Scientist He Jiankui(贺建奎) has been sentenced to 3 years in prison by Chinese authorities. Two collaborators also will go to jail. A piece in Science by Dennis Normile on the sentencing of He Jiankui ID’d the other two: “His collaborators were identified as Zhang Renli, of a medical institution in Guangdong province, and Qin Jinzhou, from a Shenzhen […]
Perspectives on CRISPR baby guy He Jiankui (贺建奎) going to jail Read More »
Today’s post is a review of Unnatural Selection, the new Netflix science docuseries focused on CRISPR and other disruptive genetic and reproductive technologies. The show is an interesting mix of personalities and stories from patients, scientists, biohackers, and more. One patient thread is the story of a wonderful little boy named Jackson Kennedy. He wants
Unnatural Selection review: captivating mind-bender but needed more science Read More »
When it comes to coverage of stem cell research in the media, science news can both be cool, but also surprising. Some of the more interesting publications don’t always draw news coverage too. This post is a list of recent notable pubs and news. First some pubs. How good are human brain organoids at modeling
Recommended reads: stem cell pubs plus science news Read More »
US Stem Cell, Inc. reports in a new SEC filing that its key leader Kristin Comella has resigned as of September 1. I never thought I’d see the day when Kristin Comella and US Stem Cell, Inc. parted ways. To me Comella seemed like the driving force behind the company, which is now subject to
Kristin Comella resigns from embattled clinic firm US Stem Cell Read More »
Up until now Utah hasn’t immediately come to mind as a hub for stem cell issues, but things are heating up there in 2019. Utah? I was going to do a blog post here on The Niche last month about perinatal (birth-related) biologics and stem cell-related supply companies in Utah. Some of their customers appear
‘Bottom of stem cell barrel’? Utah piece sparks legal threat Read More »
There once was a place called The Morrow Institute here in California run by a physician named David Morrow. This clinic did various kinds of cosmetic procedures and also unproven, non-FDA approved fat stem cell-related stuff too for some years. Last month during some research on clinics I found several media links (e.g. here) from
A Russian Scientist named Denis Rebrikov told Nature and then other media including NPR last week that he plans to make CRISPR babies. In other words, babies with heritable genetic modifications. I don’t doubt that Rebrikov (pictured in ResearchGate image) might want to do this nor that he might try it, but rather I’m writing
Calling Out Denis Rebrikov CRISPR Babies Plan Read More »
Who is Michael Deem and what was his role in his former student He Jiankui’s purported production of twin CRISPR’d babies? Is Deem now trying to edit himself out of the project? He Jiankui relied on help from many people and Deem was reportedly a part of that team. Members of He’s own research team helped
Could He Jiankui have faked part or all of his CRISPR babies story? If so, how? Why? Or to put it another way, almost everyone seems to be assuming the story is real, but should we be more skeptical? Should we flip things around and assume the story isn’t entirely kosher until proven otherwise? I once
History tells us to be more skeptical of He Jiankui’s CRISPR baby story Read More »
Did Chinese researcher He Jiankui really CRISPR gene edit the CCR5 gene in two embryos producing twin baby girls? In my opinion the answer is “no”, but probably not for the reason you might think at first. He proclaims gene edits He claimed he had made twin baby girls with “gene edits”, which I feel is unethical
He Jiankui didn’t really gene edit those girls; he mutated them Read More »