Gov. Jim Doyle announced another pledge for stem cell research Tuesday, giving $1 million to a stem cell start-up company founded by three UW-Madison researchers including James Thomson, the professor who pioneered stem cell research and isolated the first embryonic stem cell.
Stem Cell Products, Inc., run by Thomson and fellow UW-Madison researchers Igor Slukvin and Dong Chen, will begin research on a process that derives red blood cells and platelets from embryonic stem cells. According to Doyle, platelets are in short supply and the U.S. military frequently flies wounded soldiers to Germany in order to perform blood transfusions.