Earlier this year we found out that Texas Governor and GOP Presidential hopeful, Rick Perry, had received a stem cell transplant. You can read more about this here. The details of Perry’s transplant remain somewhat obscure, but as best as we can tell he received the transplant here in the U.S., most likely in Houston, …
Did Stem Cells Ruin Rick Perry’s Chances to Be President? Read More »
Last year around this time I presented my first stem cell awards of the year, in that case for 2010. You can see whom I thought deserved awards here. Now it is time for our 2011 stem cell awards. These awards reflect my opinions and those not mentioned will hopefully forgive me as there is …
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 »
I usually stick to science on this blog, but Friday’s events on my campus compel me to take a moment to discuss what happened. I am proud of our school and to be a member of the UC Davis faculty. I’m proud of our students too. I am shocked and disappointed at the events that …
Unprovoked UC Davis Police Attack Peaceful Student Protestors: some perspectives Read More »
Reportedly, Geron has decided to only focus on cancer research and for financial reasons has shut down its hESC trial for spinal cord injury. This is a very sad day for stem cell science. (Update in 2020: the firm still exists, but is working in different areas. The stock has struggled.) No more spinal cord …
Bad news as Geron to quit hESC SCI trial for financial reasons Read More »
Today the Vatican held the first day of its adult stem cell conference. Embryonic stem cells remained not surprisingly uninvited. This conference is an unprecedented event in the thousands of years of history of The Church so not surprisingly many people are very interested in the event and trying to understand what it means. Interestingly, …
What are the goals of the Vatican stem cell meeting and why no press releases so far? Read More »
Tomorrow night voters in Mississippi will vote on the so-called “Personhood Amendment”. If passed, the amendment would make a fertilized egg by definition a human being with the same rights as a living, breathing, thinking, walking person in the state of Mississippi. The consequences are not clear, but possibilities include such things as complete bans on …
Why Horton was wrong: a person is not a person no matter how small, even in Mississippi Read More »
As many of you know, I did a post this week on an article in The New Scientist that many readers had complained to me about. Their concerns and mine as well centered on two points. First, the article seemed at a factual level to be confusing and written in a People Magazine-esque style that …
Why does it worry me that the Vatican is having a stem cell conference? One of the hallmarks of Democracy is separation of church and state. When states mix religion into politics and government, the results have during human history been disastrous. Equally dismal has been the relationship between religion and science. Ever since the …
The Vatican Stem Cell Meeting…is mixing religion and science a good idea? Read More »
What the heck happened to The New Scientist? An anti-embryonic stem cell piece they just recently published was an exercise in weird, moral obfuscation. Quite a few scientists and policy makers are fairly regular readers of The New Scientist. They might start reconsidering how they want to spend that $99/year. Why not use it to …
The New Scientist goes after ES cells with strange opinion piece Read More »