08/16 03:03
Embryo Use in Stem Cell Research May Be Avoided (Update1)
By Morag MacKinnon

Melbourne, Aug. 16 (Bloomberg) -- The use of human embryos
for stem cell research may not be necessary after researchers
isolated stem cells in the brains of adult mice and grew muscle
tissue, Australian scientists said.

The discovery that adult, as well as embryonic, stem cells can
develop into different tissue is good news for medical
researchers seeking to generate nerve cell replacement in
humans, scientists said. It offers hope that a cure can be
found for diseases such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's.

``Its advantages over the use of transplanted embryonic
stem cells are that it is non-invasive, builds on the body's
natural mechanisms and avoids the possibility of rejection,''
Perry Bartlett, one of the scientists from the Melbourne-based
Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research told
Bloomberg.

Stem cells are ``blank'' cells prized in medical research for
their ability to be coaxed into different kinds of cells.
Most research to date has concentrated on extracting stem
cells from human embryos and is controversial because it
requires the destruction of an embryo.

U.S. President George W. Bush, who opposed embryonic
stem cell research during last year's presidential campaign,
last week approved research on cell lines derived from
already destroyed embryos. Federal funding won't be
provided, though, for research on cell lines extracted from
future embryos, he said.

Adult Cells
The discovery by the scientists from the Walter and Eliza
Hall Institute and from the Howard Florey Institute, also in
Melbourne, is published in today's edition of the scientific
journal, Nature.

The existence of stem cells in the brain was known in
1992, though scientists didn't know how to purify and extract
them. The Australian team spent four years developing a
method to identify and extract a pure stem cell, and applied the
method to extract such a cell from the brain of a mouse,
Bartlett said. When that cell was mixed with muscle cells,
it assumed the properties of the muscle tissue within three
days, Bartlett said.

The team has begun work on harvesting stem cells from
humans, he said.

In world terms, this is a ``very important breakthrough,''
Rodney Rietze a member of the scientific team said. ``It's very
exciting. The stem cell really has given us a lot of hope in
that regeneration of the central nervous system is an
attainable goal.''

Patent Pending
So far, no biotechnology companies are involved in the
team's research, which is funded by the Australian
government and various charities, including the
Australasian Spinal Research Trust. The scientists
have a patent pending on the stem cell purification
procedure.

The team's research into adult stem cells focuses on
activating stem cells in the brain from within, whereas
embryonic research looks at transplanting stem cells
back into the central nervous system and in other
tissues.

``We're moving in different directions but both going for
the same goal,'' Rietze said.

SOURCE: Bloomberg.com Top World News
http://quote.bloomberg.com/fgcgi.cgi?ptitle=Top%20World%20News

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