Stem cells. Hype or hope?

[Adrian]

This is an interesting article about the hype attached to stem cells:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/6127772.stm

Injections of these cells, which have the special ability to transform into any other cells, have been paraded as the panacea for diseases, from Parkinson's to diabetes. And recent advances, such as clinical trials where heart attack patients are to be injected with stem cells or research showing their possible ability to restore the sight of blind mice, suggest this hope could be becoming a reality.

This optomism is temepered by taking stock of the current situation

We are at the stage where some stem cell research is moving from animal models towards the clinic, says Professor Anne McLaren, a developmental biologist from Cambridge University.
But while there has been much progress, there has also been a lot of hype, she adds. "And I believe stem cell research really mustn't be overhyped - it will be a good while even before the somatic (adult or foetal) stem cells are applied in the clinic and a decade or more before embryonic stem cells are."

and a warning about stem cell cowboys

according to Professor Richard Gardner, a stem cell expert based at Oxford University, people are "emphasising the promise" and "failing to highlight the problems that are yet to be overcome".

"And in the meantime," he says, "there is the real concern about the stem cell cowboys." "You've got these people charging thousands of pounds to inject dubious cells into people suffering from diseases such as multiple sclerosis, and people who are chasing couples about to give birth and charging them thousands of pounds to store their baby's umbilical cord cells."

The conclusion seems to be

So slowly but surely, stem cell research is progressing, and scientists agree it is indeed an exciting and promising area. But it seems, initially, that the biggest advances may be in understanding how these special cells work, working out how they can be controlled and harnessed, and using them to explore our basic biology before they will find a permanent home in the clinic.

There are some parts of this article that I agree with, the need to be wary of what is on offer by unscrupulous providers, but I was under the impression that we were closer to meaningful clinical trials than is indicated by this article. Have I been sucked in by the hype and it is these guys who are being realistic or are they just being unduly cautious and pessimistic?

[john smith]

Adrian;

There are some parts of this article that I agree with, the need to be wary of what is on offer by unscrupulous providers, but I was under the impression that we were closer to meaningful clinical trials than is indicated by this article. Have I been sucked in by the hype and it is these guys who are being realistic or are they just being unduly cautious and pessimistic?

I think they are, for the most part, realists. First of all, ESCs were first isolated only within the last decade. So, this aspect of stem cell research is a young field of endeavor. Secondly, the country with the greatest fiscal resources and research infrastructure, the USA, has seen its scientific community thwarted by President Bush's executive order of 2001.

The great injustice of his edict is that enthusiasm for ESC research was undercut for the last 5+ years and basic science such as how ESCs differentiate, for example, has not been done. Forgive my analogy, but stem cell research was virtually paralyzed by the President's proclamation.

Furthermore, the anti-science attitude of the Bush administration dampened scientific inquiry in general. Too much time has been spent by researchers fighting for the right to pursue science instead of enjoying an atmosphere of openness. Much of the USA's dark age of narrow mindedness, resulted in constrained funding through the NIH and/or much of those funds being diverted to bio-terrorism projects. Science has been operating in a totalitarian environment which repressed free thought while promoting religious dogma.

Conversely, perhaps we are now on the verge of a 'golden age' in science. We can only hope that the recent elections in the USA lead to a rejuvenation of American science, including renewed enthusiasm for research into ESCs.

John