Wisconsin Stem Cell Now

UW stem cell scientist gets prestigious honor

lindaland — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 20:00:00 +0000

From today's CapTimes

UW stem cell scientist gets prestigious honor
The Capital Times — 4/29/2008 2:46 pm

UW-Madison stem cell scientist James Thomson has been elected to the National Academy of Sciences.

The announcement of Thomson's election was made Tuesday by the university.

Thomson is among 72 new fellows going into the 145-year-old academy this year, considered one of the most prestigious honors in American science.

In 1998, Thomson was the first scientist to isolate and culture human embryonic stem cells.

In 2007, Thomson and fellow UW-Madison scientist Junying Yu announced their latest discovery, genetic reprogramming of human skin cells to create cells indistinguishable from embryonic stem cells.

New Executive Director of WiCell

lindaland — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 17:55:00 +0000

Erik Forsberg appointed executive director of WiCell Research Institute

April 9, 2008

by Janet Kelly

Erik Forsberg has been named to the newly created position of executive director of the WiCell Research Institute. In this position, Forsberg will direct all operations of the private, non-profit institute, a supporting organization of the University of Wisconsin-Madison that provides core services to UW-Madison stem cell researchers and operates the National Stem Cell Bank.

Forsberg most recently served as the senior director of scientific development at Pharming Group, where he directed scientific programs and established research and development agreements with academic and commercial organizations. His past positions include director of cloning technologies at Minitube of America, vice president of development at Infigen and assistant professor in the UW-Madison Department of Physiology.

He holds a doctorate in physiological and pharmacological sciences from the University of Chicago and a bachelor's degree in biology from Kalamazoo College in Michigan. He has served on the UW-Madison Master's of Science in Biotechnology Advisory Board, has presented as an invited lecturer at numerous conferences in the U.S. and abroad, is an inventor named on eight patents and has authored numerous scientific publications.

"Over the past six months, we conducted an international search for an executive director for WiCell, and are extremely fortunate to have found the best candidate right here in Madison," states Carl Gulbrandsen, president of the WiCell Research Institute. "Erik brings to WiCell impressive academic credentials, an innovative scientific background and hands-on commercial and management experience. These strengths, combined with his in-depth knowledge of UW-Madison and the international scientific community, make him an exceptional leader for WiCell."

As executive director of WiCell, Forsberg will lead strategies to enhance the core services WiCell provides to stem cell researchers at UW-Madison and ensure effective operations of the National Stem Cell Bank, which the institute hosts for the National Institutes of Health. He will continue WiCell's initiatives in developing collaborative relationships with key industry, academic and governmental partners in the local, national and international scientific communities.

The WiCell Research Institute was founded in 1999 to advance the science of stem cells. WiCell supports stem cell research at UW-Madison, operates the National Stem Cell Bank, provides training for scientists and offers educational outreach programs for K-12 students and the community.

Honor for WARF Director

lindaland — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 19:26:00 +0000

Andrew Cohn has been instrumental in many hESC activities. He excels at explaining this technology in easy-to-understand terms. Kudos to Andrew Cohn. Lindaland

From the UW Wire

Association of University Technology Managers honors WARF’s Cohn

April 1, 2008

Andrew Cohn, director of government and association relations for the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (WARF), received the Bayh-Dole Award from the Association of University Technology Managers (AUTM) during its annual meeting on Feb. 28 in San Diego.

Every year, the award is presented to one individual who has been an ardent supporter of the practice of technology transfer. The commendation cites Cohn's outstanding service to the profession and to AUTM through his tireless work in public policy advocacy and education. Among other issues, Cohn has been involved in efforts to improve U.S. patent law, maintain the federal Bayh-Dole Act and address global health concerns for underdeveloped countries.

"We are very proud of Andy and his accomplishments over the years," says Carl Gulbrandsen, managing director of WARF. "He has built strong relationships with our Congressional delegation and state legislators, has been instrumental in initiating collaborative advocacy activities among the Big Ten Conference universities, as well as forming mutually beneficial relationships among university associations and other technology transfer organizations across the country."

Cohn joined WARF as manager of government and media relations in 2001 and became director of government and association relations in 2007. Prior to joining WARF, he worked as the executive assistant for then-Wisconsin Attorney General Jim Doyle for eight years.

Howard Bremer, emeritus general counsel at WARF and one of the founding fathers of AUTM, was the first recipient of the award in 1980.

