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As Texas scientists stand ready, Obama poised to lift limits onresearchBy TODD ACKERMAN
More than a decade after the discovery of human embryonic stem cells,Texas scientists are poised to finally ramp up research involving thecutting-edge but controversial science.
With President Barack Obama expected to lift federal restrictions onthe field as early as this week, scientists in the Texas Medical Centerand around the state have expressed their delight and predicted along-awaited scientific renaissance will follow.
Opening up the research is going to have an enormous benefit, saidBill Brinkley, a Baylor College of Medicine professor of molecular andcellular biology. After being diminished and pushed to the side for adecade, embryonic stem cell research will become mainstream -- mostevery lab will take advantage of it.
In the minds of many, stem cell research promises nothing less than thefuture of medicine, youthful tissue replacing that which is old ordamaged. From animal studies, scientists tout research suggesting stemcells can replace brain cells lost in Parkinsons disease, restorefunction to defective muscles in muscular dystrophy and regenerateparts of the pancreas that dont work in diabetes.
The question is, how quickly can scientists turn the promise intoreality? The first attempt is about to start in California. A biotechcompany there recently got clearance from the Food and DrugAdministration for the first human trial of a therapy based onembryonic stem cells, injecting them into the spinal cords of paralyzedpeople.
Local stem-cell leaders are Baylor and the University of Texas HealthScience Center at Houston, both of which boast centers dedicated to thescience. The centers have focused mostly on adult stem cells but alsofeature work with embryonic stem cells, work that their leaders saywill mushroom once Obama overturns the policy of former PresidentGeorge W. Bush.
Origins of the debate
Already, teams at Baylor, UT-Houston and Rice University are planninggrant applications to build on their ongoing embryonic stem cellresearch on Parkinsons disease, lung disease and joint replacementcartilage, respectively. Biotechnology industry observers say Texas canbecome a leader if the Legislature adds its support.
The political debate over embryonic stem cells dates to 2001, when Bushagreed to allow the use of federal funds for research but limitedsupport to existing cell lines, which numbered less than two dozen.Most were in far from ideal condition and unsuitable for clinical work.
Essentially, Bushs policy has made us operate with one hand tiedbehind our back, said Robert Lanza, of Massachusetts-based AdvancedCell Technology.
The wonder of embryonic stem cells is that they have the capacity tobecome any sort of tissue the body needs -- nerves, blood, heart, bone,muscle. They morph from microscopic spheres to full body parts, aprocess scientists hope to take control of after retrieving the cellsfrom 5-day-old embryos. So promising is the research that the 1998discovery gave birth to a whole new specialty, regenerative medicine.But the science also raises ethical concerns. Because the embryo iskilled in the retrieval process, it has been called a direct attack oninnocent human life.
Bush objected to further research on those grounds. He prohibited theuse of federal funding on research involving cell lines from anyembryos destroyed after his 2001 policy announcement, calling forresearch to instead emphasize adult stem cells, which pose no ethicalconcerns, because they require no destruction of life.
Some defenders of Bushs policy say it spurred scientists to moreaggressively pursue adult stem cell research, resulting in a 2007breakthrough that could ultimately make the controversy moot. Two teamsof scientists independently reported developing a method of convertinghuman adult stem cells into the equivalent of embryonic stem cells,seemingly capable of becoming any of the 220 cell types of the body.Researchers previously believed adult stem cells lacked the unlimitedability to turn into other types of human tissue.
But scientists, noting the breakthrough would have been impossiblewithout knowledge gained through embryonic stem cell research, saidlast week its too early to assume that the technique is the answer.For one,the method entails the use of genetically engineered viruses,which can trigger tumors.
We still dont know whether that technique, still far from perfected,will be able to faithfully reproduce all of embryonic stem cellproperties in adult stem cells, said Paul Simmons, director ofUT-Houstons Center for Stem Cell Research and an adult stem cellresearcher. Embryonic stem cells are the gold standard to conduct thatstudy and make a determination. It may turn out that adult stem cellsare good for some things and embryonic are better for others.
Legislation is next in line
Obama campaigned on a promise to lift Bushs restrictions and allowresearch on stem cells taken from embryos that otherwise would bediscarded by fertility clinics. Congressional sources said last week heplans to make the change as soon as the economic stimulus package ispassed. Legislation codifying the policy will follow.
The policy should provide the most immediate boost to three teams hereworking with Bushs federally approved cell lines. Their leaders saythey can hardly wait to work with any of the more than 1,000 linescreated with private money since Bushs policy was adopted. Thoselines, expected to be eligible for federally supported research, aremore robust and clinically useful than the currently approved lines.
Advocates of stem-cell research also call for a state investment. Areport commissioned by Texans for the Advancement of Medical Researchsays the state could generate $88 billion in economic activity ifTexas share of U.S. biotechnology spending increases to 6 percent from2.9 percent by 2014.
Obamas new policy will change the game dramatically, said Dr. RayDubois, provost at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center.Texas may not have the state or private money that some states havefor stem-cell research, but the stage could quickly change quite abit.
todd.ackerman@chron.com
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