.
This intriguing title is not completely my own. It is a shorter version of Alysson Muotri’s (UCSD) title from a presentation he gave to the governing Board of the California Institute of Regenerative Medicine on March 13, 2014: “Reversing Autism in the Lab with Help from Stem Cells and the Tooth Fairy.” Dr. Muotri is working at the forefront of Autism Spectrum Disorder and his research interests include using “neural stem cells, human pluripotent cells and several molecular tools to investigate fundamental mechanisms of brain development and mental disorders.”
From a quick online search, I can see that Dr. Muotri is a fan of social media and recognizes its value when trying to reach and engage families with autism around the world. In his talk, he describes a Fairy Tooth Kit Collection campaign that he developed to obtain baby teeth to extract pulp cells and convert them into brain cells. He also mentions the importance of communicating science clearly so his lay friendly and catchy title makes sense. His research is equally worthy of attention.
Our regular feature, Right Turn, showcases the “lighter” side of stem cells and regenerative medicine. Every Friday, we will bring you cartoons, photos, videos and other content that may be just as thought provoking as the written submissions that you are used to finding here, but they definitely won’t be blogs.
As always, we welcome your feedback and we also welcome suitable submissions. Be creative! Use the right (!) side of your brain. Make us laugh! Let’s see if we can make this new direction a positive one for all of us. Send your submission to info(at)ccrm.ca.
Stacey Johnson
Latest posts by Stacey Johnson (see all)
- Right Turn: Beyond the ’stache: The science, the progress, the promise - November 26, 2025
- Right Turn: Can Bryan Johnson live forever? Will regenerative medicine help him do so? - October 10, 2025
- Right Turn: #pinksocks, diabetes news and other ramblings - June 24, 2025
Comments