Spinal Times: The Amy Alexander Foundation for Spinal Cord Injuries

The California Institute for Regenerative Medicine's Independent Citizens' Oversight Committee on Wednesday approved $271 million in grants to build 12 stem cell laboratories at academic and not-for-profit research institutions in the state, the New York Times reports. The grants represent the largest amount of money awarded at one time by the program. The approval has sparked debate as to whether it is unnecessary because of possible changes to the ban on federal funding on research that uses embryonic stem cell lines created after August 2001. According to the Times, all three main presidential candidates have expressed support for expanded funding for the research.

According to the Times, one reason CIRM distributed the grants for construction is because research on embryonic stem cell lines created after August 2001 "cannot share even a microscope with a project that is federally financed." However, Jesse Reynolds -- a policy analyst at the Center for Genetics and Society, which supports stem cell research but has criticized CIRM -- said that now that "the money is flowing" in California, those federal restrictions are going to be removed." Robert Klein, chair of CIRM, argued that the state could not take for granted that the federal restrictions would be lifted by the next president. He added that Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain (Ariz.) has expressed opposition to some types of stem cell research. Klein said that even if the restrictions are lifted, new laboratory space will be needed to expand research and to recruit scientists.

Some CIRM officials also said the construction would provide an economic stimulus during a time of a large state budget deficit and a weak economy (Pollack, New York Times, 5/8). California voters in 2004 approved a plan to invest $3 billion of tax funds over 10 years into embryonic stem cell research, and CIRM has already approved 156 research grants totaling $260 million (Daily Women's Health Policy Report, 2/13). The new grant recipients include nine of the 10 University of California campuses, Stanford University and the San Diego Consortium for Regenerative Medicine.

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) in a statement released after the board's decision said, "[T]his kind of public-private investment in a growing jobs section is exactly the kind of good news our economy needs right now." He added, "This will go a long way toward medical research that could save lives and improve them for people with chronic diseases" (Mohajer, AP/Examiner.com, 5/7). Wesley Smith -- a fellow of the Discovery Institute in Seattle and critic of CIRM -- said the spending is irresponsible. "Whether one supports or opposes the CIRM, the voters were told that their borrowed money would be used to pay for research into cures, not the construction of high-end luxury buildings," Smith said, adding, "And this at a time when [California] is drowning in $20 billion of red ink" (Russell, San Francisco Chronicle, 5/8).

Reprinted with kind permission from http://www.nationalpartnership.org. You can view the entire Daily Women's Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery here. The Daily Women's Health Policy Report is a free service of the National Partnership for Women & Families, published by The Advisory Board Company.

1.1 Million Euro Stem Cell Project Combines Expertise of DASGIP With The Fraunhofer Institute For Cell Therapy And Immunology

DASGIP AG, a manufacturer of parallel cultivation systems for cell culture and microbiology, located in Juelich, Germany, and the Fraunhofer Institute for Cell Therapy and Immunology (IZI)located in Leipzig, Germany announce a cooperative effort in stem cell research. This 1.1 Million € project is aimed at the development of alternative drug testing methods without animal testing. The work is subsidized by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research.

Taking prescription drugs during pregnancy can be harmful to the unborn child. Therefore, identifying the embryotoxic potential of a new drug candidate is an essential part of any preclinical study. These studies are currently conducted in animals according to OECD guidelines. In Europe, 11 Million animals are tested annually. About 50 percent of these tests are performed to explore the bone harming and thus the embryotoxic potential of such drug candidates.

Dr. Nicole zur Nieden, leader of the stem cell group at the Fraunhofer Institute, is developing a method to identify the bone harming potential in vitro. The stem cell approach promoted by Fraunhofer IZI is characterized by a high predictability for human effects through cost-efficiency and shortened testing periods.

The method will be enabled by simulating and monitoring the multi-phase differentiation process of pluripotent stem cells in a controlled bioreactor system. By adding compounds with known in vivo osteotoxic potential, adverse effects on the differentiation will be identified. Non human embryonic primate stem cells will be compared to human progenitor cells to study varying molecular reactions compared to the established test organisms (mice).

DASGIP will contribute its bioreactor system to the project. Through further improvements Dr. Matthias Arnold, CSO DASGIP, and the scientists at the Fraunhofer IZI plan to establish and automate a multi-step cultivation process covering the different phases of differentiating stem cells in drug testing. Thomas Drescher, President of DASGIP, anticipates providing the industry with a bioreactor system which could help replacing up to 50 percent of the animal tests required in bone toxicity test for drugs, chemicals, plant protecting agents and cosmetics.

The German government subsidizes the research project, acting on behalf of international organizations such as OECD and the EU. Since 1986 the EU commission has stressed its interest in new methods to minimize, replace or optimize animal testing.

Projects of this nature are increasing due to the EU Cosmetics and Chemicals Legislation and the desire to avoid complications associated with drug development. To date, only the embryonic stem cell test (EST) could prove as reliable ex vivo alternative to animal testing, which builds the basis for the planned improvements. The EU commission will publish its new ideas on how to reduce the need for animal testing and how to promote alternative methods in the near future.

Sperm and eggs from stem cells ‘in 15 years’

Human sperm and eggs will be grown from stem cells within five to fifteen years but the technology will not allow gay and lesbian couples to conceive children with genes from each partner, an international panel of scientists predicted yesterday.

While such artificial gametes (reproductive cells) could be used to treat infertility, the biological barriers to creating sperm from female cells and eggs from male ones will make same-sex conception impossible for the foreseeable future, according to the Hinxton group of leading stem-cell researchers.

Mouse sperm grown from stem cells have already been used to fertilise eggs and produce live pups, and the success has suggested that the technique could allow men and women who make no gametes of their own to have children.

Cells from an infertile man or woman would first be reprogrammed into an embryonic state, or used to make cloned embryonic stem cells. The resulting stem cells would then be turned into sperm or eggs, which would carry the patient’s DNA.

The research has also prompted speculation that sperm could be produced from a woman or eggs from a man, allowing lesbian or gay couples to have children to whom both partners make an equal genetic contribution. Some campaigners who object to the technology have even argued that it could lead to “ultimate incest”, by which a single person becomes mother and father of a child.

Researchers, however, dismissed the prospect of male eggs and female sperm as science fiction in the new Hinxton group report.

Human sex is determined by the inheritence patterns of the X and Y chromosomes: women have two copies of the X, while men have one X and one Y. As several genes that are critical to sperm production are carried on the Y chromosome, this will make it “difficult or even impossible” to turn female cells with two X chromosomes into sperm under any circumstances currently known to science.

The production of eggs from male cells is a little less problematic, but even this is likely to be “very difficult”, the report said.

Professor Robin Lovell-Badge, of the National Institute for Medical Research in London, a member of the group’s steering committee, said: “It would be very difficult to get eggs from XY cells, and even more difficult to get sperm from XX cells – my own view, indeed, is that the latter is impossible.”

Under the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill currently passing through Parliament, laboratory experiments with these cells will be permitted, but it will be illegal to use them in fertility treatment.

MPs are expected to table an amendment that would allow Parliament to approve their clinical use in the future, without recourse to primary legislation. Professor Lovell-Badge said he would support such an amendment. An American scientist has suggested that a new method for reprogramming adult cells into an embryo-like state could be used to produce genetically engineered children.

Stem cells produced with the technique could be added to human embryos, so that they developed into “chimeras” that contain cells with two distinct genetic signatures, according to Robert Lanza, of Advanced Cell Technologies.

Other scientists, however, questioned the usefulness of this approach, which would in any case be banned in Britain. Professor Lovell-Badge said: “I cannot think what might be gained by doing this.”

Reproductive cells

— Mouse sperm grown from stem cells have been used to fertilise eggs and produce live pups. All seven of the pups died prematurely, however

— Years more research will be needed to prove it is possible to make human sperm and eggs from stem cells, and to ensure embryos produced are normal

— Scientists expect it to be easier to make sperm from stem cells than eggs

Clinton On The Issues

The Herald-Dispatch

Stem cell research

Chelsea Clinton said the negative views on stem cell research held by President George W. Bush's administration's exemplify his war on science. Since the current administration has denied stem cell legislation passed by Congress twice before, she said her mother plans on asking Congress, during her first day in office, to reinstitute the stem cell research bill.

Energy technology

Chelsea Clinton said her mother is the last candidate running for presidential office that voted against Bush's 2005 Energy Bill. Her mother plans on investing in areas of research including hydrogen and geothermal energy and driving down the costs of solar and wind technologies. To support clean coal technology, her mother plans on funding 10 different efforts across the county using different types of coal to find out what it takes to produce clean coal technology.

"We absolutely should be using coal to help build our clean energy future," she said.

Americans with Disabilities Act

"The Americans with Disabilities Act is up for renewal this year and my mom thinks that's a real opportunity. ... We know it doesn't adequately protect Americans with mental health disabilities, for instance," she said. "We shouldn't just renewal the Americans with Disabilities Act, but we should extend it."

No Child Left Behind

"(No Child Left Behind) is affecting all of our children's ability to learn. My mother has said that she will unequivocally end the unfunded mandate known as No Child Left Behind," she said.

Indian American's film on stem cell research for Cannes

New York, March 28: A film by an Indian American doctor that questions the conservative American mindset on stem cell research will be premiered at Cannes soon. Conservative Americans have been opposing stem cell research and describing it as murder.

The film "Hope", based on a novel by Shelley Chawla, a neurologist in Kansas, will be sold at the MIPTV Cannes - an audiovisual and digital content market - in April and at the Cannes Film Market in May.

Partly shot in New Delhi, the film is marketed by Mumbai- and London-based iDream Independent Pictures, known for backing crossover hits like "Monsoon Wedding" and "Bend it Like Beckham", a press release said.

Without stars or frills, Chawla's film tells the story of a powerful US senator who built his career on a conservative platform and is challenged for taking a tough stance against embryonic stem cell research.

The controversy becomes a personal dilemma for the senator when his son is paralysed in a car wreck and he finds that stem cell research work done in India is his only hope for a cure.

Chawla said the movie or his novel, "Hope...in vitro", might not bring an instant resolution of the problem. "But it will certainly throw up a debate and may lead to some conclusion," he said.

He finds it a paradox that stem cell research is forbidden in a scientifically advanced country like the US.

Chawla, 42, came to the US from Punjab after studying medicine.

Kansas-based Rich Ambler has directed the film.

Experts urge stem cell research reality check

HALF MOON BAY — In an elegant hotel overlooking the Pacific Ocean, more than 30 of the world's leading stem cell researchers gathered Wednesday to strategize on the most effective means of developing novel stem cell medical treatments, while keeping public expectations in line with the actual state of scientific research. The oft-cited potential of stem cells to one day possibly cure devastating ailments such as Parkinson's disease, spinal cord injuries and diabetes is also luring desperate patients to try so-called stem cell therapies abroad, six stem cell researchers at a noon news conference emphasized. This "medical tourism" is almost certain to lead to disappointment and even danger, warned Dr. George Daley, president of the International Society for Stem Cell Research, which organized the daylong event at the Ritz-Carlton hotel. "One has to be realistic. Cures take a very, very long time," Daley said. "One has to be very suspicious if a patient is asked to fly to a distant location and pay tens of thousands of dollars (for treatment). This is an invitation for exploitation."

These unproven treatments, dozens of which are offered online, could also pose medical hazards, Daley said. Another panelist, Sir Ian Wilmut, Ph.D. — the University of Edinburgh scientist who led the team that in 1997 announced the birth of a sheep named Dolly, the first mammal cloned from an adult cell — said that the risk is "serious" that medical tourism for alleged stem cell treatments will continue to expand.

"I've had approaches from people with one of these unpleasant diseases, and I'm not a clinician," said Wilmut. "You would understand that people would be tempted to try anything."

Also sitting on the news conference panel were Dr. Robert Goldstein, chief scientific officer with the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation; Robert Klein, chair of the governing body for the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine; Story Landis, Ph.D., chair of the National Institutes of Health's Stem Cell Task Force; and Dr. Olle Lindvall, a neurologist with the University of Lund in Sweden.

The panelists devoted much of their discussion to guidelines the International Society for Stem Cell Research will issue later this year for identifying or developing credible stem cell research initiatives.

"The guidelines are not to prevent the development of stem cell therapy," Lindvall added. "They're actually to help and guide those that are working in a serious way." Wednesday's conference was the first global gathering organized by the society, a premier stem cell research organization with a membership roster that includes the luminaries of the field. During the event sessions, which were closed to the public and the media, participants explored the scientific, clinical, regulatory, ethical and social issues of the complex and promising research.

Stem cell research, still in its early stages, holds the hope that one day scientists can coax these cells into forming tissue such as nerve cells for treating conditions like Parkinson's disease or central nervous system injuries, pancreatic cells for curing type 1 diabetes, and cardiac muscle for replacing damaged hearts. Stem cells, found in days-old embryos, are capable of developing into any of the more than 200 types of tissue found in the human body. But the field is far from being able to develop these tissues reliably, much less safely transferring them into humans and ensuring they continue to function as programmed.

When more extensive testing with stem cells begins in coming years, public expectations for these early experiments also need to be tempered, stressed Klein, who spearheaded the successful 2004 proposition campaign that led to the creation of the state's Institute for Regenerative Medicine, which funds basic stem cell research. "It's critical for the public to understand that a trial is exactly that," he said. "There will be defeats, and there will be victories." But this promise of tissue transplantation is only one aspect of the value of stem cell research, emphasized Renee Reijo Pera, Ph.D., the director of human embryonic stem cell research at Stanford University's Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine.

By developing lab cultures of stem cells, researchers can also study disease processes that will likely speed along drug discovery, she explained. "(Stem cell research) will improve human health, in one or more arenas," predicted Reijo Pera, who didn't attend the conference. Wilmut and Klein enthusiastically agreed that the nearer-term promise for stem cell research lies in its potential for aiding the development of new, valuable drugs by testing them on human cultured cells. "That's a view that I would subscribe to very strongly," Wilmut said. "There's the potential to accelerate drug development and reduce the cost of drug development with human cell lines," agreed Klein.

Underlying the meeting was the message that despite the recent stunning announcement that adult skin cells can be coaxed into reverting into stem cells potentially capable of developing into any human tissue, controversial research on embryonic stem cells must continue for the field to advance.

Due to objections by religious groups and other organizations, the Bush administration in 2001 banned federal funding of embryonic stem cell research, except for 64 stem cell lines already isolated. Researchers state those cell lines have limited research usefulness, and have spearheaded private or state initiatives to fund stem cell research in the United States. Embryonic cells provide a unique window on human development that can't be attained by reversing the pattern in an adult cell, allowing deeper insight into many conditions, such as diseases caused by chromosomal abnormalities, or infertility, said Daley.

"There will never be a time when we don't need human embryo research," Daley said. In February, researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles, reported that by inserting four regulator genes into the DNA of adult skin cells, they induced the cells to reverting back to the stem cells from which they originated.

The results confirmed similar work conducted at Kyoto University and the University of Wisconsin in November. The long-sought results electrified the scientific world, for it meant scientists could sidestep the controversial endeavor of using stem cells derived from embryos to pursue their research.

In addition, the technique potentially allows researchers to create genetically-matched tissue for treating diseases, avoiding the pitfall of a patient rejecting a genetically incompatible transplant. "There is no reason to abandon human embryonic research," said Landis, chair of the federal Stem Cell Task Force. "Over a year ago I testified stating that, and I still have my job," she added with a smile. "You would not want, at this point, to lock any one of those doors."

VistaGen Therapeutics Announces Broad Stem Cell R&D Alliance With Toronto’s University Health Network And The McEwen Centre For Regenerative Medicine

New Sponsored Research Collaboration Expands VistaGen’s Relationship with Dr. Gordon Keller, One of the World’s Leading Stem Cell Researchers

South San Francisco, CA & Toronto - VistaGen Therapeutics, Inc., a biotechnology company using embryonic stem (ES) cell technologies to discover and develop new drugs for diabetes and neurological disorders, announced an expansive ES cell research alliance with Toronto’s University Health Network (UHN), Canada’s leading research hospital, and its stem cell research affiliate, the McEwen Centre for Regenerative Medicine.

The new collaboration positions VistaGen to continue to leverage the ES cell biology expertise and leading-edge ES cell technologies of Dr. Gordon Keller, one of the world’s leading stem cell researchers and the Director of the McEwen Centre for Regenerative Medicine. VistaGen and Dr. Keller expect to conduct research into advanced techniques to differentiate ES cells into mature cardiac, liver, and pancreatic beta-islet cells. This will enhance VistaGen’s industry-leading, in vitro biological systems and bioinformatics databases for predictive toxicology applications.

Collaboration to Benefit Both New Drug Testing and New Drug Development
The new sponsored research program builds on VistaGen’s existing strategic licenses to Dr. Keller’s prior ES cell intellectual property, and covers new ES cell-based research projects.

VistaGen also expects to use the results of this research to develop the next generation of its customized ES cell-based heart, liver and pancreatic beta-islet cell differentiation systems for discovering new drugs to treat heart disease, liver disease and diabetes.

“This collaboration dramatically expands our ES cell R&D programs,” said Dr. Ralph Snodgrass, President and CEO of VistaGen. “Through the new arrangement with UHN and the McEwen Centre, a partnership that builds on our 10-year relationship with Dr. Keller, we expect to develop and commercialize a broad range of next generation stem cell technologies for the pharmaceutical industry. Our team shares the vision of the architects of California’s Stem Cell Initiative, the McEwen Centre, Dr. Gordon Keller, and the other world-class researchers at UHN — that we are at the beginning of an exciting new era where innovative stem cell technologies will give us the tools and approaches to accelerate the discovery and development of safer, more effective new drugs and clinical applications that will make a difference in the lives of millions worldwide.”

“This partnership with VistaGen is an important step toward realizing the founding goals of our Center — to harness the power of stem cell biology and regenerative medicine to develop new treatments for a wide range of life-threatening conditions,” said Dr. Gordon Keller, Director of the UHN’s McEwen Centre for Regenerative Medicine.

“We recognize the need to create effective public-private partnerships to advance UHN’s healthcare mandate. We are pleased our new partnership with VistaGen creates this important linkage with Dr. Keller and his pioneering work in the area of ES cell research, and welcome VistaGen to the growing list of companies establishing strong collaborative linkages with our leading research scientists in the other program areas,” said Dr. Chris Paige, Vice President, Research at UHN. SOOURCE: VistaGen Therapeutics, Inc.

Brazil court puts off stem cell ruling

BRASILIA, Brazil—Brazil's Supreme Court postponed a decision on whether to permit embryonic stem cell research in Latin America's largest country after one justice asked Wednesday for more time to study the matter.

The court had been scheduled to rule on a 2005 petition by then-Attorney General Claudio Fontelles, who argued that a law passed that same year allowing embryonic stem cell research was unconstitutional because it violates the right to life.

The law opened the way for research with embryos resulting from in-vitro fertilization that have been frozen for at least three years.

The session was suspended, almost five hours after it began, when Justice Carlos Alberto Menezes Direito formally requested more time to consider the issue. He has 10 to 30 days to present his opinion during another session, according to the court's press office.

Before the adjournment, current Attorney General Antonio Fernando Souza and a lawyer for Brazil's Roman Catholic Church argued that embryonic stem cell research should be banned because the process involves destroying embryos, which they said ends human life.

Other attorneys representing the government and Congress defended the 2005 law, saying research with embryonic stem cells could lead to cures of diseases such as Parkinson's, multiple sclerosis and diabetes.

While embryonic stem cell research is currently legal, scientists have put most projects on the back burner pending the Supreme Court's ruling.

Cash boost for stem cell research

Stem cell research aimed at finding a cure for Parkinson's Disease has received a cash boost from a top charity, it has been announced.
The Parkinson's Disease Society (PD) has donated £170,000 to the University of Bristol for research into how to make stem cells produce certain chemicals in the brain associated with the illness.
Scientists in Bristol also aim to develop methods which ensure the cells survive after they are transplanted.
The charity said stem cell therapy may ultimately offer a cure for Parkinson's Disease.
Researchers know symptoms of Parkinson's Disease appear when 80% of the nerve cells in the brain - which make the chemical dopamine - die, the charity said.
The aim of stem cell therapy is to replace the dead dopamine-producing nerve cells with new, healthy cells.
Scientists have already shown stem cells can be grown in the laboratory. But they are yet to ensure cells survive after they are transplanted.
The team at Bristol led by Dr Maeve Caldwell, senior research fellow, will investigate whether they can turn human embryonic stem cells into nerve cells which produce dopamine.
Dr Caldwell said: "If successful, we will then transplant these cells into an animal model that has the symptoms of Parkinson's to see if they are indeed dopamine producing nerve cells which can survive in the brain, even possibly reversing the symptoms of the disease.
"This could be a major step forward in developing an eventual cure for Parkinson's."

Stem cell compromise advances

By: Rick Ruggles and Martha Stoddard , WORLD-HERALD BUREAU

LINCOLN -- Two sides that have disagreed for years over stem cell research appear to have reached a compromise Wednesday.
The Legislature's Judiciary Committee approved a bill that significantly limits such research.

LB 606, which is State Sen. Chris Langemeier's priority bill, will go to the floor of the Legislature.

Speaker of the Legislature Mike Flood of Norfolk said he expects the legislation to be debated and voted on this session, which ends in mid-April.

The Judiciary Committee has struggled with stem cell legislation since last year's session, and the opposing groups have battled over proposed ethical research provisions for several years.

The two sides are the University of Nebraska Medical Center, which conducts some human embryonic stem-cell research, and organizations such as the Nebraska Catholic Conference, Nebraska Right to Life and the Nebraska Coalition for Ethical Research, which say such research that destroys embryos is unethical.

Key provisions of the bill say no state money or state facilities will be used to destroy human embryos for research. Nor will they be used to create an embryo through a technique called somatic cell nuclear transfer, also called therapeutic cloning or research cloning.

What hung up the bill two weeks ago was a section that made it a felony to clone an embryo for the purpose of implanting the embryo into a uterus.

Abortion opponents said that portion of the bill failed to address what some call therapeutic cloning, in which an embryo is killed to create stem cells that theoretically might be used someday to treat various diseases. They argue that killing an embryo is killing a human being and said the failure to address therapeutic cloning in that part of the bill might encourage the private sector to carry out such cloning.

So the Judiciary Committee removed the section altogether.

Both sides on the issue also agreed to pursue no further legislation on embryonic stem cell research or cloning unless the private sector in Nebraska conducts research that kills embryos; research is done with ethical implications not contemplated by either side; and research is conducted in violation of the bill.

Ron Withem, director of governmental relations for the University of Nebraska system, said the bill "allows the core research using embryonic stem cells to continue, consistent with regents guidelines.''

The NU Board of Regents limits UNMC scientists to use of the embryonic stem cell lines that President Bush approved seven years ago. Three UNMC researchers utilize some of those lines.

Withem said the bill is restrictive but acceptable. "And in the face of previous attempts to prevent that research, we view that as a positive step,'' he said.

Greg Schleppenbach, director of pro-life activities for the Nebraska Catholic Conference, praised Flood and State Sens. Steve Lathrop and Brad Ashford, both of Omaha, for their effort to reach a compromise between the two sides.

"It establishes some very important boundaries for biomedical research,'' Schleppenbach said.

Stem cell scientists explore options

Stem cell research offers the promise of finding cures for some of the most feared and intractable diseases known to man.

A panel of biologists made that case over the weekend to an audience of Bay Area university students, other scientists and members of the community.

Stanford University's Renee A. Reijo Pera, director of the Center for Human Embryonic Stem Cell Research and Education, emphasized the importance of learning more about embryonic development at its earliest stages to realize the therapeutic potential of stem cells.

"It's important that we begin to really understand human development and how cell fate is determined," Pera said. "It's the essence of human embryonic stem cell biology."

Although scientists have learned how to create human embryonic stem cell lines, Pera said, they have yet to learn how to direct those stem cells to morph into specific types of cells that are needed to cure some of the diseases the technology promises to cure.

"Can we direct the fate of the cells?" Pera said. "In most cases, the answer is 'No, we can't do it exactly right.' But we actually are getting a lot closer."

The keynote speech was delivered by Gilberto R. Sambrano, head of the Training Grant Program at the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine. The institute was created in 2004 as a result of state Proposition 71, which charged it with distributing $3 billion of state money for stem cell research.

