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Wed 19 May, 2004 11:19 am
Stem cells
Medical Research
LONDON, London (Reuters) -- The world's first embryonic stem cell bank opened in Britain on Wednesday, breaking new ground in one of the most controversial areas of medical research.
The bank aims to store and supply stem cell lines -- strings of identical cells -- for research and possible treatment of conditions like diabetes, cancer and Parkinson's. Its store of cell lines is expected to number tens of thousands.
But opponents say such research involves the "wanton creation and destruction of human life'' and have condemned the bank as a storage site for dead babies.
Stem cells are master cells in the body that have the capability to transform into new cells or tissue.
They can be taken from adults and discarded umbilical cords but those from embryos are considered especially powerful because each one has the potential to become any sort of cell or tissue in the body at all.
Researchers believe they offer a potentially revolutionary way to repair diseased and damaged body tissue, although more research is needed to understand exactly how they work.
"This potentially revolutionary research could benefit thousands of patients whose lives are blighted by devastating diseases,'' Health Minister Lord Warner said in a statement.
The bank puts Britain into conflict with pro-life campaigners and with the United States, where President George W. Bush issued an executive order in August 2001 limiting federal funds for embryonic stem-cell research.
Anti-abortion groups argue that the bank is unethical because the extraction of stem cells from human embryos violates the human rights of the embryos.
"Our problem is in the marketing and developing of embryonic stem cells, whose existence depend on a massive destruction of early human life,'' the Pro-Life Party said in a statement.
Patrick Cusworth, spokesman for the LIFE anti-abortion group, argued that stem cell research reduces human life to "little more than a pharmaceutical product'' and holds out "false hopes of cures for sufferers of debilitating conditions.''
Researchers believe stem cells may offer revolutionary way to repair diseased and damaged tissue.
"Using human embryos as a tissue source is unethical, unnecessary and dangerous,'' he said. "Science must exist to benefit humanity -- not the other way round.''
The bank, in Hertfordshire, southern England, will be funded by the Medical Research Council (MRC) and the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council.
"Stem cell research offers real promise for the treatment of currently incurable diseases,'' Professor Colin Blakemore, Chief Executive of the MRC, said in a statement.
"The bank will ensure that researchers can explore the enormous potential of this exciting science for the future benefit of patients.''
The bank's first two stem cell lines were developed separately by researchers at
Were it not for that religious fanatic that now sits in the oval office this type of activity would be being carried out in the US. Just one more reason to dump Bush.
I think it's a great idea. How does one make a deposit?
I also want to ask the pro-life faction if they would be willing to take responsibility for all the unwanted babies in the world? They make a heck of a racket, but in the end, my guess is that they would not take that task on.
I am a cancer advocate. I have been working with rare adult cancer patients and the parents of pediatric cancer patients for several years (volunteer). I help to run support groups for these parents. So, I have a very strong opinion on stem cell banks. I am concerned that the children who really need the stem cells in order to live TODAY, will not get them because everyone will be hordeing them in a bank, just in case. They may never be used. And how many kids are going to die, TODAY, because they can not get the stem cells that will save their lives? Those same stem cells may be thrown out some day because they were never needed by the families who originally banked them. I do not like the idea at all, because I am going to have to watch a great deal of 'my kids' die as a result.
lanesharon
The bank is setup for the purpose of supplying stem cell lines for research. There will be more than enough to go around. This if far different from the subterfuge that our religious freak president imposed limiting the availability of useable stem cells for research.
Human cloning license issued in UK
Wednesday, August 11, 2004 Posted: 9:55 AM EDT (1355 GMT)
LONDON, England (AP) -- Britain granted its first license for human cloning Wednesday, more than three years after becoming the first nation to authorize the technique to produce stem cells for medical research.
A team of researchers at Newcastle University hope eventually to create insulin-producing cells that could be transplanted into diabetic patients.
Britain became the first country to authorize the cloning of human embryos when Parliament voted in 2001 to allow regulators to license the method to scientists investigating the medical promise of stem cells, the master cells of the body.
The South Korean parliament followed in December, and by February scientists there announced they had become the first in the world to successfully clone a human embryo and extract stem cells for research.
The stem cells are extracted when the embryo is still microscopic. British regulations allow the embryo to develop for no more than 14 days, after which the embryo starts to develop a nervous system.
Many scientists believe stem cells hold vast promise for treating an array of diseases from diabetes to Parkinson's and Alzheimer's. Stem cells can potentially grow into any type of human tissue and scientists hope to be able to direct the blank cells to grow into specific cell types needed for transplant.
The United States prohibits any kind of embryo cloning and has lobbied strongly against it. The Bush administration also has restricted funding for stem cell research, which has become an issue in the U.S. presidential campaign.
U.S. policy forbids federal funding for research on embryonic stem cell lines created after Aug. 9, 2001. Democratic presidential nominee Sen. John Kerry has said that if elected he would overturn those funding restrictions.
Some Christian and politically conservative groups oppose stem cell research -- especially cloning -- as immoral because fertilized embryos must be destroyed to harvest the stem cells.
Stem cells can be found in adults, but scientists believe they may not be as versatile as those found in embryos. They envision using cloning to create an embryo cloned from a patient so that stem cells extracted would be a perfect transplant match.
"After careful consideration of all the scientific, ethical, legal and medical aspects of the project, the Human Fertilization and Embryology Authority License Committee agreed to grant an initial one year research license to the Newcastle Center for Life," the British regulator said in a statement.
"This is an important area of research and a responsible use of technology. The HFEA is there to make sure any research involving human embryos is scrutinized and properly regulated."
Regulations on cloning and stem cell research vary around the world. No other European country licenses the practice.
In Japan, the government's top science council voted last month to adopt policy recommendations that would permit limited cloning of human embryos for stem cell research in Japan.
This year, the United Nations will revisit the issue of whether to propose an international treaty to ban "therapeutic" cloning -- which produces stem cells from cloned embryos -- as well as "reproductive" cloning, which makes babies.
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