In cell Olympics iPS cells get gold, while STAP cells are too young to judge

If you are like me, you’ve managed to watch at least a bit of the Olympics the last few weeks.

Sometimes I squeeze in a few minutes late at night while multi-tasking writing a grant.

Other folks with more time on their hands are Olympics fanatics with gold medals, ice, and snow on the brain right now.

Olympic-Rings

What about a stem cell Olympics?

In a battle of reprogramming methods and pluripotent stem cells, in my book iPS cells still win the gold medal.

What about STAP stem cells? Silver? Bronze? Fourth place? Nope….

At this point they are just too young to even compete…say like a 8-year old kid who wants to be an ice skating star someday.

Maybe in four years for the next Winter Olympics or even in two years in Brazil for the summer Olympics, in the stem cell lab world at the same time the games are going on we’ll all be making STAP stem cells and chanting “STAP” and be their biggest fans.

But for now at least, iPS cells have the gold medal.

1 thought on “In cell Olympics iPS cells get gold, while STAP cells are too young to judge”

  1. (kinda OT?)

    i think you are being too modest regarding STAP.

    With the Nature’s own statement that 10 labs couldn’t replicate the results, and of course your VERY objective/honest assessment of the situation, I think it’s safe to say STAP isn’t even going to make it through qualifiers, forget the olympics!

    IN LIGHT OF THAT, you still consider them without sounding trite. that’s being a good scientist imo.

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