Master of Science (M. S.) Degree in Stem Cell Biology Focus and rationale Stem cell biology is a rapidly growing interdisciplinary field that rests on foundations provided by molecular, cellular and developmental biology. It has important medical applications through the production of cells for therapeutic transplantation and the stimulation of endogenous regeneration of body tissues. It interfaces with tissue engineering, which is the use of engineering principles to construct tissues and organs from living cells; and also with gene therapy, which involves the alteration of cellular properties by the introduction of new genes. Stem cells are the cells responsible for tissue renewal in humans and animals. They have the property that they can both reproduce themselves, and produce functional differentiated cells to make up the tissue in question. Embryonic stem cells are cells that can be cultured in vitro from early embryos, can reproduce themselves, and can form any cell type in the body. Stem cell biology embraces the range of topics from understanding how stem cells work, in terms of basic molecular and cellular biology, to practical methods for producing cells for transplantation and for their clinical application. The Stem Cell Institute (SCI) of the University of Minnesota was founded in 1999 under the leadership of Dr. Catherine Verfaillie. Following her departure, Dr. Jonathan Slack was appointed as Director in 2007. SCI faculty undertake research on the properties of embryonic and adult stem cells, and associated developmental biology problems. Most of the work is basic science research although there is also some clinical research particularly in the area of hematopoietic cell transplantation. The SCI currently comprises 26 faculty. About half are located in the McGuire Translational Research Facility (MTRF) on the East Bank campus, along with core facilities such as flow cytometry (equipment and personnel for separating live cells according to their properties). The remainder are located in other buildings of the East Bank and St. Paul campuses. They include members of the College of Veterinary Medicine and Institute of Technology, as well as the Medical School and College of Biological Sciences. The SCI has expertise across the field of stem cell biology. Faculty are members of various graduate programs, especially Molecular, Cell, Developmental Biology and Genetics (MCDB&G), Neuroscience, Microbiology, Immunology and Cancer Biology (MICaB), and Pharmacology. | | SCB Faculty Courses FAQs MS Student Manual -
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