In NIH Building 37, one of the research towers kitty-corner to the massive Building 10 complex, is the heart of the national effort to help companion animals with cancer.

The mission of the National Institutes of Health, and the work it supports, is to alleviate human suffering through advancements in science and medicine. Certainly, when a ( Read more... )

I've been kinda busy, and tired. Haven't been 'round much of anywhere much.

But for today, a story inspired by events in June, and finally finished here. A story of progress and promise...

The first cancer gene took almost forty years to move from discovery to cancer cure.

One of the most recent, took less than forty *months*.

It was in 1960 ( Read more... )

I've been regrettably absent from many places, and intensely busy even when not in the hospital. So busy with work preparing for my fellowship that many things are still in progress, including celebration of a very special 10th anniversary.

This is a entry about that work.

It's always been assumed that there would be no single magic bullet for ( Read more... )

It's among my own personal traditions. Because every patient needs hope, if we can give it to them. And in this particular case, I think we really, honestly, can ( Read more... )

This is a story that begins with learning to make stem cells dance. And then dares the grandest dreams of all.

When we use the term "stem cell", we mean a cell which can do two things:

• (1) it can make more copies of itself,
  
• (2) it can differentiate into (grow into) other cell types.
  

With regards to the ability to make copies -- known as self ( Read more... )

The third independent genome within each of us is something many folks are less aware of ( Read more... )

For a long time, I've been working on entries talking about the neato research I was lucky to have been a part of during my time here at Michigan. Today, finally, one of those stories: the story of the research I began at the beginning of my time here at Michigan -- and as it happens, the research that I've been working on helping write up in ( Read more... )

This morning's earlier entry about a silly, embarassing moment of mine which much amused the folks of Cynnabar: this second entry of the day, a celebration of the new world that dawned, fifty years ago today.They built a mighty stone tower more than two-hundred feet tall at Stirling, Scotland, to honor the victory William Wallace won there. A case ( Read more... )

While too busy to catch up on LJ reading and too swamped to finish any new entries, another old story from early 2002 and the Open Diary that most of you have never seen. Hope you all are well.

A friend of mine works in the laboratory of Dr. James Mule here at Michigan, looking at development of cancer vaccines. More specifically, they are trying ( Read more... )

There truly was a good explanation for the kid's backyard swing set, the garbage cans filled with blood, and the chanting half-naked guy with the canoe paddle ( Read more... )