A new method of creating versatile stem cells from a relatively simple manipulation of existing cells

A new method of creating versatile stem cells from a relatively simple manipulation of existing cells could further reduce the need for any stem-cell research involving human embryos, according to leading ethicists. Although the process has only been tested in mice, two studies published Jan. 29 in the journal Nature detailed research showing success with a process called stimulus-triggered acquisition of pluripotency, or STAP.  Scientists from Japan's RIKEN research institute and Harvard's Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston were able to reprogram blood cells from newborn mice by placing them in a low-level acidic bath for 30 minutes. Seven to 9 percent of the cells subjected to such stress returned to a state of pluripotency and were able to grow into other types of cells in the body.

"If this technology proves feasible with human cells, which seems likely, it will offer yet another alternative for obtaining highly flexible stem cells without relying on the destructive use of human embryos," said Fr. Tadeusz Pacholczyk, director of education at the National Catholic Bioethics Center in Philadelphia. "This is clearly a positive direction for scientific research."

The Catholic church opposes any research involving the destruction of human embryos to create stem cells. Richard Doerflinger, associate director of the U.S. bishops' Secretariat for Pro-Life Activities, said if the new method were used to create stem cells so versatile that they could form placenta tissue and make human cloning easier, "then we would have serious moral problems with that." But there is no indication so far that the scientists could or would do so, he added. "You could misuse any powerful technology, but the technique itself is not problematic" in terms of Catholic teaching, Doerflinger said. David Prentice, senior fellow for life sciences at the Family Research Council in Washington, said the new STAP process is yet another indication that "there are all these different ways to create stem cells without ever having to endanger a human being." He said adult stem cells -- drawn from living human beings without harming them, as well as from umbilical cord blood or bone marrow -- "are the only stem cells that have ever proven to help a single patient." More than 60,000 patients around the world are receiving treatments for a variety of diseases from adult stem cells, he added. Another type of adult stem cells, called induced pluripotent stem cells, or iPS cells, is still being used only in animal models, said Prentice, who holds a doctorate in biochemistry and was a founding member of Do No Harm: The Coalition of Americans for Research Ethics. Japanese scientist Shinya Yamanaka received the 2012 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his discovery of the iPS technique.

 *More at: http://ncronline.org/news/politics/new-stem-cell-method-offers-another-alternative-embryonic-research

The Ethical Stems of Good Science by Lozier Institute

A new report on one of the world's largest funders of stem cell research reveals that an emphasis on results has led to a shift in funding towards morally-acceptable work with adult stem cells.In the field of stem cell research, the “predominant progress” is being made by non-controversial adult stem cells, said Chuck Donovan, president of the Charlotte Lozier Institute, which serves as the education and research arm of pro-life Susan B. Anthony List.

Donovan told CNA (Catholic News Agency) on July 16 that an analysis of scientific funding over several years suggests that morally acceptable types of stem cell research offer the greatest promise for a wide variety of effective therapies and treatments. Research on adult stem cells does not require the destruction of a human embryo and therefore does not pose the ethical difficulties associated with embryonic stem cell research. In addition, adult stem cell research has already contributed to advancing therapies for various diseases.

On July 12, the Lozier Institute released a report titled “The Ethical Stems of Good Science,” which examined changes in the funding offered by the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine since 2007. The California institute was created after President George W. Bush announced in 2001 that his administration would become the first to provide federal funding for human embryonic stem cell research, although this funding was limited to stem cell lines that had already been developed.

Dissatisfied with the limits put in place by the president, California established its own Institute for Regenerative Medicine to distribute $3 billion to stem cell research efforts, with a particular emphasis on human embryonic stem cells and other types of research that received limited or no federal funding. One calculation found that the institute was “the largest funder of overall stem cell research in the world” from 2007, when it first began issuing grants, to February 2011. According to the recent Lozier report, the California institute funded more than 100 projects in 2007 involving embryonic research and cloning, while giving virtually no funding to adult or other non-embryonic avenues of stem cell research. In the years that followed, however, the organization’s grants increasingly went to fund projects using non-controversial forms of research.

