http://www.nature.com/scitable/blog/theprometheancell The Promethean Cell provides insights and opinions on regenerative medicine research, occasionally punctuated with tales from a fledgling postdoc's career. http://www.nature.com/scitable/blog/theprometheancell/funding_alternative_careers_does_it I recently learned of a new grant from the National Institute of Health (NIH) ... Wed, 01 May 2013 02:56:23 GMT http://www.nature.com/scitable/blog/theprometheancell/funding_alternative_careers_does_it 2013-05-01T02:56:23Z http://www.nature.com/scitable/blog/theprometheancell/off_the_path I've been on a rather long hiatus, don't worry-I'm fine. I've just had a major c... Sun, 17 Mar 2013 20:08:23 GMT http://www.nature.com/scitable/blog/theprometheancell/off_the_path 2013-03-17T20:08:23Z http://www.nature.com/scitable/blog/theprometheancell/a_notsonobel_story_on_cellular Cellular reprogramming basked in the Nobel spotlight last week. But this week, i... Tue, 16 Oct 2012 22:59:00 GMT http://www.nature.com/scitable/blog/theprometheancell/a_notsonobel_story_on_cellular 2012-10-16T22:59:00Z http://www.nature.com/scitable/blog/theprometheancell/a_humble_rant_re_spin Warning: this is a rant. I'm about to go on a tirade regarding the article publ... Tue, 25 Sep 2012 23:53:06 GMT http://www.nature.com/scitable/blog/theprometheancell/a_humble_rant_re_spin 2012-09-25T23:53:06Z http://www.nature.com/scitable/blog/theprometheancell/skin_to_sperm_hyped_or The report of sperm cells created from skin cells may appear amusing at first bl... Wed, 12 Sep 2012 20:48:56 GMT http://www.nature.com/scitable/blog/theprometheancell/skin_to_sperm_hyped_or 2012-09-12T20:48:56Z http://www.nature.com/scitable/blog/theprometheancell/becoming_a_critical_reader_in If you're a regular reader of my post, then you may have noticed I'm often criti... Wed, 22 Aug 2012 20:53:04 GMT http://www.nature.com/scitable/blog/theprometheancell/becoming_a_critical_reader_in 2012-08-22T20:53:04Z http://www.nature.com/scitable/blog/theprometheancell/cells_drugs_government_regulation A United States court decision delivered on July 23, 2012 confirmed FDA's assert... Sun, 12 Aug 2012 19:19:11 GMT http://www.nature.com/scitable/blog/theprometheancell/cells_drugs_government_regulation 2012-08-12T19:19:11Z http://www.nature.com/scitable/blog/theprometheancell/bioengineering_making_cells_feel_at Despite the wonders cell culturing has given us in terms of basic research and p... Fri, 03 Aug 2012 16:55:06 GMT http://www.nature.com/scitable/blog/theprometheancell/bioengineering_making_cells_feel_at 2012-08-03T16:55:06Z http://www.nature.com/scitable/blog/theprometheancell/diybio_placenta_stem_cells_for Thursday 26 th July saw the launch of SciLogs.com , a new English language sci... Fri, 27 Jul 2012 12:21:55 GMT http://www.nature.com/scitable/blog/theprometheancell/diybio_placenta_stem_cells_for 2012-07-27T12:21:55Z http://www.nature.com/scitable/blog/theprometheancell/diybio_first_impressions I just finished reading "Biopunk: DIY Scientist Hack the Software of Life" by Ma... Fri, 13 Jul 2012 18:10:29 GMT http://www.nature.com/scitable/blog/theprometheancell/diybio_first_impressions 2012-07-13T18:10:29Z http://www.nature.com/scitable/blog/theprometheancell/metabolic_switching_and_cellular_dieting Metabolism may appear to be a very dry subject for those with some basic trainin... Fri, 29 Jun 2012 20:34:38 GMT http://www.nature.com/scitable/blog/theprometheancell/metabolic_switching_and_cellular_dieting 2012-06-29T20:34:38Z http://www.nature.com/scitable/blog/theprometheancell/postdoc_haiku Produced two papers Evolving from researcher Best and worst of times Mon, 25 Jun 2012 21:24:57 GMT