Focus on Stem Cells - Collaboration piece

Stem cells. What do you know about them? With the rise of the concept of stem cells, you’ve probably heard them both exalted and vilified in the media. There’s a lot of hype. What you may not know is that the original identified stem cell was actually the blood cell stem cell or hematopoietic stem cell (see what I did there? It all comes back to immunology!). In fact, HSCs have been in use for therapy for a long time, particularly for cancer treatment. You can read in more detail about this on the Canadian Cancer Society website, which has a nice, accessible description about it.

While most stem cell therapies remain more science fiction than science fact, there is a lot of research happening around stem cells, and understanding their development, as well as how they can be used to intervene in health and other areas of biology. One researcher focusing on this area is my colleague and friend, Prof. Jennifer Mitchell, based at the Cell and Systems Design Department of University of Toronto. So, when she approached me about designing some special pieces for her, I was excited about the opportunity to work with her again. I had made a one-off piece for her previously: a representational ball of stem cells, in my early days of designing. This time, the brief was to revisit that piece, evoking her focus of using embryonic stem cells models to understand how the develop into other cell types.

A hint of the first piece I made in 2019, alongside the microscopic image of a stained ball of ES cells. The blue staining is a nuclear (DNA) stain that fluoresces blue under the right wavelength of light!

I fabricated this one, and it had alot of features that I liked, but it had some aspects that I wanted to fine tune more, so it was great to have a chance to reconsider this design for something that I could produce again in the future. This time, I went the casting route, and carved something in wax.

Wax model of stem cell ball

This allowed me to make something flatter, but still with a lot of dimension. I then added a back plate to close it, a simple, hidden bail, and added the felt, and voila! A new sophisticated cousin was born.

Finished pendant, sterling silver with needled blue felt

I’m loving the way it turned out (and Jen was pretty pleased too!). You can see one of these on display in Cell Systems and Biology, if you’re passing that way, along with more explanation about Prof. Mitchell’s research. Want one of your very own, or know someone who would? You can visit my Shop Page to get one!