(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2014)
Najia, Mohamad Ali
Over the past 5000 years of human scientific exploration, the
concept of “large interdisciplinary research teams” has only recently
emerged in an effort to solve complex scientific problems of the modern era.
Mammoth scientific projects, where the technical goals have been clearly
defined, necessitated the need for large, globally collaborating teams. The
Human Genome Project, for example, employed engineers, biologists, chemists
and computer scientists spanning four continents. Resting on the successes of
the sequenced genome, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in 2005
revealed the Roadmap Initiative to encourage, as they term, “new
organizational models for team science.” However, have the ideas of
interdisciplinary science and large teams become inappropriately intertwined
for today’s research questions?
(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2013)
Najia, Mohamad Ali
In recent years, stem cell research has emerged as one of the
most exciting areas of scientific discovery and medical promise. Human
embryonic stem cells capture the imagination because they are immortal and
have an almost unlimited developmental potential. After many months of growth
in culture dishes, these remarkable cells maintain the ability to form cells
ranging from muscle to nerve to blood—potentially any cell type that makes
up the human body. The proliferative and developmental potential of human
embryonic stem cells promises an essentially basic research and
transplantation therapies for diseases, ranging from heart disease to
Parkinson’s disease to leukemia. Stem cells can also be used to study an
individual’s disease progression in vitro, opening up opportunities for
personalized therapeutics and pharmaceuticals.