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CORRECTION: An Article About Stem Cells Published Thursday... Milwaukee Journal Sentinel - - - CORRECTION: An article about stem cells published Thursday incorrectly described Harvard researcher Douglas Melton's criticism of WiCell. He criticized the quality of the existing federal stem cell lines; he did not single out the WiCell lines. Stem Cell Volley Fired Harvard team announces 17 new lines, is critical of Wisconsin lab By SUSANNE QUICK [log in to unmask] Posted: March 4, 2004 Fed up with human embryonic stem cell lines that were hard to access, expensive and difficult to use in the lab, a team of researchers at Harvard University set out to make new lines of its own. Douglas Melton, a Harvard researcher, and his team described 17 new lines of human embryonic stem cells, bypassing federal funding restrictions on the research. They say these lines are hardier and more user-friendly than the 15 federally approved lines available through the National Institutes of Health - particularly those they received from WiCell, an affiliate of the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation and the largest holder of federally approved and available stem cell lines in the country. "We congratulate Melton" and his colleagues on their fine work, said James Battey, chairman of NIH's Stem Cell Research Task Force. But these lines didn't exist before Aug. 9, 2001 - a requirement to be included on President Bush's federal stem cell registry. Human embryonic stem cells are the primordial ooze from which all organs, cells and body parts are created. They have been touted as potential tools for the cure and treatment of such diseases as diabetes, Parkinson's and Alzheimer's. Melton and his colleagues believe that by providing the scientific community with 17 new lines, further progress in solving the riddles to such diseases can be stimulated. The new lines will be made available to qualified researchers for free, said Melton, who is also a medical investigator with Howard Hughes Medical Institute. But because the Harvard team's lines cannot be used with federal money, their use will be limited to researchers and corporations with private funding. And, like the older lines, because they are being maintained on mouse feeder cells, their immediate usefulness in humans remains questionable. The research appears in an early online release of the March 25 New England Journal of Medicine. According to the National Institutes of Health's stem cell registry, there are more than 70 approved human embryonic stem cell lines. Fifteen of them are available for research. However, the stem cell registry numbers are under review and likely to change before the end of the week, said Don Ralbovsky, a spokesman for NIH. The review was spurred by complaints from researchers such as Melton who claimed that many of the lines are either dead or not suitable for research. Melton said he was particularly disappointed in the lines he received from WiCell, which were hard to obtain and insufficiently described. They were not reliable, he said, and often did not grow in the lab - a big disappointment considering the $5,000 price tag. In addition, he said, it often took six to eight months to receive samples. "Those charges are ridiculous," said Andy Cohn, spokesman for WiCell. "Douglas Melton is a wonderful scientist," but he knows nothing about distribution, he said. Cohn cited the fact that Harvard and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute had contacted WiCell to help with distribution. "They don't have the infrastructure" to do it, and the Wisconsin lab does, he said. He also countered the charge that WiCell's lines were poor by noting that it has done quality polling of the 163 research institutes that have received its samples. And he said any comparison between WiCell's and Melton's samples was moot because Melton hasn't distributed his outside the lab. Whatever the validity of the accusations, Melton felt compelled to do something about the situation. He is motivated in part by a desire to find a cure for Type 1 diabetes, a disease that afflicts his two children. Using funds from the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Melton and his team started trying to develop their own lines two years ago. What this research means for the future of WiCell remains uncertain. In 2002, $10.6 million of federal money went to human embryonic stem cell research - indicating that WiCell's dominance in the field is not likely to be threatened soon. Battey of the NIH said he has no idea how much stem cell research is funded by private money. From the March 4, 2004 editions of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel SOURCE: The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, WI http://www.jsonline.com/alive/news/mar04/212056.asp - - - CORRECTION: An article about stem cells published Thursday incorrectly described Harvard researcher Douglas Melton's criticism of WiCell. He criticized the quality of the existing federal stem cell lines; he did not single out the WiCell lines. SOURCE: The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, WI http://www.jsonline.com/alive/news/mar04/212056.asp - - - (The following appears to be a similar Article with a different headline ... Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Information Services ... murray) - - - Researchers Attempt To Create New Stem Cell Lines BY SUSANNE QUICK - Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Posted on Wed, Mar. 03, 2004 MILWAUKEE - (KRT) - Fed up with human embryonic stem cells lines that were hard to access, expensive and difficult to use in the lab, a team of researchers at Harvard University set out to make new lines of their own. Douglas Melton, a Harvard researcher, and his team, described 17 new lines of human embryonic stem cells, bypassing federal funding restrictions on stem cell research. They say these new lines are hardier and more user friendly than the 15 federally approved lines available through the National Institutes of Health - particularly those they received from WiCell, an affiliate of the Wisconsin Alumni Research foundation, and largest holder of federally approved and available stem cell lines in the country. "We congratulate Melton" and his colleagues on their fine work, said James Battey, chairman of NIH's Stem Cell Research Task Force. But, these new lines didn't exist before Aug. 9, 2001 - a requirement to be including on President Bush's federal stem cell registry. Human embryonic stem cells are the primordial ooze from which all organs, cells and body parts are created. They have been touted as being potential tools for the cure and treatment of such diseases as diabetes, Parkinson's and Alzheimer's. Melton and his colleagues believe that by providing the scientific community with 17 new lines, further progress in solving the riddles to such diseases can be stimulated. The new lines will be made available to qualified researchers for free, said Melton, who is also a medical investigator with Howard Hughes Medical Institute. But because the Harvard team's new lines cannot be used with federal funding, their use will be limited only to those researchers and corporations with private funding. And, like the older lines, because they are being maintained on mouse feeder cells, their immediate usefulness in humans remains questionable. The research appears in an early online release of the March 25 New England Journal of Medicine. According to the National Institutes of Health's stem cell registry, there are more than 70 approved human embryonic stem cell lines. Fifteen of these lines are available for research. However, the stem cell registry numbers are under review and likely to change before the end of this week, said Don Ralbovsky, a spokesman for NIH. The review was spurred by complaints from researchers, such as Melton, who claimed that many of the lines are either dead or not suitable for research. Melton said he was particularly disappointed in the lines he had received from WiCell, which were hard to obtain and insufficiently described. They were not reliable, he said, and often did not grow in the lab - a big disappointment considering the $5,000 price tag. In addition, he said, it often took between six and eight months to receive samples from them. "Those charges are ridiculous," said Andy Cohn, spokesman for WiCell. "Douglas Melton is a wonderful scientist," but he knows nothing about distribution, he said. Cohn cited the fact that Harvard and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute have contacted WiCell to help with distribution. "They don't have the infrastructure" to do it, and we do, he said. He also countered the charges that WiCell's lines were poor, by noting that WiCell has done quality polling of the 163 research institutes that have received its samples. And he said any comparison between WiCell and Melton's samples was moot, because Melton hasn't distributed his outside the lab. Despite whether the accusations directed at WiCell are valid, or not, Melton felt compelled to do something about the situation - mostly motivated by the desire to find a cure for type 1 diabetes, a disease that afflicts his two children. Using funds from the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Melton and his team started trying to develop their own lines two years ago. What this research means for the future of WiCell remains uncertain. In 2002, $10.6 million of federal money went to human embryonic stem cell research - indicating that WiCell's dominance in the field is not likely to be threatened soon. Battey of the NIH admits he has no idea how much stem cell research is funded by private money. --- SOURCE: The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, WI / The Centre Daily Times, PA http://www.centredaily.com/mld/centredaily/news/8098879.htm * * * ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn