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Scientists’ Work Could Clear Moral Hurdle to Embryonic Research
By Rick Weiss
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, August 22, 2005; A01
Scientists for the first time have turned ordinary skin cells into what appear to be embryonic stem cells – without having to use human eggs or make new human embryos in the process, as has always been required in the past, a Harvard research team announced yesterday.
The technique uses laboratory-grown human embryonic stem cells – such as the ones that President Bush has already approved for use by federally funded researchers – to “reprogram” the genes in a person’s skin cell, turning that skin cell into an embryonic stem cell itself.
The approach – details of which are to be published this week in the journal Science but were made public on the journal’s Web site yesterday – is still in an early stage of development. But if further studies confirm its usefulness, it could offer an end run around the heated social and religious debate that has for years overshadowed the field of human embryonic stem cell research.
Since the new stem cells in this technique are essentially rejuvenated versions of a person’s own skin cells, the DNA in those new stem cells matches the DNA of the person who provided the skin cells. In theory at least, that means that any tissues grown from those newly minted stem cells could be transplanted into the person to treat a disease without much risk that they would be rejected, because they would constitute an exact genetic match.
Until now, the only way to turn a person’s ordinary cell into a “personalized” stem cell such as this was to turn that ordinary cell into an embryo first and later destroy the embryo to retrieve the new stem cells growing inside – a process widely known as “therapeutic cloning.”
That prospect, like others in the promising arena of human embryonic stem cell research, has stirred strong emotions among those who believe that days-old human embryos should not be intentionally destroyed.
Embryonic stem cells are capable of becoming virtually any kind of cell or tissue and are being intensely studied around the world as the core of a newly emerging field of regenerative medicine, in which researchers hope to grow new tissues to revitalize ailing organs. Although human embryonic stem cells have never been tested in humans, some researchers expect human clinical trials to begin within a year or so. Researchers caution, however, that like many other nascent therapies that initially seemed promising, stem cells may never live up to their promise.
If some lingering, and potentially daunting, uncertainties can be dealt with successfully, the new technique “may circumvent some of the logistical and societal concerns” that have hampered much of the research in this country, Chad A. Cowan, Kevin Eggan and colleagues from the Harvard Stem Cell Institute report in the Science article.
More immediately, the new work could have an impact on Capitol Hill, where the Senate is poised to vote on legislation – already passed by the House – that would loosen Bush’s restrictions on human embryonic research.
Last month, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) surprised many of his colleagues by announcing he would break with the president and support the Senate bill, which Bush has promised to veto.
Some opponents of relaxing the current restrictions have argued that new techniques will soon eliminate the need to use human eggs or embryos to make cells that are, for all intents and purposes, human embryonic stem cells. They and others have for some months predicted that if such new findings were to emerge, they could shift the balance of votes in the Senate.
The researchers emphasize in their report that the technique is still far from finding an application in medicine. Most important, they note: Because it involves the fusion of a stem cell and a person’s ordinary skin cell, the process leads to the creation of a hybrid cell. While that cell has all the characteristics of a new embryonic stem cell, it contains the DNA of the person who donated the skin cell and also the DNA that was in the initial embryonic stem cell.
More…
washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/21/AR2005082101180_pf.html
By Rick Weiss
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, August 22, 2005; A01
Scientists for the first time have turned ordinary skin cells into what appear to be embryonic stem cells – without having to use human eggs or make new human embryos in the process, as has always been required in the past, a Harvard research team announced yesterday.
The technique uses laboratory-grown human embryonic stem cells – such as the ones that President Bush has already approved for use by federally funded researchers – to “reprogram” the genes in a person’s skin cell, turning that skin cell into an embryonic stem cell itself.
The approach – details of which are to be published this week in the journal Science but were made public on the journal’s Web site yesterday – is still in an early stage of development. But if further studies confirm its usefulness, it could offer an end run around the heated social and religious debate that has for years overshadowed the field of human embryonic stem cell research.
Since the new stem cells in this technique are essentially rejuvenated versions of a person’s own skin cells, the DNA in those new stem cells matches the DNA of the person who provided the skin cells. In theory at least, that means that any tissues grown from those newly minted stem cells could be transplanted into the person to treat a disease without much risk that they would be rejected, because they would constitute an exact genetic match.
Until now, the only way to turn a person’s ordinary cell into a “personalized” stem cell such as this was to turn that ordinary cell into an embryo first and later destroy the embryo to retrieve the new stem cells growing inside – a process widely known as “therapeutic cloning.”
That prospect, like others in the promising arena of human embryonic stem cell research, has stirred strong emotions among those who believe that days-old human embryos should not be intentionally destroyed.
Embryonic stem cells are capable of becoming virtually any kind of cell or tissue and are being intensely studied around the world as the core of a newly emerging field of regenerative medicine, in which researchers hope to grow new tissues to revitalize ailing organs. Although human embryonic stem cells have never been tested in humans, some researchers expect human clinical trials to begin within a year or so. Researchers caution, however, that like many other nascent therapies that initially seemed promising, stem cells may never live up to their promise.
If some lingering, and potentially daunting, uncertainties can be dealt with successfully, the new technique “may circumvent some of the logistical and societal concerns” that have hampered much of the research in this country, Chad A. Cowan, Kevin Eggan and colleagues from the Harvard Stem Cell Institute report in the Science article.
More immediately, the new work could have an impact on Capitol Hill, where the Senate is poised to vote on legislation – already passed by the House – that would loosen Bush’s restrictions on human embryonic research.
Last month, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) surprised many of his colleagues by announcing he would break with the president and support the Senate bill, which Bush has promised to veto.
Some opponents of relaxing the current restrictions have argued that new techniques will soon eliminate the need to use human eggs or embryos to make cells that are, for all intents and purposes, human embryonic stem cells. They and others have for some months predicted that if such new findings were to emerge, they could shift the balance of votes in the Senate.
The researchers emphasize in their report that the technique is still far from finding an application in medicine. Most important, they note: Because it involves the fusion of a stem cell and a person’s ordinary skin cell, the process leads to the creation of a hybrid cell. While that cell has all the characteristics of a new embryonic stem cell, it contains the DNA of the person who donated the skin cell and also the DNA that was in the initial embryonic stem cell.
More…
washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/21/AR2005082101180_pf.html
