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The Augusta Chronicle Lab hails verdict on stem cells Athens research group applauds Bush decision, prepares to become supplier with help of federal funding Web posted Tuesday, August 14, 2001 By Joan Stroer Morris News Service ATHENS, Ga. - President Bush's decision to fund experiments only on existing stem cell stocks has disappointed many researchers, but it pleased an Athens stem cell research company that owns four of the world's 60 stem cell lines. Researchers with BresaGen Inc. are now positioned to become key suppliers of the cells in the burgeoning international research field. Mr. Bush's decision also puts funding from the National Institutes of Health within reach of the company, which is affiliated with the University of Georgia. ''Obviously, it's very positive for our company,'' said Allan Robins, the chief scientific officer with BresaGen. ''We're sitting here with four cell lines. We're sitting here with distinguished researchers. We have other distinguished collaborators. Obviously, we're contemplating those researchers getting major NIH grants to further our work.'' ''We're pumped,'' Dr. Robins added. A cell line starts as a cluster of cells from a human embryo, and each cluster is able to evolve into any tissue in the body. The cells have the ability to divide virtually forever. In effect, the cell line is endless. BresaGen developed its cell lines from cells extracted from U.S. fertility-clinic embryos. Mr. Bush said Thursday he would permit federal funding but with a major restriction: Researchers could use only cells from existing embryonic stem cell lines. This restriction, he said, would mean that no more embryos would be killed to advance federally funded research. Extracting the stem cells kills the embryo. BresaGen is a cell therapeutics company and subsidiary of an Australian company searching for a cure for Parkinson's disease. It moved to Georgia in January, seeking closer ties to international cloning expert Steven Stice of the university. Its affiliation with Mr. Stice, who is also a cell-therapies expert, and other university researchers allows BresaGen to tap federal grants. America has the largest medical research budget in the world. The United States itself benefits from Mr. Bush's decision, Dr. Robins pointed out. A complete ban on federal funding, he said, would have forced development of the research to other countries. ''This is win-win for everybody,'' said Gordhan Patel, University of Georgia's interim research vice president. The university plans to expand its biomedical research into a new biomedical institute and a new building housing biomedical and health sciences. SOURCE: The Augusta Chronicle http://augustachronicle.com/stories/081401/tec_MNS-8187.000.shtml * * * ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn