Why Boston

Excerpt from the ridiculously long NIH postdoc fellowship application I'm writing (this is a case where government has definitely gotten too large):

The _________ lab is the perfect environment for me, for several reasons. Translating basic research knowledge into societal well-being and progress is important to me. Having gained much already from the ivory tower, I now seek a lab that will expose me to medical doctors and clinical environments and human patients. I am very interested in stem cells and regenerative medicine, and the _________ lab is leading the fore in this field and part of the __________ Stem Cell Institute, the top regenerative medicine body in the field. I am interested in kidney tissue biology as it relates to several fields – polycystic kidney disease, epithelial-mesenchymal transitions, aging, differentiation, etc. – and the ________ Unit at ______________ has a tremendously high concentration of high-caliber nephrology researchers. The surrounding city of Boston will be a completely new academic network to connect to and learn from, and features powerful potential collaborators within a few blocks of our lab. These reasons convinced me to pull up stakes from my very comfortable and congenial surroundings in Berkeley and move to what I see as the most exciting place to be in research today.

I know, I know. Can't end a phrase with a preposition. I know.

Just don't call it a "Borg Arm"

TGIF! Amputees are not a fun topic, but "Luke Arms" like the one shown here promise to give them a piece of their lives back. Skip to 1:30 to watch the arm in action; it takes only a few hours of practice before an amputee can perform simple tasks.

Live Blogging "Genetics and Evolution of the Skeleton" Symposium at UC Berkeley

I'm currently live blogging a symposium on the Genetics and Evolution of the Skeleton on twitter. Should be of interest to those who like stem cells, evolution, regenerative medicine.

Talks I'll probably be going to:

Craig Miller (UC Berkeley) - "Genetic analysis of development and evolution of the head skeleton"

Ophir Klein (UCSF) - "Long in the tooth: genetic regulation of stem cells in the mouse incisor"

Jackie Moustakas (UC Berkeley) - "Studies on the development of teeth in non-model organisms"

(afternoon:)

Rich Schneider (UCSF) - "Mesenchymal control of skeletogenesis during development and evolution"

Nadav Ahituv (UCSF) - "Characterization of regulatory elements leading to human limb malformation"

Ralph Marcucio (UCSF) - "Mechanisms that pattern the upper jaw"

Gabriela Loots (LLNL) - "Genetics of Van Buchem disease and role of sclerostin in limb morphogenesis"

Mike Sohaskey (UC Berkeley) - "JAWS coordinates chondrogenesis and synovial joint positioning: a disjointed tale of mouse skeletal development"

Bill Clemens (UC Berkeley) - "Evolution of the mammalian dentition: a 250 million year perspective"

Is Obama behind the times on stem cells?

He's so eloquent, I'll just let him say it.

Political opponents reacted by calling Obama "behind the times" on stem cells. After all, there are now ways of making ES cells without destroying embryos:

If you listen closely to Obama, you'll realize that he knows this, too. But he also realizes that Bush's opposition to ES cell research was a symbolic gesture - fueled by anti-abortion ideology, not science. By overturning the Bush ban, Obama is laying down his own criterion for science policy - that it should be guided by facts, and not ideology.

What are the facts? The embryos used to derive embryonic stem cells are tiny balls of about 100 cells, without sensory organs or circulatory systems. Our society is willing to discard them for the sake of IVF, just to give parents their own biological child instead of adopting. Certainly, we should be willing to discard them for the sake of research which may cure untreatable diseases. The destruction of adult farm animals, just so we can enjoy the pleasure of eating their meat, poses a far greater ethical dilemma than embryonic stem cell research.

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Geron's "Floating Yellow Spheres"

One of the most dramatic achievements of modern medical science is the increase of human life expectancy. Two hundred years ago, a newborn could expect to live around 35-40 years. That number has now doubled for developed countries like the United States. That increase is thanks in large part to three major medical advancements: vaccination, antibiotics, and anasthesia/sterile technique in surgery.

In my opinion, we're on the cusp of another major advancement in human longevity: stem cells. The vision is that stem cells will create an unlimited supply of tissues, which can be regenerated to combat injury, disease, or aging.

That future may be here faster than you might think. Geron, a bay area biotech, has attained FDA approval to start a phase-I clinical trial. Each of the "floating yellow spheres" pictured at left (from Figure 1 of Kierstad et al.) consists of a few thousand neuronal stem cells, derived from embryonic stem cells. Injecting a bunch of these yellow spheres into the spinal cords of injured mice has restored some mobility, and the company is betting big bucks that they will do something similar in humans.

There are many things that can go wrong in this clinical trial, but Geron also has one big thing going for it: its cells look fantastic. These neuronal precursors are > 95% pure, and they're far more likely to work than the bone-marrow derived stem cells other folks have tried. I'm not a gambling man - science is full of surprises - but I think the experiment will work, or at least tell Geron what to try next.

Geron deserves mad props for leading the way with this crucial technology. Thanks to their initiative, and the scientists and doctors who paved the way, stem cell therapies may one day help all of us live longer and healthier. Of course, you can also do that by exercising regularly and eating right... but who wants to go through all that trouble?

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