Wistar Institute

ALTHOUGH BASED AT the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the Wistar Institute (Wistar) is an independent, nonprofit institute for biomedical research. Research at Wistar investigates the biological mechanisms of diseases such as autoimmune disorders, cancer, cardiovascular disease, and infectious diseases. The institute's slogan is “Today's Discoveries—Tomorrow's Cures.”

Wistar was founded in 1892 as an anatomical teaching museum, and in 1972 it earned recognition from the National Cancer Institute as a Cancer Center for basic research. Scientists at Wistar work to promote discoveries rapidly to the commercial sector for drug discovery and development. The institute is named for Caspar Wistar, M.D. (1761–1818), a Philadelphia-based physician who began his practice in 1787 and who authored the first anatomy textbook originating in the United States. Wistar, along with American sculptor William Rush, formed a collection of anatomy specimens. Some were wax-injected by Wistar himself, and some were wood and papier-mâché forms made by Rush. In 1816, Wistar entrusted his anatomy museum to William Horner.

Wistar died in 1818, and Horner became the dean of the University of Pennsylvania's School of Medicine some years later. He expanded the museum collection, which came to be known as the Wistar and Horner Museum. Near the close of the 19th century, the specimens became worn, and some were damaged in a fire. Wistar's great-nephew Isaac Jones Wi-star (1827–1905) gave a generous contribution to modernize the degenerating museum, which led to the formation of the Wistar Institute of Anatomy and Biology. Although founded in 1892, the institute did not house any specimens until 1894. Then, in 1906, the first step toward forming an institute that would conduct original and pivotal research was taken: Drs. Leonard Hayflick and Paul S. Moorhead created the WISTARAT, the official laboratory rat breed of the majority of today's research experiments. A further contribution to science occurred during World War

I. European scientists were unable to publish their research and could not purchase scientific journals; thus, the Wistar sent out thousands of free journals. Today, the Wistar maintains archives that hold precious written documents from the Wistar family and the origins of the institute.

Following major vaccine developments in the 1950s, the Wistar turned its attentions to cancer research in the 1970s. In recognition of its slogan, Wi-star organizes its researchers into three research programs: gene expression and regulation, immunology, and molecular and cellular oncogenesis. The program on gene expression and regulation investigates genes and the genetic mechanisms of cancer, particularly how gene regulation is involved. The immunology program examines how the body's immune system affects its response to cancer and other diseases. One focus of research is the body's innate immune response to tumor growth, with the goal of understanding how clinicians can harness this response to fight the tumor. The major long-term goal of this program is to develop vaccines against certain cancers and other devastating diseases such as HIV.

The third program, molecular and cellular oncogenesis, aims to understand cell growth and differentiation in both normal and cancerous cells. To do so, this program has split into two divisions. These divisions are in molecular and cellular biology and systems biology. The former division investigates cell signaling, growth factors, oncogenes, and how tumorigenesis relates to the environment around the cell. The latter division studies cellular networks and their involvement in cancer and the cancer response. In addition, gene expression on the large scale of a tissue or the [Page 1027]body is studied in an effort to better understand the global regulation of cancer.

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