One of the institute's goals is to develop tangible proof of the principle that transplanted cells derived from stem cells can be used to restore function for at least one disease, Sambrano said.

To address the uncertainty of this relatively new area in science and the amount of money being spent on it, Sambrano pointed to the optimistic mind-set scientists have about it.

"Like any research conducted, it is research and it is a question," Sambrano said. "Do we want to explore it or not, and if we don't explore it, what do we miss out? I guess, until we get there, we don't know. But I think that the potential for it as an enabling technology has excited scientists like nothing has in recent times."

Mary Khan of San Anselmo came to the conference, which was held at Dominican University of California in San Rafael, to learn how far stem cell research has come. Khan's husband suffers from kidney failure.

"My husband is a dialysis patient," Khan said, "and I am trying to research what I think is the only way someone can benefit and ever possibly get help for kidneys, which is to basically to re-grow and re-generate your kidney."

Stem cell research company clones human embryo

Stemagen, a privately held embryonic stem cell research company, announced recently it has become the first in the world to create, and meticulously document, a cloned human embryo using somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT).

Stemagen CEO Samuel H. Wood, M.D., Ph.D., a co-author of the publication and a donor of the cells from which the embryos were cloned, terms this achievement "a critical milestone in the development of patient-specific embryonic stem cells for human therapeutic use, potentially including developing treatments for Parkinson's, Alzheimer's and other degenerative diseases." Stemagen's research is exhaustively detailed in a paper published in today's issue of the highly regarded peer-reviewed scientific journal Stem Cells.

"This is not merely a technical improvement on previous research in this area," said Andrew French, Ph.D., lead author on the paper, "Development of Human Cloned Blastocysts Following Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer (SCNT) with Adult Fibroblasts."

"No other scientific group has documented the cloning of an adult human cell, much less been able to grow it to the blastocyst stage, the stage at which it is the adult donor cell that is driving embryonic development, the stage that yields the cells (the inner cell mass) from which embryonic stem cell lines are made," said French, who is Stemagen's Chief Scientific Officer.

Five blastocysts were developed from 25 donated mature oocytes. Three were confirmed to be clones based on DNA fingerprinting demonstrating the presence of the skin cell donor DNA in the blastocyst, while one was further confirmed to be a clone by an additional mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) analysis which revealed the presence of oocyte donor mtDNA without any oocyte donor nuclear DNA. For technical reasons, the genetic material in the remaining two blastocysts did not amplify to the extent required for analysis, and so while it is likely they were clones, the evidence required to claim that with certainty was not present. Thus, in this study, cloned blastocysts were successfully created from approximately 10% of all mature donated oocytes, an unexpectedly high rate given past research in this field.

The oocytes used in this study were donated, without compensation, by egg donors and intended parents undergoing egg donation cycles for reproductive purposes at the Reproductive Sciences Center in La Jolla, a leading fertility center specializing in egg donation and other advanced assisted reproductive technologies.

"As important as stem cell research is, all of us involved in this study realized that our overriding responsibility was to the intended parents who entrusted us with their dream of having a child," said Catharine Adams, Ph.D., a co-author on the paper and the laboratory director for Reproductive Sciences Center. "We in the IVF laboratory felt comfortable in this collaboration because we have consistently achieved pregnancy rates of greater than 80 percent from these types of high quality egg donors. In this study, all the intended parents were successful in achieving a pregnancy."

Stemagen and the Reproductive Sciences Center worked closely, over an extended period of time, with a leading independent Institutional Review Board (IRB) to develop procedures ensuring that all parties received comprehensive informed consent and that procedures were in place to protect their confidentiality in the process. All research procedures, including the culturing of the skin cells (fibroblasts) were performed under clinical laboratory conditions in close cooperation with the Assisted Reproductive Technologies (ART) Laboratory of the Reproductive Sciences Center, directed by Catharine Adams, Ph.D. French notes, "An important reason for the success of our SCNT procedures depended on the close coordination between our laboratory personnel and fertility center laboratory staff. Timing is a critical element in maximizing the probability of success in this type of procedure."

Wood points out that this research was exhaustively scrutinized by some of the world's most respected scientists and underwent an exceptionally rigorous process of verification, "This achievement was so critical to our field, we felt we should spare no effort in the process of establishing the validity of our work."

Cloning Said to Yield Human Embryos

Scientists at a small biotechnology company say they have used cloning to create human embryos from the skin cells of two men.

The work represents a step toward the promise of creating personalized embryonic stem cells that could be used for medical treatments. Although the embryos grew only to a very early stage, the work could also theoretically be seen as a step toward creating babies that are genetic copies of other people.

Scientists at the company, Stemagen, which is based in San Diego, said Thursday that they were the first to use human adult cells to create cloned embryos that advanced to the stage known as a blastocyst, from which embryonic stem cells typically are extracted.

However, the researchers did not derive embryonic stem cells. That left some experts skeptical.

“It’s an important step toward the ultimate goal of making patient-specific stem cell lines via nuclear transfer,” said Dr. George Q. Daley, a stem cell researcher at Harvard and Children’s Hospital Boston, using another term for cloning. But he said skepticism would be erased only when stem cell lines were derived.

Dr. Samuel H. Wood, the chief executive of Stemagen, said the company first wanted to prove it could clone an adult human cell and was now turning to deriving cell lines. “We’ve at least shown the opening to the cave that has the holy grail,” he said.

A paper on the work was published online on Thursday by the journal Stem Cells.

It is not clear whether the embryos would have been viable if implanted into a womb. Stemagen did not test whether the embryos had the correct number of chromosomes. But Dr. Wood, who also is a fertility doctor, said, “We’ve seen reproductive blastocysts that look like this or worse and they implant.”

He said Stemagen, which he started with a wealthy friend in 2005, was not interested in creating cloned babies, something that is illegal in places and morally repugnant to many people. Rather it wants to make stem cell lines for research and medical treatments.

Scientists envision that stem cells created from a clone of a patient could be turned into tissues like brain cells to treat Parkinson’s disease and pancreatic cells to treat diabetes.

But creating stem cell lines through this process, often called therapeutic cloning, has proven difficult.

A company called Advanced Cell Technology created human embryos in 2001 but they died well short of the roughly 100-cell blastocyst stage. In 2004, South Korean researchers led by Woo Suk Hwang reported they had made both cloned embryos and stem cells, but those claims were found to be fraudulent.

Dr. Robert Lanza, chief scientific officer at Advanced Cell Technology, said he was not convinced the blastocysts made by Stemagen were normal, based on the pictures of them in the paper.

But Dr. Daley of Harvard said he found the data “pretty convincing.” He said that since scientists had reported making cloned monkey embryos last November, it was only a matter of time before it could be done for humans.

Cloning is done by removing the nucleus from an egg and replacing it with genetic material from another cell. The egg is then induced into starting to divide as if it had been fertilized by sperm.

The Stemagen scientists, led by Andrew French, an animal cloner recruited from Australia, used skin cells from Dr. Wood and another Stemagen employee as the DNA source. They used 29 eggs donated by young women at the fertility clinic that Dr. Wood manages.

Five blastocysts were developed. One was shown to be a clone by genetic testing, the scientists reported, and two others also showed good evidence of being clones.

Dr. Wood said the key to success might have been choosing egg donors who were known to be fertile and healthy because they had previously been successful donors at his fertility clinic.

The women were also donating at the same time to couples wanting babies. Some eggs went to the couples and the others to the research, with the consent of both the donors and the couples. The donors were paid for the eggs that went to the in vitro fertilization but not to the research, Dr. Wood said.

Therapeutic cloning has been hampered by lack of access to healthy eggs, in part because it is often considered unethical to pay women for such donations. Dr. Daley of Harvard said Stemagen’s “egg sharing” approach appeared to be a reasonable way to obtain eggs.

Scientists in Japan and Wisconsin recently reported being able to make cells that resemble embryonic stem cells without cloning, thereby avoiding the controversial destruction of embryos and the need for eggs. But that new technique has safety risks so some experts say therapeutic cloning is still needed.

New book sheds light on conflicts of politics and science

From stem cell research to needle exchanges to medical marijuana and HIV/AIDS prevention, politics is getting in the way of science, according to a new book by a leading authority on health-care policy and women's health issues at Weill Cornell Medical College.

