My lab just published a somewhat provocative paper (still in unproofed form at this point) arguing that iPS cells are very similar in some ways to cancer cells. How did we get to that conclusion (discussed in this post today, part 1 of the story) and what’s the back story on this paper (discussed in a later […]
iPS cells are similar to cancer cells: part 1 of discussion of new paper Read More »
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a relatively common, often debilitating illness, which has a major impact on the people of the world. In the U.S. alone, COPD costs the country almost $50 billion a year not to mention untold suffering. Most of us know someone who has COPD. COPD is an umbrella term that
Stem cells for COPD including emphysema: are we there yet? Read More »
Chromatin/Genomics/Transcription Tools ChIP grade antibodies MOTIF enrichment tools for DNA analysis GREAT (Stanford) CEAS HOMER MEME ENCODE Promoter Array On-line Analysis Online Tiling Array Analysis ChIP-Seq data on-line Analysis Plant Tools Transfac UC Davis Genome Center Methylation tools Yeast tools Fly ChIP-chip database General Science Tools Blast Search Genomic Blast Search ENSEMBL Blat Search
Handy BioMed Science Tools Read More »
Yesterday I just did a post on Jaenisch’s very dense, interesting Cell paper on iPS cells, but understandably it still is confusing to many people. I think I’ve come up with a helpful analogy. Imagine you are on a plane (this is your fibroblast cell) and the pilot dies. You have to fly the jumbo jet
Jaenisch new Cell paper on iPS cells 2.0: a helpful, brief analogy Read More »
Next month will be the 1st Houston Stem Cell Summit organized by Robin Young, who also organizes the New York Stem Cell Summit. I’ve been a bit tough on this meeting for a perceived lack of diversity in their program of speakers. I interviewed Robin Young (RY) about the meeting and found his answers quite interesting
Intriguing interview with Robin Young, Organizer of Houston Stem Cell Summit Read More »
I think the number of main stream media articles on stem cells that are dumb is increasing…some weeks it’s hard to choose which is the dumbest in fact. This week it is not so hard to pick. The Daily Mail has an epic fail piece on a British company’s dubious stem cell treatment for wrinkles
Dumb stem cell article of the week goes to the Daily Mail on stem cell cosmetics Read More »
Over the years on a fairly regular basis I’ve been contacted by patients seeking information about stem cell treatments and stem cell clinics. Note that patients may want to check out my stem cell patient guide, which has key questions and advocates for a critical, skeptical view of these offerings. But in 2012 the number
Dubious stem cell clinics increasing and at epidemic levels Read More »
The Texas stem cell clinic, Celltex, is lately becoming a model of transparency in the biotech industry. They are willing to answer many (if not all) questions I’ve been asking them. Celltex is involved in stem cell isolation and multiplication, and banking (see post here on the pros and cons of stem cell banking) as
Interesting new insights into Celltex’s business model Read More »
I’m enjoying Celltex’s new website and I’m appreciative of their great responsiveness to my questions. Transparency is a beautiful thing! My latest question to them was whether they, given that the FDA called them a “drug manufacturer”, are now planning to or have already filed an IND. An IND is an application for an investigational
More Celltex Q&A: we are not a drug manufacturer Read More »
How does Texas stem cell clinic Celltex make their stem cell drug? This is a very key question as the answers will help the stem cell field evaluate this drug’s potential safety and efficacy. I’m calling it a “drug” because the FDA called Celltex a “drug manufacturer” and by all past FDA precedent as well
My ongoing Q&A with Celltex on their stem cell drug production methods Read More »