Stem-cell breakthrough a "great advance" to research - Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community

Baraka_Guru · 03-02-2009, 07:30 PM

Quote:

Canadians make stem-cell breakthrough
In 'great advance' to research, scientists discover new technique that safely turns skin cells into stem cells, removing risks and complications involved in using the technology
Globe & Mail

ANNE MCILROY

March 2, 2009

OTTAWA -- Canadian researchers have discovered a new way to turn skin cells into stem cells with fewer potential risks to patients.

Their work removes major barriers to using stem cells, which have an endless capacity for self-renewal, in new medical therapies for people with spinal cord injuries or diseases such as diabetes or Parkinson's.

"We hope these stem cells will form the basis for treatment of many diseases and conditions that are currently considered incurable," says Andras Nagy, of Toronto's Mount Sinai Hospital. He is the lead author of a groundbreaking paper published online yesterday by the journal Nature.

Dr. Nagy and his colleagues are the first to reprogram human skin cells to an embryonic state without using a virus, collaborating on the new technique with Keisuke Kaji from the Medical Research Council Centre for Regenerative Medicine at the University of Edinburgh.

Dr. Nagy's team has been working full-out for a year on this novel approach, which builds on a breakthrough reported by Japanese and American researchers in November, 2007.

The Japanese took skin cells from the face of a 36-year-old woman and turned them into cells that look and act like embryonic stem cells. The Americans did the same with skin cells from infant foreskins.

In the developing embryo, stem cells give rise to every type of cell in the body: skin, muscle, bone, heart, liver, kidney, brain and 250 other types of specialized cells. The 2007 advance made headlines because it allowed scientists to sidestep the ethical debate over getting stem cells for medical research from aborted fetuses.

But there were two major problems with the technique.

Both the Japanese and American teams used viruses to insert four genes that are active in stem cells into the genome of the mature skin cells.

Viruses can damage healthy DNA. Some of the genes that orchestrated the transformation back to an embryonic state can also cause cancer.

Dr. Nagy and his colleagues have developed a technique to make stem cells without either of these drawbacks.

Without using a virus, they were able to slip four genes into skin cells that reprogrammed them to an embryonic-like state. They were also able to then get rid of the genes with the potential to cause cancer.

How did they do it?

The team used a jumping gene, a mobile piece of DNA also known as a transposon. In moths, corn and other species, these genes hop from chromosome to chromosome, inserting themselves randomly into the genome. They give rise to the kind of genetic variability that can help species adapt to changing conditions.

First, Dr. Nagy and his colleagues inserted the four reprogramming genes into a jumping gene from a moth. Then they put the jumping gene and its cargo into a skin cell.

The jumping gene cut and pasted the stem cell genes into a chromosome in the skin cell.

The scientists were then able to coax the skin cell back to its embryonic state, giving it the superhero-like ability to turn into many types of cells.

In many cases, they found that the jumping gene then took a second leap to another chromosome. But 60 per cent of the time, the second cut-and-paste operation wasn't successful. This meant the four genes were not reinserted back into the genome of the skin cell, and disappeared, as did the jumping gene.

"It goes back to the original," Dr. Nagy said.

The Canadian researchers were able to easily identify the stem cells that were no longer carrying the four genes.

The work is a "great advance," said the University of Ottawa's Michael Rudnicki, a leading stem cell researcher who is not involved in the study.

"These will be relatively pristine cells that can certainly be exploited therapeutically and will be useful for research purposes," he said.

Many scientists believe that the flexibility and regenerative power of stem cells hold great promise in the treatment of many diseases, including Alzheimer's, and that one day they may be used to repair damaged hearts, kidneys, livers or other tissue, or even to grow new organs for transplant.

Dr. Nagy's team performed the experiments on both mouse and human cells. They are now using their technique to grow stem cells from the mature cells taken from patients suffering from a variety of diseases, including cystic fibrosis.

One day, the work could allow patients to be treated with their own reprogrammed stem cells. But Dr. Nagy said it is difficult to predict how soon that could happen.

globeandmail.com: Canadians make stem-cell breakthrough

Basically what has happened is that researchers have found a safer way to produce stem cells from skin cells. This new procedure doesn't require the use of a virus that could potentially damage DNA or the insertion of certain genes that can cause cancer, as previous procedures had.

The net result is that medical professionals, researchers, etc. will now have an easier time researching and treating such things as spinal cord injuries, diabetes, Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, etc.

Moreover, this further sidesteps the medical and moral issue of the embryonic process that was first used.

What hope do you hold in stem-cell research?
Do you think the moral issues surrounding this research will go away?

I think this finding will accelerate medicine in such a way that will open doors up to other research possibilities. Not since the mapping of the genome have I been so excited about medicine.

It has me looking forward to what else we'll find in the near future.

What are your thoughts?

QuasiMondo · 03-02-2009, 07:39 PM

That is great. It would be even greater once we convince insurance companies to cover such treatments and not deny it on the grounds that it's 'experimental'

grumpyolddude · 03-02-2009, 07:51 PM

I'd heard a report about this on the radio this morning. Outstanding news... and this does have the potential to skewer most opposition to the research.

