 |
 |
Stem Cell Research May Be Thwarted By Lack Of Embryos, Study Suggests DENNIS BUECKERT Canadian Press Thursday, December 04, 2003 OTTAWA (CP) - Canadian hopes of new treatments from embryonic stem cell research - one of the most promising areas of modern medicine - could be thwarted by a shortage of surplus human embryos available for research, a new study suggests. Although there are thousands of frozen embryos in storage at infertility clinics across the country, only about two per cent have been donated for research, says a study led by Francoise Baylis of Dalhousie University. The available embryos would provide raw material for as few as seven and no more than 36 stem cell lines of the kind needed for research, Baylis said in an interview Thursday. That is not considered to be enough. A stem cell line is capable of producing different kinds tissues found in the human body - tissues that could hold the key to treating many diseases. It is suspected that different stem cell lines may be useful for treating different diseases or even different groups within the population. "It's quite possible the stem cell lines we develop might be good for treating leukemias but they may be irrelevant for treating retinal problems," said Baylis. "We just don't know. "The reality is, nobody is thinking that this small number would get you very far from a therapeutic context." The lack of surplus embryos may lead to pressure from researchers for permission to clone embryos for research, as is done in Britain, says the study to be published Friday. Under guidelines issued by the Canadian Institutes for Health Research, researchers can use only embryos left over from infertility treatments, and only with the informed consent of the women or couples for whom the embryos produced. It is common practice at infertility clinics to produce multiple embryos because it often takes repeated tries to get a successful pregnancy. The extra embryos are usually frozen in case of future need, discarded or used for research by the clinic itself. As of August 2003, there were 15,615 frozen embryos in storage at 13 fertility clinics that responded to a questionnaire, the study reports. But many of the clinics have no procedure for requesting that embryos be donated for research, and some don't even know how exactly how many embryos they have in storage. The problem could spark new debate between researchers and the pro-life constituency about cloning of embryos for research purposes, says the study. "Researchers would no doubt argue that the small number of embryos potentially available for stem cell research is impeding valuable research of potential therapeutic benefit to Canadians. "In response some might argue that the human embryo has a right to life from the moment of conception, (which) precludes its creation solely for research purposes." Baylis said that problem could be solved if Canada had a clear regulatory framework of the kind proposed by the Assisted Human Reproduction Act, which died when Parliament shut down in November. She said couples will be much more likely to donate embryos for research once a clear legal framework for the practice has been established. "Right now, only two per cent of frozen embryos are being donated for research purposes. I believe that percentage will increase once we have a clear legislative framework." Incoming prime minister Paul Martin has not yet indicated whether he plans to reintroduce the legislation. SOURCE: The Canadian Press / OTTAWA (CP) http://tinyurl.com/y56f * * * ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn