Thoughts On The Reversed Stem Cell Restrictions
March 12, 2009 by Mandy Lo
On Monday, President Obama reversed the restrictions on the federal funding of human embryonic stem cell research. This is a giant leap forward for not only stem cell research in the US, but will also accelerate stem cell research worldwide.
Eight years ago, President Bush banned the use of federal research dollars to fund any research using human embryonic stem cells derived after August 2001. This leaves only 21 human embryonic cell lines that American researchers could do research with under federal funding. These eligible human embryonic stem lines were previously derived through private funding or made in other countries. He also retracted the stem cell guideline that was written during the Clinton administration, and restricted federal funded research on human embryonic stem lines derived from spare embryo meant for destruction at IVF clinics, even if they were created with private funds.
Much has changed in human embryonic stem cell research scene since 2001. An estimate of 400 to 1,000 new human embryonic stem cell lines had been established in other countries or on US soil through private funding. These lines provide many advantages to the Bush’s approved cell lines, such as ease of culture or ease of differentiation into therapeutically relevant cell types. Newer lines are also made without non-human animal material. Of the most the interest, many of these lines have genetic predisposition to certain diseases, which allows the study of the progression of these diseases from early development, all in a petri-dish. However, until now, federally funded American scientists, and their collaborators, were restricted from working on these cell lines.
What President Obama’s executive order means, essentially, is that American researchers can now apply for NIH funding to work on the new derived cells that had been created since the 2001 ban. Scientists would have more resources to study these lines and further understand basic human development. Furthermore, President Obama has asked the NIH to develop guidelines which would regulate human embryonic stem cell research using federal funding. A legislation that allows the research using new human ES cell lines, using federal money, from leftover IVF embryos, is also under progress.
As a member of the research community, I am very excited about the future potential to understand normal development using human embryonic stem cells, and the administration’s effort in redefining stem cell research guidelines in this ever-changing field. At the present, embryonic stem cells remains our best tool to study normal development and progression of diseases. Even with induced-pluripotent stem cells, which are made from adult cells that were reprogrammed to a pluripotent state and made to be “identical” to ES cells, we are still at the early stages of fine-tuning such programming and understanding its regenerative capacity - and it will be impossible to study iPS cells without cautious study of natural embryonic stem cells. President Obama’s order to lift the previous ban opens avenues for such studies, and brings hope to the use of stem cells as potential therapies for many devastating diseases.
Main sources- http://www.nature.com.myaccess.library.utoronto.ca/news/2009/090309
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Rett Syndrome and induced Pluripotent Stem cells goes “Green”
June 17, 2009 by Aaron Cheung
Stem cell researchers at The Hospital for Sick Children have now devised a method, reported in the scientific journal Nature Methods, that will facilitate the generation of induced Pluripotent Stem (iPS) cells. I have previously blogged about the promise of iPS cells (see related articles). iPS cells are cells which have been reprogrammed from a differentiated somatic cell (such as your skin cells) to a pluripotent stem cell (like an embryonic stem cell, only that you don’t need to use embryos!). The generation of iPS cells is inherently very rare which occurs at a frequency of about 0.01% meaning you can generate about one iPS cell line out of hundred thousand cells. Out of which, many lines fail to satisfy the different rigorous tests necessary to be given the prestigious name of “iPS cell”.
A group led by Dr. James Ellis, and lead author Dr. Akitsu Hotta, at The Hospital for Sick Children has generated a reporter, named EOS, that will facilitate the generation of iPS cells for both mouse and human. The reporter has DNA elements (called promoters) that will drive the expression of a fluorescent protein (GFP) and an antibiotic resistance gene (puromycin) that will only turn on in pluripotent stem cells, but remain off in differentiated cells. Therefore, scientists can now generate iPS cells from different sources and the iPS cells will literally “light up with a green colour” once reprogramming has been achieved. Furthermore, by adding puromycin to your culture, it will keep the iPS cells in a pluripotent state as iPS cells will normally spontaneously differentiate.
To demonstrate the applicability of EOS, Ellis also derived iPS cells from patients who have a neurodevelopmental disorder called Rett Syndrome. Rett Syndrome is an Autism Spectrum Disorder which affects almost exclusively females at an incidence of 1 in 10,000 and is one of the leading causes of mental retardation in girls. These Rett Syndrome iPS cells were green when placed under a fluorescent microscope and Ellis demonstrated that neurons can be generated from these Rett Syndrome iPS cells, the cell type affected in Rett Syndrome.
In conclusion, the EOS reporter will facilitate the generation of iPS and will be particularly useful for new labs going into this rapidly developing field. Furthermore, Rett Syndrome iPS cells that were also generated in this study will be invaluable for future drug screens that may be beneficial to those with Rett Syndrome.
Article:
Hotta, A. et al. Isolation of human iPS cells using EOS lentiviral vectors to select for pluripotency. Nature Methods 6, 370–376 (2009).