Pay for Eggs?

lindaland — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 18:00:00 +0000

This is from today's The Scientist online blog.

It raises interesting questions about where to get oocytes for hESC research.
Some of the issues are:

serious risks for egg donors? Anestheis, hyper-stimulation, what are the long-term effects?
should egg and sperm donor's consent?
what are the terms for confidentiality and anonymity?
Moore v. Regents of the University of California?
Is payment for eggs ok for IVF and not hESCR?
Chain of custody of eggs?
and so on

Lindaland
CIRM to pay for eggs?

Posted by Elie Dolgin

[Entry posted at 27th March 2008 06:22 PM GMT]

Recent comments by California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) President Alan Trounson imply that the agency may be looking for ways to pay women for their eggs for stem cell research.

Currently, laws in California and Massachusetts — two leader states in stem cell research — prohibit compensation for eggs. But with a shortage of available human eggs for research purposes, the issue remains a national sticking point to the progress of stem cell research and cloning science.

At a meeting of CIRM's Standards Working Group (SWG) on February 28, Trounson called on the CIRM to explore ways to reimburse women for eggs, according to the transcripts of the meeting.

"The demand for oocytes may be way beyond what we can possibly deliver," said Trounson, in response to the growing number of applications to use human eggs in research. He cited the failure of many researchers to obtain eggs through donation without financial reward. "Women are not prepared to go through those procedures without some form of compensation," he said.

Proposition 71, which was passed as a statewide ballot initiative by voters in 2004 established CIRM as an agency to award grants and loans for stem cell research. Although the legislation established stem cell research as a state constitutional right in California, it prohibits compensation for eggs, but allows reimbursement of direct expenses.

One idea that arose at the meeting was to subsidize the cost of fertility treatment for women donating eggs, as is currently done in other countries, such as the UK. However, opponents of this move argue that covering the costs of in vitro fertilization (IVF) is another form of paying for eggs. "[If] a person gets a discount in IVF, it's compensation," said Susan Fogel of the Pro-Choice Alliance at the meeting.

Trounson "called for a discussion to look into various options," said Don Gibbons, CIRM's chief communication officer. "There are no pre-conceived notions of what we want [the SWG] to do."

There is currently "no regulatory proposal on the table," said Geoff Lomax, senior officer for the SWG, who described the February 28th meeting as a "thinking out loud session." He said that plans are underway for a meeting in the late summer or early fall that will bring together scientists and special interest groups to look into different options for obtaining human eggs. "There needs to be a future meeting to talk about the issue of egg donation," Lomax told The Scientist.

Kevin Eggan of Harvard University's Stem Cell Institute told The Scientist he was "heartened" by Trounson's comments, but doubts that CIRM can do much in its role as a regulatory agency within the existing legislation. He called on the National Academy of Sciences to revisit the issue, stating that women should be compensated for providing eggs for stem cell research, just as they are for donating eggs to treat infertility and as they were in the early days of IVF research. "Clearly that's the expectation of these women for egg donation," he said. "Human research donors, which is what these women are, should be compensated for their time, their effort, and any duress they incur."

Jeff Sheehy, a CIRM board member, said he reacted "viscerally" to Trounson's announcement. "It seemed to fly in the face of Proposition 71," he said. Sheehy told The Scientist that Proposition 71 was approved following a campaign that promised a no-compensation policy for CIRM-funded research. "Why go against the will of the legislation in what voters thought they were approving?" he said.

A good review of the issues raised at the Feb. 28 meeting can be found at the California Stem Cell Report blog.

Therapeutic Cloning and PD Hope

lindaland — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 20:41:00 +0000

Latest news on SCNT (Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer) and Parkinson's Disease in mice. Will it translate to humans? We don't know yet. The article below is from the www.medicalnewstoday.com

Therapeutic Cloning Treats Parkinson's Disease In Mice

25 Mar 2008

Research led by investigators at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) has shown that therapeutic cloning, also known as somatic-cell nuclear transfer (SCNT), can be used to treat Parkinson's disease in mice. The study's results are published in the March 23 online edition of the journal Nature Medicine.

For the first time, researchers showed that therapeutic cloning or SCNT has been successfully used to treat disease in the same subjects from whom the initial cells were derived. While this current work is in animals, it could have future implications as this method may be an effective way to reduce transplant rejection and enhance recovery in other diseases and in other organ systems.

