Regenerative medicine

New director Jonathan Slack, Ph.D., has big ideas for
growing the Stem Cell Institute

BY SUSAN COZZOLINO

A successful experiment on a significant problem gives one the privileged feeling of having lifted a small corner of the curtain that covers the workings of nature. Many scientists never experience that sense of awe. A few are lucky enough to experience it many times... It is a strong drug, and even one short taste is enough to make one an addict for life.

from Egg & Ego by J. M. W. Slack

Jonathan Slack, Ph.D., is one of those self-described science addicts. A native Brit, he finished his first degree in biochemistry at Oxford and quickly became inspired by one of the world's oldest questions: How do embryos develop from eggs? His scientific curiosity led him to the rarefied field of developmental biology. And in 1986 he became the first to identify an inducing factor called the fibroblast growth factor in the frog embryo—a major discovery that was later shown to contribute to the formation of the head-to-tail pattern in all vertebrate embryos.

It was a breakthrough moment in the study of embryology, and Slack still looks back on it with awe. As the new director of the University of Minnesota's Stem Cell Institute, he's carried that sense of discovery across the Atlantic with him.

"Stem cell research is essentially applied developmental biology," explains Slack. "After 32 years studying embryos in a lab, I want to see if some of our theories can be put into practice."

Fertile ground

As Slack knows, the University's Stem Cell Institute is an incubator for new ideas. Established in 1999 during the early days of stem cell research, it is where Catherine Verfaillie, M.D., and her team made breakthrough discoveries demonstrating the potential of adult stem cells to treat disease. It is also the first place dedicated to studying the potential of stem cells using an interdisciplinary approach. While this was a new idea at the time, it has become a model for scientific inquiry at the University of Minnesota.

"Some of the greatest discoveries happen where disciplines touch," explains Deborah Powell, M.D., dean of the Medical School. "We have seen that when scientists and clinicians work together, advances can happen more quickly. Our many interdisciplinary institutes and centers offer opportunities for faculty to brainstorm and make discoveries that lead in exciting new directions."

Today the Stem Cell Institute draws on the specialized knowledge of researchers from across the University. The bulk of their early work has focused on basic science, but as more is known about how stem cells proliferate and differentiate, the possibilities for translational and clinical research are profound and growing. Stem Cell Institute researchers are committed to finding ways to translate their fundamental understanding of stem cells into new therapies, and then applying those therapies through animal—and eventually, human—clinical trials.

Slack is convinced that this path of research will benefit future generations. "Lives are already being saved," he says, pointing to cell transplantation therapies that are currently used to treat a variety of conditions, including leukemia, diabetes, and burns. Bone marrow and umbilical cord blood transplants are the best-known examples. Another long-standing application uses skin cells grown in culture to create a new epidermal layer for burn victims. More recently, grafts of limbus cells, found where the cornea and white of the eye meet, have been used to repair chemical burns to the eye. And transplants of insulin-producing pancreatic islet cells into the liver—a technique pioneered at the University—are effective at treating those with the most severe form of diabetes.

According to Slack, these examples are only the beginning of what will be possible once scientists learn how to control the growth, behavior, and differentiation of stem cells. And as our population ages, the need for cell-based therapies should only increase.

"Just about everything we die of in old age is due to tissue-level failure," says Slack, referring to diseases that break down the body's organ, muscle, connective, and nervous tissues. "All of these are potential areas for stem cell research."

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