Related articles:
Breakthrough of 2008 – Reprogramming
A New Era for Disease Modeling and Drug Screening
Some of our experts
Stem Cell Origins
Cancer stem cells
Stem Cells and the Nervous System
For just one second, let’s abandon the concept of researching embryonic stem cells for “the potential to advance our general knowledge for the future” and also “the religious morality debate”.
I know this is a huge request but bear with me. Let’s only assess the wisdom of pumping huge amounts of funding into embryonic stem cell research under the “pretense” that scientists, the government, the FDA and the AMA are actually interested in embryonic research for the development of treatments for deadly and debilitating diseases.
We have to start with the reality expressed by Dr James Thomson, father of embryonic research when he said: “…embryonic stem cells are not being used in any clinical applications yet, while alternatives such as adult stem cells figure in scores of therapies.” and “Ten or 20 years from now…there will be transplantation- based therapies (from ESC) , but even if there was none, and it was a complete failure, this technology is extraordinarily important”
Then consider: “The iPS (induced pluripotent stem cells) discovery even prompted Ian Wilmut, who led the team that cloned Dolly the sheep, to abandon his license to attempt human cloning, saying that the researchers “may have achieved what no politician could: an end to the embryonic stem cell debate.”
And, just several days ago, Dr. Bernadine Healy, director of the National Institutes of Health under the first President Bush, wrote in U.S. News & World Report that these recent developments “reinforced the notion that embryonic stem cells . . . are obsolete.” http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/03/10/AR2009031002842.html
These are not “religious freaks” (as the pro ESC like to refer to them), these are not even “pro adult stem cell advocates”; these are the top minds in embryonic research deciding, based solely on the scientific research potential of ESC that “embryonic research for treatments has little to no life left in it”.
And yet, the critics of ASC argue onward while simultaneously turning a blind eye to the huge advancements around the world that adult stem cells have made in therapeutic treatments. http://repairstemcell.wordpress.com/category/victories-success-stories/
Embryonic…Adult…Induced Pluripotent… Which one(s) will be the victor(s) in the stem cell wars (for treatments)? Let’s address these points briefly.
While Embryonic stem cells (ESC) were previously thought to be more powerful than Adult Stem Cells (ASC) because they can become any cell in the body (pluripotency), new studies on ASC are showing that they can become virtually anything. Scientists recently turned Skin cells into ASC into Neuron-ASC. http://repairstemcell.wordpress.com/2009/02/25/researchers-make-nerve-cells-from-new-stem-cells-science-reuters/
A decade of ESC research around the world has resulted in no human treatments & because the ESC continue to divide beyond the scientist’s control, they can turn into tumors. ESC also require immunosuppressive drugs, which one of the most common forms of ASC (autologous) used in treatment do not.
Over the same decade of research, adult stem cell treatments have given thousands improved health, extended lives, helped paraplegics to walk… http://repairstemcell.wordpress.com/2009/02/10/spinal-cord-injury-sci-stem-cell-trials-japan-plays-catch-up/
Gave a man with AIDs 2 years (so far) free of symptoms… http://repairstemcell.wordpress.com/?s=aids+symptom+2+years
Successfully improved MS & Cerebral Palsy patients, the list goes on and on… http://repairstemcell.wordpress.com/category/victories-success-stories/
ASC are already helping improve & extend the lives of patients with dozens of “incurable” diseases,” 73 diseases when you count only US published scientific papers & well over 100 if you read all of the papers from outside the USA.
Additionally, Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells (iPSC) are ASC modified to be able to become any cell in the human body & seem to have all of the benefits of ESC with significantly less of a rejection issue; not to mention without the political & religious controversy. http://repairstemcell.wordpress.com/2009/02/26/embryonic-stem-cell-alternative-has-another-advance-ips-cells-yield-nerve-cells/
And iPSC don’t have the tumor and cancer potential that ESC do either: http://repairstemcell.wordpress.com/2009/03/06/cancer-threat-removed-from-stem-cells-scientists-say-los-angeles-times/
Even the NIH is jumping into the ASC research and treatment pool. http://repairstemcell.wordpress.com/2009/02/26/nih-says-adult-stem-cells-are-ready-for-the-prime-time-yah-baby/
Why is there still so much focus on ESC when both ASC & iPSC seem capable of achieving everything ESC can do with a fraction of the obstacles?
The world is treating thousands successfully with ASC. We are 8 years behind most of the stem cell research in the world and focused on the dead end road (for treatments) of embryonic stem cells?
Fund ESC or don’t fund ESC. That’s your battle with the religious right. The facts are that we CAN and SHOULD do what it takes to develop treatments for the multitude of dying and debilitated patients NOW. Treatments are in our grasp, we have only to reach out and grab them. All the while, the rest of the world is being treated with ASC and people in the US are dying in huge numbers while they hold their collective breath for embryonic treatments that the top ESC scientists have emphatically stated in words and actions: will not come.
David Granovsky, http://repairstemcell.wordpress.com
It is unfortunate that we do not talk and open conversation regarding adult stem cell research.. Regardless of stance, the convenience of discarding embryo’s should raise concerns of the value of life.