Our Scientific Approach
An unwavering commitment to rigorous science characterizes our culture, guiding our scientific and clinical integrity as well as our business principles.
“Imagination should give wings to our thoughts but we always need decisive experimental proof, and when the moment comes to draw conclusions and to interpret the gathered observations, imagination must be checked and documented by the factual results of the experiment.”
Louis Pasteur (1822-1895)
Encouraging Innovation
Inspiration. Imagination. Innovation. Opportunity stems from situational awareness, a state of mind that is ever-vigilant, attentive to the tiniest detail, aware of consistencies or discrepancies that give rise to novel ways of describing a condition or considering a problem.
True to our scientific rigor, we won’t call a cell a stem cell until we prove that it meets very stringent criteria — that is, the ability to, at a single cell level, self-renew and differentiate into all the major cell types of the organ from which the cell originated.
Our science is also driven by “In vivo veritas.” In our own therapeutic programs, work is never progressed without validation. Similarly, our drug discovery platform is distinguished by offering a complete range of capabilities from in vitro characterization through in vivo validation.
At StemCells, our scientists follow the leads they uncover in the course of their research. One such foray led to the characterization and isolation of purified populations of human neural stem cells, which became the foundation for our CNS program. Another endeavor resulted in the first use of the NOD-scid mouse to create new models for neurodegenerative diseases in which we could test the effect of human cell transplantation.
StemCells scientists are encouraged to publish and to collaborate on research projects for publication with academic partners.
Integrated disciplines foster new tools and perspectives. Antibody technologies help us mark, identify and isolate cells. We use molecular biology to genetically modify cells in order to study their biological properties and what affects their growth and differentiation. Bioinformatics is used to interrogate cells to uncover similarities and differences and to create signature profiles for use in characterizing.