When James Thomson and his team succeeded in growing human embryonic stem cells in 1998, biology, health science and the biotech business sector began to fundamentally change.

Today, at least 10 Wisconsin enterprises depend – in one way or another – on pluripotent stem cells, either human embryonic or induced pluripotent cells (iPS). Here’s a look at some of them:

WiCell, a research lab funded and established by the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation, is now one of the world’s largest distributors of embryonic stem cells and iPS cells. Its catalog has grown from 75 types, or “lines,” three years ago to more than 1,200 today. Among the most requested are the original five lines that Thomson first derived.

BrainXell sells neural cells created with processes patented by company founder Su-Chun Zhang, a UW-Madison neuroscience professor, who in 2001 became the first to grow stem cells into cells that transport and store information in the nervous system.

Most purchasers are pharmaceutical firmss testing drugs related to neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer's and Parkinson’s. BrainXell is located in University Research Park.