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Hi All, I've been waiting a long time for this..... Sunday, Jan. 21, 2001 Canadian scientists pushing for federal guidelines on stem cell research OTTAWA (CP) -- Canadian scientists are poised for a major push into one of the hottest and most controversial areas of modern medicine -- stem cell research. But they say they're being held back by the lack of federal regulations or guidelines in a field whose promise is accompanied by potentially explosive ethical questions. Embryonic stem cells, derived from the earliest developmental stages of an embryo, have the ability to develop into virtually any type of body cell. "This is a very hot, up-and-coming field," Ron Worton, head of the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, said in an interview. "It's clear an embryonic stem cell can make any and every tissue. It can make blood, your liver, your kidneys, your brain, your lungs -- everything." Worton, co-discoverer of the gene that causes Duchenne muscular dystrophy, is excited at the possibility of rebuilding muscle in victims of that disease. In the past two years, scientists have learned that stem cells in adult tissues, while not as potent as those from an embryo, can also give rise to many useful tissues. They believe stem cells from one part of a person's body might eventually be used to regenerate tissue needed somewhere else. "If we could take bone marrow cells and put them into muscles and have them rebuild muscle, that would be amazing," said Worton. Animal experiments have produced highly promising results, but work with human cells is still in the very early stages. Still, excitement is growing. Worton has assembled $35 million in funding for a Centre for Stem Cell and Gene Therapy that will open in Ottawa within 18 months. He has also proposed national research network and is confident of support from other scientists across the country. "Altogether that's going to take Canada from being relatively nowhere in terms of the overall stem cell work to being a world leader," he said. The biggest problem is that researchers need to work with cells from human embryos, at least in the early stages. "Any time you do research on fetal tissue involving embryos there's an understandable hesitancy on the part of the researchers," says Tim Caulfield, law professor at the University of Alberta. "Part of it is an intuitive hesitancy, because they understand and respect the significance of the tissue they're working with, but part of it also is that they're working within somewhat of a regulatory vacuum." Britain and the United States have introduced guidelines to guide stem cell research; some countries have effectively banned it. The situation in Canada is unclear. In 1993 the Royal Commission on New Reproductive Technologies recommended tight regulations to govern the use of fetal tissue, but they were never implemented. Ethicists agree that a woman's decision about abortion should not be tainted by the question of providing material for research purposes, said Caulfield. But he raised questions about tissue from a fetus that has already been aborted, material which would otherwise be treated as medical waste. Also, there thousands of surplus frozen embryos in storage at fertility clinics across the country. Many will eventually be disposed of under current practices. But there's no procedure for getting access to them for research purposes. Scientists say the current ambiguity has become a major problem. "We have to have a regulatory framework in which to conduct ourselves," said molecular geneticist Michael Rudnicki of the University of Ottawa, who will be director of the new stem cell research centre. "I think most people are holding back because a regulatory framework not only prevents abuse, it also protects the investigator from the perception of abuse." One scenario, distasteful to most researchers, is that people could produce in-vitro embryos specifically for use in research. "We don't want that to happen," said Worton. "We desperately do not want to see that happen." What's clear is that without regulations or guidelines, anything could happen. Sources told the Canadian Press that some Canadian labs, frustrated with the lack of government guidance, have already quietly begun work on human stem cells. The National Institutes of Health Research is expected to recommend guidelines soon, but political decisions will still be needed. Health Minister Allan Rock has not indicated where he stands on the issue. His office will not say whether there are plans to reintroduce legislation on new genetic and reproductive technologies in the coming session of Parliament. That will be revealed in the throne speech. Two previous bills have died on the order paper. Worton says the guidelines are urgently needed and should not be tied in with all the other controversial issues which make such legislation difficult to write and pass. http://www.canoe.ca/NationalTicker/CANOE-wire.Stem-Cell.html ******************* [log in to unmask]