I’ve now been blogging about stem cells here on The Niche for nearly 2 years, but why do I keep doing it? I’m by no means the only one who blogs about stem cells, but it is just that professors still are reluctant in the stem cell field to blog. Two outstanding blogs that tied […]
Why I am still blogging here on The Niche Read More »
It wasn’t so long ago that I did a post explaining why after following the company for years, I finally bought a small amount of stock in the stem cell biotech, Advanced Cell Technology (ACT; symbol ACTC). In part it was motivated by my enthusiasm to see them publishing a paper, a very preliminary paper,
Why Lanza and I sold ACT stock Read More »
If someone is not in a war, but someone else declares war on them or actually attacks them, I would say the reality is that war has started and there are two opposing sides. However, has that happened when it comes to stem cells? Are we in a stem cell war? There have been times
The war propaganda myth of adult versus embryonic stem cells hurts everyone Read More »
If you care about contraception, you need to understand stem cells. And if you care about stem cells you should know more about birth control. Why? There is a big media to-do about federal guidelines related to health care organizations providing birth control. President Obama has gotten into the fray and in fact just today
What do stem cells have to do with contraception? Read More »
The use of stem cells for cosmetics and cosmetic procedures is exploding even while many important questions remain. How legitimate are these stem cell cosmetic products and procedures? Are they safe and effective? What kinds of medical conditions are they being used to treat? I also recently did a post on another area of medicine
From boobs to baldness: stem cells go cosmetic Read More »
Birds can amazing creatures. Around noon today I was down in the Mt. Diablo, CA area for one of my daughter’s soccer games. The soccer field was in the hills and effortlessly soaring above the field for much of the game was the bird whose picture is above. The wingspan looked to be about 6
How can a vulture or other birds be so majestic? Read More »
In June 2011 I did a post about genomics and its growing importance both for science and society. The stem cell field has a very rapidly accelerating genomic component as well. I went so far as to call it a revolution and I still believe that is not an exaggeration. CIRM has rightly recognized the
There was another federal indictment just handed down that alleges that one Francisco Morales (aka Dr. Frank Morales) broke the law with stem cells. Allegedly he took umbilical cords (telling patients that they would be used for medical research), facilitated isolation of stem cells, and shipped them out of state to be used in dubious
Indicted alleged stem cell predator Morales & Margolis: any links? Read More »
A year from now will I still be conducted federally funded research on human ES cells? What about the hundreds of other professors in the U.S. and their thousands of employees? It is not unreasonable at this point to forecast a perfect storm in Fall 2012 that may kill elements of stem cell research that
The perfect storm in Fall 2012 that may kill stem cell research Read More »
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 »