by Susan Brinkmann, OCDS
Staff Writer
(April 9, 2008) After years of study and debate about the treatment potential of embryonic stem cells, a leading researcher in England has conceded that the controversial research may never deliver new treatments.
In an interview with The Scotsman, Lord Patel of Dunkeld, chairman of the UK National Stem Cell Network and chancellor of Dundee University, said “It may not deliver therapy for anything. We may find that stem therapy is quite a risky business.”
Aside from the ethical controversy that surrounds the research, embryonic stem cells are prone to the development of tumors and immune syndrome rejection issues, which may make them too risky for use in humans.
“We had a lot of hype about gene therapy, and while we still use it in some cases it did not deliver the great promise we thought it would because of the side-effects,” he said.
Even though he admits that “In terms of embryonic stem cell therapy, there is currently no such therapy that is available in a large number of patients,” he believes the promise is still there and that the research should continue.
The comments were made just prior to the first ever UK National Stem Cell Research Conference which will meet in Edinburgh later this week.
The Scotsman also interviewed Dr. Willy Lensch, from the Children’s Hospital in Boston, who is working with the creation of pluripotent stem cells, known as IPS cells, which are adult stem cells that can be made to act like embryonic stem cells. Although they have been found to be more at risk for developing cancer, Dr. Lensch said scientists are reducing the number of genes used to create IPS cells in an attempt to reduce these risks. So far his team has taken adult stem cells and turned them into cells capable of treating diseases such as juvenile diabetes and Down Syndrome.
But even Dr. Lensch admitted that “I could not guarantee to anyone that this work will actually lead to improvements in disease as a definite.”
The potential for real cures seems to lie mostly in the realm of adult stem cells with new treatments being announced regularly from all corners of the globe.
For instance, just this week scientists in the U.S. revealed that they have been able to ease the symptoms of Parkinson’s disease in rats by using skin cells that have been re-programmed to act like embryonic stem cells.
Scientists in the UK are attempting to restore vision in people with age-related macular degeneration – a leading cause of blindness – by using cells from patients’ own eyes. Larger trials are planned.
An American researcher, Dr. Darwin Prockop, has been studying adult stem cells for 18 years and recently told the Temple Daily Telegram that “we get surprises every week” in this area of research.
Prockop, who is the director of the Center for Gene Therapy at the Tulane University Health Sciences Center in New Orleans says “There are still some mysteries about stem cells, but many people are now using the cells to treat almost any disease you can name – arthritis, heart disease, diabetes, stokes, kidney diseases.”
He has no plans to pursue research in embryonic stem cells, he says, because the technology is very complicated and difficult.
“There have been some major technological problems. One thing is they form tumors in animals that look like the beginnings of cancer and nobody quite knows how to get around this problem.”
While adult stem cells are already in the business of curing people, embryonic cells have yet to reach even the human trial stage.
In spite of this bleak record, scientists say they will continue to pursue embryonic stem cell research. “ But the promise is great,” Lord Patel said, “and we must continue with the stem cell science.”
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