Star Tribune (Minneapolis, MN)
January 25, 2002, Friday, Metro Edition
SECTION: NEWS; Pg. 1A
HEADLINE: Stem cell feat refuels debate;
'U' scientist says, adult-cell work overstated in magazine article
BYLINE: Josephine Marcotty; Maura Lerner; Staff Writers
A University of Minnesota scientist's research on adult stem cells has
become
the latest weapon in the political fight over embryo research.
Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., reacting to an article in the Jan. 23
issue
of New Scientist magazine about Dr. Catherine Verfaillie's work, said she
had
scored a historic breakthrough in coaxing adult stem cells to form
different
types of tissue.
In an "urgent news" release Wednesday, he said: "It shows, once
again,
that we can find cures for the many diseases that plague humanity without
destroying human embryos."
Verfaillie, director of the university's Stem Cell Institute and
a
supporter of embryonic research, said it is too soon to say whether adult
or
embryo stem cells will cure any diseases.
Stem cells are the body's master cells, which make the specialized
cells
of organs and tissue. In embryos, the cells are able to develop the
entire body.
In adults their abilities have been thought to be more limited.
Verfaillie got more attention Thursday at a Senate committee
hearing on
cloning. A group called Do No Harm, the Coalition of Americans for
Research
Ethics, released a statement saying that her research could "render
obsolete"
the need for human cloning research to obtain embryonic stem cells.
Opponents of
such cloning object to the practice because it involves the destruction
of human
embryos.
Verfaillie, a professor of medicine, said such attention is
unwelcome
and ironic because she and the university support federal funding of
embryo stem
cell research.
Research with stem cells from adults and embryos seeks to
manipulate
them into forming other types of tissue. While both hold promise as cures
for
liver disease, Parkinson's disease, some cancers and many other medical
disorders, "it's too early to conclude anything," Verfaillie said.
However, the New Scientist article, citing a university patent
application, said she had found a new "master cell" in adult bone marrow
capable
of rebuilding all kinds of human tissue.
Verfaillie said the article overstates the status of the
research. She
and other researchers have shown in a laboratory setting that adult human
and
mouse bone marrow cells can be coaxed into mimicking heart, liver and
brain
cells. Yet many researchers say adult cells have disadvantages when
compared
with the potential of embryonic stem cells.
Research and advocacy groups that favor federal funding of
embryo
research said both adult and embryonic stem cell research needs to be
pursued.
"The reality is that not enough is known about adult cells or
embryonic
cells to make the determination that we should stop our research into one
and
put all our efforts into the other," said Kevin Wilson, public policy
director
for the American Society for Cell Biology.
He added that touting advances in adult stem cell research "is a
standard argument" from the groups that want to stop embryo research.
At the moment, adult stem cell research is much easier to
conduct. In
August President Bush limited federally funded embryo stem cell research
to 60
cell lines that were in existence. He also has appointed a bioethics
committee
to advise him on embryo research and cloning.
Meanwhile, Verfaillie and other researchers are making progress
with
adult stem cells.
In November, she and others reported in the journal Blood that
they had
succeeded in isolating stem cells, kept them growing for nearly a year
and
steered them toward different missions in the body. It demonstrated for
the
first time that stem cells taken from children and adults can grow and
remain
flexible indefinitely.
Some cells took on the functions of primitive cells that shape
muscle,
cartilage, fat and bone, suggesting that they may be ideal for treating
degenerative disorders such as arthritis and osteoporosis. Others took on
different roles, for example, shaping a type of tissue that lines organs.
Researchers also found that the stem cells could be genetically
engineered to
help correct inherited disorders such as hemophilia and muscular
dystrophy.
Verfaillie intends to publish results of additional research,
she said.
But she declined to describe the findings before publication in a
scientific
journal, a standard practice among researchers.
Scientists still say, however, that embryonic cells have many more
advantages.
"Adult stem cells can do it, but they are extremely inefficient,"
said
Inder Verma, a professor of molecular biology at the Salk Institute in La
Jolla,
Calif. For example, a human liver is made up of trillions of cells, and
adult
stem cells have shown to be able to produce only hundreds. Embryonic
cells, on
the other hand, are much more productive and are much more malleable, he
said.
"You can teach them anything," he said.
_ The reporters are at
[log in to unmask]
[log in to unmask]
----------------------------------------------------------------------
To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask]
In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn
