The iPS cell field has run fast and furious over the past 6 years reaching a big milestone surprisingly quickly on Monday with Shinya Yamanaka winning the Nobel Prize. But is the field going too fast? In August I argued that iPS cells are not quite ready for primetime (i.e. clinical trial studies). Now in …
Are iPS cells being rushed to the clinic or has their time come? Read More »
I have a poll running regarding who would have been the best choice to share the Nobel Prize with Shinya Yamanaka and John Gurdon, and so far the winner is Ian Wilmut, who cloned the first mammal, Dolly the sheep. I should have included another option to indicate the possible preference that NO ONE should …
Wilmut voted most-deserving of 3rd Nobel slot with Yamanka & Gurdon in poll Read More »
The stem cell community is buzzing today with excitement about the Nobel Prizes deservedly awarded to Shinya Yamanaka and John Gurdon for their pioneering work on cellular reprogramming. However, it is also just as worked up about the strange omission in this award of what could have been a third scientist awarded the prize for …
Poll: who should have shared in stem cell Nobel Prize in third slot? Read More »
Are we ready to start using iPS cells in patients in the near future? Say in just a couple years? Are they ready for primetime? I think the answer is clearly “no”. I believe that iPS cells, a new type of stem cells, are one of the most exciting and important developments in biomedical sciences …
I was critical earlier this week in a post of what I perceived to be the over-the-top reaction to the whole Higgs Boson situation and press fest. I went so far as to call it “hysteria” or one could say “Higgstery“. In turn, I was criticized for that blog post for being too critical and spoiling people’s …
What if I told you I believe that iPS cells really began in Seattle in the 1980s? Call me crazy? Read on. We hear a lot about how iPS cells were first created in 2006 in Japan by Shinya Yamanaka. I often say this myself. However, as is the case with so much in science, …
How iPS cells germinated in part in Seattle in the 1980s Read More »
Do we still need iPS cells if transdifferentiation is so cool? Wait, how did we get to the point that people are asking me that extreme question? When iPS cells were first introduced to the world by Shinya Yamanaka, who I think will win the Nobel Prize sometime in the next few years, some folks went …
Transdifferentiation does not make iPS cells obsolete Read More »
Spring End Nov. 2011 Here is an updated–Who’s who in the iPS cell field? …
I have posted before about publishing trends in the iPS cell field here and in here…. but where do things stand today? Here, I provide an important update. What’s going on now? Here I provide answers to the key questions. How many papers are there on iPS cells? An interesting and unexpected trend for this …
Everything you need to know about publishing in the iPS cell field Read More »
What’s going on at ISSCR? A lot of cool stuff based on today’s Tweets from people attending. Tweeters are in ( ). Andras Nagy is the iPS cell Renaissance man! This morning at #ISSCR2011, talks by Shinya Yamanaka and Andras Nagy both featured Glis1, an egg-specific TF that promotes reprogramming. (the_Node) #ISSCR2011 Jaenisch:changing the order of …