Grad school…would you do it all over again if you could jump in a time machine? It’s hard to imagine, but it was 24 years ago that I started at UCSD as a graduate student. Think how different the world was in 1993. Now almost a quarter century later, the world of science is very […]
Twenty years later: would this dataholic still go to grad school? Read More »
Human germline CRISPR raises major bioethical considerations, but what about technical issues? Setting aside the many ethical issue about the general idea of human modification itself, could this really work? Yes in theory it could, but there are some very tough technological challenges that could and likely would cause failures or unacceptable outcomes at many steps
7 tech hurdles to human germline CRISPR Read More »
Some notable newly published Phase II data from the Duke cord blood for cerebral palsy trial unfortunately doesn’t give much reason for optimism that this approach is going to have a substantial positive effect for these kids. The double-blinded, placebo-controlled study did not find a meaningful benefit overall from infusions of autologous cord blood (ACB) for
Cord blood for cerebral palsy: mostly discouraging new trial data Read More »
It’s germline, heritable human CRISPR time, right? Wrong. But the particularly enthusiastic supporters of heritable human CRISPR often cite hypothetical benefits in glowing terms, but either don’t mention risks or strongly downplay them. These fans also tend to leave alternative, proven and safe technologies such as preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) out of the discussion or
Countering that Pro-Heritable Human CRISPR WSJ Piece Read More »
Inspired by the Reddit AMAs (Ask Me Anything) that I’ve done over the past few years, I’m launching this new page (new as of September 2017) where I invited readers of this blog to ask me questions. The questions can be about stem cells, CRISPR, brain cancer research, other science topics, about my lab’s research,
Ask Me Anything (AMA) Read More »
Scientist make knockout human embryos with CRISPR? Today we see a new Nature paper (Fogarty, et al.) on CRISPR “gene editing” of human embryos, this time from the UK from Kathy Niakan’s group. Niakan got UK permission about 18 months ago to CRISPR healthy human embryos so they’ve been hard at work since. Because Fredrik
1st Knockout Human Embryos Made with CRISPR: My Take on the Pub Read More »
There is a scientist’s dilemma: should you speak out on important, sometimes controversial issues in science, where you not only can potentially have positive impact, but also risk being attacked for it? Or do you remain silent? I’ve now been blogging for more than 7 years. I’ve battled the often exploitive for-profit stem cell clinics
Scientist’s dilemma: find a public voice on big issues or stay silent? Read More »
There’s an idea floating around out there called “young blood” to use donations from young folks to infuse older people to reverse aging. I’m skeptical. Imagine an old man and a teenager sitting side by side, with blood flowing from the kid to the oldster in a stab at anti-aging. Sort of like a one-way
Young blood as anti-aging fountain of youth: hype or hope? Read More »
The U.S. Senate just passed a bill that if it becomes law would codify Right-To-Try as a federal law, meaning terminally patients across the U.S. could ask their physicians and drug manufacturers to be given still investigational therapies such as still unproven stem cell therapies in development. The bill’s official name is “The Trickett Wendler
Senate Passes Federal Right-To-Try: Poll on Your Opinion Read More »
Should patients have the Right To Try experimental therapies that could be unsafe and ineffective? What if those patients have a terminal illness and no reasonable prospects of being helpful to conventional medicine? Doesn’t it make perfect sense to let them try a risky approach if they want to do so? On the other hand,
Upcoming Right-To-Try debate: NYU’s Roxland and Goldwater’s Sandefur Read More »