- University of Wisconsin
developmental biologist Dr. James Thomson and his team figured out how to “reverse
engineer” skin cells to produce human embryonic stem cells that, so far, act
just like those produced from embryos.
- The Wisconsin Alumni Research
Foundation, assailed by challenges to three of its six core stem-cell patents, last
week completed a clean sweep of victories in the U.S. Patent and Trade Office. The
decisions confirm that Wisconsin
is a critical stop for anyone aiming to commercialize products that rely on
embryonic stem cells.
- Five stem-cell companies have
taken root in Wisconsin, including two tied to
Thomson and one that moved from Norway
in order to be closer to the action.
- An announcement was made last
week that Madison
will host the 2008 World Stem Cell Summit, an event that will attract top
scientists from around the globe.
Just as significant, however, was an
announcement that might easily have been dismissed as the arcane stuff of academic
insiders. It was the late February disclosure that Thomson will lead the new
Stem Cell and RegenerativeMedicineCenter
within the new MorgridgeCenter for Discovery on
the UW-Madison campus.
The news was akin to the Milwaukee Brewers
signing Prince Fielder, Ryan Braun – or both – to long-term contracts...
In short, the UW-Madison and WARF have locked
up the services of Thomson, and his international reputation, for the
foreseeable future. The move not only provides a world-class foundation for
continued stem-cell research in Wisconsin, but it signals the private,
non-profit Morgridge Institute and its public twin, the Wisconsin Institute for
Discovery, will settle for nothing short of research “stars” in its lead
scientific positions.
Thomson became the first in the world to isolate human embryonic stem cells
and keep them alive indefinitely in culture, a 1998 discovery the journal
Science later described as one of the major milestones in the history of
science.
His discovery ushered in a new era of human biological research, providing
scientists with “blank slate” cells capable of becoming any of the more than
200 specialized cells in the body and offering researchers a rare view into the
earliest stages of human development. While cell transplantation therapies have
yet to be developed, human embryonic stem cells are already powerful research
tools that provide scientists accurate models of human disease and a new way to
test drugs more effectively in living organisms.
Nearly a decade after his initial discovery, Thomson made world headlines again
in late 2007 when he and other UW researchers turned skin cells into embryonic
stem-cell equivalents. Because the new cells (called induced pluripotent stem
cells) are not derived from embryos, the discovery may close one chapter of
ethical and political conflict surrounding stem-cell research. Scientists
believe the iPS cells may one day replace the use of human ES cells as both
research tools and therapeutic agents.
As a director at the MorgridgeCenter, Thomson will keep his faculty
appointment and his physical “moving day” sometime in 2010 will take him no farther
than across Madison’s
University Avenue.
The real change is the company he will be allowed to keep – starting now.
As a director of the MorgridgeCenter,
Thomson and his team will be able to bring in other international stem-cell and
regenerative medicine scientists to advance study of possible diagnostics,
therapies and even cures. In addition to the acclaimed team of stem-cell
scientists already on campus, Thomson will be able to invite others from around
the world for extended periods. Think of Thomas Edison’s Menlo Park with visiting biotech luminaries.
It’s all in keeping with the mission of the
Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery, which is designed, physically and
otherwise, to allow scientists from multiple disciplines to work together on
projects that often fuse biology with math, computer science or engineering.
The concept of a multi-disciplinary center
isn’t new; the Clark institute at Stanford and
the Whitehead center at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology are prominent
examples. But the Wisconsin institute is the
first in the nation’s heartland. Key to the creation of the institute was a $50
million gift from Wauwatosa
natives John and Tashia Morgridge, UW graduates who founded Cisco Systems.
Still to come: Scientific directors for
bioengineering, computational biology and other vital centers within the
Institutes for Discovery. By securing Thomson to run the Stem Cell and RegenerativeMedicineCenter,
however, a high bar has been set. And the foundation for Wisconsin’s newest industry just became
stronger.
Still
is president of the Wisconsin Technology
Council, the non-profit science and technology advisers to the governor and the
Legislature. |
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