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Coup for Cambridge as top scientist quits US EducationGuardian.co.uk Special report: the ethics of genetics James Meek, science correspondent Tuesday July 17, 2001 The Guardian A leading US scientist is moving his laboratory from California to Britain in despair over Washington's restrictions on the scientific use of cells from human embryos. The move by Roger Pedersen from the University of California in San Francisco (UCSF) to Cambridge has intensified fears across the Atlantic of a "reverse brain drain" to countries such as the UK with more liberal stem cell research rules. Confirming its coup yesterday, Cambridge said Dr Pedersen, 56, would take up a post in the university's department of surgery, based at Addenbrooke's Hospital. "We are pleased to be able to provide Dr Pedersen with an opportunity to develop his research on stem cells," a university spokesman said. Stem cells are cells which can develop into a wide range of specialist cells - heart cells, nerve cells, liver cells and so on. Scientists hope to learn how to use them to grow fresh tissue to replace that lost in degenerative diseases such as Parkinson's. The most versatile stem cells are those which can be taken from human embryos a few days old. The source of the embryos is surplus fertilised eggs donated by patients undergoing IVF treatment. Stem cell research has become a hot political issue in the US, with President Bush coming under conflicting pressure from pro-research and religiously-influenced anti-abortion lobbies to liberalise or tighten up the law. At present in America, research which destroys human embryos is outlawed if it uses government funds. Yet the same research can be freely carried out by private firms. Dr Pedersen thought he could get round the law by doing privately funded work in his academic lab at UCSF. But the university halted the programme when it realised that the federal government considered that Dr Pedersen's use of university lighting, electricity and secretaries made his work public rather than private. In Britain, research on human embryonic stem cells for the purpose of curing disease has been legal since a parliamentary vote in December. Dr Pedersen told the Wall Street Journal: "I am not a hero leading the charge. I am trying to get some work done. I am flowing like water towards an opportunity to do that without a lot of distractions." Despite the liberalisation of the stem cell regulations in Britain, there has not yet been a rush to expand research beyond the few centres which are carrying it out. Dr Pedersen's arrival could change that. Andrew Bradley, the head of Cambridge's department of surgery, said he hoped the stem cell work would follow on naturally from the university's pioneering work in organ transplants. He said one of the most attractive areas of research was in the use of stem cells to grow a specialised type of cell normally found in the pancreas, where it makes insulin. In people with diabetes, these cells do not work. Dr Bradley said he understood the Medical Research Council would fund Dr Pedersen's research. He admitted it was rarer for a leading researcher to move from the US to Britain than the other way round. "Cambridge has actually recruited some very talented, established American researchers over the years. Dr Pedersen is not the first, but there aren't many such examples." SOURCE: The Guardian http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,3604,522894,00.html * * * ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn