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OF STEM CELL ADVANCES, FOUNTAINS OF YOUTH, AND SUICIDAL RABBITS from Don Reed: The news is full of the recent Yamanaka/Thomson stem cell experiments, dubbed Induced Pluripotent Stem (IPS) stem cells, or "reprogramming", supposedly so wonderful that embryonic stem cell research is no longer even necessary! First of all, what is IPS? Basically, 4 genes are placed inside a skin cell. According to two studies, one by Shinya Yamanaka and the other by Jamie Thomson, the skin cell is manipulated backward in the developmental cycle until it becomes young again, embryonic-like, a sort of cellular fountain of youth. Is it embryonic-like, or Embryonic-lite? IPS cells could be an exciting new tool for the cause of cure-or maybe not. Personally, I am in favor of investigating any promising new tool, including this one. There are problems associated with it, such as the fact that 20% of the experimental mice developed cancer-but there may be ways to overcome that unacceptable risk. What needs to be done is simple: Investigate, duplicate, replicate, test: perform the same rigorous examinations on which all good science is built: only then will we know. If IPS works, wonderful. If it brings more federal, state, or private funding, that would also be helpful-the amount of money invested in medical research of any sort is pathetically inadequate. But should we, for this one possibility, abandon all other embryonic, SCNT and adult stem cell research already underway? Should we (as Bob Klein said, in a recent interview) "bet the farm" on this one approach? That reminds me of a story. The Chinese tell of a farmer who had painstakingly plowed a clearing in the forest. It was hard work, (they could not afford a horse, and he had to provide the muscle power himself, dragging a sharpened stick through the soil) and every night he went to bed exhausted. One day he was straining behind the plow, a rabbit appeared. Chased by a fox, the rabbit ran so fast it dashed its head against a tree-- and killed itself. The family ate the suicidal rabbit, in a nice stew. Next morning, the farmer went out to the fields-and sat down under the tree. When his wife asked why he was not plowing, the farmer replied: "I am waiting for the next rabbit." If a lucky break-or breakthrough-appears, we should investigate, and if it proves worthwhile, take advantage of it. But we should not abandon the plow. Supporters in every country should take pride in our continuing victories. Despite every obstacle the opponents have thrown up, embryonic stem cell science is moving forward. ( At the end of this column, I am going to reprint something I did a while back, listing some of the accomplishments of embryonic stem cells-we need to remember what has already been done.) Time has not dimmed the memory of the day I held in my hand a laboratory rat which had been paralyzed, and which now walked again, thanks to human embryonic stem cells. That was March 1, 2002, the opening day of the Roman Reed laboratory at the University of California at Irvine. In the next few months, Geron takes that experiment to human trials. For the first time in the history of the world, there was a chance that paralysis might be defeated. We should give up solid advances like that for a tantalizing possibility that will take ten to fifteen years to even fully test? Can anybody spell d-e-l-a-y--??? And while we are on the subject, a couple points need to be clarified. First, this morning's Washington Post contains an essay by Michael Gerson, a long-time opponent of embryonic stem cell research. The essay, called "Stem Cells, the Right Way", claims "vindication for George Bush", giving him credit for the "breakthrough". George Bush opposes embryonic stem cell research- setting excruciatingly narrow limits on funds for the emerging science, vetoing the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act, attempting to throw SCNT researchers into jail-- how does he deserve credit for an advance made by embryonic stem cell researchers? Embryonic stem cell experts developed the new cells. Shinya Yamanaka is a world-renowned ESCR expert-and Jamie Thomson is credited with having begun the field. What inspired Dr. Thomson? He says it was the SCNT research of Ian Wilmut, which President Bush tried so hard to criminalize. "(It) changed the way I thought about developmental biology," Thomson said in a recent interview for the New York Times, "Development was reversible." Second, this advance in no way lessens the need for embryonic, adult, or SCNT research. The world faces a veritable plague of incurable disease and disability. In America alone, an estimated one hundred million citizens suffer chronic illness or injury-one out of three of us have diseases or disabilities from which we will never get well. We are bankrupting ourselves, spending two trillion dollars last year on medical costs-that is as much as all federal income taxes put together-and 75% of that is from chronic disease or disability. To solve this gigantic problem, we will need every tool we can cram in the toolbox. A good toolbox, of course, contains more than just a hammer; we also need a set of socket wrenches, a level, a couple of screwdrivers, maybe a tape measure-and more. In regenerative medicine, we cannot even know everything we need yet, because the science is just beginning. Maybe adult stem cells will turn out to be best for blood disease, or embryonic for spinal cord injury, or the new IPS "reprogramming" for heart tissue, or somatic cell nuclear transfer to make the vast quantities of cells that are needed-more likely a combination of all of the above-- what works is the answer. As Dr. Yamanaka, co-inventor of the new cells, puts it: "New advances do not obviate the need for human embryonic stem cells . progress. would be indefensibly delayed if IPS cell research is pursued at the expense of further hES (human embryonic stem) cell research. Research into all avenues of human stem cell research must proceed together. Society deserves to have the full commitment of scientific inquiry at its service." --Cell Stem Cell 1, October 2007, Elsevier