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Scientists Differ on Stem-Cell Issue ; SIU Researchers Are Split on How Research Should Be Regulated

Posted on: Tuesday, 14 September 2004, 06:00 CDT

Ron Reagan's speech during last month's Democratic National Convention excited Edward Moticka.

The associate dean for research at Springfield's Southern Illinois University School of Medicine said it's rare for a complex scientific debate to receive national attention.

Reagan, the 46-year-old son of the late President Ronald Reagan, called for an expansion of embryonic stem-cell research in the wake of his father's long battle with Alzheimer's disease.

Some scientists say research could lead to genetically altered stem cells that could be injected as treatments or cures for diseases such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, diabetes, cancer, epilepsy and spinal-cord injuries.

"The speech was fascinating," Moticka said. "It's great to get those kinds of issues out there and people discussing them."

The issue has become part of the campaign between Republican President Bush and Democratic U.S. Sen. John Kerry.

Just like the candidates, scientists don't all agree on stem- cell research.

Five SIU scientists interviewed by The State Journal-Register had differing opinions. Two were critical of Bush. Two supported the president's actions and said they would go further by banning most stem-cell research involving embryos, based on ethical and religious concerns.

One researcher had a more moderate view, saying he would support an expansion of research with safeguards.

Embryonic stem-cell research hasn't gone on at the medical school, although scientists there are working to find cures for many of the diseases involved in the stem-cell debate.

Bush in 2001 was the first chief executive to allow federal funding of embryonic stem-cell research, but he imposed limits on the supply of cells that can be used in projects paid for with federal dollars. Kerry has said he would lift those restrictions.

"The federal government has stymied the potential for stem-cell research in the United States," said Mary McAsey, an SIU cell biologist who investigates the effects of hormones. She helped operate the medical school's former in-vitro fertilization program.

McAsey, 51, said Bush's limitations "are putting scientists behind in the United States."

She added: "There is a need for regulations. An embryo is not an individual, but it should be accorded respect. It should not be sold, and consent must be obtained from the donors of these embryos, and the donors must be informed of how these embryos will be used."

SIU medical microbiologist Gregory Brewer, on the other hand, said stem-cell research on embryos is a sin and inhumane.

"It is unethical to experiment on or even claim you're treating a person with embryonic stem cells because in order to do that, you've had to kill someone else," said Brewer, 57, who has expressed his pro-life views in letters to the editor.

Stem cells naturally occur in the body, and depending on the type, they have the potential to become different tissues and organs. Scientists have known about stem cells in bone marrow for 40 years; these cells are key to the bone-marrow transplants that cancer patients receive at St. John's Hospital.

Scientists are most interested in stem cells from embryos at the earliest stage of pregnancy that have the potential to become any cell in the body.

The president has funneled $25 million into embryonic stem-cell research but has required that money be focused on the 19 derivations of stem cells currently available from seven different research institutions worldwide. The closest location is in Wisconsin.

These lines of live stem cells were obtained from discarded embryos created in fertilization clinics. Some scientists, including Moticka and McAsey, said more lines are needed for research to progress.

To put the restrictions in perspective, Moticka said a single in- vitro fertilization procedure could generate 10 or more spare embryos and several hundred lines of stem cells.

McAsey said the current lines, developed before August 2001, are being grown in a layer of mouse cells, rendering the stem cells too risky to use in treatments for humans because of the risk of contamination from mouse viruses.

Bush's campaign Web site, however, says, "It is not possible for any researcher to say with certainty whether additional lines will produce effective treatments for any disease."

Kerry's campaign has pointed out that Nancy Reagan supports lifting Bush's restrictions, but Dr. Leonard Rybak, an SIU ear, nose and throat specialist, said he believes Ronald Reagan wouldn't have backed embryonic stem-cell research because of the former president's pro-life views.

Rybak, 57, a Catholic and former president of Springfield Right to Life, treats patients and does research on laboratory animals. Regarding stem-cell research, he said, "It's good that it's being debated, but it should be debated sensitively and fairly."

He opposes research involving embryos, saying, "I don't think people should be killed and used for organ donors, basically." He said he doesn't think most voters realize that stem-cell research would destroy human embryos.

Rybak noted that several large groups representing biologists and scientists have endorsed more embryonic research, but he said, "They're looking at it without a moral compass."

Rybak and Brewer, who said their Christian beliefs influence their views on the topic, said research on stem cells from adults, umbilical cord blood and bone marrow holds promise and should receive more attention.

Brewer, whose main research has focused on the brain cells of rats to examine the inner workings of Alzheimer's disease, said he is engaged in a project to extract stem cells from the brains of adult rats.

If successful, he hopes to continue his research by replicating the process with human stem cells. The human cells would come from the brains of cadavers - avoiding the problem of working with embryos.

"It would be another example of using cadavers as organ donors, and there's no shortage of cadavers," Brewer said.

McAsey said she agrees that stem-cell research involving sources other than embryos deserves more funding. But she said, "We need to explore all of these aspects."

Moticka, 60, who said he grew up in a Protestant family but hasn't been to church in years, added: "There's so much we need to know about how to grow stem cells, how to make them differentiate into different types of tissues, and then how to use those tissues ... in treating the diseases that might be amenable to therapy. We've just scratched the surface in those areas."

McAsey said her own research on the protective effect of estrogen on the brain eventually could benefit from embryonic stem-cell research. She said she was raised Catholic and believes in God but acknowledged that her views don't align with the Catholic Church.

Scientists also could get stem cells from "cloned" cells, which involves removal of the nucleus from a live person's cells, which is injected into an unfertilized egg. Opponents say it creates life in an unnatural way.

Dr. Dean Naritoku, a neurologist and clinical pharmacologist, directs SIU's epilepsy program and said stem-cell research could lead to non-surgical brain treatments to eliminate seizures. But he said Bush shouldn't be criticized for limiting embryonic research.

Naritoku said ethical guidelines first need to be developed with support of scientists and the public.

"That is the crux of the problem," said Naritoku, 47, who is on a board that reviews the ethics of research projects in Springfield. "We've leapfrogged so quickly into this area of research, and we don't have any way to assure the public that that we are pursuing this in an ethical fashion."

The "worst-case scenario," he said, would be if fetal stem cells became a commodity, including solicitation of women to become pregnant for the purpose of selling their embryos and fetuses.

With proper safeguards, Naritoku said it's "probably reasonable" to expand embryonic stem-cell research.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Web site says Bush is "committed to pursuing stem-cell research without crossing a fundamental moral line by providing taxpayer funding that would sanction or encourage further destruction of human embryos."

Naritoku said the public can be easily influenced by people promoting embryonic stem-cell research.

"It's a quick sound bite," he said, "and on its surface value it sounds so compelling, except I can tell you that the next discoveries for Alzheimer's disease probably for the next 10 years aren't going to be coming from stem cells. They're going to be coming from lots of other molecular manipulations we do."

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