#muse cells

Whatever happened to the STAP cell scientists including Haruko Obokata?

Once upon a time this blog and major outlets around the world were regularly writing about a Japanese stem cell researcher named Haruko Obokata (小保方 晴子).

Whatever happened to Obokata and the other folks directly involved in STAP cell research?

First, a bit of background because maybe still a few people never heard of STAP cells and Obokata or forgot the key points behind the controversy.

Haruko…

Don’t mess with (mother) Nature: why risk taking on a powerhouse journal?

When I was a kid there was this commercial on TV for Chiffon margarine (fake butter) with the slogan, “It’s not nice to fool mother nature!”

As a kid I thought it was dumb but kind of funny.

A modified version of that mother nature advertising slogan has become a cultural tagline. Don’t mess with mother nature!  Who knows, maybe “don’t mess with mother nature” predated Chiffon margarine.

Some…

Nature yanks article that was actually advertisement on controversial stem cells

Something very strange just happened at the journal Nature related to what’s called Muse cells. Kudos to them for dealing with it quickly though.

They published an unreviewed research “article” on controversial (perhaps non-existent) stem cells called “Muse cells” that was actually a paid advertisement. After I communicated with the Natureteam eventually they ended up pulling down the ad/article…

Transplantation of Unique, Newly Discovered Stem Cells May Lead to Promising Stroke Therapy

Stroke treatments have seen some remarkable advances in the past few years. Stem cell treatments for stroke have even seen some successes in clinical trials, showing that stem cell transplantation aimed at neural repair after a stroke is a possible way to ameliorate the effects of stroke. Now, collaboration between teams of American and Japanese researchers has shown that a newly-identified stem…