Wisconsin State Journal, 09.21.08
Here's what James Thomson, the UW-Madison
researcher who ushered in the era of stem cells, igniting a fierce ethical debate and encouraging the hopes of millions of patients, wants you to know about him: nothing.
"I want my work to be known and widely understood, but I'd prefer to be invisible if I could be," said Thomson, 49.
The human embryonic stem cells he was the first to grow in a lab 10 years ago have made Thomson one of the world's biggest, if reluctant, scientific stars.
Last year, he returned to the international stage, triggering skin cells to go back in time to their embryonic state.
Here's what James Thomson, the UW-Madison
researcher who ushered in the era of stem cells, igniting a fierce ethical debate and encouraging the hopes of millions of patients, wants you to know about him: nothing.
"I want my work to be known and widely understood, but I'd prefer to be invisible if I could be," said Thomson, 49.
The human embryonic stem cells he was the first to grow in a lab 10 years ago have made Thomson one of the world's biggest, if reluctant, scientific stars.
Last year, he returned to the international stage, triggering skin cells to go back in time to their embryonic state.