More and more evidence is accumulating that the alleged iPS cell transplantation in human patients by Dr. Hisashi Moriguchi was bunk. Nature today has a piece out today on the story providing more quotes about the case that suggest the whole thing was made up. Rather than re-hash all the details, in this post I’m going […]
The Moriguchi iPS transplant fable: key lessons & where do we go from here Read More »
One of the questions I get asked most often is whether induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS cells) are well on their way to replacing ES (embryonic stem) cells. My answer? No. Not yet. iPS cells are great, but the original notion pushed by some that iPS cells would somehow replace ES cells, which would be
Primary challenges facing iPS cells in late 2012 Read More »
I’m a fan of iPS cells, but my lab has been concerned about the similarities between induced pluripotency and cancer formation for many years. We just now published a paper that directly addressed the similarities of cancer and iPS cell transcriptomes. These are cause for concern and need to be faced as we contemplate clinical
iPS cells are similar to cancer cells paper, part 2: unsettled reviewers Read More »
This morning the Internet here at UC Davis Medical Center was on and off down for a couple hours. You’d think we had suffered a complete electronic catastrophe of the kind on the new sci-fi show on NBC, Revolution by JJ Abrams, where nothing electronic works even if it is battery powered. Here it was
Why you are probably an Internet addict too Read More »
The Texas Tribune held a liveblog regarding Health & Human Services at festival they were sponsoring. A particularly testy, interesting exchange on stem cells occurred (see starting around 2:51PM) involving Andrea Ferrenz of Celltex and Dr. Leigh Turner of University of Minnesota as well as Texas State Rep. Rick Hardcastle and David Bales of Texans
Stem cell shootout at the Texas Trib Festival including Celltex Read More »
Yesterday I had part I of my interview with NIGMS former Director, Dr. Jeremy Berg. Today we have part II of the interview, which I found very interesting and helpful in providing a glimpse into NIH. I appreciate Dr. Berg doing the interview and his frankness. Given the budgetary issues facing NIH in terms of
Jeremy Berg interview part II: the future of NIH funding Read More »
I live in Davis, CA. Sometimes it seems like Davis is a bubble full of the most colorful assortment of characters. One day walking my dog Elvis I noticed the sign to the right. I translated it as “Shh”. I’ve seen many signs in my days, but never one like this…it seems a little too
My collection of funny signs: UFO lemonade & falling coconuts Read More »
There is enormous interest in point-of-care for-profit stem cell commercialization by relatively small clinics hoping to hit it big here in the U.S. Some big investors have poured millions into these clinics that are treating patients with adult stem cell therapies. As I’ve talked with some of these folks they expect this market to grow dramatically
Surprising main obstacle to point-of-care stem cell commercialization by small clinics Read More »
The stem cell world is getting more complicated. There are more good guys and bad guys out there than ever. In the Old West, at least as portrayed in the old movies I used to watch as a kid, the bad guy often had a black hat and the good guy a white hat. In
Who’s who? How to tell the stem cell good guys from the bad guys Read More »
I watched some parts of the big speeches at this year’s Republican Convention in Tampa and was struck by a number of things running the gamut from good to bad to ugly. I think Mrs. Romney did a good job on her speech. She came across as likable and someone I can imagine as a
The good, the bad, and the ugly of the Republican Convention Read More »