What’s it like living with cancer? 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, […]
My 2 years living with cancer, what I learned from Steve Jobs Read More »
In mid-November the Catholic Church, in fact the Vatican itself, will do something it has never done before in its very long existence. It will hold a conference on stem cells. Perhaps equally unusual and of interest is the fact that the basis for this conference is a $1 million (USD) gamble by the Vatican
More on the Vatican $1 million gamble on NeoStem and their upcoming conference in Rome Read More »
There has been concern for months about the direction that the European Union was heading in regards to intellectual property (IP) rights and stem cell patent approaches. Now, a definitive decision banning embryonic stem cell (ESC)-based patents by the EU Court has dealt a severe blow to stem cell science in Europe. The European Court
Anti-cure impact of Errant EU stem cell patent decision Read More »
I’ve posted before about the propaganda machine that is actively promoting an anti-embryonic stem cell agenda. This machine is still out there and as many of us discussed at the recent World Stem Cell Summit, it seems to be working far better than our efforts to promote our cause. What do the folks on the
Strategies of Anti-Stem Cell Propaganda War Machine Read More »
Are street smarts important in science? Some of the smartest people I have ever met in my life were scientists. But some of these same people made the dumbest mistakes I have ever seen in my life. Why? Their raw brainpower and knowledge of science is amazing, but they seemed to lack common sense and
Science street smarts: how to succeed in science in the real world Read More »
With the bewildering amount of news about stem cells, how do we tell the difference between hype and hope? Although the words “hype” and “hope” only differ by one letter, sometimes it is hard to tell them apart in real life, but of course they are very different things. So how do we know when
Stem cell hype: distinguishing it from hope Read More »
What is the valley of death of science and biotech? For those of us conducting stem cell research, especially human stem cell research, I don’t have to tell you how expensive it is. Even just doing pre-clinical or basic science research costs a fortune. When you start talking about the kind of pre-clinical research specifically
The valley of death: stem cells, biotechs, and money Read More »
What are the top stem cell blogs and websites? Who decides? Americans and people all over the world are inexorably changing how they get their information. While newspapers and the nightly news used to spoon-feed us the “top stories” in the news, their heyday is over and now most people get their news and information
What are the top stem cell blogs and websites in the world Read More »
CIRM announced two sets of awards today that both should make major impact including its first clinical trial via Geron and $38 million for 27 basic biology studies. First Clinical Trial. Today CIRM awarded $25 million to support Geron’s FDA-approved clinical trial for spinal cord injury. This is CIRM’s first award to a for-profit company
CIRM funds $25 million for Geron trial, $38 million for basic biology Read More »
A Federal Appeals Court ruled 2-1 today to overturn Judge Lamberth’s injunction against federal funding of ES cell research. Great news! You can read the decision here (warning: big pdf). A key part of the ruling was the following: “the plaintiffs are unlikely to prevail because Dickey-Wicker is ambiguous and the NIH seems reasonably to
Victory for science and patients: what the appeals court ES cell ruling means (UPDATE) Read More »