In therapeutic cloning or SCNT, the nucleus of a somatic cell from a donor subject is inserted into an egg from which the nucleus has been removed. This cell then develops into a blastocyst from which embryonic stem cells can be harvested and differentiated for therapeutic purposes. As the genetic information in the resulting stem cells comes from the donor subject, therapeutic cloning or SCNT would yield subject-specific cells that are spared by the immune system after transplantation.

The new study shows that therapeutic cloning can treat Parkinson's disease in a mouse model. The scientists used skin cells from the tail of the animal to generate customized or autologous dopamine neurons the missing neurons in Parkinson's disease. The mice that received neurons derived from individually matched stem cell lines exhibited neurological improvement. But when these neurons were grafted into mice that did not genetically match the transplanted cells, the cells did not survive well and the mice did not recover.

The work was led by senior author Lorenz Studer, MD, Head of the Stem Cell and Tumor Biology Laboratory within the Sloan-Kettering Institute at MSKCC, and lead author Viviane Tabar, MD, Neurosurgeon and stem cell scientist at MSKCC. The work was performed in collaboration with scientists at the Riken Institute in Kobe, Japan.

Other MSKCC researchers who contributed to this study are: Mark Tomishima, Georgia Panagiotakos, George Al-Shamy, Bill Chan, and Jayanthi Menon. Scientists in Japan include group leader Teruhiko Wakayama and scientists Eiji Mizutani, Sayaka Wakayama and Hiroshi Ohta. This research was supported by the US National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, the Starr Tri-institutional Stem Cell Initiative, the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research, the Michael W. McCarthy Foundation and an unrestricted grant from the Kinetics Foundation.

Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
1275 York Ave.
New York, NY 10021
United States
http://www.mskcc.org

James Thomson

lindaland — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 17:10:00 +0000

Information on Jamie Thomson - having heard him speak several times here in Madison - in class and at 'events' this article hits the nail right on the head.

"Understatement is a character trait of Wisconsin’s most famous biologist. It drives reporters crazy. “I think of Jamie as the Chuck Yeager of biology — working at the very edge of the envelope, and yet curiously, almost maddeningly, laconic when pressed to talk about what he has done or plans to do next,” laments Rick Weiss, science reporter for the Washington Post. “The guy seems to have made it a personal challenge to understate his accomplishments, killing every effort to get a dramatic quote or a jazzy sense of where the science is going.”

The article is @

http://www.news.wisc.edu/on-wisconsin/soft-cell/

Enjoy, and boy am I happy this is happening in Wisconsin.

Lindaland

Impact of iPS cells

lindaland — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 19:43:00 +0000

When Dr. Jamie Thomson and his team announced their success in reverse-engineering adult skin cells back to the nascent blueprint, embryonic stem cells, I knew there'd be quite a stir.

At first blush, induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS) might be the answer to the ethical conundrum that has stalled federal support of embryonic stem cell research: some feel the "potential for life" (i.e. the small cluster of cells inside the pre-implantation blastocyst) should be afforded the same constellation of human rights and protections that our constitution guarantees an existing, human life.

Adult cells that can be bit-banged back to their defining-formula, may be the answer.

Though, "Is this an instance of genetic-engineering?" comes to mind immediately. Just think of the uproar a few years back concerning genetically-engineered milk! (rBGH - for those of you not from the dairy state).

I can see no end to the ethical, moral, and political debates, not mentioning hard, scientific questions that need answers:

what is "potential for life"? how should it be protected?
are reversed-engineered adult cells as good as newly minted cells from the blastocyst?
how will state and federal monies be divided up to study these approaches?
is the 'life' that is engineered through the iPS process 'potential for life'?
can iPS be understood without understanding embryonic stem cells?
are all the scientists going to abandon embryonic stem cell research for iPS?
will politicians chicken out of formulating sound regulatory guidelines for embryonic and induced pluripotent stem cells? at state and federal levels?

Let's hope the hoopla of the last few years is done, and we can move forward in both areas of stem cell research: induced pluripotent and embryonic stem cell research.

There are too many people, suffering from conditions and diseases that have nothing but the hope of a stem-cell therapy breakthrough on the horizon, to allow this to become a duel between two potentially breakthrough technologies.

Lindaland

More on Stem Cell Patents

lindaland — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 15:39:00 +0000

Posted today on The Scientist blog

Blog:

Stem cell patents upheld

Posted by Andrea Gawrylewski

[Entry posted at 11th March 2008 05:25 PM GMT]

The US Patent and Trademark Office has upheld the two remaining stem cell patents out of a contested trio held by the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (WARF), according to the final ruling posted last week by the USPTO.

The third patent was upheld in a ruling last month (read more here) and can still be challenged by appeal. Last week's rulings are final and cannot be appealed.

"The patent office has conducted a thoughtful and thorough review of all three patents and we applaud this final decision on our two most important base stem cell patents," Carl Gulbrandsen, managing director of WARF said in a statement.

The two patents are known as "780" and "806" (for US Patents. 5,843,780 and 6,200,806) and cover technology on culturing and maintaining human embryonic stem cells from pre-implantation embryos. This was the original work of James Thomson, from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, who led one of two research teams to successfully reprogram adult skin cells into pluripotent cells last November.

The three WARF patents have been under examination by the USPTO, beginning in October, 2006, when challenges were brought by the Public Patent Foundation in New York and the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights (FTCR) in Los Angeles. The two organizations have argued that the patents impede stem cell research and that the technology they cover has been pioneered by other researchers before Thomson.

John Simpson, director of the stem cell project at FTCR, and Jeanne Loring, from the Public Patent Foundation, could not be immediately reached for this article.

UPDATE:

In regard to the decision on the patents, John Simpson told The Scientist: "This was already a huge victory for us on these patents. When they were confronted with our challenge last year, WARF substantially eased its licensing requirements. That change in behavior was tremendously useful for researchers."

WARF made several amendments to the patent details last year.

While the ruling on the two patents is final, "we can appeal the decision on the 913 patent and we will," Simpson added.

lindaland — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 19:08:00 +0000

Posted from WKOW in Madison @ WKOW

Madison to Host World Stem Cell Summit in September

Hundreds of the world's top players in the field of stem cell research will gather in Madison for a summit in September.

Up to 1,000 researchers, philanthropists and business representatives are expected to attend the World Stem Cell Summit at the Alliant Energy Center on Sept. 22 and 23.

Genetics Policy Institute founder Bernard Siegel says he chose Madison to host the event because the city has been a launching pad for the field.

He says the event will coincide with the 10-year anniversary of University of Wisconsin-Madison scientist James Thomson becoming the first to isolate human embryonic stem cells.

Thomson will speak at the summit about a new technique in which ordinary skin cells can be turned into stem cells.

2008 World Stem Cell Summit to be in Madison

lindaland — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 18:17:00 +0000

Posted from www.jsonline.com

WEDNESDAY, March 12, 2008, 11:03 a.m.
By Stacy Forster

UW to host stem cell summit this fall.

Madison - Wisconsin's capital city will host an international stem cell research summit this fall, which will bring up to 1,000 of the world's top researchers to Madison.

The World Stem Cell Summit, to be hosted by Wi Cell and the University of Wisconsin Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine Center on Sept. 22 and 23, will mark the 10th anniversary of James Thomson's isolation of human embryonic stem cells at UW-Madison.

Thomson is expected to give a keynote address about his latest breakthrough using human skin cells.

Gov. Jim Doyle, a major backer of the stem cell industry in Wisconsin, said the summit helps preserve Wisconsin's place as a leader in stem cell research.

"In Wisconsin, we are working hard to build innovative centers, to turn research into life-saving treatments in every corner of the state," he said in a news conference.

Madison beat out New York and Washington, D.C., to host the summit.

Good for Business in Wisconsin

lindaland — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 21:38:00 +0000

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office upheld two of WARF (Wisconsin Alumni Association Foundation)-held stem cell patents this week.

The USPTO rejected claims from consumer groups that the discoveries were OBVIOUS given previous research, and thus not patentable.

The claims arose from two non-profit groups, Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights and the Public Patent Foundation, and argue that the patents hinder research.

Dr. James Thomson's pioneering stem cell discoveries are patentable inventions.

Go Wisconsin!

Life is for the Living

lindaland — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 01:29:00 +0000

From lifeisfortheliving.org - the Trailer

"The stories of five American families living with the painful realities of Juvenile Diabetes, Parkinson’s, and Spinal Cord Injury set against the national debate over embryonic stem cell research.

As the debate continues in Washington and across the country, three generations reveal their challenges, their frustration with the President’s policy, and the hope that more funding for embryonic stem cell research will lead to new treatments and cures to relieve their suffering and save their lives.

Life is for the Living explores the science behind stem cell research and the political debate taking place across the nation.

The film includes an introduction by CBS 60 Minutes' Mike Wallace and interviews with the nation's leading scientific researchers, political leaders, and advocates."

Stem Cell Patent Claim

lindaland — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 16:05:00 +0000

WARF stem cell patent claim upheld by patent office

Bill Novak — 2/28/2008 7:23 am

From the CapTimes

The Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation has won a key patent battle for one of its stem cell patents, after the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office upheld the foundation's claim to the patent.

The decision affirms WARF's contention that an initial UW-Madison human embryonic stem cell discovery is a patentable invention.

The decision was announced in a press release this morning from WARF.

The patent for the primate and human embryonic stem cell known as 913 was one of three under review by the patent office, following challenges brought by the New York-based Public Patent Foundation and the California-based Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights.

The 913 decision was the first in the review process, with the patent office also re-examining the patents by WARF for stem cells 780 and 806.

Decisions on the 780 and 806 patents are still pending by the patent office.

"We're extremely pleased with this decision," said Carl Gulbrandsen, managing director of WARF. "It affirms what WARF has believed all along, that Dr. James Thomson's breakthrough discoveries are patentable inventions."

Thomson is considered the pioneer in stem cell research, with WARF patenting the initial stem cell discoveries and then licensing the stem cells to other research facilities.

Since 1999, according to WARF, 914 licenses for stem cells have been issued through the non-profit WiCell Research Institute, with stem cells shipped to more than 563 researchers in 25 countries and 40 states.

Bioethics Forum @ BTCI

lindaland — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 15:51:00 +0000

Seventh Annual International Bioethics Forum: Evolution in the 21st Century

Gehrke & Associates, SC is a proud sponsor of the Seventh Annual International Bioethics Forum: Evolution in the 21st Century taking place at the BioPharmaceutical Technology Center in Madison, WI on April 17th and 18th, 2008.

Lisa M. Gehrke, JD, MA will be a featured speaker for a discussion session on Patenting Living Organisms.

For more information please visit BTCI’s website.

James Thomson & UW's Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery

lindaland — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 01:05:00 +0000

News Release from UW News
Stem cell pioneer James Thomson to steer regenerative medicine at MIR

Feb. 25, 2008

by Janet Kelly

The Morgridge Institute for Research, the private, not-for-profit side of the Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery, is announcing the appointment of world-renowned stem cell pioneer and researcher James Thomson as the first member of its multidisciplinary scientific leadership team.

Thomson has accepted the position of director of regenerative biology and will become a principal scientist at the new institute. A professor of anatomy at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Medicine and Public Health, Thomson will retain his faculty appointment at the university.

This announcement signals the Morgridge Institute's commitment to recruiting world-class scientific talent to guide its interdisciplinary focus on facilitating research collaborations aimed at improving human health. The Morgridge Institute is continuing its search for an executive director to head the overall organization, and has eventual plans to hire additional scientific directors to lead efforts that will include computational biology and bioengineering.

Though the new facility that will house the twin Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery — the private Morgridge Institute for Research (MIR) and the public Wisconsin Institute for Discovery (WID) — will not open until fall 2010, the work of the Morgridge Institute will begin in the near future in leased interim space. It is a primary goal of the twin institutes to collaborate and complement each other by leveraging the best of a great public university with the flexibility and resources of a world-class private research institute.

The announcement of Thomson's appointment will be made during a UW-Madison campus event this evening celebrating the famed researcher's 2007 breakthrough discovery of creating human-induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells. John Morgridge, who, along with his wife, Tashia, donated $50 million to the institutes; and Carl Gulbrandsen, chair of the Morgridge Institute for Research's Board of Trustees and managing director of the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (WARF); will make the announcement during an hour-long program recognizing Thomson's work.

During the event, the role of the university's recently created Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine Center, which connects the more than 40 stem cell researchers working on the UW-Madison campus, will be highlighted. In addition, Gulbrandsen and Dean Robert Golden of the UW-Madison School of Medicine and Public Health will discuss plans for significant collaboration between the Morgridge Institute and the university's School of Medicine and Public Health.

"We are extremely pleased and excited about Dr. Thomson's decision to join the Morgridge Institute and help establish the agenda for the breakthrough research the institute will conduct in regenerative biology, as well as in other areas," states Gulbrandsen. "As the unequivocal leader in this seminal field, Dr. Thomson's commitment and contributions will be crucial to establishing our new institute as a world-class research organization."

As early as the fall of 2010, Thomson's lab will move across the street from its current space in the university's Genetics and Biotechnology Center to the new Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery, now under construction on the 1300 block of University Avenue. Thomson's move to the Morgridge Institute will allow him to augment his current research staff and to invite visiting researchers from around the world to work with him for extended periods, thereby significantly advancing the capabilities of his research efforts.

Gulbrandsen notes that the focus of the Morgridge Institute is to explore the intersection of biology, engineering, and information technology, using tools such as nanotechnology and computational science. "The ability to bring researchers from these various disciplines together under the same roof to work shoulder-to-shoulder on common problems is a cornerstone of the promise of the Morgridge Institute, and the driving force behind Dr. Thomson's decision to make this move," he explains.

"The opportunities at the Morgridge Institute come at a remarkable time for the course of my research, as well as for the advancement of science," states Thomson. "Biologists now have access to instrumentation that creates an unprecedented depth of data, and we're not, as a group, trained to deal with it. Research synergies among the sciences are more important to the study of human biology now than at any other point in history.

"People are building cutting-edge instruments that can look deeper and deeper into biological processes," notes Thomson. "It is tremendously exciting for biologists to work right next to the mathematicians and computational biologists who can actually help analyze and understand the data."

Thomson became the first person in the world to isolate human embryonic stem (ES) cells and maintain them indefinitely in culture, a discovery that the journal Science named the Breakthrough of the Year in 1998 and which the same journal later heralded 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 have become pervasive and powerful research tools that provide scientists accurate models of human disease and a new way to test drugs more effectively in living organisms.

Almost a decade after his initial discovery, Thomson made headlines around the world again, when the research team he leads at the UW-Madison succeeded in turning skin cells into the equivalent of embryonic stem cells. The new cells, called induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells, hold much of the promise of embryonic stem cells, but are not derived from embryos, thus potentially ending much of the ethical and political controversy that has surrounded their use. Scientists believe the iPS cells may one day replace the use of human ES cells as both research tools and therapeutic agents.

In advance of the Morgridge Institute's physical opening, Gulbrandsen notes that the institute has committed more than $750,000 for the current fiscal year to sponsor programming that includes faculty symposia focusing on the interface of mathematics and biology, the establishment of new videoconferencing services among key medical and science buildings on campus, and a wide range of fellowships to support the campus' Computation and Informatics in Biology and Medicine graduate and postdoctoral training program.

The Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery will be located in a new, state-of-the-art 300,000 square-foot facility on the UW-Madison campus bordered by University Avenue, Campus Drive, Charter Street and Randall Avenue. The building plans include four stories above ground and one below and have been designed to meet requirements for green building practices certification. In addition to four floors of research offices and flexible "wet," "dry," and "damp" laboratories, the main floor atrium is designed as a vibrant and attractive public gathering space offering symposia and meeting areas, educational events and activities, as well as food, coffee, and retail services that include a soda fountain.

The Morgridge Institute for Research is the private, not-for-profit part of the Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery, a unique public-private initiative designed under one roof to facilitate interdisciplinary research and breakthrough discoveries to improve human health. Along with its public twin, the Wisconsin Institute for Discovery, the Morgridge Institute will open in 2010 in a new facility on the campus of the UW-Madison, consistently ranked as one of the best-funded research universities in the world.

The $150 million facility for the institutes is made possible through a partnership that includes the State of Wisconsin, donors John and Tashia Morgridge, and WARF. Research at the Morgridge Institute will focus on facilitating collaborations across the fields of biology, computer science and bioengineering to advance medical discoveries.

Epithelial cells made pluripotent

lindaland — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 00:46:00 +0000

This blog posting is courtesy of the online magazine TheScientist.com

Most importantly the studies discussed in the blog concerning transforming epithelial cells from livers and stomachs of adult mice into pluripotent cells highlights that "[they]were more similar to embryonic stem cells and were less likely to cause tumors in chimeric mice grown from the cells." LindaR

Epithelial cells made pluripotent
Posted by Bob Grant
[Entry posted at 14th February 2008 07:00 PM GMT]

A team of Japanese researchers has changed epithelial cells from the livers and stomachs of adult mice into pluripotent cells that resemble embryonic stem cells, according to a paper in this week's Science.

