The locals refer to the series of Nobel activities...

Gladstone is an independent and nonprofit biomedical-research organization dedicated to accelerating the pace of scientific discovery and innovation to prevent, treat and cure cardiovascular, viral and neurological diseases.

Jeanette Borzo is a recovering journalist who has felt somewhat discombobulated since returning from Paris, nearly a decade ago. But she's been on the mend since joining the Communications team at the Gladstone Institutes, where she gets to tell the world—in words, pictures, websites, street-lamp banners and short films—about the amazing science happening just south of San Francisco's ballpark, in Gladstone's labs.

rss
archive

The locals refer to the series of Nobel activities starting tomorrow as The Magic Week. Works for me—I have experienced a generous dose of magic since arriving yesterday. Elegant hotel. Comfy bathrobe. Monogrammed slippers. Stunning green marble (or is that granite?) in the bathroom.

A room that feels like an ocean liner stateroom. And a “continental” breakfast (enough for two meals!) that arrived this morning with a plate of gluten-free bread.

Seriously? Gluten-free bread delivered to my doorstep? This is the first time in 15 years I’ve had a hotel breakfast with bread I can eat—that is, it’s the first time it has EVER happened. The local high incidence of celiac, an autoimmune disease, seems to be the likely explanation for my good fortune.

But of course the real magic this week revolves around the science—the discovery of induced pluripotent stem cell technology from a man named Shinya Yamanaka. Watch a bit of that here and you’ll see what I mean.

A Nobel Discovery to Fight Disease from The Gladstone Institutes on Vimeo.
- December 5, 2012 (5:14 pm)