Human cloning is not so far-fetched any more. Cloning of the Star Wars variety where new copies of people (although they would be babies, not adults of course at first) are produced is something I believe that we’ll see in the next 1-2 decades. Why would anyone bother to clone? Fame. Money. Vanity. There are […]
Concerns on the idea of human cloning for infertility Read More »
Cellular Dynamics, the stem cell company founded by Dr. James Thomson, is filing for an IPO. Hat tip to David Jensen. The company, which will go under the stock symbol ICEL, is focused on iPS cell-produced products. They describe their portfolio as follows: Cellular Dynamics is developing and deploying a number of cell types derived from
Cellular Dynamics IPO: big money, iPS cell IP rights, trade secrets Read More »
Baldness can teach us something about blogging? You might be surprised! My mission with this blog is to responsibly use its influence for good for educational outreach to help people learn about stem cells. Can this blog make a difference? Does it have any influence? It seems so. Blogging is a lot more powerful than
Baldness points to big positive power of blogs Read More »
Occasionally I call out a particularly important comment by a reader on a major issue and today it is commenter Natalie DeWitt (see my earlier interview with her about her experiences at Nature’s The Niche) who has contributed a particularly insightful, knowledgable comment on my recent perspective piece the Cell cloning paper mishap. Many in the
Natalie DeWitt Must-Read Comment on Cell Cloning Paper Mishap Read More »
Today’s post is an interview I did with Dr. Van Bokkelen covering 10 questions. Dr. Gil Van Bokkelen is Chairman and CEO of Athersys, Inc., a company that has focused heavily on stem cells and regenerative medicine for more than a decade. For more on Dr. Van Bokkelen’s background see additional bio section at the end of
Interview with Gil Van Bokkelen of Athersys Read More »
One of the great areas of confusion over the human cloning development this week is whether human cloning is legal or illegal. With few exceptions, human cloning in general is legal in the US. Update: in 2020 it still appears that reproductive human cloning is legal in the US. It just hasn’t gotten that much
Deja you: human cloning generally legal in the US Read More »
Advanced Cell Technology (ACT) has confirmed that one of the patient in a clinical trial that it is running for treatment of macular degeneration, the leading cause of blindness worldwide, has shown a striking improvement in vision. The patient reportedly had 20/400 vision prior to treatment and now has 20/40 vision after treatment. ACT uses an
Striking improvement in vision in one ACT trial participant Read More »
One of the more exciting stem cell biotechs out there today is Advanced Cell Technology (ACT). At this time ACT has the only two ES cell-based FDA-approved clinical trials ongoing and so far they have looked quite promising in terms of preliminary safety data. However, ACT has much more in the pipeline including potentially iPS
Interview with Gary Rabin of Advanced Cell Technology (ACT) Read More »
To blog or not to blog? Sometimes that is the question and a tough one. Keep going or shut it down? Let’s say that you are a blogger and scientist. I am one of those people wearing both of those hats. A sexy paper comes out in your field. It’s all over the Internet and
To blog or not to blog about sexy, but crappy paper from Dr. Famous? Read More »
UPDATE: Unfortunately the Betatrophin paper discussed here originally back in 2013 has now largely been proven to have come to incorrect conclusions (for more read this). Today Harvard Stem Cell Institute (HSCI) reported the discovery, in a paper in Cell by Harvard Professor Doug Melton, of a powerful new hormone called Betatrophin that can stimulate
Doug Melton Betatrophin Discovery Points to Future Diabetes Treatment? Read More »