"Truth, Lies, and Public Health: How We Are Affected When Science and Politics Collide" (Praeger Press, 2007) is authored by Dr. Madelon Finkel, professor of clinical public health, director of the Office of Global Health Education and director of Cornell Analytics Consulting Services (CACS) at Weill Cornell Medical College.

"While political activists and the government can bring much-needed attention and money to a public health problem, politics can also poison science," says Dr. Finkel. "Over the last two decades, politics and ideology have increasingly hijacked and distorted science to serve its own purposes -- often ignoring incontrovertible evidence and preventing much-needed policies to improve public health."

The new book looks at how ideology affects research funding and explores the evolution of public health policies on contraception, AIDS, stem cell research, medical marijuana, needle exchanges, tuberculosis control, dietary supplements, silicone breast implants, obesity, vaccination and disease prevention.

Source: New York- Presbyterian Hospital

VCU Life Sciences Survey Reveals Widespread Support For Nonembryonic Stem Cell Research

The VCU Life Sciences Survey is the first poll to reflect the discovery reported internationally in November that human skin cells can be used to create stem cells or their near equivalents. When asked about the implications of this development, more than six in 10, or 63 percent, say that both embryonic and non-embryonic stem cell research is still needed, 22 percent say this development means embryonic stem cell research is no longer necessary. Thirty-eight percent of Americans report hearing about this research.

Three-quarters of the U.S. public supports stem cell research that does not involve human embryos. Majorities of nearly all groups in society, including those with differing beliefs about abortion and religious commitment, favor non-embryonic stem cell research, according to the survey released Wednesday.

The findings are part of this year's nationwide survey conducted by VCU via telephone with 1,000 adults nationwide from Nov. 26, 2007, to Dec. 9, 2007. The poll's margin of error is plus or minus 3 percentage points. The survey is conducted for VCU Life Sciences and the VCU College of Humanities and Sciences by the VCU Center for Public Policy.

Other survey findings: * Embryonic stem cell research. A majority (54 percent) of Americans strongly or somewhat favors embryonic stem cell research, a figure that has remained about the same since 2004. As in past surveys, opinion on embryonic stem cell research is strongly related to views on abortion, religious commitment and self-assessed knowledge about stem cell research. The partisan divide over embryonic stem cell research remains roughly the same since 2004.

* Personal impact of genetic research. Roughly four in 10, or 38 percent, report having a disease or medical condition strongly related to genetic factors or having a family member with such a disease or condition. Among this group, 57 percent say that medical research on genes and genetics has a positive affect on their life, 38 percent say this research hasn't affected their lives and 3 percent say it has a negative affect.

* Cloning and therapeutic cloning. Opinion about therapeutic cloning is evenly divided with 47 percent in favor and 47 percent opposed to using cloning technology for the development of new medical treatments. When cloning is not restricted to therapeutic purposes, about eight in 10, or 81 percent, oppose the use of cloning technology in humans. Opinion on both issues has been fairly stable since the first VCU Life Sciences Survey was conducted in 2001.

* Animal research. Medical research has long involved testing on animals. About six in 10, or 62 percent of adults, favor the use of animals in medical research either strongly or somewhat, while 35 percent are opposed.

* Morality and ethics in scientific decisions. A majority, 51 percent, of the public says that scientific decisions should be based primarily on an analysis of the risks and benefits involved rather than the moral and ethical issues involved (32 percent). At the same time, a majority, or 63 percent, agrees that scientific research doesn't pay enough attention to the moral values of society.

* What's the government's role? Opinion about the government's role in regulating scientific research is mixed. A 46 percent plurality says that government regulation is necessary to protect the public interest, while 39 percent say government regulation does more harm than good. At the same time, 57 percent of Americans disagree with the idea that government rules will keep us safe from any risks linked to modern genetic science.
Article adapted by Medical News Today from original press release.

Competition for stem cell research funding surges

Baltimore Business Journal - by Robert J. Terry Staff
The Maryland Stem Cell Research Commission has received 127 letters of intent from researchers vying to win $23 million in state funding. Commission officials said Wednesday that level of interest outpaces the 89 letters of intent received for the first round of funding. The commission, created to help spark growth in the state's life sciences industry, awarded researchers $15 million earlier this year. Scientists at Johns Hopkins University, the University of Maryland, Baltimore and the University of Maryland's flagship College Park campus dominated the first batch of grants.

The commission last month pushed back the application deadline to give the research community more time to file letters of intent, the first step in the application process. The letter of intent helps the commission plan for the scientific peer review it will oversee after applications for funding are submitted.

Of this latest batch of letters of intent, 46 were for what the commission calls investigator-initiated research grants, awards of up to $500,000 for scientists with preliminary data in hand. The remaining 81 letters of intent for exploratory research grants, designed for investigators who are new to the stem cell field. Those grants are for up to $100,000.

Applications are due Jan. 15. Peer review will take place in March and the commission will make funding decisions in April.

STEM CELL BREAKTHROUGH USES NO EMBRYOS

NEW YORK - Scientists have made ordinary human skin cells take on the chameleon-like powers of embryonic stem cells, a startling breakthrough that might someday deliver the medical payoffs of embryo cloning without the controversy.

Laboratory teams on two continents report success in a pair of landmark papers released Tuesday. It's a neck-and-neck finish to a race that made headlines five months ago, when scientists announced that the feat had been accomplished in mice.

The "direct reprogramming" technique avoids the swarm of ethical, political and practical obstacles that have stymied attempts to produce human stem cells by cloning embryos.

Scientists familiar with the work said scientific questions remain and that it's still important to pursue the cloning strategy, but that the new work is a major coup.

"This work represents a tremendous scientific milestone — the biological equivalent of the Wright Brothers' first airplane," said Dr. Robert Lanza, chief science officer of Advanced Cell Technology, which has been trying to extract stem cells from cloned human embryos.

"It's a bit like learning how to turn lead into gold," said Lanza, while cautioning that the work is far from providing medical payoffs.

"It's a huge deal," agreed Rudolf Jaenisch, a prominent stem cell scientist at the Whitehead Institute in Cambridge, Mass. "You have the proof of principle that you can do it."

The White House lauded the papers, saying such research is what President Bush was advocating when he twice vetoed legislation to pave the way for taxpayer-funded embryo research.

There is a catch with the new technique. At this point, it requires disrupting the DNA of the skin cells, which creates the potential for developing cancer. So it would be unacceptable for the most touted use of embryonic cells: creating transplant tissue that in theory could be used to treat diseases like diabetes, Parkinson's, and spinal cord injury.

But the DNA disruption is just a byproduct of the technique, and experts said they believe it can be avoided.

The new work is being published online by two journals, Cell and Science. The Cell paper is from a team led by Dr. Shinya Yamanaka of Kyoto University; the Science paper is from a team led by Junying Yu, working in the lab of in stem-cell pioneer James Thomson of the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Both reported creating cells that behaved like stem cells in a series of lab tests.

Thomson, 48, made headlines in 1998 when he announced that his team had isolated human embryonic stem cells.

Yamanaka gained scientific notice in 2006 by reporting that direct reprogramming in mice had produced cells resembling embryonic stem cells, although with significant differences. In June, his group and two others announced they'd created mouse cells that were virtually indistinguishable from stem cells.

For the new work, the two men chose different cell types from a tissue supplier. Yamanaka reprogrammed skin cells from the face of an unidentified 36-year-old woman, and Thomson's team worked with foreskin cells from a newborn. Thomson, who was working his way from embryonic to fetal to adult cells, said he's still analyzing his results with adult cells.

Both labs did basically the same thing. Each used viruses to ferry four genes into the skin cells. These particular genes were known to turn other genes on and off, but just how they produced cells that mimic embryonic stem cells is a mystery.

"People didn't know it would be this easy," Thomson said. "Thousands of labs in the United States can do this, basically tomorrow."

The Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation, which holds three patents for Thomson's work, is applying for patents involving his new research, a spokeswoman said. Two of the four genes he used were different from Yamanaka's recipe.

Scientists prize embryonic stem cells because they can turn into virtually any kind of cell in the body. The cloning approach — which has worked so far only in mice and monkeys — should be able to produce stem cells that genetically match the person who donates body cells for cloning.

That means tissue made from the cells should be transplantable into that person without fear of rejection. Scientists emphasize that any such payoff would be well in the future, and that the more immediate medical benefits would come from basic research in the lab.