My mother-in-law suffers terrible from Parkinson-like tremors, and I've read that QW's dysphonia is genetically related to her mother's malady. If stem cell research can find viable treatments or even cure these conditions... full steam ahead, researchers!

Baraka_Guru · 03-03-2009, 06:01 PM

It appears that, despite this breakthrough, the embryonic process is still relevant.

Quote:

US embryonic stem cell legislation back on the table
02 March 2009
With expectations riding high that US President Barak Obama will fulfil his campaign commitment to overturn the Bush administration’s tight restrictions on human embryonic stem cell research, Senators Tom Harkin and Arlen Specter have seized the initiative by reintroducing the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act.

The bill would allow federal funding for stem cell research using cell lines derived from excess in vitro fertilisation embryos, regardless of when these lines were generated. The same legislation was approved with bipartisan majorities in the Senate and House of Representatives during 2007 but subsequently vetoed by then President George W Bush on ethical grounds. Bush had already vetoed the Stem Cell Research and Enhancement Act of 2005 in July 2006.

An executive order passed by Bush in August 2001 severely restricted federal funding for stem cell research involving human embryos by confining it to the 21 embryonic stem cell lines then available for study. According to Harkin and Specter, these lines were grown with mouse cells, “an outdated method that raises concerns about contamination”.

Last month the Coalition for the Advancement of Medical Research (CAMR) wrote to President Obama expressing concern over media reports that an executive order lifting the current restrictions on federal funding would need to be co-ordinated with legislation.

“We strongly advise you to issue a straightforward Executive Order that simply reverses President Bush’s policy and calls on the National Institutes of Health to issue appropriate guidelines,” the CAMR said. “Follow-on legislation that codifies an Executive Order may be appropriate but, in the interest of timing and clarity of policy, the two do not need to be linked.”

Launching the revived bill, Iowa Democrat Harkin commented: “President Obama has promised to lift the restrictions on embryonic stem cell research that were put in place by President Bush, and I hope and expect that he will do so soon, but we have to make sure that the freedom to pursue this research is also protected by Federal law, not merely by an executive order that can be reversed during a future administration”.

Specter, the Republican Senator for Pennsylvania, added that the bill was “necessary to codify this important policy change so that it does not ping-pong back and forth with each successive President. A legislative fix to the current restrictions is a more complete solution to ensure that medical research is pursued with all possible haste to cure the diseases and maladies affecting Americans.”

The Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act is co-sponsored by Senators Ted Kennedy (Democrat, Massachusetts), Orrin Hatch (Republican, Utah) and Dianne Feinstein (Democrat, California).
By Peter Mansell

PharmaTimes | Industry News | Clinical News | US embryonic stem cell legislation back on the table

gardens · 03-03-2009, 07:11 PM

both great articles

It would be really interesting to see where they go with this I know that some Americans will be pounding down the door for this if they can figure out how to do this with Fat cells instead of skin

imagine going in as Devito and coming out as The Terminator (I know I have dreams and that it'll take a century but there is hope)

Lets hope we don't have to depend on insurance for to long
though if Stem Cells become to effective what will that do to our disaster/sad movie industry

It's nice to know that there is still hope for the terminal
(no longer have those long waiting lists for organs)

gump · 03-04-2009, 08:17 AM

As a paralyzed person myself this is great news. The idea that one's own cells can be reengineered as stem cells is very exciiting. I hope this research continues with success.

03-02-2009, 07:39 PM	#2 (permalink)
QuasiMondo Wise-ass Latino Location: Pretoria (Tshwane), RSA	That is great. It would be even greater once we convince insurance companies to cover such treatments and not deny it on the grounds that it's 'experimental' __________________ Cameron originally envisioned the Terminator as a small, unremarkable man, giving it the ability to blend in more easily. As a result, his first choice for the part was Lance Henriksen. O. J. Simpson was on the shortlist but Cameron did not think that such a nice guy could be a ruthless killer. -From the Collector's Edition DVD of The Terminator

03-02-2009, 07:51 PM	#3 (permalink)
grumpyolddude Deliberately unfocused Location: Amazon.com and CDBaby	I'd heard a report about this on the radio this morning. Outstanding news... and this does have the potential to skewer most opposition to the research. My mother-in-law suffers terrible from Parkinson-like tremors, and I've read that QW's dysphonia is genetically related to her mother's malady. If stem cell research can find viable treatments or even cure these conditions... full steam ahead, researchers! __________________ "Regret can be a harder pill to swallow than failure .With failure you at least know you gave it a chance..." David Howard

03-03-2009, 07:11 PM	#5 (permalink)
gardens Tilted Location: Kolob	both great articles It would be really interesting to see where they go with this I know that some Americans will be pounding down the door for this if they can figure out how to do this with Fat cells instead of skin imagine going in as Devito and coming out as The Terminator (I know I have dreams and that it'll take a century but there is hope) Lets hope we don't have to depend on insurance for to long though if Stem Cells become to effective what will that do to our disaster/sad movie industry It's nice to know that there is still hope for the terminal (no longer have those long waiting lists for organs)

03-04-2009, 08:17 AM	#6 (permalink)
gump Addict Location: TN	As a paralyzed person myself this is great news. The idea that one's own cells can be reengineered as stem cells is very exciiting. I hope this research continues with success.