Principles of Cloning: Edition 2

Dr. Cibelli is Professor of Animal Biotechnology at Michigan State University. He heads the Cellular Reprogramming Laboratory in the Departments of Animal Science and Physiology since 2003. From 2010 to 2017 he was also the Scientific Director of LARCel, a laboratory of cellular reprogramming dedicated to generating human pluripotent cells under GMP conditions for preclinical studies in Andalucia, Spain. Dr. Cibelli is internationally recognized as one of the pioneers in the area of cellular reprogramming using oocyte-driven protocols. Dr. Cibelli together with his colleagues, were responsible for the generation of the world's first transgenic cloned calves, the first stem cells by nuclear transfer in bovine, the first embryonic stem cells by parthenogenesis in primates and the generation of the first cell line of iPSCs using oocyte factors alone. His work has been published un numerous scientific journals including Science, Nature Biotechnology, Nature Medicine, Nature Methods, PNAS, Cell Stem Cell and JAMA.

Sir Ian Wilmut is an embryologist who famously led the team that successfully cloned ‘Dolly the sheep’ in the mid-1990s. To achieve this technical feat, the team established a technique for transferring nuclei from adult sheep cells to unfertilized sheep eggs that had had their own nuclei removed. He now conducts research on adult cells, using techniques that avoid the need to obtain embryonic cells. Ian’s current work aims to convert skin cells into stem cells that have the ability to form all tissues. By deriving these cells from donors who have inherited degenerative diseases, it is possible to gain new understanding of how diseases arise and search for medicines that are able to prevent the degeneration. In the long run, stem cells will be used in new treatments. Ian is a strong advocate of a proposal to develop a global network of cell banks, making it possible for anyone in the world to have access to such cell therapy.

Rudolf Jaenisch produced the first transgenic animals in the 1970. In the 80’s and 90’s his lab made many contributions to the understanding of cancer, neurological diseases, and the role of DNA methylation in mammalian development using transgenic mice. The lab was one of three labs worldwide that reported in 2007 cells taken from mouse tails could be reprogrammed into iPSCs by over-expressing four master gene regulators. Later that year, the lab followed up by further manipulating iPSCs to treat sickle-cell anemia in mice, the first proof in principle of therapeutic use of such cells. In 2008, the lab reported that neurons derived from iPSCs successfully integrated into fetal mouse brains and reduced symptoms in a Parkinson’s disease rat model. The Jaenisch Lab focuses on understanding the genetic and epigenetic basis of familial and sporadic diseases.

Educated at Eton College, where he did Classics, having been advised he was unsuited for science. PhD with Michael Fischberg, on nuclear transplantation in Xenopus. Obtained the first clone of genetically identical adult animals. Demonstrated genetic totipotency of somatic cell nuclei by obtaining sexually mature frogs from the nuclei of intestinal epithelium. Postdoctoral work at Caltech, on bacteriophage genetics. Moved to MRC Molecular Biology Laboratory in Cambridge, subsequently becoming Head of Cell Biology Division. In 1983, accepted John Humphrey Plummer Professorship of Cell Biology in University of Cambridge, in Zoology Department. Initiated, with Prof R Laskey, Cancer Research Campaign unit of Molecular Embryology in Zoology Department Cambridge. In 1990 moved to new Wellcome CRC Institute of Cancer and Developmental Biology in Cambridge and served as Chairman 1990-2001. From 2001, the Institute was renamed The Gurdon Institute. Dr Gurdon has received multiple awards and recognitions internationally, too numerous to list.

Robert Lanza is an American scientist and author whose research spans the range of natural science, from biology to theoretical physics. TIME magazine recognized him as one of the “100 Most Influential People in the World, and Prospect magazine named him one of the Top 50 “World Thinkers. He has hundreds of scientific publications and over 30 books, including definitive references in the fields of stem cells, tissue engineering, and regenerative medicine. He’s a former Fulbright Scholar and studied with polio-pioneer Jonas Salk and Nobel laureates Gerald Edelman (known for his work on the biological basis of consciousness) and Rodney Porter. He also worked closely (and co-authored papers in Science on self-awareness and symbolic communication) with noted Harvard psychologist BF Skinner. Dr. Lanza was part of the team that cloned the world’s first human embryo, the first endangered species, and published the first-ever reports of pluripotent stem cell use in humans.

Dr. Michael West is the Chief Executive Officer of AgeX Therapeutics, Inc. AgeX Therapeutics is focused on the development and commercialization of novel therapeutics targeting human aging. He received his Ph.D. from Baylor College of Medicine in 1989 concentrating on the biology of cellular aging. He has focused his academic and business career on the application of developmental biology to the age-related degenerative disease. He was the founder and first CEO of Geron Corporation of Menlo Park, California and from 1992 to 1998 he was a Director, and Vice President, where he initiated and managed programs in telomerase diagnostics, oligonucleotide-based telomerase inhibition as anti-tumor therapy, and the cloning and use of telomerase in telomerase-mediated therapy wherein telomerase is utilized to immortalize human cells.