The cheeseheads are working quietly out in Wisconsin and have "built a critical mass of scientists" that amounts to a "tight-knit (stem cell) research hub unlike any other institution in the world."
So say Susanne Rust and Kathleen Gallagher in a three-part series in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. The articles name players and companies involved in the effort, which is partly funded by WARF, the group that holds the key patents on embryonic stem cells.
WARF recently said it wants the California stem cell agency to cough up cash when its research uses Wisconsin science. No reciprocal state-to-state courtesy here, just plain old business.
The Gallagher-Rust pieces provide good overview of the more stem cell recent stem cell efforts in Wisconsin, including involvement of a host of disciplines.
For those mystified by the word "cheesehead," it refers to residents of Wisconsin, once the nation's top cheese-producing state. But that title now belongs to California, as I recall. Nonetheless cheese ripples through the veins of Wisconsin residents. Evidence is available on national television each fall when fans of the Green Bay Packers wear hats shaped like wedges of cheese. One final note and official disclosure from yours truly at the California Stem Cell Report: My mother was born in Milwaukee, but the finest legal experts say that poses only a minor conflict of interest when I write about the Badger State.
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