The best stem cell blog posts in 2012

I’m a blogger and I read blogs every day, including stem cell and cell therapy blogosphere. Of course, I like some post and don’t like the others. At the end of the year, I’ve decided to share my favorite blog posts. I’ve picked 10 of my favorite “stem cell blog posts”.

1. Top 10 taboo topics about iPS cells (by Paul Knoepfler – Knoepfler Lab Stem Cell Blog)

4. Most iPS cell publications are not really important. There are hundreds and hundreds of iPS cell papers out there, but in reality most of these papers do not address fundamental issues. Period.

Why I like it:
None of the professionals discuss these kind of things publicly, but we should! I think, Paul nailed it! He picked the most important and controversial issues in iPS cell field in this post.

2. Patients, Academics, and the Conflict of “Risk of Harm” (by Kelly Hills – Life is an Extreme Sport)

I honestly don’t have an answer to this gulf between those in academia who are doing their best to limit access to unregulated medical therapies, stem cells or otherwise, out of good intent, and the patients who feel like this has reduced them to nameless numbers without a voice. I do think that the onus to bridge that gap is on those in academia; to write a bit more accessibly, in less prestigious forums that are read by more patients and caregivers, and to leave behind some of that dispassionate academic voice in exchange for more emotive and compassionate language.

Why I like it:
This is interesting view of bioethicist on very tough ongoing discussion about regulation of “stem cell therapies”. This discussion is very very important for everyone – patients, researchers, doctors, business professionals and regulators. But, unfortunately, nobody talk about it publicly. You will have very hard time in order to find any posts with comments about these issues. Very important debate without definitive answers!

3. I’m in the ACT Stem Cell Trial for Stargardt Disease! (by Maurie Hill – Zoomed In, the Ai Squared)

… they announced that they treated their fourth Stargardt patient, the first patient to receive a higher RPE cell concentration in their worst eye. I am excited to inform you that I am this patient! I was treated on July 11th at Wills Eye Institute in Philadelphia. It was an exciting experience that I’ll never forget; physically joining the team within the many teams that have worked so hard to bring us to this point in medical history.

Why I like it:
This is very unique post, written by a “stem cell patient”. You can learn how patients get enrolled into the stem cell trials. Also, I think, it’s inspirational for other patients.

4. Jaenisch’s new Cell paper on iPS cells 2.0: a helpful, brief analogy (by Paul Knoepfler – Knoepfler Lab Stem Cell Blog)

Imagine you are on a plane (this is your fibroblast cell) and the pilot dies.
You have to fly the jumbo jet plane and land it (turn it into an iPS cell), but you are not a pilot.
You go up to the cockpit and are confronted with hundreds of buttons.
Which is the right one?
Who knows.
You start pressing all the buttons randomly. Lights come on, landing gear comes up and down. The flaps go up and down. Oxygen masks fly around. The plane jerks around. Passengers freak out. Chaos.
But finally you hit that right button, the autopilot button! Suddenly the plane starts to behave in an orderly fashion to prepare for landing.
This is one way to view the reprogramming process. It’s chaos at the beginning until the right button, the autopilot button for induced pluripotency in the form of Sox2 (at least in the case of this Jaenisch paper) gets pushed.

Why I like it:
I think, this is the best simple explanation of complicated scientific paper! That’s how science should be explained, even to your peers.

5. The future of the stem cell controversy: Do citizens prefer iPS cells? (by Nick Dragojlovic – Signals)

…does the public in fact care whether a given therapy uses adult or iPS cells instead of embryonic stem cells? The short answer: Yes, but only under certain conditions.”
When the research is framed primarily in terms of scientific progress…individuals don’t seem to take the source of the stem cells into account.”

Why I like it:
The author discuss very interesting ethical issues around the use of embryonic stem cells versus iPS cells. He shared the results of his own simulation experiment, where he studies the context-based public perception of ethical issues.

6. Stem cell clinical trial for autism: proceed with caution (by Emily Willingham – Emily Willingham blog)

In the midst of all of this celebration and starry-eyed excitement about stem cells, however, the consumer would do well to proceed with caution. The trial suffers from two paradoxical issues. First, there doesn’t seem to be a specific autism-related rationale for treating children with stem cell injections.

There is a real essence of “stem cells are hot and autism is hot so lets throw some stem cells at autism” here. Science and clinical trials involving a pediatric population in particular shouldn’t rely on the “throw it at the wall and see if it sticks” mode of testing. Regardless of how safe the protocol is, administering even intravenous infusions to an autistic child can be traumatic for everyone involved.

Why I like it:
This is the most comprehensive and professional analysis of newly launched stem cell trial.

7. What if the game changes again? Perfect ES models in sight (by Paul Krzyzanowski – Signals)

The philosophical question of iPS cell identity as it relates to human development, which I had considered when interviewed about the original article, was also raised by Caulfield: “Ironically, if – and this is a big IF – the iPS work plays out, every cell in our body has the potential to result in a human. Is every cell, from a symbolic perspective, now an embryo?”
…
The critical question of whether the 2C-like iPS cells are totipotent remains unanswered, and I’m willing to bet that multiple research groups are trying to demonstrate just that.

If iPS cells can truly be made totipotent, it will be ironic development indeed: the same techniques that solve ethical problems in mice will reopen much larger ones in humans.

Why I like it:
It’s very interesting discussion about whether iPS cell “ethically benign” or not. I like the twist at the end of the post, which could challenge public perception of iPS cells as ethical.

8. The Importance of Being Embryonic (by Jalees Rehman – The Next Regeneration)

I applaud the ISSCR for this pro-active approach. Taking ethical concerns into account is important, but one also needs to make sure that scientific discoveries are not misused to put forward political or religious agendas. In the next years or decades, we may indeed discover that iPSCs can completely replace human ESCs. On the other hand, we may discover that iPSCs and ESCs will play distinct and complementary roles in the future of regenerative medicine.

Why I like it:
He is talking about the importance of embryonic stem cell research, which could be dismissed by “political or religious agendas”. It is very much in tune with my opinion! I think, stem cell research is highly contaminated by politics and religion, especially in US. But for many professionals it’s a taboo topic.

9. Stem cell graft, Texas-style (by Doug Sipp – Stem Cell Treatment Monitor)

Is this the “future of medicine” stem cells are heralding in the new Wild West?

Why I like it:
For investigative style of this intriguing story and for fountain of proof-links.

10. Interspecies chimeras – will farm animals be regenerative medicine vehicles of the future? (by Angela McDonald – Signals)

Will farm animals be viable vehicles for human organ generation? I guess we will have to wait and see.

Why I like it:
I like the topic and how the author unfold it. Very interesting and controversial scientific discovery without any mention in public.

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Please share your favorite “stem cell blog posts of 2012″ in comments!

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