At least that was the case before Kraus came along. As part of his studies, he invented a way to selectively breed tHSCs quickly and efficiently in the laboratory by culturing them in a bioreactor he designed. Kraus came to WPI in 1988 to continue his education after earning an undergraduate degree in philosophy and running his own construction business in Pennsylvania. For his doctoral qualifying exam, he proposed a reactor that would mimic how stem cells grow in bone marrow. Kraus' advisor, Judith Miller, associate professor of biology and biotechnology, immediately recognized the project's potential.
Doctoral committees review a lot of concepts that are interesting in theory.
Morey's was the first in a long time that seemed to have recognizable commercial potential and was also the first qualifying proposal ever, in my experience, to eclipse the originally planned doctoral research. Jill Friberg and Morey Kraus work on their stem cell breeder at the offices of t. As a result of Kraus' proposal, MBRI funded feasibility testing of the bioreactor and supported further research on Kraus' idea. In September 1994, Kraus opened his own business, t. Breeders Inc., in a large office at MBRI headquarters in Worcester.