New research methods have stem cell researchers at UCLA and
across the country hoping they may be able to bypass ethical
concerns and open the door for increased federal funding.
Two new methods of extracting embryonic stem cells without the
resulting destruction of a viable embryo have been developed by the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Advanced Cell Technology,
a biotechnology company, according to an article published in the
Oct. 16 issue of Nature Magazine.
The UCLA Stem Cell Institute is optimistic about the new
research, said Dr. Jerome Zack, assistant director of the UCLA Stem
Cell Biology and Medicine Institute.
“We are discussing these new techniques. We are currently
only using the presidentially-approved lines. But there will be a
discussion about federal funding as a result of these new
methods,” Dr. Zack said.
“Any increase in funding would support research; it would
support investigators and would result in more data and more
research on stem cells.”
Currently, scientists all over the nation must abide by the
federal Dickey-Wicker amendment, passed in 1995, which prohibits
federal funding for projects in which human embryos are destroyed,
discarded or subjected to substantial risk.
However, in California, scientist have more options, said a
representative for Sen. Deborah Ortiz, D-Sacramento, chair of the
California Senate Committee for Health and Human Services. As a
result of last year’s elections, Proposition 71 allowed state
bonds to be sold in order to finance stem cell research in
California.
“Proposition 71 in California provides flexibility for the
best fields of research. If these new techniques do prove to be
viable, that is something that should be explored,” said
Hallye Jordan, director of communication for Sen. Ortiz.
Jordan said the biggest concern for Proposition 71 advocates is
that the new methods will cause Congress to overrule state laws and
prohibit further embryonic research.
But stem cell lobbyists at the federal level, are skeptical
about the new research.
“This method may work for further research, but we have a
good method now. We should be able to proceed,” said Clark
Hinderleider, instructor of surgery in the Division of
Cardiothoracic Surgery at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine.
“These concerns are the result of (Congress) members’
religion, but I am dealing with scientific fact.”
At both the state and federal level, these new methods may avoid
the moral issues some members of Congress have with stem cell
research, since neither result in destruction of embryos, which
some consider to be potential lives.
Rudolf Jaenisch and Alexander Meissner of MIT used a new type of
genetic cloning therapy called altered nuclear transfer, where the
gene responsible for developing the embryo’s ability to
implant into a uterus is “switched off.”
Even so, critics say embryos may still be damaged.
“Essentially they try to block the gene that creates a
placenta … so it can’t implant in a uterus. But the embryo
at the stage has a full moral status, and the scientists are just
passively letting the embryo die,” said James Walter,
professor of bioethics and chair of the Bioethics Institute at
Loyola Marymount University.
The second method, created by the Advanced Cell Technology
biotechnology company, has been met with more optimism.
Developed by Dr. Robert Lanza’s team at ACT, it utilizes a
method that genetic fertilization specialists already use to check
fertilized eggs for genetic diseases before they are implanted in
the uterus.
During the embryo’s development, scientists and doctors
can extract one cell from the dividing embryo at the eight-cell
ball, or blastocyst, stage. The extracted cell can then grow
separately and be used to propagate more embryonic stem cells,
according to Dr. Lanza’s study.
The remaining seven-cell egg grows into a normal blastocyst,
from which embryonic stem cells can be derived, but is genetically
able to develop into a fetus.
Still, opponents claim that this new method does nothing to
alleviate the ethical issues Congress has with providing federal
funding for research.
“I’m not sure that gets the scientists past the
ethical hurdles; it’s another form of cloning,” Walter
said. “The one cell that is removed could grow into a whole
new embryo.”
However, UCLA stem cell researchers see another issue that may
affect the usefulness of these new techniques ““ consent.
Dr. Zack said the seven-cell embryo, if carried to term, may
result in long-term health issues, which may provoke legal consent
issues about the initial removal of the embryonic cell.