Gov. Jim Doyle met with a British politician and world-renowned stem cell researchers Monday to discuss research collaboration possibilities between the two countries, closing the gap between Abbey Road and State Street.
British Honorary Consul Michael Bright, the self-described ""eyes and ears of the British government in Wisconsin,"" said the meeting witnessed the first talks between two top stem cell research facilities, the U.K. Stem Cell Bank and the UW-Madison based-WiCell Research Institute.
""We quite literally had the two largest banks in the world sit down today in Madison,"" Bright said. His group, the British Consulate General in Chicago, co-sponsored the event along with WiCell.
Bright said the choice to make Madison host city of the event is a ""huge validation for Madison"" as a mecca for stem cell research.
He noted the symbolism in holding an historic meeting between prominent U.K and U.S. stem cell researchers in the city that made stem cells famous.
The Family Research Institute of Wisconsin was more lukewarm in its reception of the stem cell event.
Though the organization supports adult stem cell research, CEO Julaine Appling said that, ""if the partnership between the U.K. firms and the University of Wisconsin System does indeed focus on human embryonic stem cell research, [we] will not be supportive.""
Topics covered in the workshop included creating worldwide standards and protocols for distributing and storing in stem cell banks.
Though definitive plans were not set in stone, the meeting sought to define what collaborative means between two nations forging paths for the entire science community, according to Bright.
Advocates expect collaboration efforts among scientists to lead to multi-continental business ventures.
""We look forward to enabling companies to take seamless advantage of the expertise of both stem cell banks to move the development of this technology forward,"" President of the WiCell Research Institute Carl Gulbrandsen said in a statement.
Two other major stem cell banks in Singapore and Australia are becoming world leaders in research. The panel discussed how to incorporate these growing banks into future collaboration efforts.
The talks were just the beginning of collaboration, Bright said. He foresees future meetings to develop concrete plans for collaboration between the two countries.
In addition to Doyle, the panel included Director of the U.K. Stem Cell Bank Dr. Glyn Stacey, Principal Investigator on the National Stem Cell Bank Dr. Derek Hei and the House of Lords Chairman of the U.K. Stem Cell Oversight Committee Lord Patel.
