foundation! St. Baldrick’s describes itself as “a volunteer-driven charity committed to funding the most promising research to find […]
Make a difference for kids through St. Baldrick’s Read More »
Grants take too much time. They waste scientists’ lives. Biomedical science is all about data, discoveries, brainstorming, and ultimately making a difference in patients’ lives, right? Isn’t it true? I wish that were true and maybe at some point in the past it was true. Nowadays there is a different reality. The black hole at
The black hole: grants eat up most of scientists’ lives Read More »
Interestingly, the Komen Foundation appears open to funding human embryonic stem cell (hESC) research. The latest report from Science includes a quote from Komen that denies any changes in funding policy for research and suggests they have not ruled out funding such research: Contrary to circulating online reports, Komen has not “de-funded” any grantee based on human embryonic stem
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This post is focused on the important facts you need to know about stem cells as drugs and stem cell treatments. Many of the folks out there who want to earn a living to scamming vulnerable patients with so-called “stem cell treatments” have been upset that the U.S. FDA continues to view stem cell-based therapies
Stem cell treatments, drugs, and the key facts you need to know Read More »
Tomorrow night voters in Mississippi will vote on the so-called “Personhood Amendment”. If passed, the amendment would make a fertilized egg by definition a human being with the same rights as a living, breathing, thinking, walking person in the state of Mississippi. The consequences are not clear, but possibilities include such things as complete bans on
Why Horton was wrong: a person is not a person no matter how small, even in Mississippi Read More »
What is Myc? Often when we dig a little into the science of stem cells, people get turned off by all the strange names of molecules and jargon. However, whether you are a scientist, patient, investor, reporter, etc. there are some aspects of stem cell science that are ‘musts’ to know about. For example, you
Want to understand stem cells? Then you have to know Myc Read More »
Every now and then I do a post on something fun and non-science related, and today it’s all about Seattle. Since it’s Friday, don’t you wish you were on vacation in Seattle? If you can ever imagine visiting Seattle in the near future, bookmark this page because I give suggestions for great things (some that
Six fun, amazing, sometimes secret things to do in Seattle Read More »
Periodically we do updates on the iPS cell field and now seems like a good time. Where do things stand? Here’s my top 5 list of action items for the iPS cell field in the coming year. 5.) Methods on the brain. A significant fraction, some would argue too high a fraction, of iPS cell papers
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Are street smarts important in science? Some of the smartest people I have ever met in my life were scientists. But some of these same people made the dumbest mistakes I have ever seen in my life. Why? Their raw brainpower and knowledge of science is amazing, but they seemed to lack common sense and
Science street smarts: how to succeed in science in the real world Read More »
Another sports stars has been publicly “outed” as having received a non-FDA approved stem cell therapy in a foreign country. First, the big news earlier this year in June was that NY Yankees Pitcher Bartolo Colon had received a stem cell treatment. Then we all heard that Texas Governor and, at the moment, leading GOP
Sports stars, Rick Perry, stem cells: how many more people will die? Read More »