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The British governmentannounced last month that itwould invest £1.5 million in a newcentre to develop stem-celltreatments for diabetes anddiseases of the brain.Thegovernment-funded MedicalResearch Council announced itssupport for the new centre. Withinfive years, patients with otherwiseincurable diseases could beinvolved in testing new andrevolutionary treatments. But theannouncement is clouded byanother bill going throughparliament that aims to create newlegal controls over the use ofhuman tissues in research whichhas sent alarm bells ringingthroughout the researchcommunity. The proposed billarises from the revelations thatorgans were taken from deadbabies without parental consent attwo major children’s hospitals inthe UK which caused publicoutrage.
However, the use of humanembryo stem cells in research wasbacked by free votes inParliament, two rounds of publicconsultation and a commission ofinquiry. But many think it is anethical step too far.
Although now authorized inBritain, such research remainslegally difficult in the US, withPresident George Bush opposingit. Professor Roger Pedersen, oneof the leaders in the field, leftCalifornia to take advantage offreedom to research on stem cellsin the UK.
Colin Blakemore, chiefexecutive of the MRC, said: “Stemcell science offers enormous hopefor the future treatment of manylife-threatening illnesses.”
But the scientific challenge —and the moral argument — hascentred on the use of humanembryo stem cells, either takenfrom embryos left over fromfertility treatment, or created by
the kind of cloning techniques thatled to Dolly the sheep. A Koreanteam announced the first clonedhuman embryo in February. And aUniversity of Newcastle teamcould be the first to getpermission to begin so-called‘therapeutic cloning’ in Britain.The Human Fertilisation andEmbryology Authority, whichoversees such research, met lastmonth to consider the applicationbut has decided to seek furtherexpert opinion before giving adecision on the case.
The government has proposedchanges to the forthcominghuman tissues bill which will makeit easier for researchers to workwith material obtained from livingpatients. But the MRC is stillunhappy about proposals thatresearchers should not haveaccess to the identity of donors oftissue material which couldhamper medical research. Withethical committee’s approval theybelieve some information could beof benefit to the tissue donor, forexample in the discovery ofantibiotic resistance for
prescribing practice. “It’s vital thatthe bill both protects the rights ofpatients and ensures that medicalresearch to benefit the futurehealth of those patients and theirfamilies is able to continue,” saysBlakemore.
Pedersen’s new MRCCambridge Centre for Stem CellBiology and Medicine willeventually cost £16.5 million. It willbe backed by the JuvenileDiabetes Research Foundationand other charities as well asgovernment funds. Its firstchallenge will be to understandwhat Pedersen calls ‘stemness’ —the mysterious ability of embryostem cells to to become blood,muscle, fat, bone, nerves, teeth,hair and skin etc.
Juvenile diabetes andParkinson’s are the centre’s firstdisease targets. This is becausethey could be treated by injectionsof purified stem cells of just onetype.
“We are intent upon startinghuman trials at the earliestpossible date. This requires thatwe understand the basicproperties of stem cells and that isthe purpose of this programme,”Pedersen said.
Stem cell boost
Britain is publicly and privatelybacking stem-cell research butworries continue about the legalframework scientists face inundergoing such work, writesNigel Williams.
Swings and roundabouts: Stem-cell research in Britain has received a boost butworries remain about the potential impact of a new bill to control access to humantissues for research. (Picture: Science Photo Library.)
