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Advances Can’t Replace Need For Embryonic Stem Cells

Posted on: Friday, 5 September 2008, 15:05 CDT

Experts reported on Friday that the use of embryonic stem cells remains to be a crucial part for the field of regenerative medicine.

The U.S. National Academy of Sciences panel added that regulation of new sources of stem cells would also be necessary.

Scientists have made leaps in discovering ways to make stem cells without the use of human embryos. In the past year, teams of scientists have discovered ways to create pluripotent stem cells – reprogrammed cells that look like stem cells. However, experts still agree that the use of human embryonic stem cells is still the most effective way to develop new treatments.

The Human Embryonic Stem Cell Research Advisory Committee, appointed by the Institute of Medicine and the National Research Council, revised a 2005 report on stem cells because of the recent advances.

Scientists are using the body’s master cells to create tailor-made treatments for a wide array of diseases and disorders including cancer and diabetes.

Those found in days-old embryos are called human embryonic stem cells and can produce any cell type found in the body. So-called adult stem cells are found in the blood and in all tissues and are less flexible.

Critics of embryo research such as certain members of congress and White House Officials have restricted federal funding of such research, but scientists are able to use private funding.

Just last week a team at Harvard Medical School reported they had transformed cells in a living mouse from one type into another. Both advances could bypass the need for embryonic stem cells.

But not yet, the report concludes.

"It is far from clear at this point which cell types will prove to be the most useful for regenerative medicine, and it is likely that each will have some utility," the panel, chaired by Richard Hynes of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, wrote.

"Research that uses human embryonic stem cells remains controversial in the United States and is still subject to intense political scrutiny. Therefore, it is important to sustain public confidence in the integrity of the institutions and researchers conducting human embryonic stem cell research," it adds.

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Image Caption: This image is of cell line SA02. Image is of human embryonic stem (hES) cell colony on a mouse embryonic fibroblast (MEF) feeder layer.

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On the Net:

• U.S. National Academy of Sciences
• Human Embryonic Stem Cell Research Advisory Committee

Source: redOrbti Staff & Wire Reports

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