James Thomson Interview (page: 8 / 8) Father of Stem Cell Research	Print Interview

You say you took a pathology residency to make a living. What were you doing in that capacity?

James Thomson: Doing necropsies and reading slides, and doing what human pathologists do, but for the primate center. So I did that for a number of years, did all the necropsies of all the dead monkeys to figure out why they died.

So you had two jobs in a way.

Get the Flash Player to see this video. James Thomson: I was the chief pathologist, and I had 50 percent of my time protected for research. And what that allowed me was incredible flexibility on what kind of research I wanted to pursue. And I made a conscious decision not to go in the normal tenure route, because you had this six-year clock and then that's that. So you're very much forced to hit certain milestones at certain dates, otherwise you don't get tenure. Because I had 50 percent of my time protected, and I had a very good job that paid quite well, I could do what I wanted. And this embryonic stem cell project was a very high-risk, long-term project. From the time I got to Wisconsin to the time human embryonic stem cells derived, it was seven years. So had I been a tenure track person, I would not have gotten tenure. So this allowed me a lot more flexibility than the average faculty job would have.

It probably didn't allow you a lot of sleep, however.

James Thomson: Yeah, it was a hard job, but again, I had the freedom to pursue what I wanted to, and that was the important thing.

What would you tell a young person who might be interested in science? What makes it so rewarding?

James Thomson: It has to come from within. So I wouldn't even tell a young person. They'd have to come to me and say, "I'm really turned on by this," 'cause I don't think I can transfer that to somebody. Now, I can give them ideas of what are cool directions to go in, but they almost have to have that already by the time I see somebody like that. I think you either have the passion within you or not, and it's not a question of just pushing people in a direction that they're not -- like, inside -- going to go.

What makes your work rewarding for you?

Get the Flash Player to see this video. James Thomson: I think the cells are neat, right? I can't tell you precisely why, but I think it's good, whatever you work on, to just think it's cool, right? And I really hope it does help people someday. But it's also not the reason I go into work today and do my work. It's just because I think that thing is really interesting, and I want to work on that. But then, when I step back a little bit and look like, you know, what I want to accomplish over my career, I very much hope that what I do in my laboratory does benefit people. I think my career would be extremely satisfying if that's true, but I don't think about that day to day. Which is probably the patience thing, again, is that I'm more focused on the questions I'm trying to address and trying to do as efficiently as possible, but I'm not thinking about the direct translational benefits of my work every day.

[ Key to Success ] Passion

Do you turn down a lot of interviews just so you can keep working?

James Thomson: I'm better at my work than I am at interviews, yes.

On that note, thank you. It was wonderful talking to you.

James Thomson: Well, thank you for taking the time.

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