Science Market Update

Stem Cell Research Advances and $56M Grant for Univ of Michigan

Written by BCI Staff | Mon, May 09, 2011

Until November of 2008, the State of Michigan had some of the most restrictive laws in the country governing stem cell research.  Dr. Eva Feldman of the University of Michigan went to California on a grant from philanthropist/benefactor Alfred Taubman to do her stem cell research toward treatment of Lou Gehrig's disease.  Then Michigan voters passed Proposal 2, allowing researchers to use human embryonic stem cell lines derived from surplus fertility clinic embryos.  After a year debating the ethical and legal angles of this new stem cell opportunity, UM came out with guidelines to direct and permit its researchers to move forward using cells from surplus blastocysts.  Dr. Feldman returned to UM, where she is Professor of Neurology and currently conducting the first human trial of a stem cell treatment for Lou Gehrig's disease.  [Photo of Dr. Feldman courtesy of Michigan Research Corridor]

The University of Michigan is now en route to positioning Michigan as a leader in stem cell research, with the following research resources:

 

Dr. Feldman's benefactor (and Michigan's), Alfred Taubman, continues to generously support stem cell research at the University of Michigan, most recently with a $56M gift (announced April 21), bringing his contributions to $142M and making him the largest donor in UM's history.  One of his gifts was $44M toward the establishment of the A. Alfred Taubman Medical Research Institute, which now supports the Consortium for Stem Cell Therapies where big new is being made.  Taubman not only funded researchers in stem cell research in a hostile climate, he continues to support "high-risk" research that promises big returns but does not qualify for traditional funding (see video above).


Earlier this month, research scientist and co-director of the Consortium Dr. Gary Smith announced a major breakthrough that "puts the University of Michigan at the very forefront of stem cell research," according to Dr. Feldman, the Consortium's other director.  What researchers did was to create two disease-specific lines of human embryonic stem cells which can be used to study two specific inherited diseases (hemophilia B and Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease), not just at UM but throughout the US.  They will also submit the cells to the NIH's national registry of human embryonic stem cell lines, which designates them as eligible for use in NIH-funded research. 

The University of Michigan at Ann Arbor is the 6th highest-funded institute for stem cell research by the NIH in fiscal years 2010 and 2011 with $22.7M in research awards.

Dr. Smith and his colleagues in this recent milestone research sourced their original stem cell material from Genesis Genetics, a Detroit company that offers a testing service to fertility clinics to screen pre-implantation embryos for genetic diseases.  These unimplanted embryos (about the size of the period at the end of a sentence) that test positive for a disease are ideal candidates for stem cell lines like Dr. Smith's that are used to study precisely that diagnosed disease and its future treatment.

[Photo: High magnification image of human embryonic stem cells differentiated into neurons (red cells) by treating cells with a growth factor. Courtesy of UM Stem Cell website]

Opportunities for scientists to network and learn about research solutions and for suppliers of life science laboratory tools in Michigan continue to grow. Meet  science researchers and industry professionals in person at a Biotechnology Calendar BioResearch Product Faire™ Event on either the University of Michigan or Michigan State campus this July:

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