First, Get a Placenta

So you wanna do stem cell experiments, but you don't want to go through all of the red tape involved in securing a federally approved line. Worry not. If you have the will, the science blogosphere has a way. Check out the latest dispatch in Pimm, a biotech DIY blog, for step-by-step instructions on isolating amniotic stem cells from a human placenta. Blogger Attila Csordás shows that "isolating stem cells from the placenta is not more difficult than making a steak, and with proper preparation, investment and timing you can do it even at home or in a rent lab."