When you want to both know the real history of the pluripotent stem cell-based biotech industry and perspectives on its future, there are only a handful of people to turn to and one of them is definitely Dr. Michael West, CEO of BioTime. I’m doing a several part series of blog posts on a lengthy […]
BioTime CEO Mike West Interview Part 2: Geron & hESC Read More »
Should a company be able to have a gene patent and more generally and practically speaking can genes be patented? Patent and IP issues always raise a myriad of questions so what about a patent case on a company called Myriad? Complicated, right? If genes in their natural form cannot be patented, does that mean
Myriad SCOTUS Decision: Can you have a gene patent? Read More »
I’m here in San Francisco at the annual CIRM Grantee Meeting. As President Alan Trounson said, this is the best stem cell meeting in the world. We had two speakers tonight to kick off the meeting. Let me tell you my thoughts on each one. First, we had Rainer Storb from The Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center
CIRM Grantee Meeting on Wednesday March 6: fantastic talks by Drs. Storb & High Read More »
Over the last few weeks, I have enjoyed talking with and interviewing Dr. Allan Wu, of The Morrow Institute on stem cell cosmetic procedures. I was impressed greatly by his talk at the World Stem Cell Summit last year. Dr. Wu is a fellowship trained Surgical Molecular Biologist with a background in Molecular Embryology and a board
Interview with Regenerative Surgeon, Dr. Allan Wu Read More »
Obtaining research grant funding is a critical part of science, but the process seems to be getting more challenging each year. Funding rates are decreasing. Applicant frustration is increasing and many grant applicants tell me they feel confused about the differences between funded and unfunded proposals. The largest funder of biomedical research in the U.S.
Interview with NIGMS Director, Jeremy Berg, part 1: grant advice, meritocracy Read More »
The notion of caloric restriction (CR) as a means to prolong human life is intriguing. The basic idea of CR is that if you eat a lot less than the average person you’ll live longer. You might even live a higher quality, healthier life. But is this true? (update: see my newer post on 5
Caloric restriction: dieting monkeys teach human scientists? Read More »
We live in an ever increasing plasticized world. There are many good things about plastic, but then there are also some very bad things such as the giant whirpools of plastic fragments out in the oceans that are larger than Texas and also some of the chemicals in plastics are dangerous. One particular chemical villain
FDA finally bans poison and carcinogen BPA from baby products Read More »
The leading cause of death in America and many other countries of the world is cardiovascular disease (CVD) including heart attacks and strokes. In fact, CVD kills and disables more people than most often top killers combined including cancer. The myth that CVD is a “man’s disease” only makes the situation worse as in reality CVD
Transdifferentiation meets gene therapy to tackle heart disease Read More »
Humans have big brains, right? In fact, they are downright supersized. But is that always such a good thing? As it turns out, no. Size matters, but bigger is not always better for brains at least. When I was in high school, my biology teacher had us do the requisite frog dissection and offered extra
When it comes to brains, bigger is not always better Read More »
What does the FDA define as “minimally manipulated” when it comes to biologics such as stem cells? You will be shocked to find out, but they include irradiation and treatment with the super toxin/carcinogen, ethylene oxide. In a recent post I discussed the issue of an apparent “minimal manipulation” exception (some might even call it a