The notion of caloric restriction (CR) as a means to prolong human life is intriguing. The basic idea of CR is that if you eat a lot less than the average person you’ll live longer. You might even live a higher quality, healthier life. But is this true? (update: see my newer post on 5 …
Caloric restriction: dieting monkeys teach human scientists? Read More »
Please support the Roman Reed Spinal Cord Injury Research Act. It’s in Jerry Brown’s hands now. This will take 1 minute of your time and make a world of difference. How to get in touch? You may contact Governor Jerry Brown by mail at: Governor Jerry Brown, c/o State Capitol, Suite 1173, Sacramento, CA 95814 Phone: (916) …
Please tell Guv Jerry Brown to sign the Roman Reed Spinal Cord Injury Research Act Read More »
It’s been a big couple months of headlines in the news for prostate cancer. I’m a prostate cancer survivor and cancer biologist so I spend probably more than my share of time thinking about prostate cancer and from a number of angles. A few days ago I got a test result suggesting I’m still in long-term …
Updated: Do Vulcans Get Prostate Cancer and get surgery for it? Read More »
A stodgy old scientist once said to me that he was skeptical of scientific social media with its “twitting and the blobs” …..uh, you mean blogs? But maybe he wasn’t so off track in what he said, talking about a blog as “The blob”, reflecting his thinking of blogs as akin to monsters. Is blogging …
The Blob versus the blog: arguing how social media is changing science Read More »
It’s been a big couple weeks of headlines in the news for prostate cancer. Let me help you make sense of it all. I’m a prostate cancer survivor and cancer biologist. Prostate cancer is almost an inevitable fate for men in America and for many around the world, but a significant fraction of the cancers …
Making sense of all the big prostate cancer headlines of the last few weeks Read More »
Why don’t professors blog and do social media? Why am I the only professor with a stem cell blog across the globe (if there are other please let me know)? Why do I do this blog? I’ve written before about why I blog and listed the numerous blogs about stem cells out there that I …
Academia’s love-hate relationship with social media Read More »
I am currently researching an article on the “discovery” of stem cells and the earliest stem cell research. Stay tuned for that. As I’ve been educating myself on the early history of stem cells I became familiar with a scientist that I had not previously heard of during my career who played a key role …
Dr. Florence Sabin, Great American Scientist and Trailblazer for Women in Science Read More »
Cancer invokes powerful feelings so it is not surprising that there are a lot of harmful myths and urban legends out there about it. As a cancer researcher and cancer survivor, I can see it from both the biomedical research side and the patient side. Here’s my top 10 list of myths & legends about …
There is a bill being considered here in the U.S. called the “Research Works Act”. This is without a doubt one of the dumbest bills I have ever heard of in my life. The bill is bad for science and bad for America. If passed it would be an epic fail for America. Why? This …
I’ve now been blogging about stem cells here on The Niche for nearly 2 years, but why do I keep doing it? I’m by no means the only one who blogs about stem cells, but it is just that professors still are reluctant in the stem cell field to blog. Two outstanding blogs that tied …