NEWS Beacon in developmental biology n Cite as: CMAJ 2017 October 16;189:E1298-9. doi: 10.1503/cmaj.109-5460 Posted on cmajnews.com on September 27, 2017. he identification of Gurdon, whom some people the genes responsi- may know recently received ble for controlling the Nobel Prize for his work Tcellular fate and embryonic cloning frogs; undertaking development in mice has research that demonstrates made Dr. Janet Rossant a that all of development is beacon in the field of written in our genes, and all developmental biology. of our cells contain DNA that Her work pioneered tech- has that information, yet niques that allowed genes somehow during develop- to be altered within ment, different genes are embryos. It also acceler- turned on and differentiation ated avenues in the fields occurs. That’s what really of stem cell biology and turned me on to the underly- regenerative medicine. ing problem of ‘how do we She was awarded the get from a fertilized egg to an 2015 Canada Gairdner organism?’ John is the per- Wightman Award, pre- son who really turned me on sented annually to a Cana- to that question and he has dian who has demon- been pursuing it ever since strated outstanding and so have I.” leadership in medicine and medical science. Rossant For the diverse audience was recognized “for her who read CMAJ, can you outstanding contributions explain what stem cells to developmental biology are? and for her exceptional “Stem cells are cells that international leadership in have the ability to self- stem cell biology and pol- renew, make endless copies icy-making, and in advanc- of themselves and yet also ing research programs for retain the potential to differ- children’s illnesses.” Courtesy of Dr. Janet Rossant entiate into specialized cell Among her many accom- Dr. Janet Rossant work set a new course for altering genes within embryos. types. There are numerous plishments, Rossant was stem cell types, including the founding director of the Ontario Was there a defining moment in pluripotent stem cells, which have the Institute for Regenerative Medicine and your life that sparked your interest ability to differentiate into various cells. is the current president and scientific in science, more specifically in There are also adult-type stem cells, director of the Gairdner Foundation. developmental biology and stem such as hematopoietic stem cells (which She is also the emeritus chief of cell research? give rise to all other blood cells), the research at SickKids and senior scien- “When I was in high school, I had a great first stem cells to be described famously tist in the Developmental and Stem Cell science teacher who certainly sparked by James Till and Ernest McCulloch here Biology Program at the University of my interest in science. When pursuing in Canada. It is the self-renewal capacity Toronto. Antonio Bruni recently inter- undergraduate studies at the University of stem cells that really is their special viewed Rossant about her career. of Oxford, one of my lecturers was John property.” E1298 CMAJ | OCTOBER 16, 2017 | VOLUME 189 | ISSUE 41 © 2017 Joule Inc. or its licensors What role has the study of large was misled by many people into think- As Canada’s first female developmental biology played in ing that the work involved destroying Gairdner Wightman Laureate, stem-cell research? babies, and of course, that is not the case. I what message would you give to “Developmental biology in essence is the think the public has a better understanding encourage more women to pursue study of the egg-to-the-organism. It has now of what embryonic stem cells are, and a career in the STEM (science, NEWS played a role in stem-cell research in many what their potential is. Another misconcep- technology, engineering, different ways. The kind of research that I tion that people have is that stem cells can mathematics) fields? do is to understand how you go from the cure everything. There has been a big push, “I think that is interesting in itself, egg to the first stage of differentiation (the a big hype worldwide, that stem cells could because what it says is that we still need blastocyst) in a mammalian (mouse) be used to cure everything, including to see more women coming into leader- embryo. That underlying research identified stroke, cerebral palsy and autism, which ship roles in Canada and around the that the pluripotent cells that lie within the has led to a proliferation of clinics world- world. We have huge opportunities for blastocyst give rise to the entire organism. wide claiming unproven therapies. That is a students of all sorts of diversity, whether Understanding the processes, growth fac- big concern, and it’s a big concern for the it is gender or ethnicity. We need to tors and pathways that establish those cell stem cell community at large because the make opportunities available for every- types in the embryo allowed people to iden- misuse of stem cell therapies could put the one and I think that we are seeing a huge tify and isolate stem cells from blastocysts. whole field in a bad light.” increase in the number of women com- First, in the mouse by Gail Martin, Martin ing into STEM careers; however, we are Evans and Matthew Kaufman, and then in Among your many appointments, not seeing enough going through to the 1998 by James Thomson who isolated plu- you currently serve as the president leadership level. Part of my role, as the ripotent stem cells from the human blasto- and scientific director of the leader of the Gairdner Foundation, is to cyst. Shinya Yamanaka then took the infor- Gairdner Foundation. What have make clear that women are just as suc- mation that we knew from development been the biggest rewards and cessful and just as likely to succeed as about the genes that specified pluripotency challenges of this role thus far? men and that they are starting to do that and was able to reprogram adult cells back “I have been the president of the Gairdner for in a big way. Through the Gairdner Foun- to the early embryo. That is one aspect, one year, taking over from John Dirks who dation, we are trying to be part of the identifying and understanding what plurip- was the previous president for 22 years and conversations about encouraging people otent cells are. When you want to use plu- did an amazing job in taking the Gairdner to pursue STEM careers and use exam- ripotent cells and differentiate them into Foundation to where it is today as one of the ples of people, such as myself, that it can cell types that you may want to use to study leading prizes for biomedical research world- be done and it may not be easy, but it’s or treat disease for cell-based therapies, wide. The prestige of the Canada Gairdner not easy going into any high pressure you have to understand how to make those International Awards, the Canada Gairdner career. Science is a very rewarding cells go down specialized pathways — that Wightman Award, and the Canada Gairdner career.” is developmental biology, too!” Global Health Award are all recognized inter- nationally as the prizes that give a measure Antonio Bruni, Edmonton, Alta. Despite great promise, there are still of the importance of research, and of course misconceptions related to stem cell are also a precursor that hints that you may Editor’s note: To commemorate the recent 30th anniversary of the Canadian Student research. What are some of the be going down the path to a Nobel Prize. It is Health Research Forum (CSHRF), four recipi- public’s biggest misconceptions an icon for Canada. I’ve learned a lot in my ents of Gairdner awards gave public lectures about stem cells and how has the first year. In particular, I have learned how highlighting their achievements. CSHRF partici- public’s perception changed respected the Gairdner Award is by the inter- pants were selected to interview the laureates. throughout your career? national scientific community; it is seen as a Antonio Bruni is a PhD candidate in the Depart- ment of Surgery at the University of Alberta in “The early work with human embryonic prestigious award representing Canadian Edmonton studying islet transplantation as a stem cells was ethically concerning because values, that Canada values science, excel- treatment for type 1 diabetes in Dr. James Sha- of the use of human embryos. The public at lence and evidence-based approaches.” piro’s laboratory. CMAJ | OCTOBER 16, 2017 | VOLUME 189 | ISSUE 41 E1299.