“Latest Stem Cells News”

The U.S. government approved the first 13 batches of human embryonic stem cells on Wednesday, enabling researchers using them to get millions of dollars in federal funding as promised by President Barack Obama in March.

“Today we are announcing the approval of the first 13 stem cell lines,” Collins told reporters in a telephone briefing.

In March, Obama lifted restrictions on human embryonic stem cell research imposed by his predecessor, George W. Bush.

He could not lift a restriction set by Congress, called the Dickey-Wicker amendment, that forbids the use of federal money to make the stem cells, which require destruction of a human embryo. But the decision made it possible for researchers to use federal funds to work with cells that others have made.

Five years after the passage of Proposition 71, the California Institute of Regenerative Medicine is awarding grants for stem-cell research targeted at clinical applications. In what both the San Diego Union-Tribune and Knight Science Journalism Tracker are calling an “irony,” ten of the 14 grants are going to researchers working with adult stem-cells.

On Thursday, October 29, the New York Times reported: “In a tacit acknowledgment that the promise of human embryonic stem cells is still far in the future, California’s stem cell research program on Wednesday awarded grants intended to develop therapies using mainly other, less controversial cells.

“The $230 million in grants awarded Wednesday to California universities and companies represent a big step toward moving stem cells from basic research toward application in treating diseases like cancer and AIDS. Grant recipients are supposed to have a therapy ready for initial human testing in four years.

“But only four of the 14 projects involve embryonic stem cells. The others will use so-called adult stem cells or conventional drugs intended to kill cancer stem cells, which are thought to give rise to tumors.

“The grants thus represent a departure from the program’s original mission. California voters approved the 10-year, $3 billion effort in 2004 largely to get around restrictions on embryonic stem cell research imposed by the administration of President George W. Bush.”

THE SWIRL of controversy that greeted President Obama’s executive order lifting the ban on federal funding of stem cell research in March didn’t make a significant return when the final rules were released over the summer. That’s because the National Institutes of Health successfully navigated a minefield of ethical and moral questions. To protect those regulations from politics and changes by another administration, Rep. Diana DeGette (D-Colo.) soon will introduce the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act of 2009. The legislation would codify Mr. Obama’s executive order permitting federal funding of such research within guidelines established by the NIH and would require that they be reviewed periodically (…)

Mr. Obama’s executive order overturned one issued by President George W. Bush in 2001 that allowed federal funding only for those stem cell lines already developed. Scientists ultimately found the number of approved lines too few and the utility of those lines limited.

For facilities with stem cell lines developed on or before July 7, the NIH will establish a committee of scientists, ethicists and advocates to examine on a case-by-case basis the procedures and paperwork to determine whether the lines were derived with voluntary informed consent from donors and in a manner consistent with the new rules. This panel would also make the same evaluation of stem cell lines originating outside the United States. There are an estimated 700 stem cell lines already in existence.

The bill specifically outlaws human cloning, as do the NIH guidelines. And Congress already prohibits federal funding for collecting stem cell lines from human embryos, which are destroyed in the process. But the NIH rules make it clear that taxpayer money will not be used on lines from embryos created solely for research. The life-saving treatments and therapies that could result from stem cell research should not come from crossing this clear moral and ethical boundary.

from http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/10/09/AR2009100904188.html

Austria

In the debate on embryonic stem cell research, or its regulations, it seems that the wind is changing both in the US, where President Obama has just changed the rigid guidelines laid out by his predecessor George W. Bush, and in Austria. “There was no pre-arranged organization, however, we were not against it,” said Christiane Druml, the president of the Bioethical Commission, presenting their new recommendations on March 23. A large majority, “including 17 out of 25 women”, believe that embryonic stem cell research is “scientifically relevant, morally legitimate, and worthy of support” and recommended a substantial easing of the laws. Five members of the commission proposed the laws to be stricter (these five supporters were not present at the meeting and one of their supporters, philosopher Guenther Poeltner, criticized their absence from the audience). The previous majority was overturned. In 2002 the Austrian government almost completely blocked the entire EU research program because it called for financing for embryonic stem cells. Now they are moving in the opposite direction.
The Commission suggested: a) the use of excess embryos from in vitro fertilization procedures; b) “therapeutic cloning”; c) hybrid human and animal embryos.

Legislative uncertainty halts research.

The commission does not only want liberal laws, but also clearer laws: “Current legislative uncertainty has been an obstacle to the development of research” explained Ulrich Koertner (Evangelical Theology, University of Vienna). Although part of the legal uncertainty has been overcome, molecular biologist Erwin Wagner (IMP) two years ago was the first and only scientist to perform experiments with embryonic stem cells in Austria. This was possible under past laws by importing embryonic stem cells from the US because it was not clear if they could be produced in Austria (the minority party voted to ban production and importation).

Now their production could be authorized. Their source would be “excess embryos”, which go not lead to great ethical problems. Reserve embryos not used by medically assisted fertilization programs are frozen for ten years and then destroyed. The explicit liberalization of “therapeutic cloning” is a more delicate issue (the current law is controversial). In this case embryos would be produced for the sole purpose of creating stem cells (and then the embryos would be destroyed). Finally, “hybrid” embryos, which are currently legal only in Great Britain, could become legal (the Commission is only an advisory body). This would constitute a small revolution, which would then give the final call to researchers. Until now, no one has followed Wagner’s example, and not just for legislative reasons, but more because embryonic stem cell research requires training, and lots of funding.

A law has been proposed again to the U.S. Senate to allow for federal funding for human embryonic stem cell research. Democratic Senator Tom Harkin and Republican colleague Arlen Specter declared that the proposal allows for federal funds to finance research done using embryonic stem cells derived from leftover embryos from fertility clinics.

“It is the same bill proposed and approved by the House and the Senate in 2007, but vetoed by President George W. Bush,” was read in their statement to the press.

President Barack Obama promised to eliminate limits on federal funding imposed on research.

“For too long politics have slowed research on treatments that could save the lives of many citizens. President Barack Obama has promised to eliminate the restrictions imposed by Bush, and I hope that he does so soon. Furthermore, I hope this is protected by a federal law so it will not be affected by future changes in the administration,” added Harkin.

The proposed law is also supported by Democratic Senators Edward Kennedy and Dianne Feinstein, and Republican Orrin Hatch.

Though the world’s attention has focused on Iran‘s advancing nuclear program, Iranian scientists have moved to the forefront in embryonic stem cell research, according to a recent joint study by Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Controversial in the United States, embryonic stem cell research was embraced in 2002 by Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s conservative religious leader. President Obama has recently adopted a similar policy, reversing restrictions that George W. Bush’s administration imposed because of the implications for destroying potential human lives.

Stem cells have been shown to have significant capability to develop into a plethora of different cell types and work as a repair system to replenish cells with specialized functions.

“Islam is very compatible with the modern sciences,” said Hassan Ashktorab of the Howard University Cancer Center. “Policies that may be classified as liberal in the American political system seem to be common sense to Iranian politicians.”