James Thomson receives 2008 Massry Prize honoring stem cell r...(are addressing have become so complex th...)

Date:12/18/2008

are addressing have become so complex that only through collaboration, and reaching across scientific disciplines, can we move research closer to making tangible improvements in human health," Thomson says. "Stem cells have the potential to help us find the root cause of disease, so we can prevent it, to test new drugs at the human cellular level and thereby reduce reliance on animal testing, and to offer regenerative therapies to patients."

Thomson predicts that within the next ten years, "We'll be able to make all clinically relevant cells in the body. But getting those cells into the body in a physiologically useful form is the most challenging part and involves every discipline in medicine."

UW-Madison Chancellor Carolyn "Biddy" Martin says the Massry Prize is welcome recognition of Thomson's pioneering work with human stem cells: "We're delighted, of course, that Dr. Thomson's accomplishments are recognized as the pioneering achievements that they are. Dr. Thomson's work has helped set a new biomedical field in motion with enormous potential to help improve the quality of our lives. His work deserves this kind of attention and more."

The new iPS cells are created by genetically reprogramming human adult skin cells. Like their source human ES cells, the iPS cells can become any type of cell in the body. Their discovery has helped spur the development of regenerative medicine and eased much of the controversy surrounding stem cell science by eliminating the need to use human embryos in the creation of pluripotent stem cells.

In addition to Thomson, the honorees for this year's award are: Shinya Yamanaka, professor and director, Center for iPS Cell Research and Application, Institute for Integrated Cell-Material Sciences, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan; and Rudolf Jaenisch, professor of biology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Shaul G. Massry, professor emeritus at USC's Keck School of Medicine, says the 2
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Contact: Terry Devitt trdevitt@wisc.edu 608-262-8282 University of Wisconsin-Madison Source:Eurekalert

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