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The Inventor's Award

by Judy Purdy

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The Lamar Dodd Award  |  The William A. Owens Award  |  The Albert Christ-Janer Award |  The Inventor's Award

 

Recognizes an inventor for a unique, creative and innovative discovery that has made an impact on the community.

Steven L. Stice, Georgia Research Alliance Eminent Scholar and professor of animal reproductive physiology, has pioneered research in developmental biology and genetics to advance agriculture and human medicine. His discoveries help develop “platform” technologies that serve as the basis for a range of combined and individual advances and applications in both fields.

An international cloning expert, Stice began developing cloning technology to improve livestock breeding in the mid 1980s, a decade before the birth of Dolly, the first mammal cloned from an adult cell. Eleven months after Dolly’s birth, he successfully cloned the first cattle, George and Charlie, in December 1997. He also showed that genes could be transferred from one organism to another during the cloning process. The process, called transgenics, can be harnessed to breed “pharm” animals that can produce a range of biomedically important products. The technology holds promise for increasing genetic diversity among livestock and preserving endangered wildlife.

Stice’s work with embryonic stem cells is targeted at developing new treatments for diseases and drug discovery, especially those that involve the nervous system. Embryonic stem cells, the master cells of human life, have the potential to differentiate into all 200 cell types found in adult humans. Currently, Stice and his research team are engineering these cells to grow neurons that could be used to treat disorders such as Parkinson’s disease, spinal cord injury, ALS and spinal muscular atrophy, an inherited disease that causes paralysis and death in infants.

Since joining the UGA faculty in 1998, Stice has successfully cloned cattle and pigs. These include KC — the first cow cloned from cells harvested from a carcass, which demonstrates cloning’s potential for the beef industry. In December 2004, KC gave birth to a lively, 72-pound calf named Sunshine.

During Stice’s UGA career, the UGA Research Foundation has filed eight patent applications based on his stem cell research inventions for agricultural uses and human-health uses. He also has helped form several biotechnology companies based on his pioneering research, including Prolinia Inc., Cytogenesis Inc. (now a part of BresaGen Inc.) and Aruna Biomedical Inc.

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EMAIL THIS     PRINTABLE VERSION

The Lamar Dodd Award  |  The William A. Owens Award  |  The Albert Christ-Janer Award |  The Inventor's Award


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