Hype is a very common ingredient in promoting any media product. The world of medical discovery is no stranger to hype either. So it’s quite understandable why a project that marries the two worlds together would fall victim to this as well.That was my first – and second – reaction when I read the news … Continue reading Stem cell documentary starts out with flawed premise

 The common fruit fly is proving uncommonly good at helping us understand the brainIn much of commerce, “the middleman” is a derisive phrase for someone often attributed with driving costs up. Having known a few of those folks, they defend their role saying they actually make the process of distributing goods more efficient. Now, a … Continue reading Give respect to the middleman, when it’s a cell in the brain

Bluebird Bio, one of the oldest companies in the struggling gene therapy field, is having an outstanding first day in the stock market today, and largely by marrying its gene therapy technology with stem cell science. The company’s financial milestone brings hope and excitement to both fields.The company went through its initial public offering (IPO) … Continue reading Bluebird Bio lives up to its name, gives hope to the field

Writing a blog can be a labor of love. Though some days it feels more like labor and less like love. So that’s why it’s nice to hear that not only do people read you, but that they also like you. Particularly when those people include someone like Paul Knoepfler, a stem cell researcher at … Continue reading Ranking the blogs – quantifying the value of reaching out

3D illustration of a cancer cellAn international team lead by Denis Slamon at the University of California, Los Angeles and Tak Mak at the Princess Margaret Cancer Center in Toronto announced today that they had filed all the paper work necessary with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to begin a clinical trial in … Continue reading Clinical trial to thwart cancer stem cells may begin soon

Cynthia Schaffer and Neil Littman support CIRM's business development efforts. CIRM is hosting a webinar on June 20th to help those developing cell-based therapies get ahead of reimbursement issues. We have often heard the phrase, “begin with the end in mind”. None of us want to be part of the team that develops an amazing, … Continue reading CIRM Webinar: Why planning your payment strategy is critical in early product development

Shinya Yamanaka (L) presents Marius Wernig (R) with the ISSCR 2013 Outstanding Young Investigator AwardStanford University stem cell researcher Marius Wernig, MD, PhD, was awarded the Outstanding Young Investigator Award at the annual meeting of the International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR) on Saturday. The award recognizes the exceptional achievements of a stem cell … Continue reading Young Investigator award makes it a three-peat for stem cell agency

Motor neuron progenitors (green) derived from human embryonic stem cells. Death of motor neurons is a hallmark of ALS. Image: Sharyn Rossi, Hans Keirstead Lab at the University of California, IrvineOver the past few months a fair amount of data has come out about the first trials using stem cells to treat ALS, also known … Continue reading ISSCR: Getting new cells where you want them can be major undertaking

Heart muscle precursors derived from embryonic stem cells. (Image courtesy of Bruce Conklin at The Gladstone Institutes)Models are important in helping develop and test new ideas and new approaches. But they’re not always perfect. For example a 6’ 2” rail-thin model strutting the catwalk in Milan is not an ideal representation of the average woman … Continue reading ISSCR: Searching for a new model for rebuilding the heart after a heart attack

One of the more intriguing signs around the vast Boston conference center at the annual meeting of the International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR) is a large chalkboard that poses the question: “What if you could solve some of life’s greatest challenges using stem cells?” It then asks people to list their stem cell … Continue reading ISSCR: How a piece of chalk, and a few stem cells, could help solve life’s greatest challenges