So I got some more posts upcoming but had a bit of a busy weekend – I picked up an extra weekend shift and also visited the parents.
- I made an edit to my Metacam post after discussing it with a much respected colleague.
- Lots of stuff in the local news about the peril faced by sharks. I wrote about this issue earlier in the year for a different newsletter and I’m trying to find my original article to post here… stay tuned and stay away from shark fin soup.
- Check out “Brain Cuttings”, a new eBook by Carl Zimmer – awesome. Here is a review and interview by Steve Silberman.
- I’m writing an article about public opinion of stem cells – would love to hear everyone’s thoughts. What do you think of stem cells? Leave a comment or message me privately.
Thanks all.
AlbinoMouse 
I like stem cells for a lot of reasons.
One, economically–it did a LOT of things for my university (UW-Madison) and surrounding communities where the first line of human embryonic stem cells were discovered(? I’m not sure this is the right term here, so please correct me if I’m wrong!) We have a huge amount of development in our biosciences departments because of it, which creates a lot of job and investments in the local area.
Two: who doesn’t like the idea that we may be able to cure awful, life-destroying diseases like Parkinson’s or cancers with further development? I acknowledge the human embryonic lines are controversial, but I feel like it’s important to also examine the already living and support their needs as well (I could go on about ethics here, but I’ll avoid it.)
Three: while it is new and will call for some regulations–it’s kind of like a fresh breath of air into science.
I recently got a job where I work closely with stem cell researchers. Until one of my friends said to me “stem cells…are we allowed to talk about that now?” I had not even considered the negative side of it. Yes, when first introduced, human embryonic stem cells were controversial. However, we are so far past that ‘stem cells kill babies’ juvenile way of thinking that you can’t help but wonder at the awesome power of stem cells.
Stem Cells will be the basis for the next big thing in pharmaceutical research; cellular therapy. Scientists now have the ability to induce certain adult cells (ie skin cells) to become stem cells! These induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC) eliminate the need for embryonic stem cells and make it that much easier to develop stem cell treatments using genetic material from the patient themselves, greatly reducing rejection issues such as Graft Versus Host Disease.
Stem Cells are now mainstream science. The potential new cellular therapy advances are immense and without stem cell research this would not have been possible.