Harvard Begins Human
Embryonic Stem Cell Research - University Will Use Private Funds to
Bypass Funding Ban on Cloning - Diabetes Leukemia
June 7th 2006
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Daley - Melton -
Eggan |
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Researchers from Harvard University have begun experiments using Somatic
Cell Nuclear Transfer (SCNT) to create disease-specific stem cell
lines. It is hoped this research will be useful in developing
treatments for a wide range of now-incurable conditions afflicting tens
of millions of people.
The school believes this is the first noncommercial effort in the United
States to use human embryonic stem cells in a series of experiments
whose principle has already been proven in animals. It is hoped that
the research will lead to treatments or cures for blood diseases like
leukemia and possibly diabetes.
The Bush administration has banned the use of government money to
support human embryonic stem cell research, but Harvard, the world’s
richest university, after two years has decided to fund the project
privately.
The work will be separated into groups. One group, headed by Douglas
Melton, co-director of the Harvard Stem Cell Institute, will focus their
efforts on diabetes. Assistant Professor Kevin Eggan, of the FAS
Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, plans to initially work
with Melton, but then will begin work on neurodegenerative diseases,
such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) - better known as Lou
Gehrig's disease.
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Harvard Medical School Associate Professor George Daley of Children's
Hospital Boston, has already begun some experiments. Back in 2002 his
team demonstrated, in a mouse model, the feasibility of using SCNT to
treat immune deficiency. Daley will now focus on blood disorders.
The researchers will seek to clone embryos using cells from patients
with these disorders and then create "disease-specific" colonies of
embryonic stem cells that can be used to develop new treatments. They
hope to create the new human stem cell lines from surplus IVF embryos.
The Harvard Stem Cell Institute (HSCI) is a unique collaborative effort
that includes 99 principal investigators and hundreds of additional
scientists in laboratories at Harvard University and at many of
Harvard's affiliated hospitals. They are dedicated to converting
science from the laboratory bench to treatments “as quickly as
possible”.
Harvard University President Lawrence H. Summers said “While we
understand and respect the sincerely held beliefs of those who oppose
this research, we are equally sincere in our belief that the
life-and-death medical needs of countless suffering children and adults
justifies moving forward with this research."
Dan Wilson
Best Syndication
Books on Genetics
Keywords and misspellings:
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