The Wellcome Trust-MRC Cambridge Stem Cell Institute will be an invigorating environment for cross-fertilisation between fundamental and translational researchers.
—Professor Austin Smith, Director of the new Wellcome Trust-MRC Cambridge Stem Cell Institute
Stem cells can renew themselves almost indefinitely and can develop into any of the cell types in the body. They are an invaluable tool for scientists studying the mechanisms of human disease and could be used as an alternative to animal models by pharmaceutical companies developing new drugs. They also show great promise as potential treatments for devastating conditions such as liver disease, diabetes, blindness, spinal cord injury and neurodegenerative disorders like Parkinson’s disease.
The Institute will build on existing investment by the Medical Research Council (MRC) and the Wellcome Trust, uniting 30 leading research teams with expertise across the three main types of stem cell: embryonic, adult and induced pluripotent cells.
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Image: Stem cells in the skin - stem cells labelled in red are found in special microenvironments where they are surrounded by other types of cell Image credit: Dr Kim Jensen
Reproduced courtesy of the University of Cambridge
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