-- [ From: Seymour Gross * EMC.Ver #2.5.3 ] --

New York Times, p.31

November 15, 1998

Clinton Asks Study of Bid to Form Part-Human, Part-Cow Cells

By NICHOLAS WADE

Saying that he is "deeply troubled" by the creation of part-human, part-
cow embryonic stem cells, President Clinton has directed the National
Bioethics Advisory Commission to consider the implications of the
research at its meeting Tuesday in Miami and to report back to him "as
soon as possible".
In a letter sent Saturday to the chairman of the commission, Harold
Shapiro of Princeton University, Clinton also asked for a review of
embryonic stem-cell research in general, including the all-human
embryonic stem cells whose isolation was reported earlier this month.
These cells  --  the primordial, all-purpose cells from which all
tissues of the body develop  --  were derived from very early embryos or
blastocysts and from tissues of aborted fetuses.
While the president signaled concern about the "mingling of human and
non-human species," he was more positive about the all-human embryonic
stem cell research, noting that it "may have real potential for treating
such devastating illnesses as cancer, heart disease, diabetes and
Parkinson's disease."
But he also stressed the ethical concerns raised by the research,
telling the commission that he wanted a "thorough review, balancing all
ethical and medical considerations."
The letter was sent after the president had consulted with the White
House Domestic Policy Council and the president's science adviser, Neal
Lane, "because he wanted the broadest views possible --  the policy
people, medical ethicists, as well as the scientists," an administration
official said.
A political issue that lies in the background of the commission's
deliberations is the ban on federal financing of fetal research. The ban
, imposed by Congress, has created the situation that university
scientists, who mostly depend on federal money, cannot work on the human
embryonic stem cells whereas the private sector may conduct whatever
research it pleases.
A group of scientists and ethicists known as the Human Embryo Research
Panel said in 1994 that research on human embryonic stem cells should be
federally financed, provided that the cells were derived from excess pre
-implantation embryos created for infertility treatments. This was the
source of some of the human embryonic stem cells isolated earlier this
month.
In response to the panel's report, Clinton said in December 1994, "I do
not believe that federal funds should be used to support the creation of
human embryos for research purposes." The statement did not rule out
research on excess embryos created in infertility clinics but subsequent
action by Congress banned all research in which a human embryo is
destroyed.
Referring to this history, the president said in his letter Saturday
that the ethical issues of human embryonic stem cell research had not
diminished since his statement of 1994 but that the benefits had become
less hypothetical.
Lane said the implications of human embryonic stem-cell research had
been under review but news of the human-cow hybrid cells, reported last
week, "clearly raised urgent ethical, medical and legal issues that the
president wants addressed and that's why he asked for the commission to
give it immediate attention."
Human embryonic stem cells can develop into any of the body's 210 types
of cells, a process that happens naturally during fetal development.
Biologists at Geron, the company that supported the research, hope to
grow the cells in the laboratory and guide them to develop into heart
cells, blood cells and other tissues.
The cells would then be injected into the patient and integrate with
tissues under the control of local body signals.
In principle, the method could address a range of otherwise untreatable
degenerative diseases, as well as relieving the severe shortage of
organs available for conventional transplants.
Many serious technical problems remain to be resolved, including finding
ways to guide the stem cells down desired paths of development and ways
to prevent immune rejection.
The ethical problems are also important because of the source of the
embryonic stem cells. In one case the cells came from excess pre-
implantation embryos created in infertility treatments, and in the other
from aborted fetal tissue. Both sources were legal, but research using
the first would have been ineligible for federal money.
The human-cow hybrid cell also complied with all laws, said Michael West
, chief executive of Advanced Cell Technology of Worcester, Mass., the
company that supported the research. In the hybrid cell, the cow cell's
nucleus is first removed and the cow proteins are expected to be rapidly
replaced with human proteins as the human nucleus takes over the cell.
Although the mingling of species raises many questions, scientists at
Advanced Cell Technology regard the operation as one in which the cow
egg is used simply to make the human cell's nucleus revert to its
embryonic state. As the human cells can be provided by the patient
himself, from blood or skin, there is no immune rejection when developed
cells grown from his embryonic state cells are injected back into the
body.
Advanced Cell Technology performed its cow-human hybrid experiment only
once, three years ago, and took the study only to a very preliminary
stage. Other scientists say more evidence is needed to verify whether
embryonic stem-like cells were created.
West said he was announcing the research now to test its public
acceptability before making further investments in the technique.