Lately I have been critical of an ultra-conservative political think tank-like foundation called the Witherspoon Institute. They have recently joined the federal lawsuit as friends of the plaintiffs suing to stop federal funding of embryonic stem cell research. The Witherspoon Council has just published a 100+ page report on stem cells in the very conservative, somewhat obscure […]
A critique of the Witherspoon stem cell report Read More »
Texas is holding up a Texas-sized magnet for stem cell super star researchers and it is working. The upper mid-West is reeling from the departure of two stem cell superstars in less than one year and both went South to Texas. First in May 2011, we had the departure of Sean Morrison from U. of
Today after years of following the company Advanced Cell Technology (ACT), I finally bought stock (ACTC) in it. Why? As a stem cell researcher myself working on human ES cells, iPS cells, and many other types of stem cells, I have been following ACT for years, but have never pulled the trigger to buy their stock….until
Why I finally bought stock in Advanced Cell Technology Read More »
This post is focused on the important facts you need to know about stem cells as drugs. 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 and indeed cell therapies
Stem cell treatments, drugs, and the key facts you need to know Read More »
Happy Friday! I don’t know about you, but it’s been a long week for me and it will continue over the weekend with grants and papers, etc. That’s just par for the course in science. Some of you have seen that I had an article published this week in HuffingtonPost. You can read it here.
TGIF: hope, humor, stem cells, and Huff Post Read More »
Last night 60 Minutes broadcasted ( you can watch the episode here) a long awaited 2nd segment in their continuing investigation of stem cell fraud. The first segment investigating phony doctors Stowe and Morales led to their ultimate pursuit by the FBI and indictment, aired in a couple years ago. The new episode on stem
Portrait of an alleged stem cell fraud: my thoughts on 60 Minutes episode Read More »
Merry Christmas! You heard me, Merry Christmas! I’m a Democrat and I love Christmas! As we think about the holiday season, it seems appropriate to make our list, just as Santa is doing, of the elves and grinches of the stem cell world. For today on Christmas, let’s forget the grinches and not even give them
Your definitive Christmas list of stem cell elves Read More »
Exactly two years ago today, I was lying in a hospital bed literally across the street from lab here at UC Davis. It seems unreal in a way, but painfully real it was and still is. On November 30, 2009, I had surgery for prostate cancer. Two years ago, things seemed pretty bleak. Now on
My 2 years with cancer and what I learned from Steve Jobs Read More »
In mid-November the Catholic Church, in fact the Vatican itself, will do something it has never done before in its very long existence. It will hold a conference on stem cells. Perhaps equally unusual and of interest is the fact that the basis for this conference is a $1 million (USD) gamble by the Vatican
More on the Vatican $1 million gamble on NeoStem and their upcoming conference in Rome Read More »
There has been concern for months about the direction that the European Union was heading in regards to intellectual property (IP) rights and stem cell patent approaches. Now, a definitive decision banning embryonic stem cell (ESC)-based patents by the EU Court has dealt a severe blow to stem cell science in Europe. The European Court
Anti-cure impact of Errant EU stem cell patent decision Read More »