Cambridge University

CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY, ALSO known as the University of Cambridge, in Cambridge, England, is one of the oldest universities in the world. The first record of scholastic activity at Cambridge is from 1209, when the future city was only a trading post of the Romans. Recently, Cambridge University opened a state—of—the—art research facility for stem cell science.

Over the centuries since 1209, the university has undergone numerous renovations in mission and philosophy. The current university has developed since 1945, with the end of World War II. A major boon occurred in 1951, when Cambridge was declared an official city. The “Cambridge Phenomenon” followed, whereby many scientific industry firms were founded within Cambridge and in the outskirts. Many of these firms were established based on principles developed in Cambridge scientific laboratories. This phenomenon cemented Cambridge's position as a center of international science and industry.

In 2006, the Wellcome Trust Centre for Stem Cell Research was established within the School of the Biological Sciences at Cambridge University. The center, supported primarily by the Wellcome Trust as well as the Medical Research Council and the Wolfson Foundation, opened its doors on December 18, 2006. A symposium was held in Cambridge in celebration of the opening. It highlighted research breakthroughs in stem cell science that had taken place in this city over the past 25 years. The pioneer director of the center is Professor Austin Smith, formerly the director of the Centre for Stem Cell Research at Edinburgh University; the deputy director is Professor Fiona Watt. According to Professor Smith, the Wellcome Trust viewed the restrictions on public funding of stem cell research in the United States as an opportunity to advance research and understanding in the United Kingdom, establishing this nation as a world leader in stem cell research.

A chief focus of research at the Wellcome Centre is the mechanistic establishment of a stem cell and its derivative cells. Therefore, these genetic and biochemical pathways will be investigated, with the goal of developing therapeutics in the future. Specifically, stem cells could be transplanted and guided to differentiate into the needed tissue, or clinicians could potentially activate resident stem cells within the individual patient to restore the effete tissue.

As of the spring of 2008, the center had six founding members and was still hiring. These six members include Austin Smith and Fiona Watt, as well as Michaela Frye, Brian Hendrich, Jenny Nichols, and Juan—Jose Ventura. The Smith group studies the mechanisms regulating maintenance and differentiation of both pluripotent and tissue—restricted stem cells. The Watt group examines the mammalian epidermis, or skin, and the stem cells within that develop into a variety of lineages. In the Frye group, regulators of stem cell division and growth are studied, with an attention to the difference between stem cell division and cancer cell division, as uncontrolled stem cell proliferation becomes cancerous. The Hendrich group investigates the step that occurs in stem cells that makes them no longer pluripotent, or able to develop into any future cell type. Focusing on the embryo and where pluripotent cells are compartmentalized, the Nichols group aims to understand embryonic stem cells and a better way to maintain a line of embryonic stem cells for research and therapeutics. The Ventura group, [Page 61]like the Watt group, studies a particular tissue—in this case the lung. The group investigates the stem cells within the alveolar epithelium and their development and role in repair of this tissue.

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