Neuralstem CEO Blog
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"Science gives us no answer to the question, how shall we live?"
Posted: December 19th, 2011
"Science gives us no answer to the question, how shall we live?"
- Leo Tolstoy 1898
In a rather stunning piece of news recently, the Secretary of Health and Human Services overruled the FDA to keep (what opponents would call) an abortion pill from becoming available over the counter without a prescription to some women under the age of 18; euphemistically called "Plan B." The Secretary, as delegated by the President, has always had the authority to overrule the FDA, which also only exists as an arm of the Executive branch. But apparently in the entire history of the agency this has never happened. This has brought the "science vs. politics" debate into the public conscience again. Commentators see it as either an isolated incident in an area where there was "soft science" or as a catastrophic incursion of politics into the appropriate realm of science. As a Company developing neural stem cell technology, we are all too familiar with the overlapping of politics and science.
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The die is cast
Posted: November 15th, 2011
"The die is cast"
- Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare
In what appeared to be an “out of the blue” release after the markets closed yesterday, Geron announced that it was ceasing all stem cell operations. If you are reading this, you already know that Geron was the largest player in the stem cell world; owners basically of all Embryonic Stem Cell technology. They had one ongoing trial in the U.S., for acute spinal cord injury. I believe they may have transplanted 4 patients since the trial began (close to 2 years ago). That trial has been stopped. Additionally, I read that they have already given back the CIRM money (to California) and it is assumed that all those research programs are also closed down. Geron is going to become an oncology company according to their release.
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There’s a time for us... A place and time for us…
Posted: October 20th, 2011
“There’s a time for us
A place and time for us…”
- Death scene, West Side story
They knew, they were sure, and yet the star crossed lovers in Leonard Bernstein’s touching retelling of Shakespeare’s tragic love story know that their time is not now.
I was reminded of this scene last week at a spectacular fund raising event for ALS in Atlanta. The Night of Hope event was actually sponsored by the Muscular Dystrophy Association. One of our trial patients received an award for his hard work and support of ALS research. In his acceptance speech, he revealed that he was patient #12 in our trial.
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It is a tale Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, Signifying nothing.
Posted: September 28th, 2011
“….it is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing.”
- Macbeth
Shakespeare’s bitter, frustrated, yet eloquent rant on life…who among us has not felt like this at times? There are so many things we don’t know, so much of life that indeed seems random and meaningless. Yet also so much that is wonderment and joy. The Jewish new year begins this week, and as part of the ritual we ask God to write our names in the book of life for the upcoming year.
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I can't give you brains but I can give you a diploma.
Posted: September 14th, 2011
"I can't give you brains but I can give you a diploma."
(the wizard of Oz to the scarecrow)
A wry but all to often prescient comment on how we measure intelligence. When my children were young, a wonderful animated movie was released called the Secret of NIMH. The main characters were rats that had been the subjects of an experimental drug. They became very smart and escaped from an NIH lab. Two films this summer; Limitless and Rise of the Planet of the Apes are different takes on a similar theme. Both films are about drugs that make those who take them smarter. Not just a little smarter, but orders of magnitude smarter.
