Max
08-14-2001, 08:54 AM
Bush decision on stem cells will boost efforts to treat many ailments
By SETH BORENSTEIN - Knight Ridder Newspapers
Date: 08/13/01 22:32
WASHINGTON -- President Bush's support for limited embryonic stem-cell research with public money will accelerate work on therapies to treat many ailments, including diabetes, spinal cord injuries, heart problems, Parkinson's disease and Alzheimer's disease.
But his restrictions are likely to create speed bumps, scientists say. No one knows how limiting they might be, because scientists can't see the future of stem-cell research. Some worry that the restrictions will make it harder to turn laboratory findings into treatments for patients.
By restricting researchers to 60 existing stem-cell lines -- the second and future generations of cells already taken from embryos -- Bush in effect bars federal involvement in the destruction of any more embryos for stem cell research.
Limiting the number of lines reduces the diversity of cells available for treatment. That increases the likelihood that patients will reject stem-cell implants, much as they reject organ transplants, because their immune systems see them as foreign invaders. The quantity of cells available won't be a problem, because stem cell lines can multiply indefinitely.
Many scientists say that using 100 to 200 stem cell lines would prevent rejection for a variety of patients.
Bush's limits will be even more stringent than they appear, because some of the embryonic stem-cell lines available don't meet National Institutes of Health standards and won't be usable in research, said Harold Varmus,
president of the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York.
Varmus was director of the National Institutes of Health under former President Bill Clinton.
On the other hand, once researchers identify promising therapies, political pressure will probably force a future president to permit funding for a greater number of stem-cell lines, said Margaret Goodell, a professor of pediatrics and a researcher in bone-marrow stem cells at Baylor University College of Medicine in Houston.
Another possible problem for researchers: One company -- Geron Corp. of Menlo Park, Calif. -- owns many of the existing stem-cell lines. Bioethicists worry about the restrictions this near-monopoly might impose on research.
Varmus forecast that embryonic stem-cell research, until now privately funded and amounting to only a few million dollars, could accelerate to $100 million annually by 2002 if federal grants are available.
Stem cells, which can form new cells of any kind, hold the most promise for repairing or replacing tissue damaged by diseases of the brain, heart, liver, pancreas and spinal cord. They show less promise against cancers, which develop when cells grow amok.
The research shows the greatest early promise in treating diabetes, said Varmus and others. Recent research has indicated that stem cells can grow into pancreatic tissue, which is where insulin -- which regulates sugar absorption and treats diabetes -- is formed.
A more intense U.S. research effort, experts said, is likely to outpace competitors in the three other countries that are working the hardest on embryonic stem cells: England, Australia and Israel, in that order.
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All content © 2001 The Kansas City Star
By SETH BORENSTEIN - Knight Ridder Newspapers
Date: 08/13/01 22:32
WASHINGTON -- President Bush's support for limited embryonic stem-cell research with public money will accelerate work on therapies to treat many ailments, including diabetes, spinal cord injuries, heart problems, Parkinson's disease and Alzheimer's disease.
But his restrictions are likely to create speed bumps, scientists say. No one knows how limiting they might be, because scientists can't see the future of stem-cell research. Some worry that the restrictions will make it harder to turn laboratory findings into treatments for patients.
By restricting researchers to 60 existing stem-cell lines -- the second and future generations of cells already taken from embryos -- Bush in effect bars federal involvement in the destruction of any more embryos for stem cell research.
Limiting the number of lines reduces the diversity of cells available for treatment. That increases the likelihood that patients will reject stem-cell implants, much as they reject organ transplants, because their immune systems see them as foreign invaders. The quantity of cells available won't be a problem, because stem cell lines can multiply indefinitely.
Many scientists say that using 100 to 200 stem cell lines would prevent rejection for a variety of patients.
Bush's limits will be even more stringent than they appear, because some of the embryonic stem-cell lines available don't meet National Institutes of Health standards and won't be usable in research, said Harold Varmus,
president of the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York.
Varmus was director of the National Institutes of Health under former President Bill Clinton.
On the other hand, once researchers identify promising therapies, political pressure will probably force a future president to permit funding for a greater number of stem-cell lines, said Margaret Goodell, a professor of pediatrics and a researcher in bone-marrow stem cells at Baylor University College of Medicine in Houston.
Another possible problem for researchers: One company -- Geron Corp. of Menlo Park, Calif. -- owns many of the existing stem-cell lines. Bioethicists worry about the restrictions this near-monopoly might impose on research.
Varmus forecast that embryonic stem-cell research, until now privately funded and amounting to only a few million dollars, could accelerate to $100 million annually by 2002 if federal grants are available.
Stem cells, which can form new cells of any kind, hold the most promise for repairing or replacing tissue damaged by diseases of the brain, heart, liver, pancreas and spinal cord. They show less promise against cancers, which develop when cells grow amok.
The research shows the greatest early promise in treating diabetes, said Varmus and others. Recent research has indicated that stem cells can grow into pancreatic tissue, which is where insulin -- which regulates sugar absorption and treats diabetes -- is formed.
A more intense U.S. research effort, experts said, is likely to outpace competitors in the three other countries that are working the hardest on embryonic stem cells: England, Australia and Israel, in that order.
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All content © 2001 The Kansas City Star