Researchers from Harvard University will attempt to create embryonic stem cells, something Hwang Woo Suk, from South Korea, claimed to have achieved – claims that turned out to be false. The aim will be to create a human embryo clone, and then extract stem cells from it which identically match a person genetically.
The scientists will combine genetic material from the cells of adult humans with egg cells. The egg cells will be donated by women. The new cloned embryos will mature for a few days, after which their stem cells will be extracted.
The advantage of stem cells is that they can grow into virtually any type of tissue in the human body. They can be transplanted into the adult, who may have diabetes, for example, and replace missing cells – in other words, cure him/her. As the stem cell comes from a cloned embryo, which has the genetic material of the adult patient, the risk of rejection of the transplanted stem cells is virtually eliminated. These would be tailor-made stem cells, matched perfectly to the patient’s genes.
Hwang Woo Suk’s research will be gone through with a toothcomb. Scientists will need to extract from his research the stuff that was real, and put to one side the false claims – and then further the research. Whoever manages to do this most effectively will eventually bask in the glory that Hwang Woo Suk craved for so much.
Several research centers around the world are in this race. Even in the USA, which has been slow off the mark, the University of California, San Francisco, has been given the green light to go ahead after the plug was pulled on them in 2001. Other American research centers are on the verge of getting approval from their ethics boards. Some say they are only one or two years away from success.
Human embryonic stem cell research will be mainly funded from private sources in the USA as the Bush administration restricted public funding.
Having to create an embryo, allowing it develop for a few days, and then to destroy it is something many people see as morally wrong – George Bush does. However, when the embryo is destroyed it is no bigger than the dot at the end of this sentence. It is a question of deciding whether the massive benefits this technology can bring to millions of suffering people around the world, outweigh the moral objections.
Basically, the Harvard scientists will:
1 – Isolate a cell from an adult’s skin.
2 – Take out the nucleus of that cell.
3 – Get a human egg cell.
4 – Take the nucleus out of the egg cell.
5 – Place the adult’s skin cell nucleus into the egg cell.
6 – The embryo that develops, because it has the nucleus of the skin cell of the adult, is genetically identical to that adult.
This has been done with animals, but not yet with humans.
Generally, scientific research is not announced publicly until it has been peer-reviewed and published. In this case, because of the controversial nature of human embryonic stem cell research, the scientists decided to announce it in advance.
Where will the eggs come from?
The scientists say from different sources. Currently they are gathering eggs that failed to fertilize after in-vitro fertilization. In other words, the eggs of women who want to get pregnant using IVF – the eggs that failed to fertilize during the IVF procedure.
Written by: Christian Nordqvist
Editor: Medical News Today