The Stem Cell Podcast

The Stem Cell Podcast is a science conversation show from inside the stem cell field, co-hosted by Drs. Daylon James and Arun Sharma and sponsored by STEMCELL Technologies. Episodes are numbered and titled after their subject and guests, and the run of titles is the quickest way to see what the show covers. 'Primate Embryogenesis' with Thorsten Boroviak. 'Engineering the Human Heart' with Aitor Aguirre. 'Modeling Reproduction and Endocrinology' with Kotaro Sasaki. 'Advanced Stem Cell-Based Models' with Shuibing Chen and Hans Clevers. The range runs through development, organ engineering, model systems and reproductive biology. The guest conversations lead, but the discussion of other people's papers gives the show its texture. A Current Biology study on early embryonic cleavage, from a journal one speaker says the show rarely covers, turns into a comparison of embryos that cannot survive losing a single early cell with mammalian embryos that can lose several and still produce a live-born animal. A whole-body imaging study is praised for its resolution and faulted, almost in the same breath, because the left atrium could not be accurately registered. Blood-formation research gets a sharper critique. Many studies, one speaker argues, lean on transplant models and stressed, non-steady-state conditions, while barcoding and retrospective lineage methods have made steady-state blood formation observable, even in humans to a degree. Then comes a counterargument from the submitting author's side. There are personal stories as well. One of the hosts recalls a solution that 'was in front of my face the whole time', a trick later used to induce cardiomyocyte proliferation in that host's own lab, and wonders whether something as simple as zinc modulation could change a crowded area of research. That leads straight into a question about where the Vertex trial stands. Opinions come out plainly: in one discussion, enthusiasm for NAMs runs into a firm insistence that animal models cannot be bypassed. The humor is offhand, down to a late-night bacon, egg and cheese sandwich offered as a rescue. The ISSCR annual meeting is a recurring anchor. 'Live at ISSCR 2025: Advancing Regenerative Medicine with CiPSCs', featuring Hongkui Deng and Candice Liew, was recorded at the meeting itself, and 'ISSCR 2026: Real Discoveries, Real Collaboration, Real Potential' features Fiona Doetsch and Nozomu Yachie. A newsletter at stemcellpodcast.com carries show notes with an episode summary and links to the papers discussed. A newcomer could start with the live ISSCR 2025 episode for the meeting atmosphere, or with whichever guest title matches their own corner of the field. What the show offers is expert shoptalk without the hedging: researchers saying out loud what impressed them in a paper and what did not.