A new category of grants in 2009 was specifically awarded to projects with “the best chance of resulting in clinical trials,” the report observed. Of these grants, only four went to human embryonic stem cell research, while the remaining 10 went to non-embryonic types of research. This trend has continued every year since 2009, the report found. As grants are awarded “based on their potential to prove therapeutically beneficial,” non-embryonic research receives far more support than embryonic research. The failure of embryonic stem cell research to yield therapeutic results has also led private investors to put their money elsewhere. Last November, the biopharmecuetical company Geron announced that it had ended a widely publicized embryonic stem cell research study due to “capital scarcity.” Donovan said that the shift in funding based on results is logical.

In a statement released with the Lozier report, he explained that “despite the millions of dollars spent on this research, cures brought about by embryonic stem cells have continued to prove elusive, while adult stem cell research applications have exploded.” “As the leading funder of stem cell research, the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine has made grant decisions that show where the industry sees promise,” he noted. “In the past six years, where that promise lies has become increasingly clear: ethical adult stem cell research.” *Source: http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/report-shows-adult-stem-cell-research-produces-results-draws-money/

Ethical Reflections on Embryonic Stem Cell Research by Most Reverend Donald W. Wuerl, Archbishop of Washington

In recent years, much has been written about embryonic stem cell research.I recently found very good article by Most Reverend Donald W. Wuerl, Archbishop of Washington on this bioethical issue, which I want to highly recommend for any bioethicists or general public who want to know more about embryonic stem cell research. Archbishop's letter has been published in the Catholic Standard and entitled as "Ethical Reflections on Embryonic Stem Cell Research".

"Embryos are not the only source of stem cells and arguably not the best source. A number of alternative sources of stem cells offer more realistic hope for cures and treatments of diseases and illnesses. Stem cells from adult tissues have the potential to yield specialized cell types of the tissue from which it originated such as liver (hepatic), brain (neural), or blood (haematopoietic). These are called adult stem cells and scientists today assert that not only are adult stem cells more readily available, they also are more effective."

"Stem cells derived from placental or umbilical cord blood have proven to be remarkably effective, similar to other adult stem cells. Originally it was theorized that stem cells from these various sources would be ineffective because they are limited in their ability to become various types of cells. However, these stem cells from alternative sources have been successfully differentiated into needed tissue and are already healing human illnesses. According to the most recent research, adult stem cells have begun to help patients with over 70 different diseases and injuries."

"Adult stem cell research holds out the promise of a large step forward in the healing process. This research has been described as the most promising advance in medical science in the last decades. The Catholic Church is not opposed to the development of these therapies and remedies for a host of ailments and deficiencies that afflict the body. Stem cell research using stem cells from ethical sources is a continuation of the work that has been done for millennia by physicians and researchers seeking cures for illness and healing for the sick.

What the Church, as the conscience of society, calls for is moral and ethical reflection on the use of human embryos for stem cell research. No scientific, technological, or medical advances should take place divorced from moral and ethical consideration."

"Technology can be a blessing yet, like all science, it requires ethical reflection on its use if it is to be truly at the service of all of us who struggle in the human condition. We all so much long for the cures and therapies that can overcome the physical afflictions of life. At the same time, we need as well to pray for guidance that what we do is what we ought to do. What raises our technological expertise to a truly human level is our capacity to reflect on the ethical and moral dimensions of what we do."

Source: http://www.adw.org/service/stemcells.asp (reposted with permission)
See also: http://www.lifetopics.org/articles.php?subId=26; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XrApDP0RD1M&feature=player_embedded

The Vatican-financed adult stem cell research

Interesting article by USA Today 4/23/2010 about Vatican to finance adult stem cell research. Available online at: http://www.usatoday.com/news/religion/2010-04-23-vatican-stemcell-research_N.htm?csp=obnetwork, accessed 21/02/2011.

"ROME (AP) — The Vatican will finance new research into the potential use of adult stem cells in the treatment of intestinal and possibly other diseases,officials announced Friday. The project is at a very preliminary phase and it will be years before any clinical treatment might be available, the officials said."

"The Vatican has agreed to donate $2.7 million to the research, which is led by the University of Maryland's School of Medicine, project officials said. Researchers involved in the Vatican-financed project say they want to assess the potential of intestinal stem cells — a relatively new field — for therapeutic use."

"We want to harvest them, we want isolate them, we want to make them grow outside our body and see if they are pluripotent," said Alessio Fasano, the scientist leading the project and the director of the University of Maryland Center for Celiac Research.

"If we reach that phase, if we are able to achieve that goal, then our next step is to eventually move to clinical application," Fasano told The AP before Friday's announcement. Intestinal stem cells have certain features that makes them appealing for this kind of research, Fasano said.

They are very active cells — the intestine replenishes all its cells every few days — and they are intrinsically flexible — already programmed to generate all the various kinds of cells such as mucus cells or epithelial cells present in the highly complex organ. Furthermore, harvesting them can be done through a routine procedure like endoscopy, Fasano noted. Fasano said his team hopes to have a first answer on the feasibility of the project within the next two to three years."

* What are adult stem cells? See: http://stemcells.nih.gov/info/basics/basics4.asp

** Source and permission by The Associated Press 2011.

The story about an 11-year-old black boy Keone Penn...

It is unfortunate to see how the remarkable advances that are being made with adult stem-cell sources are not being systematically reported by the popular media. Rather there is a clear and at times intentional skewing of the message so that embryonic stem cells are being trumpeted and praised at every turn. Thousands of humans have already been cured of many different types of ailments using adult type stem cells. Today I want to present one amazing story about an 11-year-old black boy named Keone Penn who was born with sickle cell anemia.

"Born with severe sickle cell anemia (a disease that afflicts more than 70,000 Americans and a disproportionate number of African- Americans), Keone Penn suffered a stroke at age five and endured frequent episodes of pain throughout his childhood. He received regular blood transfusions through a chest catheter for his anemia, to reduce the sickling of his red blood cells and control his pain. But Keone continued to have pain crises, bone and joint crises and developed kidney complications.

Keone's doctors began considering a stem cell transplant as a last resort. Keone's sister, a possible bone marrow donor, failed to match and no unrelated bone marrow donor match was found. Keone's doctor, Andrew Yaeger (now at the University of Pittsburgh), decided to try transplantation with cord blood from an unrelated donor, the first time this had been tried for sickle cell disease.

At Egleston Children's Hospital (now the AFLAC Cancer Center of Children's Healthcare of Atlanta), Keone underwent nine days of chemotherapy to eliminate his own defective bone marrow cells. On December 11, 1998, Keone's doctor transplanted Keone with a matching cord blood unit that had been previously donated to the New York Blood Center's National Cord Blood Program. His recovery was long and, at times, extremely difficult. He was readmitted to the hospital several times, and nine months after the transplant he developed graft vs. host disease (GvHD) as his newly transplanted cells began to attack his own body.

Eventually, these complications subsided. Keone's new stem cells now produce normal red blood cells with normal hemoglobin. The swelling in his joints has subsided and Keone has not had any further pain crisis. On the one-year anniversary of his transplant, Keone's doctor pronounced him cured. Keone will be celebrating his eight year post-transplant anniversary in December, 2006. He graduated from high school in 2004 and plans to train as a chef in culinary school."
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More at: http://www.nationalcordbloodprogram.org/patients/patient_keone.html. Reprinted with permission, Jan. 4, 2011. See also:http://www.lifemarriagefamily.org.au/resource/Catholics%20and%20Stem%20Cell%20research%20and%20therapy.pdf; http://www.cbhd.org/category/issues/stem-cell-research; http://www.stemcellresearch.org/