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Stem-cell solution panned Firm finds a way not to kill embryos By Matt Crenson, Associated Press Robert Lanza, M.D., of Clinton, Mass., vice president of medical and scientific development at Advanced Cell Technology, in his office at the company's headquarters in Worcester, Mass., last year. The biotechnology company has developed a new way of creating stem cells without destroying human embryos, billing it as a potential solution to a contentious political and ethical debate. "This will make it far more difficult to oppose this research," said Lanza." (AP Photo/Julia Malakie) NEW YORK - Find a way to make stem cells without destroying an embryo and you might resolve one of the nation's fiercest public debates. A biotech company seems to have done it. But early signs are that the scientific achievement is not the slam-dunk solution the company had hoped. Stem-cell opponents said yesterday that the new method still doesn't satisfy their objections. And on the other side, many scientists and supporters of federal funding for the research called the technique inefficient and politically wrong-headed. But a spokeswoman for President Bush, who last month vetoed legislation that would have allowed federal money for embryonic stem-cell research, called it a step in the right direction. And Dr. Robert Lanza, an executive with Advanced Cell Technology, which created the new stem-cell lines, said: "This will make it far more difficult to oppose this research." Stem cells have become a Holy Grail for advocates of patients with a wide variety of illnesses because of the cells' potential to transform into any type of human tissue, perhaps leading to new treatments. But the Vatican, President Bush and others have argued that the promise of stem cells should not be realized at the expense of human life, even in its most nascent stages. The new method works by taking an embryo at a very early stage of development and removing a single cell, which can be coaxed into spawning an embryonic stem-cell line. With only one cell removed, the rest of the embryo retains its full potential for development. The method was described online yesterday in the British journal Nature. The journal published a similar paper by Advanced Cell Technology last year demonstrating the technique's viability in mice. "The science is interesting and important," said John Harris, a professor of bioethics at the University of Manchester in Great Britain, commenting on the biotech company's efforts. But few believe it will resolve the bitter ethical battle over stem-cell research. "This will please no one," predicted a longtime critic of the company, Glenn McGee, director of the Alden March Bioethics Institute in Albany, N.Y. » About the research Sounds promising: A biotechnology company has developed a way of getting stem cells from human embryos without destroying them. Can't please everybody: Some stem cell opponents say it still isn't ethically acceptable. Advocates of the research say it is less efficient than existing methods and distracts from the real debate. How it works: The company takes an early-stage embryo and plucks a single cell from it that is then used to generate stem cells. Some stem-cell researchers complain that the new approach, though it may hold future promise, simply isn't as efficient as their current method of creating stem cells. That procedure involves the destruction of embryos after about five days of development, when they consist of about 100 cells. Meanwhile, hard-line opponents of stem-cell science argue that the technique solves nothing, because even the single cell removed by the new approach could theoretically grow into a full-fledged human. Some also object over the possibility the procedure could harm the embryo in an unknown way. The method "raises more ethical questions than it answers," said Richard Doerflinger of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. U.S. law currently bans federal funding of any research that harms human embryos. A White House spokeswoman said the method's eligibility for funding could not yet be determined. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn