Stem cell research is a field that seems to fly under the radar for years until the next scientific breakthrough. Embryonic stem cells are able to generate any cell type in the body. Many believe that this potential provides enormous promise for individuals suffering from a wide variety of diseases and injuries.
Since 1998, you would be hard pressed to enter into a discussion involving stem cells without stumbling upon UW-Madison scientist James Thomson. Because of this, Thomson was honored, along with Shinya Yamanaka, a stem cell investigator at the University of California-San Francisco with this year's prestigious King Faisal International Prize in Medicine.
Thomson is a cellular biologist at the Morgridge Institute for Research. He graduated in 1981 from the University of Illinois with a degree in biophysics and then completed his doctoral degree in 1988 at the University of Pennsylvania. In 1998 he and his research team released an article in ""Science"" showing that they were able to isolate embryonic stem cells and sustain them in culture.
""It's going to be a pervasive tool that anybody that's interested in the human body and human medicine is going to use,"" Thomson said in a 2008 interview with the Academy of Achievement. ""And I think it's going to change human medicine.""
So, why did this scientific breakthrough create such controversy among researchers, Congress, religious leaders and the general public? The answer lies in how they are acquired.
Stem cells are special because they have the potential to develop into any of the 220 cell types in the body. This ability makes them, in scientific terms, ""pluripotent."" In normal development, they exist for only a few days in the embryo and then quickly differentiate. Scientists hope to use these cells to grow replacement tissues for people with diseases or injuries such as Alzheimer's and spinal cord injuries. Scientists could grow stem cells in culture and then coax them to grow into heart cells or nerve cells by introducing different growth conditions.
Embryonic stem cells are harvested from embryos that are created for in vitro fertilization. In vitro fertilization is an option for individuals and couples who are having difficulty conceiving. Those wishing to become pregnant can go to a clinic to allow scientists to combine their genetic material in the lab. According to experts, the scientist will grow 7-8 embryos in the lab and then implant 2-4 of them in the woman's uterus. The hope is that at least one of them will implant and begin development.
People who have this procedure decide the fate of the embryos that are not implanted. According to Thomson, they can donate them to other couples, keep them in storage indefinitely or donate them for research. The catch in donating them for research is that they will be prevented from fulfilling their original purpose.
""I thought long and hard about whether I would do embryonic stem cell research,"" Thomson said in a 2007 interview with The New York Times.
Many people, including former U.S. President George W. Bush, believe the destruction of embryos to be used for research is unethical. This is because each embryo has the potential to develop into a baby.
""I kept returning to two fundamental questions,"" President Bush said in August 2001. ""First, are these frozen embryos human life and therefore something precious to be protected? And second, if they're going to be destroyed anyway, shouldn't they be used for a greater good, for research that has the potential to save and improve other lives?""
Bush concluded that his administration would not allow for the creation of new stem cell lines, but that research could continue on the 60 lines already in use. In his opinion, the decision of life and death had already been made, so scientists could continue using them for the greater good.
Even Thomson is slightly unnerved when it comes to embryonic stem cell research.
""If human embryonic stem cell research does not make you at least a little bit uncomfortable, you have not thought about it enough,"" he said in 2007.
But the scientific progress regarding human stem cells did not end in 1998 after Thomson's initial research. In the wake of the controversy created by embryonic stem cells, researchers focused their efforts on a new wave of stem cells: induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS cells), commonly called adult stem cells.
iPS cells are derived from human adult differentiated cells and are in a sense tricked in to reverting to stem cells. In 2006, Yamanaka developed the technique for doing just that. He simply forced mouse cells to express genes only present in stem cells. This caused them to revert. Thomson then used this technique to create iPS cells from adult human skin cells. This discovery has been a cause for excitement.
""It's not simply that we found a replacement for embryonic stem cells from a less controversial source,"" Thomson said in 2008, ""but the idea that you can actually change the identity of a cell by this fairly simple manipulation is really big.""
In light of the breakthroughs involving iPS cells, Thomson and Yamanaka were co-recipients of this year's prestigious King Faisal International Prize worth $200,000. He joins the ranks of 57 scientists who are dedicated to making a positive difference in the world. From this group, nine were later awarded Nobel prizes in their respective fields.
Today, according to his website, Thomson is focused on using embryonic stem cells and iPS cells to understand the biology involved in pluripotency. This includes discovering what conditions cause the stem cell to develop into a specific cell type and how the stem cell becomes more specialized.
Thomson says that his work has always been about helping people, but he still thinks the cells are, for lack of a better word, ‘cool.'
""I think the cells are neat, right? I can't tell you precisely why, but I think it's good,"" Thomson said in 2008. ""I very much hope that what I do in my laboratory does benefit people. I think my career would be extremely satisfying if that's true.""
James Thomson could not be reached in time for an interview regarding this piece. This is the reason all quotes are from past interviews.
