This is a test
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Kathleen Cochran" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Saturday, April 18, 2009 1:04 AM
Subject: Re: ESCR still restricted


> This is disappointing...a bit scary, too, that this vital research should
> depend upon there being enough infertile couples willing and able to
> undertake the difficulty and expense of in vitro fertilization. However, I
> believe that the minute a breakthrough occurs in treating disease with 
> stem
> cells, opposition to techniques like somatic cell transfer will evaporate.
>
> I just wish they would stop using the term "embryo"!
>
> Kathleen
>
> 2009/4/17 rayilynlee <[log in to unmask]>
>
>> US lifts some restrictions on embryo stem cells
>>
>> by LAURAN NEERGAARD, AP Medical Writer Lauran Neergaard, Ap Medical 
>> Writer
>> - 53 mins ago
>> WASHINGTON - When President Barack Obama eased limits on taxpayer-funded
>> embryonic stem cell research, the big question became how far scientists
>> could go. Friday, the government answered: They must use cells culled 
>> from
>> fertility clinic embryos that otherwise would be thrown away.
>> Draft guidelines released by the National Institutes of Health reflect
>> rules with broad congressional support, excluding more controversial 
>> sources
>> such as cells derived from embryos created just for experiments.
>> "We think this will be a huge boost for the science," said Acting NIH
>> Director Raynard Kington. "This was the right policy for the agency at 
>> this
>> point in time."
>> The limit will disappoint some researchers who wanted to use a broader
>> variety of cells. But it still means that perhaps hundreds more stem cell
>> lines will be available for government-funded study soon.
>> "Some groups and scientists have wanted the administration to go further.
>> But we are happy to have this progress after such a long period of 
>> limited
>> opportunities to pursue this very important line of research," said Alan
>> Leshner of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
>> The guidelines are "a reasonable compromise based on where the science
>> stands now," said Dr. Sean Morrison, director of the University of 
>> Michigan
>> Center for Stem Cell Biology. "We may need to revisit some of the details
>> down the road depending on how the science develops."
>> Scientists are trying to harness embryonic stem cells - master cells that
>> can morph into any cell of the body - to one day create replacement 
>> tissues
>> and better treat, possibly even cure, ailments ranging from diabetes to
>> Parkinson's to spinal cord injury.
>> Culling those stem cells - which can propagate indefinitely in lab 
>> dishes -
>> destroys a days-old embryo, a result strongly opposed by many on moral
>> grounds. So the Bush administration had limited taxpayer-supported 
>> research
>> to a small number of embryonic stem cell "lines" or groups already in
>> existence as of August 2001.
>> Last month, Obama lifted that restriction, widening the field. But he 
>> left
>> it to the NIH to set ethics guidelines determining which cell lines now 
>> will
>> qualify for government funding.
>> Federal law forbids using taxpayer money to create or destroy an embryo. 
>> At
>> issue here are rules for working with cells that initially were created
>> using private money.
>> Many scientists had hoped the guidelines would allow use of stem cells
>> derived from embryos created just for science, perhaps even using cloning
>> techniques that could make them genetically customized for a potential
>> recipient.
>> But the NIH instead proposed limiting new grants to research using stem
>> cells originally derived from fertility-clinic leftovers, the extra 
>> embryos
>> that couples wind up not needing and thus often are thrown out.
>> That's in line with legislation passed by the last Congress but never
>> signed by President George W. Bush. Besides, Kington noted, no one has 
>> yet
>> created a stem cell line using cloning techniques.
>> "There's compelling broad support both in the scientific community and 
>> the
>> public at large" for the fertility-clinic approach, Kington said. "There 
>> is
>> not similar broad support for using other sources at this time."
>> The guidelines also demand that the woman or couple who donate the 
>> original
>> embryo give proper informed consent. There are other options for such
>> donors, such as donating the embryo to another infertile woman, and all 
>> must
>> be explained. Also, the donation must be voluntary, without pressure from
>> scientists.
>> Those donation practices are standard today, but they weren't just a few
>> years ago - and Michigan's Morrison said some of the old Bush-approved 
>> lines
>> may not meet the new standards. That poses a grave question, he said: Can
>> work based on those older lines continue?
>> Friday's guidelines also clearly forbid some types of research using 
>> human
>> embryonic stem cells, such as mixing them with embryos from monkeys and
>> other primates.
>> Last year, the NIH funded about $88 million in research using embryonic
>> stem cells, Kington said. It's unclear how much more the agency may spend
>> under the new policy.
>> The NIH will accept public comments on the guidelines for a month, and
>> issue final rules by early July.
>>
>> Rayilyn Brown
>> Director AZNPF
>> Arizona Chapter National Parkinson Foundation
>> [log in to unmask]
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