Last year one of the biggest events in the stem cell field was biotech Geron punting its embryonic stem cell (ESC) program. Much consternation followed. Some folks opposed to ESCs happily pronounced ESC research dead. Some folks in favor of ESC thought the world was ending a year early. Others tried to look on the …
The stem cell gestalt of Geron Goodbye and the future of ACT Read More »
Yesterday I was kind of harsh on the microbiome researchers whose work has been so widely discussed in the NY Times and elsewhere. I went so far as to call it “fatally flawed” because the researchers picked their research subjects for “normalcy” and went so far as to manipulate the subjects by requiring that 80% …
The pursuit of “normalcy” has seriously led some scientists astray and there is no better example than the recent microbiome studies that have drawn great attention in the media. I found one aspect of their study design profoundly disturbing. First to my core question. Is there even such as thing as a normal person? As …
I have an ongoing poll on people’s impressions of the big annual stem cell meeting, ISSCR 2012. I myself have been wishing I was in Japan for that meeting so I remain surprised at the trending of the poll toward the negative. By far the most common response has been a surprisingly ho-hum “so-so” evaluation …
Wish list from 2012 attendees for ISSCR 2013: some crankiness Read More »
Want to win $50 and become a published author? Enter the Knoepfler Lab Stem Cell Blog Essay Contest. Due in 11 days! The challenge? Write a no more than 500 word,convincing, non-fiction essay on stem cells thinking entirely outside the box. Otherwise, the angle you take is totally up to you. Surprise me. Make me …
Still 11 days left to enter stem cell essay contest, get published, & win $50 Read More »
How often do our preconceived notions make us miss new discoveries as scientists? I fear this happens very often. What got me thinking about closed and open minds was of course inspired by my dog, Elvis. I was walking her very early one morning last week as I often do out here in Davis, CA …
Mystery sculpture: how the brain eats up new things Read More »
This wild week started with an alarm clock ringing at 4:45AM Monday morning and me schlepping myself to Sacramento Airport to fly down to my former hometown of La Jolla, CA to meet Guv Perry of Texas. The small group had a great talk. I’m not naive enough to imagine us all singing Kumbaya together around …
Scientists meeting with politicians like Rick Perry of Texas Read More »
It’s been another wacky week in the stem cell world ranging from the Zombie to the Magical. Well, at least it’s Friday, right? In the stem cell world a Friday is not that different than any other day as stem cells often require 7-days a week care, but still Fridays are nice. OK, the …
TGIF: The good, bad and zombie stem cell headlines for week of June 15 Read More »
The FDA has been busy with stem cell-related activities this spring. Busier than publicly apparent. Very busy, indeed! Earlier, I reported that they issued a warning letter to cosmetician to the stars, Dr. LookGood, as well as one to another doc selling stem cell therapies. Now it seems apparent that even more is going on …
FDA visits both ICMS and reportedly Celltex: the scoop! Read More »
It’s been a big couple weeks of headlines in the news for prostate cancer. Let me help you make sense of it all. I’m a prostate cancer survivor and cancer biologist. Prostate cancer is almost an inevitable fate for men in America and for many around the world, but a significant fraction of the cancers …
Making sense of all the big prostate cancer headlines of the last few weeks Read More »