Introduction

Ten years ago this November, a paper was published that led to an explosion in the field of stem cell research. In November 1998, Dr. James Thomson’s laboratory reported the first derivation of human embryonic stem cell (hESC) lines from human blastocysts (Science 1998;282:1145–1147).

Nov. 2008 Issue - James Thomson

• Read our interivew with Dr. Thomson in the Nov. issue of STEM CELLS
• Read more about Dr. Thomson's lab, featured on the Stem Cells Portal
• Read additional excerpts form our interview with Dr. Thomson, available only on the Stem Cells Portal!

Dec. 2008 Issue - Rudolf Jaenisch

• Read our interview with Dr. Jaenisch in the December issue of STEM CELLS.
• Read more about Dr. Jaenisch's lab, featured on the Stem Cells Portal
• Read additional excerpts from our interview with Dr. Thomson, available only on the Stem Cells Portal.

Dec. 2008 Issue - Alan Trounson

• Read our interview with Dr. Trounson in the December issue of STEM CELLS.
• Read more about Dr. Trounson's lab, featured on the Stem Cells Portal
• Read additional excerpts from our interview with Dr. Trounson, available only on the Stem Cells Portal.

Jan. 2009 Issue - Christine Mummery

• Read our interview with Dr. Mummery in the January issue of STEM CELLS.
• Read more about Dr. Mummery's lab, featured on the Stem Cells Portal
• Read additional excerpts from our interview with Dr. Mummery, available only on the Stem Cells Portal.

Join our Discussion Forum:
Dr. Christine Mummery discussed in her recent interview with us about the importance of teamwork in science.  What are some ways that you promote teamwork in your lab or with your colleagues, and what are some of the things that can be done to foster a team environment in scientific research?

Feb. 2009 Issue - Ariff Bongso

• Read our interview with Dr. Bongso in the February issue of STEM CELLS.
• Read more about Dr. Bongso's lab, featured on the Stem Cells Portal
• Read additional excerpts from our interview with Dr. Bongso, available only on the Stem Cells Portal.

Join our Discussion Forum:
In his recent interview, Dr. Bongso said “ I strongly believe that hESC research will be impeded in countries where such research is not accommodated and the use of embryos is not allowed for creation of more hESC lines. I believe that the quickest way of taking hESC research to the clinic is by the development of several repositories of hESC lines where panels of such cell lines can be tissue matched to patients to eliminate the issue of immunorejection. There are millions of surplus embryos frozen in tanks all over the world, and if these are to be discarded they will be useful material to meet the objective of tissue matching if informed patient consent and institutional review board approval can be sought. It is time that several repositories of hESC lines of various ethnic backgrounds be developed with a global coordinated effort between countries in which hESC research is not controversial.”

Would this benefit your research?  How should this be set up?

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