The issue at hand is that heart cells don't reproduce well outside the body. As a result, scientists are limited to testing the effects of experimental drugs directly in the heart within living animals and people. Not a very safe testing ground.

However, heart cells which have been derived from stem cells appear to be more resiliant and therefore will allow drug tests on the heart to occur in a petri dish.

Thomson, who isolated human embryonic stem cells back in 1998, stated that the new company, Cellular Dynamics International, will go on to show that Wisconsin is still a leader in the stem cell research field.

Needless to say though, Thomson and his partners will have some stiff competition.

Thusfar, none of the growing number of companies have been successful at turning stem cell research into a profitable treatment option thusfar. Furthermore, not one product derived from human embryonic stem cells has been put into clinical testing on people yet.

Geron Inc. hopes to test an experimental stem cell therapy to treat spinal cord injuries sometime next year. Geron lost $80 million last year.

"Everybody's going to be watching and the fact that Dr. Thomson is doing this makes it a little higher profile," said Michael Werner, chief of policy for the Biotechnology Industry Organization in Washington, D.C., which represents more than 1,000 biotech companies. "People are always looking for ways to simplify and streamline the drug discovery and development process. This could be a way to do that."

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