The newest stem cell researchers on campus aren't world-renowned. They haven't spent the past decade trying to figure out how stem cells work. In fact, most of them haven't even graduated from high school yet. But, thanks to UW-Madison's new Stem Cell Learning Lab, the most recent scientists to tinker with stem cells on campus are young science enthusiasts from across Wisconsin.
Educating the public is our real mission,"" Timothy Kamp, co-director of the UW-Madison Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine Center, said. ""The goal of the lab is to make stem cells accessible to anyone in the public who's interested.""
At the Stem Cell Learning Lab, student groups ranging from fourth grade up through college are welcome to walk in the footsteps of famous stem cell researchers in Madison. Within a lab housed in the Genetics-Biotechnology Building, students learn to appreciate the steps researchers take to grow stem cells each day.
""[We want to] better inform and educate the public about the sound science behind studying embryonic stem cells and to give the public a realistic view of [their] potential,"" Jordana Lenon, outreach coordinator for the Wisconsin National Primate Research Center, said.
The rich history of stem cells at UW-Madison is no secret. UW developmental biologist James Thomson's 1998 discovery that he could isolate and grow human embryonic stem cells launched Thomson and the university into scientific stardom. Nearly a decade later, Thomson's lab showed that with the proper chemical prodding human skin cells can be reprogrammed to function like embryonic stem cells.
While popular, Thomson is far from the only stem cell researcher on campus. Kamp said there are 60 faculty members of the Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine Center that perform stem cell research spanning from the basic sciences to clinical research at UW-Madison.
Madison is also home to the National Stem Cell Bank, where the original stem cell lines, created by Thomson, reside.
Because of the vast amount of stem cell research happening in Madison and the controversies the public often associates with stem cells, Lenon said the demand for public stem cell outreach education in Wisconsin is huge.
WiCell, a non-profit organization affiliated with UW-Madison dedicated to the support of stem cell scientists worldwide, provides multiple outreach programs in Madison, including rural outreach and teaching of stem cells in schools around the state.
Aware of the success of WiCell, Lenon said she saw a place for the university to step in and offer stem cell outreach on campus.
An $87,000 grant from the Ira and Ineva Reilly Baldwin Wisconsin Idea Endowment, the support of Thomson and Kamp and the collaboration between WiCell and UW's Primate, Biotechnology and Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine Centers led to the creation of the SCLL.
Students who visit the SCLL receive a short interactive lecture on the history of stem cells and have a chance to view live stem cells through the spectacles of a microscope or projected to a nearby TV. Students also get the chance to carry out the daily experiments run by stem cell researchers using imitation stem cells.
Although the cost and the need for special training in how to handle live stem cells requires the visitors of the SCLL to handle imitation stem cells, Lenon said stem cells visible under lab microscope, straight from the lab of Thomson, couldn't be more real.
""The Thomson lab was making plates of these cells at the same time as they were making their [own plates]. They just make an extra batch for us,"" she said. ""If they weren't down here they'd be up there, being studied.""
Student volunteers from campus stem cell groups help guide visitors of all ages through the different stages of the stem cell lab experience beginning with how to prepare cells upon their arrival in a lab to the final stage of incubation, when stem cells are left to multiply into the desired cell type chosen by scientists.
Theo Sanford, a UW senior majoring in genetics and biochemistry, drew from his experience of working in a stem cell lab to help Lenon make the SCLL appear nearly identical to real stem cell labs on campus.
""[Being part of the SCLL] is my way of giving back to the community,"" Sanford said. ""If you can get people motivated about science at a younger age, they may stay in it and do better in classes.""
While the SCLL premiered for the public during Science Expeditions in April and will be open for the public during Madison's Lab on the Lake in September, the lab will typically be open on Fridays for scheduled student groups.
""I don't think students [at UW-Madison] are very knowledgeable about stem cells,"" Sanford said. ""Through the Stem Cell Learning Lab we're giving people a different way to actually see what's going on in the lab.
