I’m a big fan of stem cells. I’m a researcher, but also a patient advocate and educator. I’m someone who favors researching adult, embryonic, and induced pluripotent stem cells (aka iPS cells). They all are worth pursuing and in my opinion have the future potential to be an ethical-basis for helping millions of patients who […]
Adult stem cells: why I’m really excited, but don’t favor shortcuts Read More »
It’s been a big couple months of headlines in the news for prostate cancer. I’m a prostate cancer survivor and cancer biologist so I spend probably more than my share of time thinking about prostate cancer and from a number of angles. A few days ago I got a test result suggesting I’m still in long-term
Updated: Do Vulcans Get Prostate Cancer and get surgery for it? Read More »
Celltex is that adult stem cell company that treated Governor Perry and upwards of 80 other people with stem cell products that they grew in their lab in Texas. I wonder what the leadership of Celltex is thinking right now about its FDA audit, their future, and that pesky professor/blogger in California…what’s his name? I
What if I told you I believe that iPS cells really began in Seattle in the 1980s? Call me crazy? Read on. We hear a lot about how iPS cells were first created in 2006 in Japan by Shinya Yamanaka. I often say this myself. However, as is the case with so much in science,
How iPS cells germinated in part in Seattle in the 1980s Read More »
The FDA has been busy with stem cell-related activities this spring including with ICMS. 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
FDA visits both ICMS and reportedly Celltex Read More »
What are the stem cell talking points for politicians and how should scientists talk to them? In the debate over funding for embryonic stem cell research, it is usually assumed that Democrats are in favor of embryonic stem cell research and that Republicans are opposed. But recent polls suggest that amongst the U.S. population as
Greatest hits: stem cell talking points for Republicans Read More »
The best talk today was the keynote address by Dr. George Daley focused mostly on iPS cells. Dr. Daley is one of the world’s experts on iPS cells and pluripotent stem cells more generally. He covered many interesting elements of the iPS cell field including the genetic mutations that seem to occur during the reprogramming
Summary of George Daley talk on iPS cells today in Seattle Read More »
It was a shock to learn today that New York Stem Cell Foundation CEO and Co-Founder Susan Solomon had passed away yesterday after a long battle with ovarian cancer. I met Susan a few times over the years and was always struck by her positive energy. At a practical level she got big things done
Tributes to NYSCF leader & stem cell advocate Susan Solomon Read More »
Stem cell biologist Jacob Hanna has a new startup called Renewal Bio. Its goal is to harvest cells or tissues from human embryo or fetus models for clinical use. I believe that their commercial ambitions have so far outstripped careful thought and discussion in the broader community of researchers. There are major risks here for
‘We don’t want to freak people out’: about that Jacob Hanna human embryo model startup Read More »
The fact that a person for the first time has received a heart transplant from a pig and it was a genetically modified pig made big news this week. Organ transplant waiting lists are a huge problem so if this kind of approach can be proven to be safe and effective, it would be a
Recommended reads: pig heart transplant, lasers, $11K pub fee Read More »