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Dr. Hwang also said this procedure was much easier than expected. Ray ----- Original Message ----- From: "Kathleen Cochran" <[log in to unmask]> To: <[log in to unmask]> Sent: Sunday, May 22, 2005 7:34 AM Subject: Re: ARTICLE: Stem cell Technique may speed therapies > Hi Linda, > > The news from Korea is amazing and shifts everything. > > Should we be sending these last two paragraphs to elected officials? > Dropping them from helicopters? Tattooing them on our foreheads? > > Kathleen > ================================================ > "Hwang said that his approach is actually less controversial than using > discarded embryos from in vitro fertilization. The cells grown in > Hwang's > lab don't have the ability to grow into a person, according to Hwang and > other scientists. > > ``Ethically this is a better way of producing stem cells than using > cells > from embryos,'' said David Magnus, director of the Stanford University > Center for Biomedical Ethics. Magnus addressed the ethics of the Korean > research in the conference call with reporters yesterday. ``These > things, > whatever they are, aren't people.'' > --=============================================== > > > -----Original Message----- > From: Linda J Herman <[log in to unmask]> > To: [log in to unmask] > Sent: Thu, 19 May 2005 23:23:58 -0400 > Subject: ARTICLE: Stem cell Technique may speed therapies > > Stem-Cell Technique May Speed Therapies, Study Says (Update1) > > May 19 (Bloomberg) -- South Korean researchers said they've found a more > efficient way to create individually tailored stem cells, the building > blocks that may one day be used to cure conditions such as diabetes and > Alzheimer's disease. > > For the first time, an experiment successfully combined individual DNA > of > various types of patients with an egg from an unrelated donor to make > stem cells, researchers led by Woo Suk Hwang of Seoul National > University > said in a study published today. The work created 11 new lines, or > groups, of the cells that may be used to study and, eventually, treat > serious diseases. > > ``What we've seen is a tremendous advance,'' said Leonard Zon, a Harvard > Medical School researcher and president of the Chicago-based > International Society for Stem Cell Research, in a telephone interview > yesterday. Zon wasn't involved in the South Korean study, published > today > in Sciencexpress, the online version of the journal Science. ``You can > basically get designer embryonic stem cells.'' > > The technique may be a first step toward using stem cells to grow > genetically tailored tissue for repairing organs such as the brain or > pancreas without the risk that a patient would reject a donor's tissue. > In experiments the researchers conducted a year ago, the DNA came only > from the woman who donated the egg, and the resulting cell lines would > have had limited application. > > The next challenge will be learning how to direct the stem cells to form > desired tissues, said Gerald Schatten, a University of Pittsburgh School > of Medicine stem-cell researcher who participated in the study. > > Stem cells matching patients' DNA can be generated with the new process > ``regardless of age or sex or infirmity,'' Schatten said yesterday > during > a conference call arranged by Science with reporters. ``We owe the > people > of Korea and the government of Korea a debt of gratitude.'' > > U.S. Research > > Research using the new stem-cell lines wouldn't be eligible for U.S. > government funding because President George W. Bush's policy prohibits > use of federal money for experiments with human embryonic stem-cell > lines > created after August 2001. > > Bush cited objections to creation of new human embryonic stem- cell > lines, which usually involves destroying days-old embryos to harvest the > cells. States including California and New Jersey have started their own > programs to fund the research. > > With funding from the South Korean government, Hwang's lab in each case > took the nucleus that contains a cell's DNA from a patient with a > condition such as spinal-cord injuries, diabetes or an immune disorder, > and implanted it into an egg cell provided by women donors, in a process > also known as cloning using nuclear transfer. > > After the implanted egg was placed on a bed of ``feeder'' cells, a > medium > used to nurture an implanted egg, some began forming embryo-like groups > of cells, a process that normally occurs only after eggs are fertilized > by sperm. > > Successful Growth > > About one in 16 of the cell groups grew successfully, a rate more than > 10 > times better than the researchers achieved in a similar experiment a > year > ago. This time, the DNA implanted into the donor egg came from someone > other than the donor, showing that the stem-cell lines can be produced > with anyone's DNA. > > The latest experiment also succeeded in using human feeder cells, rather > than widely used mouse cells that some researchers say may contaminate > the resulting stem cells. > > When the stem cells were allowed to reproduce, some matured into