Recently I polled my readers on how they make iPS cells and what the best method is in their opinion. The surprising results to date are above. The first thing that is striking is how dominant the Yamanaka method remains after 5 years. Despite scads of papers reporting new methods that are supposedly better in […]
Striking results from iPS cell poll Read More »
The Susan G. Komen Foundation is an awesome organization. It has raised nearly $2 billion dollars in less than 2 decades for breast cancer research. It also has a variety of educational programs. This is an organization that has likely saved hundreds of women’s lives and I think will save thousands of lives through its
Trying to understand the Catholic ban on the Komen Charity Read More »
U.S. Federal Judge Royce Lamberth dismissed the lawsuit of two self-proclaimed “adult stem cell” researchers against the government to block federal funding of embryonic stem cell research. (update: you may find a 2020 take on this whole saga to be of interest). Lamberth was the one who originally seemed to buy into the arguments of
Interpreting Judge’s Embryonic Stem Cell Ruling Read More »
A year ago I did a post on scientific peer review and the dreaded Dr. No, but have things gotten any better? No. From everyone I have talked to, the answer would seem to be quite the contrary–things continue to move in the wrong direction. If you are not a scientist, but care about stem cell
I Still Hate Your Paper: Dr. No and the Editors that are ruining Peer Review Read More »
After my post 2 months ago about the pressure I have received to stop doing this stem cell blog, I have been flooded with positive feedback (including by some of the top bigwigs in the stem cell field who chose to remain anonymous) and I have been inundated with questions. They had many different comments,
Who wants to shut down this stem cell blog and why? Read More »
Stem Cell Tourism is a blanket term now used to refer to patients receiving non-FDA approved stem cell treatments either by traveling here within the U.S. or more often outside the U.S. Clinics are sprouting up all over the world offering treatments based on stem cells. The science behind these is often non-existent. Most stem
Stem cell tourism disaster coming: my case for caution Read More »
What’s up with Advanced Cell Technology (ACT) and Geron? ACT announced today that it has treated two patients in its clinical trials: one for Stargardt’s Macular Dystrophy (see official trial page for a lot more info) and one for Dry Age-Related Macular Degeneration (see official trial page here for a lot more info). The patients underwent
The latest scoop on ACT and Geron Read More »
At last year’s ISSCR 2010 Meeting in San Francisco, President Irv Weissman talked about the dangers of unvalidated stem cell treatments. He talked about the responsibility of stem cell scientists to stand against these and the importance for scientists not to endorse or serve on advisory committees of companies peddling such products and “therapies”. As
Stem cell tourism: from bad to worse from 2010-2011 Read More »
As some of you know, I had prostate cancer in 2009 and by the looks of the pathology report, it seemed like a bad one. Part of my own unique experience of being a cancer patient is that I also happen to be a cancer biologist. You might think this would be helpful, but really
What cancer has taught me 584 days into my battle Read More »
In the last week, a number of newspapers in California have run articles or editorials about CIRM, some negative. I think in part this attention was stimulated by the Election of a new Chair at CIRM. The new Chair for CIRM is Dr. Jonathan Thomas, who I am confident will do an outstanding job. On
Why I am super optimistic about the future of CIRM Read More »