Ada Lovelace Day: celebrating women in STEM

by Samantha Payne | Oct 11, 2016

Can you name five historically influential women in the STEM fields (science, technology, engineering and medicine)? What about three? I recently asked myself this question and found that I struggled to come up with names, despite the formal training I’ve received in...

Right Turn: Finding donors for multi-ethnic patients with rare blood diseases

by Guest | Oct 7, 2016

Laine Jaremey is the Communications Specialist at CCRM. Laine has over eight years of experience as a strategic communicator with a focus in the health industry. She completed her Bachelor’s Degree in Communication Studies at Wilfrid Laurier University, and a...

Would you buy a designer bag made from lab-grown human skin?

by Jovana Drinjakovic | Oct 6, 2016

In case you haven’t heard, Tina Gorjanc, a UK-based fashion designer, shocked the fashion world this summer when she announced her Pure Human collection of luxury leather items, to be made from lab-grown human skin, engineered with the late designer Alexander...

Right Turn: “Comic” twist on CRISPR

by Lisa Willemse | Sep 30, 2016

There’s nothing really funny about the patent debate on CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing. It’s been a contentious and expensive court battle, that has thankfully steered clear of mud-slinging (mostly). Which is good, since there’s more than enough of that in the U.S. these...

Taking appropriate steps towards gene editing in Canada

by Guest | Sep 29, 2016

Patrick Bedford is the new Manager of Clinical Translation and Regulatory Affairs at CCRM.  He holds a Master’s Degree in Bioethics and Health Law, and has over 10 years of experience applying federal regulations to emerging biotechnologies in Canada.   Back in...

Right Turn: Dance your Ph.D. – give it a whirl!

by Stacey Johnson | Sep 23, 2016

The “Dance Your Ph.D.” contest is a brilliant example of out of the box thinking, but it’s not the first case of science being interpreted through dance. Science journalist John Bohannon, the man behind “Dance Your Ph.D” – “an inebriated stunt at a Vienna science...

A new style of MSC immunotherapy – Instructions included

by Holly Wobma | Sep 22, 2016

If you have been following stem cell news lately, you know that there have been several recent Food and Drug Administration (FDA) meetings regarding how to classify stem cells, which ultimately affects if and how they will be regulated. There are many medical...

Right Turn: Hope for patients suffering from sepsis

by Stacey Johnson | Sep 16, 2016

September is Sepsis Awareness Month and World Sepsis Day was acknowledged earlier this week – on Tuesday, September 13. That’s why there’s a good possibility that you have seen the video below, about a heartbroken mother who lost her young son to sepsis. (It has...

The story of the first bone marrow transplant

by Jovana Drinjakovic | Sep 15, 2016

It was a failed transplant that saved his life. In 1958, Radojko Maksic became the first person to receive a bone marrow graft from a stranger, after he was accidentally exposed to a lethal dose of radiation in Belgrade, in what was then Yugoslavia. He still lives in...

Right Turn: There’s magic in The Magic School Bus

by Stacey Johnson | Sep 9, 2016

There is a glut of bad television out there, but when it comes to educational programs for young children, there are some gems. My kids are past this stage, but I can tell you that it was more enjoyable to sit with them watching TV when they were young then now, with...