The following are excerpts from a number of newspaper articles found on
Lexis-Nexis news database:
FROM: AP Online
August 10, 2001; Friday 6:40 PM, Eastern Time
SECTION: Washington - general news
HEADLINE: Scientists Begin Stem Cell Work
BYLINE: LAURA MECKLER
"... At the National Institutes of Health on Friday, researchers were
beginning to
catalogue the existing stem cell lines, which officials now estimate at
60
worldwide. Around the country, scientists were beginning to hone their
ideas for
grant applications, which were expected to be submitted and awarded by
early
next year.
Dr. Harold Varmus, who led the NIH under President Clinton, predicted
that
hundreds of researchers would get into the field, even under limited
federal
funding. Ultimately, he predicted that the federal government would spend
tens
to hundreds of millions of dollars per year in this field."
" Dr. Catherine Verfaillie, who directs the University of Minnesota Stem
Cell
Institute, said the political turmoil surrounding this research dissuaded
her
from applying for federal funding when it was initially offered last
year.
''Many investigators were in the same boat,'' she said. But now that
the
matter appears settled, she plans to submit a grant application..."
FROM:
Newsday (New York, NY)
August 11, 2001 Saturday ALL EDITIONS
SECTION: NEWS, Pg. A06
HEADLINE: Scientists Cautious On Limits To Work
By Jamie Talan; STAFF WRITER
"Scientists expressed concern but also cautious optimism Friday about
President
George W. Bush's decision to allow limited public funding for research
using
embryonic stem cells.
"This is a compromise I'm not totally happy with," said Dr. Harold
Varmus,
former director of the National Institutes of Health and now president
and chief
executive officer of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York.
"Placing these kinds of limits is something we, as scientists, don't like
to do.
Inevitably, there will be a need for more [stem cell] lines."
"... Fred Gage, a renowned stem cell researcher at the Salk Institute in
La Jolla,
Calif., also expressed concern about the limited number of cell lines.
He spent
Friday fielding calls and e-mail messages from colleagues who want to
know what
the new policy will mean for their research.
"I still don't know whether the human ES [embryonic stem] cells will
be made
available, and how that will happen," said Gage, the scientist credited
with
finding populations of adult stem cells in the brains of patients who
died of
cancer. "Right now, most people want to know where the 60 cell lines
[mentioned
by Bush] come from."
Gage said that though he wants to work with embryonic stem cells, he
hasn't
pursued obtaining any because federal funding guidelines have been
confusing.
He said he was among at least 80 scientists interviewed by NIH officials
for a
report that helped shape Bush's decision. Many of the scientists on this
list
say they remain in limbo.
"I want to know what the guidelines would allow me to do - starting
tomorrow," said Dr. Mahendra Rao, a section chief at the National
Institute on
Aging who was studying embryonic stem cells at the University of Utah.
When he
arrived at the federal institute in May, he knew he'd have to leave his
human
embryonic stem cells behind because of the NIH guidelines, but he says he
hopes
to work with embryonic stem cells again. "These cells are a huge
resource," Rao
said. "We must understand how they work. If we give this over to industry
with a
profit motive, we may never get this information at all."
Rao was among a handful of U.S. scientists funded by Geron Corp., a
California biotech company that has dozens of patents on the human
embryonic
stem cell technology.
"We have been frustrated in our own ability to work with more top
scientists," said Dr. Thomas Okarma, Geron's president and chief
executive. The
cell lines that Geron is developing originally came from Dr. James
Thomson of
the University of Wisconsin. Geron funded Thomson's pioneering work.
Okarma added that the company now has created distinct cell types -
liver,
nerves and heart muscle - from the three germ layers of the human embryo.
"Stem cells hold great promise for innovative medical therapy," said
Dr. Mark
H. Tuszynski of the University of California in San Diego. "I'm heartened
that
the opinion of the minority did not block the potential to do good for
the
majority."
However, scientists worry the restrictions will result in the research
winding up solely in the hands of private companies or scientists outside
the
country..."
FROM:
The San Francisco Chronicle
AUGUST 11, 2001, SATURDAY, FINAL EDITION
SECTION: NEWS; Pg. A11
HEADLINE: Researcher worries about limits of policy;
Some key areas of research still can't be pursued
BYLINE: Tom Abate
"In his first interview since deciding to move his laboratory out of the
country,
noted stem cell researcher Roger Pedersen offered a good news-bad news
assessment of President George Bush's policy of limited support.
Pedersen, who has said he is moving to Britain because of political
uncertainties about the future of stem cell research in the United
States,
deflected any discussion of whether he might reverse his decision to
leave the
University of California at San Francisco...."
"... Specifically, he said the Bush policy effectively allows U.S.
scientists to
pursue only one of the three avenues of research that are essential to
turning
stem cells into medicines.
The first area is known as differentiation, referring to how stem
cells are
able to turn into any of the 200 cells of the body, including blood,
bone,
muscle and nerves. Pedersen said controlling the process of
differentiation is
the first task scientists must accomplish to make stem cell medicines.
"It's plausible that this opening (provided by the Bush policy) will
provide
insight into this first question of differentiation," Pedersen said. "The
bad
news is that it won't provide as much insight into the other two
problems."
