2007 Ethical Stem Cell Discovery Propels Wisconsin Industry
Kudos to Cellular Dynamics International LLC (CDI) , a Madison-based technological firm, which recently raised $18 million to push towards its goal of becoming a world leader in ethical stem cell research using iPS (induced pluripotent stem) cells.
Scientists at CDI believe that through the use of iPS cells, formed from human skin cells instead of from destroyed embryos, patient-specific stem cells can be stored which will revolutionize the way patients are treated in the future. The 2007 discovery of iPS cells by Professor James Thomson of Madison and University of Kyoto scientist Shinya Yamanaka has propelled this new avenue for use of stem cells which are:
- Abundant since they are formed from human skin cells
- Easy to harvest
- Practical because the cells formed from a patient’s cells will not be rejected by the patient since they carry that patient’s DNA
- Have no ethical problems since no human lives are lost in the process
According to CDI Chairman and CEO, Bob Palay, the $18 million “will help CDI develop an infrastructure for industrializing production of human cell types for research and for creating a repository of stem cells . . . That bio-bank would be where people could store stem cells engineered from their DNA for use as part of personalized therapies or for testing reactions to drugs.”
Exciting news indeed. A win/win for science and ethics. Kudos not only to the scientists who made this discovery and are bringing it to fruition, but to President Bush and to the right-to-life movement which has insisted for the past ten years that ethical science which does not rely on the destruction of human life can be embraced and promoted by all.
Read the full story at jsonline.com
Barbara