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UW community celebrates stem cell anniversary

Today is the 10th anniversary of a monumental achievement in stem cell research by University of Wisconsin professor James Thomson.

On Nov. 6, 1998, Thomson reported the first isolation of human embryonic stem cells, which could potentially cure diseases like Parkinson’s and cancer.

Since then, stem cell research has developed in Wisconsin, creating many new jobs and making Madison a center of research.

At the end of the 2007 calendar year, there were 643 Wisconsin jobs related to stem cells, according to a research study commissioned by the WiCell Research Institute.

Seth Taapken, a research scientist at WiCell, said more job creation can be expected.

“We have a strong base in Madison and as these small start-ups mature, there will be a continued need for people who understand stem cell biology and have had experience with them in the lab,” Taapken said.

Kurt Zimmerman, director of the Master of Science in Biotechnology program, said the field will continue to generate jobs, not just in the area of stem cell research.

“Fundamentally, biotech products and breakthroughs are born with an immediate global application,” Zimmerman said. “I think we will start to see not only an increase in jobs, but a whole new sort of sub-segment of our economy.”

Zimmerman said creation of medical devises is a specific field that could grow because of stem cell research advancements. Taapken credited job production in the field, including the creation of his own job, to Thomson’s work.

“Dr. Thomson’s work led to the creation of the WiCell Research Institute,” Taapken said. “My job has come directly out of the industry that has sprung up in Madison out of his original research.”

Taapken added not all the jobs emerging are for Ph.D. scientists.

“Outside of just the lab, bachelor’s and master’s degree holders are very qualified to work on the business, quality assurance and production aspects of these stem cell companies and institutes,” he said.

Inside the lab, Taapken said there were many “support-type positions,” where master’s and bachelor’s degree holders who have “working knowledge” of the biology of stem cells could earn jobs.

Besides benefiting the Madison community through job creation, stem cell research has been incredibly important to the university.

“I think one of the things that it’s really highlighted is, first of all, the recognition of the caliber and quality of the research that’s done here,” Zimmerman said.

He added Thomson’s work has enforced the importance of “interdisciplinary collaboration” in research projects, since Thomson worked closely with experts in other areas throughout his research.

Zimmerman cited bioethics as a particularly strong field at UW and stressed the importance of bioethics in Thomson’s studies.

“I think one of the reasons the UW has been such a leader in stem cell research is because we have such leadership in the field of bioethics, something Dr. Thomson definitely has indicated he drew heavily on,” Zimmerman said.

Especially in a newly developing field like stem cell research, Zimmerman said bioethics were key to accomplishing advances.

Thomson could not be reached for an interview Wednesday.