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 »
What is a standing workstation? You know how when people give you bad news they ask “Are you sitting down?” Since I’m going to give you some good news in this post, I ask you now as you are reading this, are you standing up? We are constantly bombarded with news stories about what is
What is ISSCR doing about unproven stem cell clinics? One of the greatest and most infuriating ironies of the stem cell-based regenerative medicine universe is that while the FDA strictly regulates the progress of therapy development by Advanced Cell Technology (ACT) and Geron and other legitimate companies, at the same time mysteriously the FDA essentially
ISSCR KO’d in round one versus unproven clinics: where’s the FDA? Read More »
We have posted before about how anti-stem cell folks seem to be uniquely talented and/or motivated to get their gospel out there, particularly when it comes to the Internet. According to Google search results, some of the top hits for “stem cell blog” are sites that are extremely anti-stem cell research and have little in
Grading stem cell blogs: what is the best in the world? Read More »
What will we define as a success for any given stem cell biotech like ViaCyte? In academia, even if we do pre-clinical, translational kind of biomedical sciences, we still do not often think about what it takes to succeed in industry. Even if we very much want our research to make a difference for patients,
Two companies, Advanced Cell Technology (ACT) and Geron, both HQ’d here in California, have FDA-approved early stage clinical trials in the works. Geron’s trial has already started and reportedly now has enrolled at least two patients. The trial is of course for the safety of Geron’s GRNOPC1 oligodendrocyte product made from human ES cells for
Advanced Cell Technology and Geron: allies or competitors? Read More »
The McEwen Centre for Regenerative Medicine has launched a new effort they call “Stem Cell City”. As part of the launch they have enlisted the help of Lisa Ray, a Canadian Actress/Model, who was treated for Multiple Myeloma in 2009 using a stem cell transplant. Lisa Ray has a video that is quite compelling (see
Lisa Ray, Stem Cell City, and stem cell resources across the globe Read More »
The ultra right-wing Family Research Council (FRC), a non-scientific organization, today issued a press release slamming the National Science Foundation (NSF), one of the premier scientific organizations in the world over their supposed ignorance about stem cells. What sparked the FRC’s ire was a press release from NSF that discussed a paper in Cell that
Family Research Council angrily calls NSF ignorant about stem cells: reality check! Read More »
How can I make money from stem cells? Someone recently asked me this question and more often I get asked “Which stem cell companies do YOU like as a stem cell scientist?” Just today an article went out that said that the global market for stem cell products will be $65 billion by 2015. That’s
How to make money from stem cells Read More »