See how the new Lanza method works in an interactive
graphic
Scientists say they have discovered a way to harvest stem cells
without destroying human embryos, but university officials said it
is too early to know whether the new method will make its way into
UCLA labs.
Dr. Robert Lanza, vice president of Advanced Cell Technology,
and a team of biologists used embryos created through in vitro
fertilization to derive stem cells at an earlier stage of
development than usual. Lanza and his team harvested one cell from
each embryo after the embryo was two days old and had divided into
eight cells called blastomeres.
Usually, scientists wait longer to harvest embryonic stem cells,
until the embryo has divided into about 150 cells. This type of
harvesting destroys the embryo. But harvesting stem cells from
earlier-stage blastomeres, as Lanza did, apparently does not harm
the embryo, scientists said.
In clinical in vitro fertilization, where an embryo is created
outside the mother’s womb and later implanted, doctors often
remove two blastomeres to check for genetic diseases like
Down’s Syndrome.
Though removing blastomeres for genetic testing does not appear
to affect life after birth, no tests have been conducted on the
long-term effects of Lanza’s technique.
According to The New York Times, Lanza said his team’s new
technique would make it nearly impossible to oppose this kind of
research, since embryos are no longer being harmed in the
process.
But some university officials said the method could still be
contentious.
“I don’t think it will completely eliminate
controversy,” said Russell Korobkin, a UCLA law professor and
a senior fellow at UCLA’s Center for Society and Genetics.
“It’s hard to have a 100 percent success rate. (This
method) would almost certainly put the embryo in substantial
danger.”
Currently, laws prevent the federal government from funding any
stem cell research that harms human embryos.
However, California voters in December passed Proposition 71, a
law that could provide state funding for stem cell research such as
Lanza’s method.
Steve Peckman, associate director of UCLA’s Institute for
Stem Cell Biology, said it is possible that UCLA researchers
interested in using the Lanza method may turn to state funding.
“We’re interested (in the technique), but it’s
hard to tell at this point,” he said. “It’s a
viable option.”
But Peckman added that there are logistic as well as ethical
barriers that stand in the way of Lanza’s method being
adopted at UCLA.
“It’s something that could be tried now in UCLA
labs, but it’s a lot of work,” he said.
“It’s easier to get stem cells from stored
cells.”
The federal government still funds research on stem cells that
were derived before Aug. 9, 2001. Korobkin said there are also
other practical issues. For example, there have been no long-term
studies on the effects of removing one cell from a person at early
stages of development.
Though President Bush has so far remained silent on the new
technique, Korobkin said he thought the advent of a method of
harvesting embryonic stem cells without destroying human embryos
could prompt some changes in the political sphere.
“It might give the Bush administration some cover for
changing its increasingly unpopular position (against experimenting
on human embryonic stem cells),” he said.