Inventor Name
Civin, Curt
Repository
National Museum of American History
Smithsonian Institution
Archives Center
P.O. Box 37012
MRC 601/Room 1100
Washington, DC 20013-7012
202-633-3270
http://americanhistory.si.edu/archives
Physical Description
0.25 cu. ft.: 1 box
Summary
In the 1970s when Civin began stem cell research, little was known about progeniters, the cells of all other blood lineages. Civin thought that stem cells had their own identifying surface proteins. To test this, he immunized mice with leukemia cells, some of which he supposed might have that peculiar protein and then harvested the resulting immunoglobulins and reproduced them as monoclonal antibodies. In 1981, Civin discovered an antibody that bound to 1% of marrow cells. Original videos documenting Curt I. Civins's discovery of the cell surface protein that makes stem cell selection possible; and interviews with Kenneth Kinsler and Bert Vogelstein.