Public release date: 16-Feb-2008
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Contact: Doré Dunne
dore.dunne@nserc.
613-851-8677
Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council
From stem cells to organs: The bioengineering challenge
This release is available in French.
For more than a decade, Peter Zandstra has been working at the
University of Toronto to rev up the production of stem cells and
their descendants. The raw materials are adult blood stem cells and
embryonic stem cells. The end products are blood and heart cells –
lots of them. Enough mouse heart cells that they form beating tissue.
To do this, he has been applying engineering principles to stem cell
research – work that has just earned him recognition by the American
Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). The society will
induct him as a Fellow during its Annual Conference, being held in
Boston from February 14 to 18.
Starting with computer models of stem cell growth and differentiation
(the process by which a stem cell matures into its final form),
Zandstra has moved on to develop more sophisticated culture methods
that fine-tune the microenvironments to guide the generation of the
different cells types that make up the mature cells in our tissues:
heart cells for the heart or blood cells for blood.
"If you describe something mathematically, you have a much better
understanding of it than if you just observe it," he says. "And it's
also a powerful way to test many different hypotheses in silico
before going into the lab and doing the much more difficult
experiments in vitro."
Dr. Zandstra, the Canada Research Chair in Stem Cell Bioengineering,
also held a prestigious NSERC Steacie Fellowship. The Steacie prize -
which goes to six select Canadian professors annually – allowed
Zandstra to extend his work from mouse to man.
"There's only so much we can do with mouse cells," notes Dr.
Zandstra. "Now if we can also figure out how to get human embryonic
stem cells to differentiate on command to generate functional adult-
like cells, you can begin to think about the kinds of medical
conditions you could treat with them."
###
Peter Zandstra
Institute of Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering
University of Toronto
Tel.: +41 (0) 44 632 30 48
E-mail: peter.zandstra@
Eva Schacherl
Manager, Communications
Canada Research Chairs
Cell: 613-222-6103
E-mail: eva.schacherl@
http://www.eurekale
Sourcing: APA
MLA Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (2008,
February 16). From Stem Cells
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CBS NEWS VIDEO OF MAKING ORGANS USING OWN STEM CELLS + PRINTER ...
http://www.youtube.
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StemCells subscribers may also be interested in these sites:
Children's Neurobiological Solutions
http://www.CNSfoundation.org/
Cord Blood Registry
http://www.CordBlood.com/at.cgi?a=150123
The CNS Healing Group
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CNS_Healing
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