Stem Cell Timeline

1956

  • First successful bone marrow transplant (USA)

1961

  • Canadians Jim Till and Ernest McCulloch prove the existence of stem cells (Radiation Research 1961 and Nature1963) (Toronto)

1968

  • First bone marrow transplant to treat severe immunodeficiency (USA)

1974

  • Mouse embryonic stem cells are shown to participate in the development of organisms as well as teratomas (USA)

1978

  • Hematopoietic stem cells are discovered in human cord blood (USA)

1981

  • Embryonic stem cells are derived from the inner cell mass of a mouse blastocyst (USA)

1988

  • Hematopoietic stem cells from adult mice are purified and characterized (USA)

1992

  • Canadian Sam Weiss identifies stem cells in the adult human brain (Calgary)

1994

  • Canadian John Dick isolates the first cancer stem cell from acute myeloid leukemia patient - the first direct evidence for cancer stem cells (Toronto)
  • Canadian Derek van der Kooy identifies retinal stem cells in mice (Toronto)
  • Patients with damaged corneas are successfully treated with corneal stem cells (Taiwan)

1995

  • First primate stem cell lines derived (USA)

1996

  • First animal cloning: Dolly the sheep is born at Roslin Institute, Edinburgh University, Scotland

1997

  • Canadian John Dick isolates cancer stem cells in three other forms of leukemia (Toronto)

1998

  • First human embryonic stem cell line derived by James Thomson, at the University of Wisconsin-Madison (USA)

1999

  • Canadian researchers collaborate with Italian researchers to derive, for the first time, blood cells from adult neural stem cells
  • Edmonton Protocol: Protocol developed for the implantation of pancreatic islets for the treatment of diabetes
  • First treatment for Parkinson’s disease using stem cells expanded from the patient’s own neural cells (USA)

2000

  • Canadian Derek van der Kooy identifies retinal stem cells in the human eye (Toronto)

2001

  • The Stem Cell Network is formed under Canada's Network's of Centres of Excellence program (Ottawa)
  • SCN Investigator Freda Miller proves the existence of stem cells in adult skin tissue (Montreal)

2002

  • Adult somatic stem cells are shown to have the capability to differentiate into unrelated cell types, such as nerve and blood cells (USA)

2003

  • SCN Investigator Peter Dirks isolates the first cancer stem cell in a human brain tumor (Toronto)
  • First human embryonic stem cell line created in the United Kingdom by researcher Stephen Minger of King's College London
  • Creation of the International Stem Cell Forum (ISCF), comprising 9 funders of stem cell research from around the world, to encourage international collaboration and funding support for stem cell research, with the overall aim of promoting global good practices and accelerating progress in this vitally important area of biomedical science.

2004

  • First evidence of diabetic mice cured with mouse embryonic stem cells
  • SCN Investigator Michael Rudnicki identifies the Pax7 protein that triggers stem cell specification into muscle cells.
  • First derivation of Dopomagernic cells from hESC (USA), a hope for Parkinson's Disease treatment
  • International Consortium of Stem Cell Networks (ICSCN) is initiated by the Stem Cell Network. The consortium aims to unify international efforts to accelerate opportunities to make stem cell therapy a reality for a broad range of debilitating diseases.

2005

  • The first mouse model of human Down Syndrome is created (London, UK)
  • First reported findings of stem cells in bone cancer (USA)
  • Fathers of stem cell research, James Till and Ernest McCulloch are awarded the Lasker Prize for their groundbreaking work

2006

  • SCN Investigator John Dick shows that abnormal stem cells are the cause of cancer

2007

  • SCN Investigator John Dick creates first human cancer in a lab mouse, enabling researchers to study human cancer development
  • First induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS) engineered from adult skin cells. The altered iPS cells have characteristics similar to embryonic stem cells

2008

  • SCN Investigator Sam Weiss is awarded the Gairdner Prize

2009

  • SCN Investigator Andras Nagy is first to announce a new method to create iPS cells without the use of retroviruses