In fact, many scientists say the cloning technique has proven too expensive and cumbersome in its current form to produce stem cells routinely for transplants.

The new work shows that the direct reprogramming technique can also produce versatile cells that are genetically matched to a person. But it avoids several problems that have bedeviled the cloning approach.

For one thing, it doesn't require a supply of unfertilized human eggs, which are hard to obtain for research and subjects the women donating them to a surgical procedure. Using eggs also raises the ethical questions of whether women should be paid for them.

In cloning, those eggs are used to make embryos from which stem cells are harvested. But that destroys the embryos, which has led to political opposition from President Bush, the Roman Catholic church and others.

Those were "show-stopping ethical problems," said Laurie Zoloth, director of Northwestern University's Center for Bioethics, Science and Society.

The new work, she said, "redefines the ethical terrain."

Richard Doerflinger of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops called the new work "a very significant breakthrough in finding morally unproblematic alternatives to cloning. ... I think this is something that would be readily acceptable to Catholics."

White House spokesman Tony Fratto said the new method does not cross what Bush considers an "ethical line." And Republican Sen. Tom Coburn of Oklahoma, a staunch opponent of publicly funded embryonic stem cell research, said it should nullify the debate.

Another advantage of direct reprogramming is that it would qualify for federal research funding, unlike projects that seek to extract stem cells from human embryos, noted Doug Melton, co-director of the Harvard Stem Cell Institute.

Still, scientific questions remain about the cells produced by direct reprogramming, called "iPS" cells. One is how the cells compare to embryonic stem cells in their behavior and potential. Yamanaka said his work detected differences in gene activity.

If they're different, iPS cells might prove better for some scientific uses and cloned stem cells preferable for other uses. Scientists want to study the roots of genetic disease and screen potential drug treatments in their laboratories, for example.

Scottish researcher Ian Wilmut, famous for his role in cloning Dolly the sheep a decade ago, told London's Daily Telegraph that he is giving up the cloning approach to produce stem cells and plans to pursue direct reprogramming instead.

Other scientists said it's too early for the field to follow Wilmut's lead. Cloning embryos to produce stem cells remains too valuable as a research tool, Jaenisch said.

Dr. George Daley of the Harvard institute, who said his own lab has also achieved direct reprogramming of human cells, said it's not clear how long it will take to get around the cancer risk problem. Nor is it clear just how direct reprogramming works, or whether that approach mimics what happens in cloning, he noted.

So the cloning approach still has much to offer, he said.

Daley, who's president of the International Society for Stem Cell Research, said his lab is pursuing both strategies.

"We'll see, ultimately, which one works and which one is more practical."

Associated Press writer Laurie Kellman contributed to this report from Washington.

BioTime hires new CEO, plans stem cell research

Emeryville's BioTime Inc. has named Advanced Cell Technology Inc.'s former president, Michael West, its new CEO.

The blood and surgical products designer said West will spearhead its entry into the field of regenerative medicine, in which it plans to develop human stem cell products for diagnostic, therapeutic and research use. West has served on the BioTime's News board since 2002.

The Emeryville company plans to seek up to $5 million in new funding to finance its operations and its entry into the stem cell field. It also plans to apply for research funding grants from private and public sources, including the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, a public agency established in early 2005 with the passage of Proposition 71, the California Stem Cell Research and Cures Initiative.

Prior to joining BioTime, West served as director, president and chief scientific officer of Alameda-based Advanced Cell Technology, another local stem cell technology firm. Before that, West founded Menlo Park's Geron Corp., where he managed programs in anti-tumor therapy. He is an adjunct professor of bioengineering at the UC-Berkeley.

In its employment agreement with West, the company granted him a waiver from a provision in its code of ethics barring the provision of consulting services to a competitor or holding a financial interest in a competitor, so that he could continue to hold Advanced Cell stock and options he owns.

West can also provide consulting services to Advanced Cell and remain on its board of directors until Dec. 31, 2007.

New Rensselaer tools speed stem cell research

Engineers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have developed tools to help solve two of the main problems slowing the progress of stem cell research - how to quickly test stem cell response to different drugs or genes, and how to create a large supply of healthy, viable stem cells to study from only a few available cells.

The researchers have created methods to study millions of stems cells on devices the size of a standard microscope slide. The techniques enable thousands of individual stem cell experiments to be carried out quickly and in parallel on one small device.

"Rensselaer is quickly establishing itself as leader in the development of stem cell technology that hastens the speed and accuracy of stem cell research," Provost Robert Palazzo said. "Our scientists and engineers are filling a vital niche in the global scientific effort to develop medical therapies using stem cells. Tools like these, which enable high-throughput study of stem cells, will quickly advance stem cell research in medical labs around the world."

The two groups of researchers used microarrays to develop miniaturized stem cell laboratories. With this technique researchers can perform high-throughput analysis of the material or cells on a single slide, analyzing tens of thousands of samples in one experiment. Each of the teams developed separate specialized microarray platforms.

Helping Develop Stem Cell Drugs

A team led by Jonathan Dordick, the Howard P. Isermann Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering, and visiting doctoral student Tiago Fernandez and Professor Joaquim M.S. Cabral from the Instituto Superior Téchinco-Lisbon in Portugal developed a platform that will enhance the speed of drug discovery by revealing how different molecules help or hinder stem cell function. Their research was presented at the 234th American Chemical Society (ACS) National Meeting in Boston on Aug. 19.

The platform will serve as a tool in the discovery of new drugs that target stem cells, Dordick said. He explained that although this three-dimensional system can be used to discover materials that support stem cell development and growth, not all stem cells are worth saving. "New research is showing that some stem cells could be the precursor for cancer and the reason that cancer reappears after having been totally eradicated by chemotherapy," he said. "With this platform we may be able to rapidly screen new drug candidates that target and kill these stem cells. Instead of going for the mature liver cell that spreads cancer, we can catch a liver stem cell before it can kick off cancer development."

The device will enable drug researchers to quickly screen thousands of small molecules (the basic element of many modern drugs) for their impacts on the fate of stem cells.

Dordick's group was able to prepare up to 1,000 drops as small as 20 nanoliters on a chemically modified slide. The drops contained a mixture of mouse embryonic stem cells encased in a specialized gel. The researchers discovered that in this mixture, the cells remained viable and could be used in various forms of cell-based screening.

Helping Understand Gene Function in Stem Cells

A separate team led by Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering Ravi Kane and Rensselaer doctoral student Randolph Ashton created a platform that will allow researchers to quickly understand how different genes impact stem cell function or development. Their research will be published in upcoming edition of the journal Stem Cells.

"There are millions of DNA bases and tens of thousands of genes within the human genome," Kane said. "In order to screen how all these different DNA sequences affect stem cell function you need an extremely high throughput method."

In order to become a specialized organ, tissue, or neural cell, a stem cell needs to be pointed in the right direction, and that guidance is believed to be provided by a highly complex arrangement of genes. If researchers can isolate the specific genetic sequences that cause a stem cell to transform into a neural cell, the example that Kane used in his research, they can begin to develop medical treatments for common diseases like Parkinson's disease using specially programmed stem cells infected with the correct arrangement of genes to produce healthy neural cells.

Kane and his team developed a specialized stamping technique that can be used to quickly understand how different genetic sequences affect stem cell development. The stamp is covered with thousands of mircoscale prongs, similar to the surface of a LEGO?. Those prongs imprint the surface of the corresponding slide, creating a microarray platform with thousands of individual cell-adhesive divots - the perfect mircoscale Petri dishes. The master stamp can create thousands of stamped surfaces without the needs for a clean room or sophisticated machinery.

To develop the stem cell mixture added to the stamped surface, the researchers first created a stem cell library. Each stem cell within this library would overexpress a different genetic sequence. Cells from the library are then dropped onto the micropatterned surface, such that each divot contains only one type of cell. Those seeded populations then divide to form individual clonal populations of cells. A stamped surface the size of a microscope slide can contain 3,500 clonal cell populations. These populations can then be screened at the same time for researchers to determine which cells exhibit a desired behavior (i.e. the development of healthy neural cells). The researcher then immediately knows what DNA sequence is responsible for the observed behavior.

