Researchers in Texas and throughout America are eagerly waiting to hear that President Barack Obama has lifted restrictions on using human embryonic stem cells in research, an event the US media is expecting to happen later this week.
According to a report in the Houston Chronicle, Baylor College of Medicine and the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston are both centres of excellence in stem cell research, and while most of their work has been focusing on adult stem cells, they anticipate a huge expansion of activity when Obama overturns the policy of former President George W Bush.
Unlike adult stem cell research that uses cells harvested from tissue taken from people without harming them, embryonic stem cells are taken from 5- day old embryos that have to be destroyed in the process, putting the issue at the centre of a heated ethical and political debate.
Baylor Professor Bill Brinkley, a molecular and cellular biologist, told the Houston Chronicle that lifting the restriction will make embryonic stem cell research mainstream:
“Most every lab will take advantage of it,” said Baylor.
Embryonic stem cells can become any of the 220 types of cell in the body. Scientists predict they will one day be used to make new tissue to replace old and diseased nerves, bones, muscles, heart tissue, and blood vessels. For example, animal studies have already shown it may be possible to create new brain cells, muscle tissue, and pancreatic cells, with potential for treating Parkinson’s, muscular dsytrophy and diabetes, respectively.
In 2001, Bush put the brakes on embryonic stem cell research by restricting it to existing cell lines only (ie no more harvesting from embryos). There were only about 20 or so of these in existence at the time and their condition was said to be poor and not very useful for clinical work. Many scientists felt this severely hampered their ability to do serious research in the field.
During his election campaign, Obama promised to lift Bush’s restriction to allow scientists to use stem cells harvested from embryos that would otherwise be discarded in fertility clinics. He is planning to do this after he has finished working on the plans to revive the economy, said the Chronicle. A legal bill would still be needed to ratify the policy.
Some say Bush wanted to slow down embryonic stem cell research to make scientists focus on adult stem cells.
Adult stem cells are not as versatile as embryonic stem cells: their potential tends to be restricted to the type of tissue they originated from, although some recent experiments have shown they may be more plastic than first thought and it might be possible to make them behave more like embryonic stem cells.
However, scientists are nervous about using the adult stem cell approach because it involves using genetically engineered viruses which can cause tumors.
Paul Simmons, an adult stem cell researcher and director of University of Texas Houston’s Center for Stem Cell Research, told the Chronilce that the technique was far from perfect and doubts whether it will eventually be as good as using embryonic stem cells. Perhaps in the end, scientists will find that adult stem cells are good for some things and embryonic stem cells are better for others, he said.
Scientists at the University of California at Irvine have already developed a therapy using embryonic stem cells that made paralyzed rats walk again. Earlier this month they were given federal approval to go ahead and test their approach in humans, the first embryonic stem cell treatment to be tested in humans.
According to the Houston Chronicle, research centres in Texas are queueing up to put in grant applications to pursue research in using embryonic stem cells to treat Parkinson’s, lung disease, and making cartilage to replace worn out joints. If the state legislature supports Obama’s expected move, experts predict Texas will become a leader in the field of embryonic stem cell research, said the paper.
Sources: The Houston Chronicle, MNTR archives.
Written by: Catharine Paddock, PhD