Media in Japan are reporting that Waseda University will shortly revoke the Ph.D. of STAP cell scientist Haruko Obokata. A hat tip to blog reader Tom on this story. The thesis contained plagiarized material and problematic data as did the Nature papers on which she was first author. Those papers were retracted and now apparently her thesis will essentially find the same fate.

Obokata had been given 1 year to correct her thesis, a potentially impossible task, and Japan TImes quotes a source that she didnt meet the deadline:

The former Riken researcher was last October given a year in which to correct a thesis she wrote in 2011. She failed to submit the revisions in time, the sources said, and a request for an extension was refused.

This is a further step in the winding down of the STAP cell mess following on the recent publication of papers by Nature refuting STAP. There is a sense that the supervision of Obokata as a young scientist was not effective, which is perhaps the main STAP element that is as yet not entirely resolved.

The voters have spoken and below is the list of the top 12 vote getters from the larger pool of nominees for Stem Cell Person of the Year in 2015. These are some amazing people.

Look for more information, such as mini-bios, soonon some of the top finalists.

There were nearly 4,700 votes in total.

Now I have the tough task of picking from this dozen just one winner, who will receive the recognition as the top stem cell outside the box innovator of 2015 and of course the $2,000 prize.

A draft agenda is now publicly available for the upcoming National Academy of Sciences (NAS) meeting on human gene editing. We now know a lot more about what to expect from this international gathering, which is called the International Summit on Human Gene Editing: A Global Discussion.

The meeting will start on day 1 with context from David Baltimore as well as other scientists from around the world. There will be scientific background on the technology and information on applications. Social Implications will be discussed. Sprinkled throughout the first day will be opportunities for comments and questions from the floor totaling about 2 hours on this day.

Image from National Academy of Medicine. Oops they made the DNA left-handed.

Day 2 looks to build on the themes of the first day, but now bringing in the issues of governance and more emphasis on international perspectives.

Day 3 will be focused more squarely on societal implications and governance including the crucial issue of commercialization. These days also provide time for comments and questions from the floor.

These windows of time will include opportunities for members of the public to bring their voices into the discussion. I asked a NAS spokesperson about the role of the public in the meeting and received this reply:

The organizing committee and staff and leadership of the academies have been identifying experts/stakeholders/interested parties from a range of disciplines and perspectives to invite to attend and participate in the summit. In addition, a general public registration will open next week, it will be open to anyone although seating is limited and dozens of people have already expressed interest in attending. And yes, public may participate in breakout sessions, and will have an opportunity to speak in public comment sessions as appropriate.

There will also be other opportunities for involvement according to the spokesperson:

Also, the video webcast will allow many people to view the proceedings and we expect a lively conversation on social media including at #GeneEditSummit

Since I will be at the meeting and blogging it live here, I hope that this site will in addition provide a forum for discussion involving a diverse group and boost democratic deliberation on this important topic.

The myostatin gene has been getting quite a bit of attention lately.

The buzz surrounds the idea of inhibiting myostatin either through gene therapy or via germline human genetic modification.

In this way, some hope to create people with more muscle. Myostatin, which also goes by the acronym MSTN, has an inhibitory function on muscle. Inhibit and inhibitor of muscle and you should get more muscle, right?

Data backs it up.

Animals including humans with spontaneous mutations in myostatin have unusualmusculature including increases in muscle. This NEJM case report on a boy with a myostatin mutation describes a remarkable phenotype of drastically increased muscle and reduced fat. No clear pathology was associated with the condition, which is referred to as myostatin-related muscle hypertrophy. More on that condition more generally here.

Pop culture isfascinated with the idea of genetically modifying people to artificially create this kind of super-muscle condition. Would they be like superheroes? Just last week came the first report of a person, Liz Parrish, supposedly doing a DIY gene therapy to target myostatin.

Scientists have recently reported a string of super-muscled animals created through genetic modification includingGM dogs and pigs.

If this kind of trend continues and increasingly involves people, what might go wrong? One possibility is that GM people who have had the myostatin pathway targeted could have other phenotypes or even diseases that we cannot anticipate.

Ive written a new book on human genetic modification. This is my second book as the first one was Stem Cells: An Insiders Guide, which is currently the top stem cell book on Amazon.The new book iscalled GMO Sapiens: The Life-Changing Science of Designer Babies.

You can pre-order ithereat Amazon or overhere at my publishers site.The newly updated cover is shown at right.

The title was chosen as a portmanteau (mashup) of GMO andHomo sapiens.

Weve been aiming for the book to come outin mid-late December. Im optimistic based on what I hear from the publisher, but well see.

Why write a book on human genetic modification?

The science in this areahas changed dramatically and both the wider scientific community and the public need to know what is going on so that they can participate in the dialogue.

Unlike in past decades, today the possibility of heritable human genetic modification is very real. Based on all that we now know it is reasonable to predict that someone will attempt to create genetically modified people(aka designer babies) in coming years. The results could be great or disastrous, but in either case (or probably more likely some mixture of the two) the outcomes are going to be revolutionary.

Are we ready for what may come next? How will this affect individuals and society as a whole?

More thinking, discussion, and transparency are urgently needed.The goal of this upcoming book is to move in a constructive direction by educating and stimulating debate as well as dialogue.

At the same time in the book, I am not afraid to tackle the real, but tough issues that are integral to this topic. It seems that up until now in science it has been somewhat taboo to talk about the possibility of designer babies.However, we dont have time to close our eyes to the reasonable probability that someone will try to make designer babies in the near future nor to pretend that nothing could go wrong for individuals or society. Already this year we saw the creation of the first genetically-modified human embryos in the lab using the amazing gene editing toolbox that is CRISPR. That is just one step, but may have opened the door to much more.

It addition to beinga resource for learning, my newbook is written to be an enjoyable read that is approachable to both an educated lay audience and scientists alike.

Heres the draft back cover blurb (could still change):

Genetically modified organisms (GMOs) including plants and the foods made from them are a hot topic of debate today, but soon related technology could go much further and literally change what it means to be human. Scientists are on the verge of being able to create people who are GMOs.

Should they do it? Could we become a healthier and better species or might eugenics go viral leading to a real, new world of genetic dystopia? GMO Sapiens tackles such questions by taking a fresh look at the cutting-edge biotech discoveries that have made genetically modified people possible.

Bioengineering, genomics, synthetic biology, and stem cells are changing sci-fi into reality before our eyes. This book will capture your imagination with its clear, approachable writing style. It will draw you into the fascinating discussion of the life-changing science of human genetic modification.

See more here:
The Niche - Knoepfler lab stem cell blog

Comments are closed.