To exhibit the effectiveness of their technology, Kane and his group screened clonal populations of rat neural stem cells to identify a sequence that promoted neural stem cell proliferation.

http://www.rpi.edu/

Lamb Remarks Bother Some, Inspire Others

By JASON ROSENBAUM of the Tribune’s staff Published Sunday, September 9, 2007

Interim UM system President Gordon Lamb is taking heat for his condemnation of a proposed constitutional amendment that would ban a form of embryonic stem cell research. "I don’t think strong political statements like that from university officials are appropriate," state Rep. Bob Onder, R-Lake Saint Louis, said Friday. Lamb last week denounced a ballot initiative to ban somatic cell nuclear transfer, or SCNT, which involves transferring an individual’s DNA to an unfertilized egg to grow stem cells that could be integrated into that person’s body. The process creates an early-stage embryo that must be destroyed to harvest embryonic stem cells.

Proponents say SCNT could unlock embryonic stem cells, possibly to alleviate ailments such as Parkinson’s disease. Opponents say SCNT is human cloning and is unethical. Lamb said the university’s ability to conduct research was at issue. "In their effort to eliminate somatic cell nuclear transfer research, the group championing this amendment is taking the first step to controlling and impeding Missouri’s research agenda and potential for future research," Lamb said in a prepared statement. "And they are doing so in a way that could permanently destroy the future of research in the state and in its universities."

Onder, a physician and member of the state Life Sciences Research Board, disagreed with Lamb. "The initiative that I’ve seen would essentially only outlaw human cloning research, human somatic cell nuclear transfer research, which at this point remains a theoretical form of research," Onder said. "No one’s accomplished it - the cloning of a human embryo - much less has anyone ever derived stem cells from a cloned human embryo, much less has anyone ever done any successful experiments with such cloned embryonic stem cells. So the idea that it would shut down all of research or whatever it is that he said - that’s just frankly absurd."

Onder, who served on a campaign last year to oppose an amendment protecting embryonic stem cell research from General Assembly interference, said lawmakers would be asking Lamb some "tough questions." "Ultimately we appropriate money not to make the president look good or to bolster his career, but for the good of the students in higher education institutions in our state," Onder said. "So again, I would hope it wouldn’t influence the appropriations. But by the same token … it doesn’t seem like he’s acting appropriately, making statements like that."

Rep. Steve Hobbs, R-Mexico, who opposed Amendment 2 last year but is undecided on the proposed ballot item, gave a mixed assessment of Lamb’s statement. "Any time you stake out your territory, you’re going to be open to criticism, … but I guess it’s his decision to make," Hobbs said. "The question is: Is that the voice of the curators, or is it the voice of Gordon Lamb?" Other lawmakers for Boone County supported Lamb. Rep. Judy Baker, D-Columbia, said he showed "courage and independence" at a crucial juncture. "The problem is we have legislators who want to vote one way but feel forced to vote another way by the right to life community that has a strong hold on our legislature right now," she said.

Rep. Ed Robb, R-Columbia, who supported Amendment 2, praised Lamb’s remarks. "He’s making a statement that reflects the view of the majority of the research faculty at the university," Robb said. "And I think it probably reflects the ideas of the majority of the people of Columbia. Now the question is: Does it reflect the majority of the state? I don’t know that." The legislative impact of Lamb’s statement is muddled by his interim status.

Outgoing House Minority Leader Jeff Harris, D-Columbia, said the new UM system president would need to support "a strong, vibrant, robust research environment." "You cannot be in favor of a more restrictive research environment and be the president of a major university system," Harris said. But Hobbs said the stem cell issue is not relevant in choosing the new UM president. "The next president of the university needs to only have one opinion, and that’s what his bosses, the curators, tell him," Hobbs said. "He can have a personal opinion, that’s one thing. But you know, I don’t know if they’ll ask."

ADA RESTORATION ACTION CENTER

After years of being weakened in the courts, Congress is coming to the rescue of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the bipartisan civil rights protections signed into law in 1990. Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) and Representative James Sensenbrenner (R-WI) introduced the ADA Restoration Act of 2007 on July 26, the seventeenth anniversary of the ADA.

Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) and Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA) have introduced the bill in the Senate.This vital legislation will restate and clarify the intent of Congress in order to keep the promise of the ADA.

Please take action now to encourage members of Congress to sign-on and pass this legislation which was drafted with the support of a broad coalition of disability organizations.

Contact Congress:
Copy or click on this link to tell your representatives in Congress to
support the ADA Restoration Act.
http://www.democracyinaction.org/dia/organizationsORG/adawatch/campaign.jsp?campaign
_KEY=6722&t=roadtofreedom.dwt

Sign the Petition:
Copy or click this link to show your support for passage of the ADA
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House Adopts Smith Amendment That Triples Funding for Life-Saving Ethical Stem Cell Research Program

WASHINGTON, July 19 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- U.S. Reps. Chris Smith (R- NJ) and Artur Davis (D-AL) successfully amended a federal spending bill to add millions of dollars for the national program that promotes ethical, life- saving stem cell research and treatment.

The House of Representatives agreed to the Smith-Davis amendment to the Labor, Health and Human Services Appropriations Bill FY08, which is expected to pass the House today. Passage of the amendment means the federal government will now allocate $15 million in FY08 to the National Cord Blood Inventory (NCBI), bringing the program's budget to the level authorized in the law Smith authored, the "Stem Cell Therapeutic and Research Act of 2005" (P.L. 109-129).

"Stem cells taken from umbilical cords are already being used in research and are saving lives. Approximately 8,000 patients have received cord blood treatments for over 70 diseases, including Leukemia, Sickle Cell Anemia and Hurler disease in the last two years alone. With a proven track record such as this, it is imperative that the federal government continue to support this innovative, life-saving program," said Smith.

Smith noted that without the amendment, the NCBI would be shortchanged at a critical time in the program's development.

"The NCBI -- created in 2005 -- now gives us the opportunity to turn medical waste into medical miracles. Without passage of this amendment, the current grant recipients would need to dramatically scale back their cord blood banking initiatives just as they're ramping up to treat more patients. However, by appropriating the full $15 million, we can triple this year's collection number," Smith said.

Originally, today's spending bill -- the FY08 Labor, Health and Human Services and Education Appropriations Act (H.R. 3043) -- only included $4 million for the NCBI for FY08, which falls far short of the $15 million authorized by Smith's 2005 law. The Smith-Davis amendment requires that an additional $11 million of the non-specific allocations to the Health Research and Service Administration (HRSA) must be used to fund the NCBI, bringing it up to the authorized level of $15 million for FY08.

"Surely we can accommodate an $11 million shift -- the net effect of my amendment -- to a proven regenerative medical treatment that will mitigate -- even cure -- a myriad of diseases including leukemia and sickle cell anemia," Smith said.

In total, Smith's "Stem Cell Therapeutic and Research Act of 2005" authorized $265 million dollars for umbilical cord blood collection and storage and for reauthorization of the National Bone Marrow Registry. The law created the NCBI, the first national inventory to collect the needed units of blood and make them readily available.

Smith's law authorized the collection of 150,000 units of cord blood for the NCBI, with a focus on genetic diversity that is expected to meet the needs of 90% of all patients. These units will be made available through an open registry that will link public cord blood banks nationwide to simplify a physician's search for a blood match for stem cells.

The law mandates that any units of cord blood collected and deemed unsuitable for transplantation be donated for additional cord blood stem cell research. Unlike embryonic stem cell research -- which to date has yet to produce any cures or treatments -- cord blood and other adult stem cell research already have resulted in clinical treatments without requiring the destruction of life.

SOURCE Office of U.S. Rep. Chris Smith

German ethics body recommends easing stem cell law

A body that advises the German government on medical ethics on Monday recommended changing the law to make stem cell research easier, a view that could boost the chances of new legislation.

The National Ethics Council voted narrowly in favor of changes to existing laws, which scientists say prevent them keeping up with global advances.

After a heated debate in 2002, parliament decided to ban the production of embryonic cells from pre-existing stem cell lines.

To ensure foreign laboratories did not produce stem cell lines for the German market, it barred German scientists from working on any lines created after January 1, 2002.

The German Research Society DFG has complained about the laws, which are stricter than in many other Western countries.

The matter divides Germany where genetic research is a sensitive subject because of Nazi experiments with creating a master race.