In 2006, the Kyoto University team, led by Shinya Yamanaka, used retroviruses to transfect adult mouse fibroblasts and embryonic cells with four transcription factors, reprogramming them into pluripotent cells. Last year they used the technique to reprogram human fibroblasts into pluripotent stem cells, setting off a whirlwind of research attention focused on reprogramming fibroblasts into stem cells that might grow into specific tissues and organs for transplant.

But the current study suggests that stem cells generated from adult epithelial cells rather than adult fibroblasts may provide better raw material for patient-specific tissues and organs.

Lorenz Studer, of the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, said that the Yamanaka study may shift the stem cell research community's focus on fibroblasts. "Everyone wanted to use fibroblasts," he told The Scientist. "But people will now go back and ask, 'Is this the right population to make patient-specific cells?'"

Yamanaka and his collaborators used retroviral vectors to introduce four transcription factors - Oct 3/4, Sox2. Klf4, and c-Myc - into mouse hepatic and gastric cells, and the resulting cells grew into several different cell types.

The authors compared epithelial cell-derived to fibroblast-derived pluripotent cells and found that the former were more similar to embryonic stem cells and were less likely to cause tumors in chimeric mice grown from the cells. This last feature appeared to result from the fact that pluripotent cells generated from liver or stomach cells needed only one to four specific insertion sites for each gene transfected via retrovirus, whereas reprogramming fibroblasts requires many more so-called integration sites. This increased retroviral integration can activate oncogenes and increase cancer risk in reprogrammed fibroblasts.

"If you can make [stem] cells with fewer integration sites, that would be the cell of choice to do pre-clinical trials in animals," Studer, who was not involved with the Yamanaka study, said. That's why "this paper is important for future reprogramming studies," he added.

Editor's Note (posted Feb. 14, 2007): A link to the Science paper has been added.

Stem Cell Research and the State of the Union Address

Ed Fallone — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 02:41:00 +0000

Bush speech highlights Wisc. stem-cell research: Dispute in funding ofembryonic stem cells still remains

By: Charles BraceThe Daily Cardinal
January 30, 2008

President Bush mentioned his support for a Wisconsin breakthrough instem-cell research in his State of the Union address, but his commentsare receiving a mixed reaction.

President George W. Bush gave his annual State of the Union addressMonday, and his remarks on stem-cell research will likely reverberate inWisconsin for the last year of his term.Bush said he was in favor of funding the medical breakthrough byUW-Madison and Japanese researchers that reprogram skin cells to actlike embryonic stem cells."This breakthrough has the potential to move us beyond the divisivedebates of the past by extending the frontiers of medicine without thedestruction of human life," Bush said. "We must also ensure that alllife is treated with the dignity it deserves."

He also said he wanted Congress to ban buying, selling, or cloning of"human life."

Ed Fallone, president of the advocacy group Wisconsin Stem Cell Now,Inc., said the new research on skin cells should not be favored overother avenues of research involving embryonic stem cells.Fallone said it is unrealistic to favor non-embryonic stem-cell researchwhen it is unknown if it will be as effective as research involvingembryos.

The emphasis on the skin-cell research, according to Fallone, could alsohurt funding for experiments that are already ongoing involvingembryonic cells."I hope Congress will ignore this unrealistic call to impose a morallitmus test on medical research," Fallone said.

Ronald Kalil, a UW-Madison professor of ophthalmology and visualsciences who does stem-cell research, said it was important to rememberreprogrammed skin cells do not have the same sets of genes as theembryonic cells.This difference could mean they cannot replicate indefinitely likeembryonic cells, Kalil said, but it is difficult to predict because fewspecifics are known on the new research.The reprogrammed skin cells could solve the problem of a patient's bodyrejecting donated tissue, according to Kalil, because the cells couldcome from a patient's own body.

Kalil said Bush's favoring for skin cell research could improve fundingin Wisconsin. He also said it was unlikely embryonic-cell researchfunding would suffer until the new method is proven successful.

Andrew Cohn, governmental affairs director for the WiCell ResearchInstitute at UW-Madison, said Bush's comments were disappointing. Hesaid the breakthrough in November with skin cells would not have beenpossible without embryonic stem-cell research.