The 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic, April 12th, is rapidly approaching and I think there are some lessons there for the stem cell field. The Titanic was hyped as a marvel of modern technology, widely advertised as huge, unsinkable and fast. An unexpected combination….almost too good to be true. This portrayal of […]
The Titanic & Dubious Adult Stem Cell Clinics Read More »
If someone is not in a war, but someone else declares war on them or actually attacks them, I would say the reality is that war has started and there are two opposing sides. However, has that happened when it comes to stem cells? Are we in a stem cell war? There have been times
The war propaganda myth of adult versus embryonic stem cells hurts everyone Read More »
In June 2011 I did a post about genomics and its growing importance both for science and society. The stem cell field has a very rapidly accelerating genomic component as well. I went so far as to call it a revolution and I still believe that is not an exaggeration. CIRM has rightly recognized the
CIRM goes genomic: the California stem cell agency focuses on DNA Read More »
What with the Mississippi “personhood” amendment up for a vote today and also the Vatican Adult Stem Cell Conference beginning tomorrow, I thought today was a good time for a post about adult versus embryonic stem cells. Does stem cell research have to be either/or? Adult or stem? Can’t someone be for both adult and
Key points about adult versus embryonic stem cells Read More »
Stem cell sports medicine is emerging as a new area of medicine. As the list of star athletes and other celebs that have received dubious stem cell treatments grows longer, I don’t think there is any question but that this turn of events will be the spark that drives hundreds of ordinary people to get
Stem cell sports medicine: a miraculous or disastrous combo? Read More »
Today I was part of a panel discussion on social media for the stem cell cause at the World Stem Cell Summit. My fellow World Stem Cell Summit panel speakers John Hlinko, Amy Adams, and Don Reed all did a great job. Something that one of speakers said in the session that ended right before
World Stem Cell Summit Day 2: scientists just stick to facts? Read More »
2020 update: This post from almost 10 years ago on the HIV pandemic and particularly the first paragraph ring differently in the context of the COVID-19 novel coronavirus pandemic. Over the last several years, there has been great concern about a possible flu pandemic around the world, but meanwhile the great pandemic of modern history,
Disease Focus Series: Stem cells for HIV/AIDS Read More »
Sharks are experts at growing new teeth from stem cells. What if we humans could grow new teeth from stem cells too? It seems like a stretch. Compared to sharks, on tooth regrowth we are biological amateurs. While humans and some other animals like dogs have only two sets of teeth in our whole lives,
Reasons to smile at sharks? Growing new teeth from stem cells Read More »
There is growing interest in a possible new reproductive method based on something called in vitro gametogenesis or IVG. Today’s post explains IVG including its potential pros and cons. I also discuss why its possible combination with gene editing is so potentially fraught, which is a big potential con. Let’s start with an explanation of this
In all the time I’ve been a scientist I never worried about American science until the last month. Even during the first Trump administration, while there were challenges, I felt like things would generally be okay. Research continued. One of my daughters and I went to the Science March in 2017 in Sacramento. We bumped
Weekly reads: blowtorch to American science, stem cells for teeth & stroke Read More »