Federal Approval of Michigan Embryonic Stem Cell Line Gives Boost to State Research

By Robin Erb

Detroit Free Press Medical Writer

A Michigan stem cell line developed from a 5-day-old embryo has been approved by the U.S. National Institutes of Health for federally-funded research – a move that strengthens Michigan’s foothold in the growing field of embryonic stem cell science.

At the University of Michigan, the line known as UM4-6 was cultivated by Gary Smith, co-director of the U-M Consortium for Stem Cell Therapies — part of the A. Alfred Taubman Medical Research Institute.

In October 2010, Smith took the tiny clump of about 30 cells from a 5-day-old embryo that had been created for reproduction but was no longer needed, according to U-M.

Nurtured in what Smith has called "a very precise culture and the right nutrients,” those cells continued to replicate into millions, even as they remained in their embryonic state… Read more here.