The New Generation of Medicine

In 1999, the University of Minnesota established the nation’s first interdisciplinary institute—that is, one that crosses many fields, including genetics, pharmacology, oncology, and many others—dedicated to stem cell research. Since that year, the university has invested more than $43 million in this research. The U’s Stem Cell Institute is led by Catherine Verfaillie (pronounced vair-FEYE), world renowned for her groundbreaking work on adult stem cells. The university also is extending its reach in an international collaboration with the Catholic University of Leuven in Belgium, Verfaillie’s alma mater. The Stem Cell Institute Leuven is bringing together the Belgian school’s clinical expertise with Minnesota’s strong background in basic and translational research. (“Translational” refers to research that aims for practical, clinical applications.)

Given the potential gains in patient care and commercial applications, stem cell research is extremely competitive, with institutions vying for funding and scientists. The biggest competitor is expected to be California. In November 2004, voters there approved Proposition 71, which committed $3 billion to stem cell research by forming a new state agency, the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine. (But lawsuits from groups opposed to embryonic stem cell research have stalled the dispersal of those funds.) On the East Coast, venerable academic institutions like Harvard and Johns Hopkins are allocating more resources to retain and recruit top researchers.

It will be tough for the U of M to stay abreast with the front-runners. And if Minnesota does remain competitive, there are mixed opinions about whether its leadership in research will translate into a new industry sector for the state. Despite all the interest in stem cells, the fact remains that capitalizing on them—creating new cures and new businesses—remains a long way off. “We’re really talking about a biological process,” notes Mark Paller, assistant vice president for research at the Academic Health Center. “It’s not as simple as just discovering a drug.”

Stem Cell Roots

The University of Minnesota’s leap into stem cell research began dramatically, and by accident, in 1997, when Verfaillie peered into a culture dish in which she was growing adult stem cells. The cells she expected to find—mesenchymal stem cells, which typically generate bone and connective tissue—were there. But so were cells that make up the lining of blood vessels. Experimenting further, Verfaillie and graduate student Morayma Reyes found that they also could coax the cells in the culture into producing heart, muscle, brain, and liver cells.

“It didn’t seem possible that this culture could grow different types of cells,” Verfaillie recalls. “But the finding spurred us to find out why.” This unexpected discovery catapulted both Verfaillie and the U of M into the vanguard of stem cell research. The possibility of transforming adult stem cells into many types of specialized cells could mean rebuilding a knee with cartilage derived from stem cells, replacing damaged heart tissue in patients with heart disease, or transplanting insulin-producing islet cells into diabetes patients. The university established its Stem Cell Institute in 1999 to centralize its research efforts.