Sometimes a situation is so bad or stressful that it just calls out for some comic relief and the STAP cell mess seems to be one of those. Below are various silly attempts at STAP humor to hopefully release some of that stress. (By the way you might enjoy this 2020 piece on whatever happened to […]
TGIF! Some attempts at humor to release STAP cell stress Read More »
Parabiosis and aging When it comes to anti-aging science, creepy meets cool with “young blood” in new blood mixing studies just published. The researchers report that blood from young animals literally makes older animals younger. That striking claim is made by both of two independent teams. They published high-profile papers that just came
Parabiosis and young blood anti-aging in mice Read More »
Whether STAP cells are real or baloney, much went wrong with the actual STAP cell Nature papers and the research reported in them by Obokata and her co-authors. Who is responsible for these two deeply flawed papers? I’m not sure we have enough information at this time to know definitively how responsibility/blame should be apportioned,
Did Obokata get a fair shake on STAP cell mess? Read More »
About six weeks ago I had my head shaved to raise funds for childhood cancer research via the awesome St. Baldrick’s Foundation. It was an exciting week because by chance, I also was invited to be the guest on a Sacramento PBS TV discussion show called Studio Sacramento hosted by Scott Syphax just two days
Dishing on all things stem cell on TV Read More »
The ultimate fate of the two Nature STAP cell papers remains in troubled limbo. One of the senior STAP cell authors, Dr. Sasai, held a news conference yesterday in Japan that included a call for the papers to be retracted. He was variously quoted as believing in STAP cells or alternatively as just thinking it
Lessons from STAP cell fiasco so far Read More »
What’s going on with the STAP cell situation now that it is into its third month? It’s getting worse instead of better or clearer, at least in part due to RIKEN’s incomplete investigation. What’s going on with STAP? New RIKEN Press Conference RIKEN reportedly held an odd sort of limited press conference today that TJO
STAP April Update: Super Stressful on All Fronts Read More »
Very small embryonic-like stem cells aka VSELs are reported to be tiny adult stem cells that are pluripotent or non-existent depending on whom you talk to most recently or which paper you just read. These very controversial cells (which I once compared to the Sasquatch) have a wildly fluctuating history with their existence on multiple occasions
Wild History of VSELs Predicts Future of STAP Cells? Read More »
What next for STAP? Is retraction of the two papers on the near horizon? It has been two months now since Nature published the two papers on STAP cells and STAP stem cells. There has been a storm of controversy surrounding these papers and the claims they made to easily produce the most powerful of
STAP Cell Nature Papers: Cases For & Against Retraction Read More »
The California Stem Cell Agency, CIRM, has a new board member. Actress, writer, and Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) advocate Lauren Miller recently joined the ICOC Board of CIRM via an appointment by Governor Jerry Brown. Miller and her husband, Seth Rogen, have both been active as AD advocates and formed an amazing organization to boost AD
Interview with Actress, Writer, Advocate and New CIRM Board Member Lauren Miller Read More »
Dr. Charles Vacanti is scheduled as a special guest speaker on April 1 at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. He’ll be speaking on STAP cells. See image below of the announcement. The title of his talk is “Tissue Engineering and STAP Cells”. It is part of the Brigham and Women’s “Leaders in Regenerative Medicine Seminar Series”. Online
Vacanti to Speak on STAP Cells at Harvard on April 1 Read More »