The National Ethics Council said 14 of its 24 members had voted in favor of abolishing the cut-off date and favored setting up an authority to test each case individually instead.

"If the current rules remain, German science will be hopelessly sidelined," said Horst Dreier, speaking for the 14 members who favor changing the law.

The majority also said any new law should state that the import of stem cells should come from widely accessible sources and that manufacturers should not be seeking to make a profit.

The Council called for an end to penalties for scientists involved in international projects using stem cells.

Stem cells offer the potential to treat conditions such as diabetes and Parkinson's disease and to regenerate damaged organs, say scientists. They say cells taken from days-old human embryos seem to be the most promising.

The DFG supported the Council's position.

"This will provide a positive impulse for stem cell research in Germany," DFG Vice President Joerg Hinrich Hacker said.

However, those who believe life begins at conception say cells should be harvested from adults, not embryos. The German Bishops' Conference warned against softening the law.

"We must not subordinate the protection of life to the freedom of research," the Catholic body said.

UCR gets stem-cell funding

By: CHRIS BAGLEY - Staff Writer

RIVERSIDE -- A series of state grants for stem-cell research could bring new life to UC Riverside and boost the area's nascent biotech industry, researchers said this week.

The university earned about $4 million from the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, the independent agency created by Proposition 71 to oversee $3 billion in bond funding, since the beginning of the year. A $2.8 million grant the agency awarded to the university, part of a $50 million package its directors approved for research institutions statewide, is expected to help create a new laboratory for six to 12 researchers.

Federal funds support about 60 percent of the university's biological research, according to university officials. Current rules limit the research that federal money can fund.

Stem cells compose embryos in the first week after conception, when they amount to tiny balls of several hundred cells. At that stage, one cell varies little from the one next to it, but all later develop into specific types of body tissue depending on the chemical signals they receive.

Many scientists believe research on stem cells can point the way toward cures for a wide range of diseases. Critics, however, say using the cells amounts to creating life in order to destroy it. A ban issued by President Bush in 2001 prevents federal funding for research on embryonic stem-cell lines created since then; last month, Bush vetoed a congressional attempt to overturn the ban.

Stem cells are also present in bodies of adults, although scientists generally argue that adult stem cells are generally less useful in research. Those scientists, biotech executives and other backers of Prop. 71 have argued that state funding for embryonic stem cell research could draw researchers from other states, and spawn a range of biotech companies that use stem-cell technology.

"Where you've got major research out of a major institution, that tends to spawn business opportunities," said Jeff Linton, who produced materials for stem-cell research as an executive with Serologicals Corp. in Temecula. "That model has been proven time and time again."

Two dozen researchers work with adult human stem cells and nonhuman stem cells at the university. Richard Luben, UCR's associate vice chancellor for research, said the university is using the promise of the new lab, expected to be in use by early 2009, to lure new researchers. The lab will be open to university faculty and outside researchers, a setup that Luben said should encourage the development of biotech businesses.

California voters approved Prop. 71 in 2004, using state money to circumvent the federal ban. Backers of the measure argued that it would make the state a magnet for researchers from elsewhere in the country. Several states with significant biological research have considered measures similar to California's, albeit on smaller scales.

NJ to weigh $450M for stem cell research

By TOM HESTER Jr., Associated Press Writer
New Jersey voters will decide this November whether to approve borrowing $450 million to pay for 10 years of stem cell research under legislation approved Thursday by the Legislature.

The Assembly voted 50-27 and the Senate 31-3 to approve the bill, which is expected to be signed into law by Gov. Jon S. Corzine.

"The potential yield on this investment — in terms of lives saved, hope restored and economies revitalized — is unlimited," said Senate President Richard J. Codey, a Democrat. "With the support of our residents in November, this public investment will be nearly unparalleled in the United States."

Scientists say stem cell research may be key to finding treatments for a variety of maladies, including paralysis, diabetes and Parkinson's disease.

The vote comes a day after President Bush vetoed a bill that would have eased constraints on federally funded embryonic stem cell research. Abortion foes oppose embryonic research because it destroys human embryos.

Marie Tasy, New Jersey Right to Life executive director, called the plan a "boondoggle referendum which will place a moral and fiscal burden on New Jersey taxpayers." She urged lawmakers to support funding only for research that doesn't involve embryos.

The funding would go toward advancing medical treatments and attracting leading scientists and research companies to the state. New Jersey has already approved spending $270 million to build stem cell research facilities.

Several states are competing in stem cell research. California approved spending $3 billion on stem cell research, Connecticut has a $100 million program, Illinois spent $10 million and Maryland awarded $15 million in grants.

Clinton Speaks Out on Stem Cell

By HOLLY RAMER, Associated Press Writer

A child with diabetes and a paralyzed 23-year-old joined Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton on Friday in urging President Bush to loosen restraints on money for embryonic stem cell research.

Clinton addressed the issue just days after the House voted to ease limits on the federally funded research despite President Bush's veto threat. Joining her at Dartmouth College were Alex Walter, 10, of Londonderry, N.H., who has Type 1 diabetes, and Laura Clark of Antrim, N.H., who has been paralyzed since a car crash three years.

Walter's father, Steve, said he is a registered Republican but supports Clinton because he is frustrated with the Bush administration's stance on stem cell research. His son has endured 10 to 12 blood tests a day and about 100 insulin injections a month since being diagnosed at age 4.

"This is not a religious issue," he said. "It's really about a little boy who's 10 years old, and another 100 million Americans who could benefit from this research."

Clark's mother, Kathleen, also a Republican, said her daughter's experience has been life-shattering for the family. But she also made a practical appeal, noting the billions spent on people with chronic spinal cord injuries. Even modest advances through stem cell research — allowing quadriplegics to regain the use of their hands — would lead to a significant savings in health care costs, she said.

Clinton said the administration's position was part of its general contempt for science and disregard of evidence in favor of ideology.

"Every day that passes, we have families like the Walters and the Clarks waiting and wondering whether their government is really on the side of helping and saving the lives of their loved ones," she said. "Where we are now is, we're going backward. We're not just stalled. We're going backward."

Bush says the legislation would compel taxpayers to support "the deliberate destruction of human embryos." Lawmakers lack the votes to overturn a veto.

But Clinton emphasized that the bill would permit funding only for research on embryonic stem cells donated from in-vitro fertilization clinics — with the donor's approval — that otherwise would be discarded.

"We do take seriously the ethical concerns," she said. "This is not something that has been done in a quick, poorly thought out way. ... I think there is a false difference between the president's position and ours."

Geron Reports Stem Cell Research Data

Geron Says Its Spinal Injury Stem Cell Treatment Tolerated by Human Immune System

NEW YORK (AP) -- Geron Corp. said Monday its stem cell treatment for spinal cord injuries is tolerated by the human immune system.

At the Federation of Clinical Immunology Societies meeting in San Diego, the company presented research showing GRNOPC1, which uses embryonic stem cells, is not directly attacked by the immune system. That means patients treated with GRNOPC1 could need lower doses or less treatment with immune-suppressing drugs than other transplant recipients, according to the company.

"The results imply that our cell-based therapeutic, unlike traditional solid organ transplants, is minimally recognized by the human immune system," said President and Chief Executive Thomas B. Okarma. The company said it expects the spinal treatment to be its first product to enter clinical trials. Shares of Menlo Park, Calif.-based Geron rose 27 cents, or 3.1 percent, to $8.94 in Monday morning trading. In the past 52 weeks, the stock has traded between $5.66 and $10.

California set for stem cell bonanza

After more than two years of legal wrangling, California is free to spend over $3 billion during the next decade on stem cell research - the largest sum any body has proposed to spend on stem cells.

In November 2004, voters backed the creation of the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) with the goal of boosting research using human embryonic stem cells. This is currently hampered by restrictions on federal funding.

Opponents of embryo research claimed the move violated California's constitution. Their challenge ended on 16 May, when the state supreme court declined to review an earlier ruling that had upheld CIRM's constitutionality.

Now CIRM is free to raise some $300 million per year by selling bonds. Previously it was limited to a $150 million loan from the state government plus $45 million lent by philanthropic groups.

CIRM still faces bruising internal battles. Last month, patient advocates complained that its president, Zach Hall, was rushing to spend $222 million on new lab buildings. Hall resigned, two months before his planned departure, and now public hearings will be held on the plans.