http://www.nature.com/scitable/blog/theprometheancell/postdoc_haiku 2012-06-25T21:24:57Z http://www.nature.com/scitable/blog/theprometheancell/resurrection_nonzombie_related As a fan of the Walking Dead television series, I was tickled to learn of an a... Sun, 17 Jun 2012 01:56:14 GMT http://www.nature.com/scitable/blog/theprometheancell/resurrection_nonzombie_related 2012-06-17T01:56:14Z http://www.nature.com/scitable/blog/theprometheancell/pluripotent_cells_as_bioactive_sieves The idea for using cultured cells to find and develop useful drugs is not new. I... Fri, 08 Jun 2012 13:48:57 GMT http://www.nature.com/scitable/blog/theprometheancell/pluripotent_cells_as_bioactive_sieves 2012-06-08T13:48:57Z http://www.nature.com/scitable/blog/theprometheancell/first_stem_cell_drug_to I've mentioned many times on this blog that stem cell-based drugs are not yet re... Thu, 24 May 2012 19:32:28 GMT http://www.nature.com/scitable/blog/theprometheancell/first_stem_cell_drug_to 2012-05-24T19:32:28Z http://www.nature.com/scitable/blog/theprometheancell/getting_meaningful_lab_experience Here we are...summer is upon us (at least for those of us in the northern hemisp... Mon, 21 May 2012 00:57:06 GMT http://www.nature.com/scitable/blog/theprometheancell/getting_meaningful_lab_experience 2012-05-21T00:57:06Z http://www.nature.com/scitable/blog/theprometheancell/what_has_become_of_health I've had a bit more time recently to watch the news and can't help noticing how ... Sat, 12 May 2012 19:42:09 GMT http://www.nature.com/scitable/blog/theprometheancell/what_has_become_of_health 2012-05-12T19:42:09Z http://www.nature.com/scitable/blog/theprometheancell/scar_tissues_friend_or_foe Heart attack is one dramatic example for how scar tissue is harmful to your heal... Tue, 01 May 2012 18:42:45 GMT http://www.nature.com/scitable/blog/theprometheancell/scar_tissues_friend_or_foe 2012-05-01T18:42:45Z http://www.nature.com/scitable/blog/theprometheancell/the_weaponized_stem_cell In an era of "customized" this and "personalized" that, the idea of tweaking you... Tue, 17 Apr 2012 20:50:29 GMT http://www.nature.com/scitable/blog/theprometheancell/the_weaponized_stem_cell 2012-04-17T20:50:29Z http://www.nature.com/scitable/blog/theprometheancell/chemical_biologywhat_was_old_is After reading this article 1 last week, I decided to finally write a post about... Mon, 09 Apr 2012 18:05:23 GMT http://www.nature.com/scitable/blog/theprometheancell/chemical_biologywhat_was_old_is 2012-04-09T18:05:23Z http://www.nature.com/scitable/blog/theprometheancell/your_neurons_also_hibernate_when Like many, many people these days -- I am sleep deprived. I drag myself out of b... Sun, 01 Apr 2012 16:05:49 GMT http://www.nature.com/scitable/blog/theprometheancell/your_neurons_also_hibernate_when 2012-04-01T16:05:49Z http://www.nature.com/scitable/blog/theprometheancell/writers_deadlines I've recently begun writing a paper to wrap up a small part of my postdoctoral s... Tue, 20 Mar 2012 19:26:28 GMT http://www.nature.com/scitable/blog/theprometheancell/writers_deadlines 2012-03-20T19:26:28Z http://www.nature.com/scitable/blog/theprometheancell/sometimes_bad_breath_is_good Who knew bad breath is applicable to stem cell biology - I sure didn't. I've got... Thu, 08 Mar 2012 17:04:07 GMT http://www.nature.com/scitable/blog/theprometheancell/sometimes_bad_breath_is_good 2012-03-08T17:04:07Z http://www.nature.com/scitable/blog/theprometheancell/borrowing_ideas I've worked with stem cells for a relatively brief time. Yet, I can't help notic... Thu, 01 Mar 2012 21:11:44 GMT http://www.nature.com/scitable/blog/theprometheancell/borrowing_ideas 2012-03-01T21:11:44Z http://www.nature.com/scitable/blog/theprometheancell/research_interrupted