cell > types including those for bone, muscle, skin, nerves and the retina. > Stem > cells are like blank slates that can be directed to become cells with > specific functions. > > Tissue Rejection > > ``For the first time ever in half a century of transplantation we have a > working technology to eliminate tissue rejection,'' said Robert Lanza, > medical director of Advanced Cell Technology, Inc., a closely-held > biotechnology company in Worcester, Massachusetts. ``It's unbelievably > good news for patients.'' > > Using the same cloning approach, researchers might be able to grow > tissues from patients with specific diseases to perform advanced > experiments. Cells from patients with Alzheimer's disease could be grown > into brain tissue, for example, giving scientists new insight into the > incurable disorder, Harvard's Zon said. > > Using the Technique > > Laboratories probably will begin using the technique to advance their > own > research into various diseases, researchers and company officials said. > > ``It makes me want to run out and set up shop and start doing this,'' > said John Gearhart, director of the Stem Cell Program at Johns Hopkins > University School of Medicine in Baltimore. ``If these cells do > demonstrate the characteristics of disease, we can use them to'' screen > drugs for effectiveness or to customize therapy, he said. > > In California, where voters have approved a $3 billion bond sale to fund > stem-cell research in the next 10 years, scientists probably will begin > using the South Korean approach, said David Greenwood, Chief Financial > Officer of Menlo Park-based Geron Corp. > > ``A number of researchers have described this as a possible avenue of > opportunity,'' he said in a telephone interview yesterday. > > Geron's shares rose 46 cents, or 6.8 percent, to $7.21 as of 4 p.m. New > York time in Nasdaq Stock Market composite trading. Shares of Palo Alto, > California-based StemCells Inc. rose 41 cents, or 13 percent, to $3.58. > The company is using stem cells from adults rather than from embryos to > develop a treatment for a rare brain disorder. > > Viacell Inc., based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, rose 39 cents, or 6.9 > percent, to $6.05. The company stores umbilical-cord stem cells and > other > types for possible use in treatment and is working on stem-cell > therapies. > > Obstacle Overcome > > Harvard's Zon, who is trying to use stem cells to cure blood disorders, > said the South Korean work solved an important obstacle in his research, > and probably shaved three years off bringing his work to human testing. > > ``I'm looking forward to recreating the technique here in Boston,'' he > said. ``We need to keep advancing the field as much as possible so we > can > shorten these time lines.'' > > Twenty-seven U.S. states are considering measures that either promote or > restrict stem-cell research, according to Patrick Kelly, vice president > of state government relations for the Washington-based Biotechnology > Industry Organization trade group. States including Texas and Missouri > are considering or have considered legislation that would prohibit the > technique, called somatic cell nuclear transfer or therapeutic cloning. > > Such restrictions might put the U.S. at risk for falling behind other > countries in biomedical research, Kelly said in a telephone interview. > > `Behind the Curve' > > ``This is the frontier and it is being pursued, particularly in Korea,'' > said Kelly said. ``As long as we continue to have this debate about the > morality of doing research on a single-cell entity living in a petri > dish, we stand to be behind the curve.'' > > The U.S. House of Representatives may vote as early as next week on two > bills seeking to expand stem cell research, Majority Leader Tom DeLay > said yesterday. One bill would remove federal limits on funding for > embryonic stem cell research, while the other would encourage work on > stem cells that come from umbilical cord blood. > > Hwang said that his approach is actually less controversial than using > discarded embryos from in vitro fertilization. The cells grown in > Hwang's > lab don't have the ability to grow into a person, according to Hwang and > other scientists. > > ``Ethically this is a better way of producing stem cells than using > cells > from embryos,'' said David Magnus, director of the Stanford University > Center for Biomedical Ethics. Magnus addressed the ethics of the Korean > research in the conference call with reporters yesterday. ``These > things, > whatever they are, aren't people.'' > > > > To contact the reporters on this story: > John Lauerman in Boston at [log in to unmask]; > Marni Leff Kottle in San Francisco at [log in to unmask]; > Last Updated: May 19, 2005 16:27 EDT > > Source: Bloomberg.com > http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000080&sid=aBYd9rG77zok&refer=as > ia > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: > mailto:[log in to unmask] > In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: > mailto:[log in to unmask] > In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn