Embryonic Cells Give Hope for Parkinson's Cure
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Saturday, Feb. 17, 2001
SAN FRANCISCO (UPI) - When implanted into the brains of the mice,
embryonic animal cells act just like cells which produce dopamine, the
brain chemical deficient in Parkinson's disease, researchers reported
Friday.
The technology's success required growing vast numbers of the
embryonic cells outside the body. However, to treat human patients with
the same procedure will mean scientists cross an ethical, political and
religious minefield.
Thus scientists also noted the best hope for curing patients with
Parkinson's disease lies in the lap of the Bush administration. The new
U.S. president and his advisers will influence whether federal funding
should be freed for embryonic stem cell research.
"I am optimistic that the Bush administration will respond favorably to
embryonic stem cell research," said Jeffrey Martin, a partner in the
Washington legal firm of Shea and Gardner.
Martin, a Republican and a Parkinson's disease patient, said, "President
Bush has shown he has an open mind about this because he has asked
for a review of guidelines regarding use of human embryonic cells."
The human embryonic cells come from week-old embryos created during
in vitro fertilization procedures - so-called test tube babies. The tissue
comes from embryos who are to be discarded for one reason or another.
"We have to educate the public, the president and right-to-life advocates that this is not abortion," said Martin at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
He said people who oppose use of embryonic tissue should realize that if federal rules become more restrictive, research that will inevitably go on will not be governed by federal oversight. Furthermore, alternative resea
rch into use of adult stem cells, while continuing, does not seem promising.
"I think that if the public is made aware of the progress in this area, the public will support embryonic stem cell research," Martin said.
In a presentation, Dr. Ole Isacson, associate professor of neuroscience at Harvard Medical School, said he and his colleagues were able to find the embryonic cells in mice, extract them and grow the cells in culture. "You
 can grow enough cells to do a transplant, and still have a renewable source of cells," he said.
Isacson said that once implanted into the brain, the embryonic stem cells could be manipulated into producing dopamine in the animals. Because the mechanism for production of dopamine in the mouse model is similar to that
 of humans, Isacson and other believe the procedure could work in man.
He said that fetal cell transplantation - taking dopamine-producing cells from the brains of aborted fetuses - appears to have some success, but the ability to harvest enough cells to perform the transplant limits its pra
cticality. He said only a handful of such transplants a year would be performed in his home country, Sweden.
Ron McKay, a neuroscientist at the National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Md., said the difference between embryonic cells and fetal cells was that the stem cells from the embryos could be coaxed into behaving in a part
icular manner. Fetal cells do not grow as rapidly and cannot be easily molded to perform a particular purpose.
"Embryonic cell transplantation is the best hope we have for curing this
disease," said Dr. J. William Langston, president and senior scientist of
Parkinson's Institute in Sunnyvale, Calif.
Langston told United Press International that he was less optimistic that
the Bush administration "will do the right thing" and permit embryonic
cell transplantation research and relax government rules. He is
concerned that Bush would order a moratorium on the research.
McKay suggested that if the United States government did not permit
embryonic research, the experimentation and research would continue in
other nations, particularly Britain and France. McKay said pro-life
supporters might not accept Martin's argument that embryos created in
the test tube are different than fetuses conceived through intercourse.
Copyright 2001 by United Press International.
All rights reserved.

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