What sparked the controversy “shirtgate”? A male scientist, Dr. Matt Taylor, who is a leader of the Rosetta comet space mission team wore a shirt covered with cartoon depictions of scantily clad women (you can click on picture of Taylor to see a larger version of the image) during a TV interview. Some people found […]
Weigh in on Shirtgate with Poll Read More »
How does one go about cheating death? Who doesn’t want to cheat death? I know I certainly do. Can stem cells help many people in the immediate future to escape death (pictured here in personified form as Death t from Wikipedia)? Recent headlines on new stem cell-related clinical developments would make you think so and
The cheating death excitation Read More »
Dear UK Parliament and Science and Technology Committee, I am writing to you about your deliberations on “mitochondrial donation” (also known as 3-parent technology) intended for the purpose of preventing heritable mitochondrial disorders. I am concerned about the Department of Health’s recent draft regulations that would allow 3-parent experiments to go forward and the possibility that the UK
Open letter to UK Parliament: avoid historic mistake on rushing 3-parent technology Read More »
CIRM issued a press release (PR) a few days ago unveiling CIRM 2.0, a new form of the agency and funding of novel efforts. The PR focused on action by its Governing Board to fund three Alpha Clinic programs for $8 million each at City of Hope (LA), UCLA, and UCSD. The Alpha Clinics will
CIRM 2.0 Launches Alpha Clinics & Continues Bridges Program Read More »
All the recent high-profile papers that are having troubles are bumming me out, with the latest example being the “Betatrophin” Diabetes paper from Harvard last year. Yesterday it was called into major doubt by a new Cell paper from a group led by Jesper Gromada at Regeneron. The authors of the original 2013 Betatrophin paper–Doug Melton’s team at Harvard– indicated
The Betatrophin Blues after Harvard Diabetes pub Read More »
I had the idea of something called Prostate cancer postcards. In a few days it will be the 5-year anniversary of my diagnosis with a very serious form of prostate cancer. So far since then I’ve been doing pretty well (knock on wood). I am still getting PSA tested and life still has a cancer thread
Prostate cancer postcards Read More »
It’s hard to even imagine the world of investigative medicine without the wonderful resource of Clinicaltrials.gov, the global hub for clinical trial listings. I recently interviewed the Director of Clinicaltrials.gov, Dr. Deborah Zarin here, which is a fascinating read. As great as Clinicaltrials.gov is as a resource, unfortunately it faces a new, rapidly growing problem that is a serious
Clinicaltrials.gov Mission At Risk From Proliferating For-Profit Trials Read More »
A grant deadline is no picnic. Like thousands of scientists around the US, I too am working on a big NIH grant proposal due in a matter of a few days. If you are also in this boat, how are you all feeling right now since it is October 1st? How would you complete this sentence:
Home stretch on October grant deadline NIH grant & I’m…(fill in the blank) Read More »
The California Stem Cell Agency CIRM seems to be in budget cutting mode these days, which from a general perspective makes sense as CIRM seeks to continue operating on its remaining funding through a longer period of time as far out as to 2020. However, not all cuts are necessarily positive. For example, CIRM reportedly (note: many
CIRM 2.0 Should Include Bridges Training Program Read More »
This post is the first in a series about the Clinicaltrials.gov website. This piece is an interview the Director, Dr. Deborah Zarin. I want to thank her for taking the time to answer my questions. Later, I will post Part 2 in which I discuss my concerns about the trend of for-profit stem cell clinic trials
Interview with Clinicaltrials.gov Director Deborah Zarin Read More »