Another problem is immune rejection. If stem cells are ever developed
into
treatments for disease, such as diabetes or Alzheimers, they will need to
match
the immune system of the patient. Otherwise, the body will reject them.
Pedersen said 60 cell colonies are far too few to develop stem cell
treatments that won't be rejected. He was not certain how many new cell
colonies
scientists would have to create in order to ensure a close match to all
immune
system types.
"I can't get a straight answer from the immunologists," he said. "It
is
between hundreds and thousands of cell lines."
The third problem is ensuring that any cells that are transplanted
into
human beings are not contaminated with foreign viruses.
Before any stem cell treatment can be transplanted into a human
subject, the
U.S. Food & Drug Administration will require that the original stem cell
culture
was made according to "good tissue practices," he said.
Among other things, Pedersen said these FDA rules require that there
is no
contamination from other species. He said the embryonic cell lines that
have
been described in scientific papers used mouse cells to provide
nutrients. Some
were exposed to extracts from cow's blood.
"They (the existing cell lines) do not at first glance seem to meet
good
tissue practices," Pedersen said, and therefore could probably not be
used to
produce even experimental cell-based medicines. "That's why you need to
make
more cell lines...."
FROM:
Washington Post
August 11, 2001, Saturday, Final Edition
SECTION: A SECTION; Pg. A10
HEADLINE: Bush Stem Cell Policy Cools Fervor on Hill
BYLINE: Amy Goldstein, Washington Post Staff Writer
"... Yesterday, an administration official said Bush may have settled on
his
decision Aug. 2, when he met with NIH scientists who reported that they
had
canvassed researchers and companies in the United States and abroad and
located at least 60 stem cell lines, twice as many as the institutes had
suggested were in existence last month. The discovery implied to the
president that the
existing cell lines could provide enough material for researchers to make
significant progress.
Jay Lefkowitz, who attended many of Bush's meetings on stem cells in
his
role as general counsel of the Office of Management and Budget, said the
president considered the five dozen cell colonies "exciting news" because
it
would "provide a great deal of opportunity for research."
Some scientists yesterday questioned whether that many cell colonies
exist.
But Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy G. Thompson said he
expected NIH would continue to discover lines that had been created as of
Aug. 9, the date of Bush's announcement.
Speaking at an afternoon news conference at the institutes' Bethesda
campus,
Thompson said NIH yesterday began to create a registry of the known cell
lines
and was beginning to design a process that would enable them to be shared
among researchers.
At least one scientific leader in the field, James Thomson, the
University
of Wisconsin researcher who discovered human embryonic stem cells in
November
1998, said he was satisfied with Bush's approach. "People have said they
want
dozens of cell lines. Well, 60 is dozens," Thomson said. "Even if some of
those
are no good, there's still going to be a lot to work with."
FROM:
Los Angeles Times
August 11, 2001 Saturday Home Edition
SECTION: Part A; Part 1; Page 1; National Desk
HEADLINE: THE NATION;
Stem Cell Decision Doesn't Quell Debate;
Science: Uncertain but resolved researchers gear up to start limited
tests.
Senate hearing planned.
BYLINE: AARON ZITNER, EDWIN CHEN, TIMES STAFF WRITERS
"...scientists and research advocates said they need to know much more,
including the conditions under which the cell lines were created, their
ability
to reproduce and whether they could truly grow into a wide range of body
tissues.
"We know that not all embryonic stem cell lines are the same," said
Dr.
Robert Lanza, a vice president at Advanced Cell Technology Inc., a
Massachusetts
biotechnology firm. "Some grow at a rate that's so slow that it's not of
value.
Some lines can be impossible to get neurons or brain cells from."
Ronald Green, an ethics professor at Dartmouth College who has written
widely
on the issue, said that "in mouse embryonic research, about half the
lines are
no good. They don't proliferate well."
"... Some researchers noted that obtaining stem cells from private
companies has
been a frustrating experience. Private firms often ask for certain rights
to
discoveries made with their cells, but researchers and universities do
not want
to sign away the power to control or profit from their work.
HHS Secretary Thompson acknowledged the problem but said it could be
overcome. "We still have some very strong proprietary and patent issues
to work
through, but I have great confidence that they can be addressed."
He said he talked Thursday to a nonprofit business that owns rights to
five
cell lines and was encouraged by its willingness to cooperate with
researchers.
The Bush plan also might help academic researchers work with stem
cells using
private funds. Many universities had discouraged their scientists from
working
with embryonic stem cells on campus because it would mingle federally
funded
work with research not eligible for federal money.
Administrators worried that the NIH would penalize them for using
federal
money to pay even for light bulbs or secretarial help devoted to stem
cell work.
But the NIH is now reviewing its rules for such shared overhead costs."
"...Doctor Predicts Pace of Research to Pick Up
"...NIH officials said they cannot predict how many researchers will be
drawn
into stem cell research because of Bush's plan, but they are optimistic.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and
Infectious Diseases, said the pace of research will speed up
"enormously."
Within a decade, he predicted, the field will produce "substantive
treatments
for some diseases. You're going to see clinically relevant results."
"... several researchers praised Bush for lifting the cloud that
had hung over the field.
"Six months ago, this was all going to be stopped [by the Bush
administration], and now it's going to go forward," said Thomson, the
University
of Wisconsin researcher. "This is not perfect from a scientific view, but
it's
not going to be stopped dead in the water."
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