'Headless frog' scientist to lead U stem cell efforts
When a scientist shared his thoughts about cloning, he was surprised to make
front-page news 10 years ago. Now, the world-class scientist is at the
University of Minnesota.
By Maura Lerner, Star Tribune
Last update: April 04, 2007 - 9:32 PM

HEADLESS FROG EMBRYO?
. To read a 1997 story from the London Telegraph about Jonathan Slack and
his research that included work with headless frog embryos, go to
www.startribune.com/a2554.

Ten years ago, British scientist Jonathan Slack set off an international
furor when he told a reporter that his lab had created a headless tadpole,
and that it might be possible to do the same thing with human embryos.
One critic called it "a modern monster story." Another blasted it as
"scientific fascism." He was reviled in print from South Korea to Brazil.
For Slack, the new director of the University of Minnesota's Stem Cell
Institute, it was a lesson he'll never forget. As a scientist, he thought he
was engaging in a hypothetical discussion. But he woke up as front-page
news.
"I was in for my baptism of fire at the hands of the media," he later wrote
in his book "Egg and Ego."
The name of the chapter: "The Case of the Headless Frog."
This week, the university announced that Slack, 57, had been named head of
its stem cell program after 11 years at the University of Bath in England.
A widely respected biologist and author, Slack is best known for his
pioneering work on turning liver cells into pancreas cells (a potential
treatment for diabetes). And for his studies on how animals (tadpoles)
regenerate limbs.
He was such a big name in the field that the university's search committee
"didn't believe he was serious" when he applied for the stem-cell job, said
Dr. Charles Moldow, vice dean for research. "This is one of the ... fathers
of developmental biology. He's written the textbook."
The university saw him as dynamic enough to replace the institute's
internationally known founder, Dr. Catherine Verfaillies, who left as
director to return to her native Belgium.
Slack has tried to distance himself from the flap over the headless tadpole,
which he calls a "storm in a teacup." It was, after all, 10 years ago, he
said in an interview.
But at the same time, he knows that public angst over his field of research
has not gone away. That's especially evident in the raging debate over the
use of human embryonic stem cells, which he supports. As Slack wrote in one
of his books, "It is an ethical minefield."
'I was a bit green'
It all started innocently enough in 1997, when Slack was asked to appear in
a BBC documentary about Dolly, the first cloned sheep. Although he wasn't
involved in that research, he was involved in genetic research. He mentioned
that his own lab had created headless tadpoles by manipulating their genes.
(He explained later that they weren't the first to do so, and this was part
of a study to find out how tadpoles develop normally.)
When asked if the same technique could be used to manipulate human embryos,
Slack said yes: It could be done to grow spare parts for transplants. The
documentary hadn't yet aired when a London Sunday Times reporter, who had
seen the preview, called.
Slack repeated his comments. "Instead of growing an intact embryo, you could
genetically reprogram the embryo to suppress growth in all the parts of the
body except the bits you want," he told the reporter.
He found himself on the front page of the Times on Oct. 19, 1997, with the
headline, "Headless frog opens way for human organ factory."
Looking back, Slack said, "I was a bit green. I didn't advocate this. I
simply said this was one of the things that might become possible."
His university quickly responded with "a respectful note to media
personnel," noting that there were no "headless frogs" -- just tadpoles that
lived less than a week.
As he later recounted in "Egg and Ego," Slack was stunned that the story
"managed to give the impression that the next step was headless humans." He
spent the next few days in endless news interviews, frantically trying to
put out the fire. "I was asked about headless humans, but I made it quite
clear that I and other scientists were dead against producing any such
thing," he wrote.
Eventually, the furor died down, but not before facing criticism around the
world. At one point, he even removed his nameplate from his parking space,
fearing an attack from animal rights activists. Arthur Caplan, a medical
ethicist and former University of Minnesota professor, and J. Craig Venter,
a prominent genetic scientist, upbraided him in Science magazine for
unleashing a "torrent of silliness" about a "ridiculous" idea.
"It was a bit embarrassing. I'll be honest with you," said Slack, who went
through some media training sessions afterward. But he hasn't given up on
talking publicly about his work. That's especially important, he said, in
his new role as head of the stem cell institute.
"We have to communicate with people," he said. "I do understand that
everything you say isn't going to be faithfully reported verbatim." But, he
added, "we have a duty to explain what we're doing."
Maura Lerner . 612-673-7384 . [log in to unmask]

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