One of the first technical problems that must be tackled before doing any experi... Wed, 22 Feb 2012 21:32:29 GMT http://www.nature.com/scitable/blog/theprometheancell/research_interrupted 2012-02-22T21:32:29Z http://www.nature.com/scitable/blog/theprometheancell/a_stem_cell_story_for I've been on hiatus the past couple weeks. Actually, I was busy with my wedding ... Tue, 14 Feb 2012 16:34:03 GMT http://www.nature.com/scitable/blog/theprometheancell/a_stem_cell_story_for 2012-02-14T16:34:03Z http://www.nature.com/scitable/blog/theprometheancell/clinical_trials_why_there_arent The big stem cell-related story for the past week was how injection of human ESC... Sat, 28 Jan 2012 18:46:49 GMT http://www.nature.com/scitable/blog/theprometheancell/clinical_trials_why_there_arent 2012-01-28T18:46:49Z http://www.nature.com/scitable/blog/theprometheancell/placebo_cell I'm getting distracted again...this time by a report about stem cell fraud on 6... Wed, 18 Jan 2012 23:08:20 GMT http://www.nature.com/scitable/blog/theprometheancell/placebo_cell 2012-01-18T23:08:20Z http://www.nature.com/scitable/blog/theprometheancell/waddington8217s_landscape_and_the_different I've flippantly used Mystique as my metaphor for explaining stem cells. I've als... Mon, 09 Jan 2012 21:22:42 GMT http://www.nature.com/scitable/blog/theprometheancell/waddington8217s_landscape_and_the_different 2012-01-09T21:22:42Z http://www.nature.com/scitable/blog/theprometheancell/shapeshifters_verse A bit of fun to kick off the New Year. New Year brings renewal.... Fri, 30 Dec 2011 19:52:53 GMT http://www.nature.com/scitable/blog/theprometheancell/shapeshifters_verse 2011-12-30T19:52:53Z http://www.nature.com/scitable/blog/theprometheancell/our_bodies_ourselves If you feel fatigued by holiday cheer, then I have a few sombering thoughts to b... Thu, 22 Dec 2011 02:29:06 GMT http://www.nature.com/scitable/blog/theprometheancell/our_bodies_ourselves 2011-12-22T02:29:06Z http://www.nature.com/scitable/blog/theprometheancell/gene_editing_for_a_better I have referred to iPSCs in a previous post as "franken-cells" and questioned ... Wed, 14 Dec 2011 21:41:33 GMT http://www.nature.com/scitable/blog/theprometheancell/gene_editing_for_a_better 2011-12-14T21:41:33Z http://www.nature.com/scitable/blog/theprometheancell/conferencing Hello all, Just a brief note to say I'm attending a conference this week and s... Wed, 07 Dec 2011 19:55:54 GMT http://www.nature.com/scitable/blog/theprometheancell/conferencing 2011-12-07T19:55:54Z http://www.nature.com/scitable/blog/theprometheancell/be_still_my_heart Ah, the holidays...rich food, lounging around, and travel/family stress make me ... Wed, 30 Nov 2011 21:21:47 GMT http://www.nature.com/scitable/blog/theprometheancell/be_still_my_heart 2011-11-30T21:21:47Z http://www.nature.com/scitable/blog/theprometheancell/great_expectations_will_stem_cells Regenerative medicine comes with a lot of expectations (See Figure). I hinted in... Mon, 21 Nov 2011 22:14:13 GMT http://www.nature.com/scitable/blog/theprometheancell/great_expectations_will_stem_cells 2011-11-21T22:14:13Z http://www.nature.com/scitable/blog/theprometheancell/the_shapeshifting_stem_cell Shapeshifting has been a common theme in ancient mythology as well as modern fol... Thu, 17 Nov 2011 19:10:49 GMT http://www.nature.com/scitable/blog/theprometheancell/the_shapeshifting_stem_cell 2011-11-17T19:10:49Z http://www.nature.com/scitable/blog/theprometheancell/welcome_to_the_promethean_cell Hello everyone and welcome to the Promethean Cell. In this first blog post, I wo... Wed, 16 Nov 2011 22:23:21 GMT http://www.nature.com/scitable/blog/theprometheancell/welcome_to_the_promethean_cell 2011-11-16T22:23:21Z