Sometimes a top scientist makes news with a quote on research and that happened with Ian Wilmut recently on stem cells. Move away from research on human ES cells (hESC) in favor of very new and still largely unclear trans-differentiation technology? I say, no way. But, Bradley Fikes of the North County Times has reported […]
Ian Wilmut, Dolly’s dad, says dump hESC? What does this mean? Read More »
Remember those folks who were pushing an amendment in Mississippi that would have defined the one cell fertilized egg as a full blown person with all the same rights as a living, breathing, thinking Mississippian? Now the new battlefront for their movement is California. They want to get an initiative on the ballot to make
Is a fertilized egg a Californian? Personhood movement brings battle to California Read More »
Many of us have been discouraged by Geron’s decision to end their stem cell program, which included products based on human embryonic stem (ES) cells, but let’s keep some perspective on this and not give up hope. The opponents of hope want us to give up. They who have waged their own self-proclaimed war on
Keep hope: the ‘war’ is not over Read More »
The grapevine is afire with the Geron news and there are many interpretations out there of what it means and why it happened. Based on several accounts from folks who remain anonymous, here is the most probable prediction of what happened to lead us to yesterday’s announcement. Geron has been worried for a long time
The Scarlett letter? What the experts really think about Geron Read More »
Reportedly, Geron has decided to only focus on cancer research and for financial reasons has shut down its hESC trial for spinal cord injury. This is a very sad day for stem cell science. (Update in 2020: the firm still exists, but is working in different areas. The stock has struggled.) No more spinal cord
Bad news as Geron to quit hESC SCI trial for financial reasons Read More »
I recently did a post telling you about one of my favorite molecules, Myc, which is important not only in cancer but also in most, if not all stem cells including iPS cells. There’s a lot more to Myc and how it does it’s tricks in embryonic stem cells and iPS cells. It cannot do
More on Myc: meet the “Miz’s” in our new paper Read More »
Tomorrow night voters in Mississippi will vote on the so-called “Personhood Amendment”. If passed, the amendment would make a fertilized egg by definition a human being with the same rights as a living, breathing, thinking, walking person in the state of Mississippi. The consequences are not clear, but possibilities include such things as complete bans on
Why Horton was wrong: a person is not a person no matter how small, even in Mississippi Read More »
Every now and then I do a post on something fun and non-science related, and today it’s all about Seattle. Since it’s Friday, don’t you wish you were on vacation in Seattle? If you can ever imagine visiting Seattle in the near future, bookmark this page because I give suggestions for great things (some that
Six fun, amazing, sometimes secret things to do in Seattle Read More »
When I talk to people about stem cell science and the timeline for turning data into treatments and cures, their reactions completely depend on whom they are. Scientists are patient, perhaps too patient….perhaps too understanding of the many years that we are told that science takes to get something to the clinic. Patients and patient
Is it fair to tell a patient to be patient? Read More »
Today marked a major milestone as the Geron spinal cord injury clinical trial, supported by CIRM funding, using human embryonic stem cell-derived oligodendrocyte precursor cells enrolled its first patient in California supported. CIRM funding = clinical trials progressing and patients treated. Many major media outlets covered the story including the North County Times in this
Some perspectives on CIRM funding for first clinical trial patient Read More »