By Jeanne Loring “Mutation” and “cancer” are eye-catching words for a headline; add “stem cells” and there is a good chance that a lot of people will hear about it. These words have been liberally used in the press to describe the results of a recent publication: “Human pluripotent stem cells recurrently acquire and expand dominant negative P53 mutations.” Every time a scientific report suggests that human stem cells are dangerous, I feel the need to reassure both scientists and non-scientists that we should …Read More
Kevin Eggan
Congratulations to Lorenz Studer as a MacArthur Fellow. The annual selection of MacArthur Fellows highlights creative leaders in a variety of fields. The fellows receive $625,000 with no strings attached. Stem cell biologists have been selected on a regular basis over the years as MacArthur Fellows including Kevin Eggan (2006), Sally Temple (2008), and Yukiko Yamashita (2011). This year’s group of two-dozen 2015 MacArthur Fellows includes stem cell biologist Lorenz Studer (see video above). You can learn much more about Dr. Studer’s work on his …Read More
Ready for some stem cell good news? It can be difficult at times in a cutting edge field like stem cells in terms of keeping upbeat about hopes of rapid translation to help patients with real, proven therapies. It takes a long time, money, dedication, and even a bit of luck for the researchers and biotech companies out there. It’s a challenging path with many possible roadblocks and landmines. For instance, I recently wrote about how many stem cell stocks are not doing well. …Read More