USA: U.S. company creates stem cells without destroying embryos.

A U.S. company said on Wednesday (August 23) it had developed a way to make human embryonic stem cells without harming the original embryo, a finding it said could dispel ethical objections to promising medical research using such cells. "Prior to this research the generation of an embryonic stem cell line has required the destruction of an embryo. So this is the first time ever that we now have a technology that will allow us to create these stem cells without harming the embryo," said Dr. Robert Lanza, chief scientist at Advanced Cell Technology in Massachusetts. Stem cells are the body's master cells, available from many sources, but many experts believe the most powerful and versatile cells may be those taken from days-old embryos, consisting usually of about 8 cells. Scientists hope to study these cells, discover what compounds enable them to produce any kind of body tissue, and replicate that to make tailored treatments for diseases such as cancer, diabetes and Parkinson's. Lanza's team had been saying they had an acceptable alternative to destroying embryos. During in vitro fertilization, scientists sometimes extract one cell from an embryo in order to ensure the embryo's health. Lanza's team has used that same biopsy method to remove one cell from a human embryo without harming it. Then they grew stem cells from that single cell. "What we're saying is if you're sending the cell off to the lab in any case, for no added risk whatsoever, we can take it back to the lab and after a few hours, allow it to divide, send one off for the test and then the remaining cell or cells could be used to create a stable human embryonic stem cell line. And the beauty of this is that that line has a tremendous benefit for that child in that it's genetically identical to that child," Lanza told Reuters. Although the source embryos used in the research were not then implanted in a woman, the Advanced Cell scientists said they could have been, with the potential to develop normally. The White House on Thursday (August 24) said it was encouraged by a new method for embryonic stem cell research, an advance that could help resolve President George W. Bush's objections to what he views as the destruction of life. Bush used his first veto last month to block increased federal spending for such research, despite strong public support for the effort to combat diseases like Alzheimer's and Parkinson's. "The president has only authorised federal funding for a small group of cell lines. And those lines have all been grown on mouse feeders, they've been potentially contaminated with pathogens that could lead to serious health risks if these were used for medical therapies. So, this new approach we hope will allow us to create new lines that have not been exposed to animal products, that would be safe, that people could use for future therapies and also would reflect the genetic diversity of the population," said Lanza. The Advanced Cell Technology team has used embryos taken from fertility clinics. Usually such clinics make many embryos for a couple using eggs and sperm, and implant a few to try to start a woman's pregnancy. The rest are frozen and eventually usually discarded. Lanza strongly opposes the seeming waste of existing embryos. "There are about 400,000 embryos left over in IVF clinics that will be discarded simply as garbage and it's just very sad that those, rather than being thrown away, could not be used to help develop potential cures and therapies for people. So, I've been a very strong supporter of the senate bill, the 810, which would allow this research to proceed. Unfortunately the president thinks otherwise and vetoed that bill and they do not have sufficient votes to override his veto," he said. Lanza's team let its fertilized eggs grow to the 8- to 10-cell stage. The embryo at that stage is no longer able to divide into twins but the cells can still form any cell or tissue in the body. Genetic experts can take one cell from such embryos to test for inherited genetic diseases such as cystic fibrosis. The embryos can be safely implanted, and Lanza said statistics suggest up to 1,500 healthy children are born this way yearly. Lanza's team managed to get 19 different cells to grow and got two stem-cell batches, called lines. Kathy Hudson, Director of The Genetics and Public Policy Center at Johns Hopkins University, said questions remained over the effect of the procedure on an original embryo and the long-term health of any resulting children. Lanza agreed that the method should not be immediately used on people but was worth studying. He said his company would make any stem-cell lines available to scientists for free.

ITN Source | August 26, 2006

Tags:. .resolve. .sperm. .genetics. .genetically. .tremendous