Inc. And now, a quick reminder: something to share. EMBRYONIC STEM CELL RESEARCH PROGRESS Embryonic stem cell research is an amazingly new science, begun in 1998 by Dr. James Thomson of the University of Wisconsin. Despite continual political attacks, and extremely limited funding, human Embryonic Stem Cell (hESC) research has already made a substantial contribution to the battle against incurable disease and disability. Below is a sampling of embryonic stem cell research progress. ALS: Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, Lou Gehrig's Disease: At the University of Wisconsin at Madison, scientists have turned hESC into motor neurons (nerves which carry messages between brain and body), offering possibilities for repairing damage caused by ALS, spinal cord injury, and other nerve-related disorders. --Nature Biotechnology, January 30, 2005 ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE: Until now, it was impossible to study the complete progress of this horrific disease, which robs sufferers of both memory and life. We do not know how or why or even exactly when it begins. With human embryonic stem cells, (hESC), however, we may be able to isolate the disease and observe its progress from inception to death on human tissue cells, not human beings. hESCs may also provide a new way to design better Alzheimer's medicines. Dr. Lawrence Goldstein of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, UCSD, is using hESC to test new ideas of how Alzheimer's disease develops, and how it might be treated. --L. Goldstein, personal communication, March 26, 2005 BIOLOGICAL PACEMAKERS: In Israel, Dr. Izhak Kehat and Dr. Lior Gepstein grew heart stem cells in a Petri dish, and transplanted them into the severely damaged hearts of pigs. Eleven of thirteen hearts regained more normal heart rates. Control animals had no improvement. Their work indicates that stem cell transplantation can translate into clinical benefit for heart disease sufferers. --Washington Post, September 26, 2004 BLINDNESS: The major cause of blindness in Americans over age 60 is macular degeneration: the loss of retinal cells in the eye. Dr. Robert Lanza and Dr. Irina Klimanskaya of Advanced Cell Technology in New Jersey used hESC to make retinal cells, which may one day offer the return of vision to millions suffering from blindness due to retinal disease. --Medical Science News, September 23, 2004 CANCER: The speed at which cancer develops is a major obstacle in curing this devastating disease. At Kumamoto University in Japan, and Cambridge University in England, surface proteins were developed that could mark cancer stem cells, laying ground work for new drugs that may one day slow, or even turn off, tumor formation. Advancing understanding about cancer stem cells draws from knowledge gained about the growth and development of hESCs. This work will open the door to a day when cancer treatments may be truly curative. --University of Cambridge, 19 January, 2005 CYSTIC FIBROSIS: Cystic fibrosis inflames the lungs, strangling CF patients in thick slimy mucous. Using hESCs, Dr. Stephen Minger of King's College, London, developed a stem cell line of cystic fibrosis. Now the disease can be studied in a human cell line that has genetic mutations akin to those seen in CF sufferers. --BBC News UK, September 9 2004 DEAFNESS: The death of tiny hair cells inside the ear contributes to deafness for an estimated 28 million Americans. These cells do not naturally regrow. However, using hESC techniques, Dr. Stefan Heller of Boston's Eye and Ear Infirmary has generated these inner-ear hair cells, raising the possibility that this technique may lead to new treatments for the deaf. --Proceedings of National Academy of Sciences, October 27, 2004 DIABETES: At Stanford University, researchers have made insulin-producing cells from mouse embryonic cells. When transplanted into diabetic mice, these cells reduced blood sugar fluctuations and increased lifespan (1). And at the University of Miami, Dr. Juan Dominguez Bendala isolated a protein necessary to turn embryonic stem cells into large quantities of insulin-producing pancreatic cells (2). --1.http://www.diabetes.co.uk/htm/news/newstemcellstudy.htm --2. Beacon Journal, Miller School of Medicine, University of Miami, September 7, 2004 GROWING HUMAN TISSUE: At the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Dr. Robert Langer used embryonic stem cells to grow liver, cartilage, nerve tissue and blood vessels, all of which appeared to function normally when transplanted into mice. --Boston Globe, October 28, 2003 HEMOPHILIA: At the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, Dr. Jeffrey Fair and Dr. Oliver Smithies used ES cells to reverse hemophilia (blood clotting disorder) in mice. --Science Daily, February 15, 2005 IMMUNE SYSTEM DISEASE: Cambridge, Massachusetts: Adult mice were bred without the gene RAG-2, needed for the immune system. Using Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer (SCNT, or therapeutic cloning) to make the cells, RAG-2 was given to the mice, partially restoring the non-functioning immune system. This successful proof-of-principle experiment reveals possible benefits for the battle against AIDS.--Cell, April 5, 2002, (1) 17-22 PARKINSON'S: Israel's Dr. Benjamin Reubinoff transplanted human embryonic stem cells into the brains of rats which did not have dopamine-producing nerve cells. (Dopamine in a healthy body controls motion; loss of dopamine production in the brain is associated with a Parkinson's sufferer's shaking). Implanted stem cells became dopamine-producing cells and brought significant improvements in the animal's motion relative to controls.--BBC News, June 30, 2004 SPINAL CORD INJURY PARALYSIS: Using hESCs, Dr. Hans Keirstead in the Roman Reed Laboratory at UC Irvine restored myelin insulation around damaged nerves, returning motion to partially paralyzed rats.-Journal of Neuroscience, accepted for publication, March 31, 2005. See also New York Times, February 23, 2005) Rayilyn Brown Board Member AZNPF Arizona Chapter National Parkinson's Foundation [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