Stem Cells:

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Stem Cells The Science, Ethics, and
Funding Leah Necas Journal Club
Discussion 4/22/05 This image depicts a colony
of human embryonic stem cells grown over a period
of 10 months in the absence of mouse feeder
cells. The cell nuclei are stained green the
cell surface appears in red.
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Microscopic 5x view of a colony of
undifferentiated human embryonic stems cells
being studied in developmental biologist James
Thomson's research lab. The embryonic stem cell
colonies are the rounded, dense masses of cells.
The flat, elongated cells in between the
embryonic stem cell colonies are fibroblasts that
are used as a "feeder layer" on which the
embryonic stem cells are grown. (Source
University of Wisconsin-Madison.)
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Derived from human embryonic stem cells,
precursor neural cells grow in a lab dish and
generate mature neurons (red) and glial cells
(green), in the lab of UW-Madison stem cell
researcher and neurodevelopmental biologist
Su-Chun Zhang.
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Stem Cell Basics Stem Cells are
undifferentiated i.e. They don't have a specific
function like a red blood cell, muscle cell,
nerve cell, etc. Can proliferate in culture
for prolonged periods of time as long as they
aren't allowed to differentiate, gaining the
reputation of being immortal Can become any
differentiated cell
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Embryonic Stem Cells ESC come from embryos
developed in vitro, outside of the body The
embryos are 3-5 days old and are known as
blastocysts, a hollow sphere of 150 cells
Grown on a culture in a dish where the inner
surface is coated with mouse feeder cells
used as a substrate for ESC to grow on and gain
nutrients Becomes a cell line that is
watched to make sure they remain undifferentiated
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Stem Cells Hopes Learn how a cell becomes
differentiated and may learn how cancer grows
this is thought to be done through turning on and
off certain genes New medications could be
tested on cell lines, keeping humans safe from
risky medicines Cells could be used to become
various tissues and organs needed by patients for
transplants. Parkinson's and Alzheimer's
diseases, spinal cord injury, stroke, burns,
heart disease, diabetes, osteoarthritis, and
rheumatoid arthritis.
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Stem Cells Drawbacks Understanding what forces
the cell to turn off and on certain genes for
differentiation is still unknown Control and
consistency of differentiation into specific,
identical cell types for drug testing is not yet
possible Clinical studies of stem cell-derived
tissues in humans is still very far away
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Stem Cell History (very short) 1995-
scientists at UW-M isolate ESC from rhesus
monkies 1998- J. Thomson reports the isolation
of human ESC 2001- The U.S. Patent Office
assigns Patent No. 6,200,806, covering human
embryonic stem cell technology, to WARF 2001-
President Bush allows federal money to go to stem
cell research on cell lines prior to speech
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Recent Stem Cell Research 2/17/05- UW-M
announced the production of stem cells without
mouse feeder cells, one possible source of
contamination (still has bovine serum)
3/16/05- Roslin Institute produces stem cells
without any animal contamination 4/20/05-
Autonomous University of Madrid find that adult
stem cells may pose a cancer threat (ESCs were
already known to be one)
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Stem Cell Politics Ethics
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Stem Cell Politics Ethics Bush's 2001
proposed amount- 250 million managed by the
National Institues of Health New Jersey, in
2004, created the first state-funded stem cell
research center with 11.5 million Proposition
71 (2004) - 3 billion (12 x Bush's) for the
creation of the California Institute for
Regenerative Medicine (CIRM), a 29-person
citizens' committee Cloning prohibited in ND,
SD, IA, AR, MI

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Stem Cells Major groups holding out Juvenile
Diabetes Research Foundation International
American Parkinson Disease Association The
Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's
Research National Spinal Cord Injury
Association Will they see results in this
lifetime (as they would like to)?

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Stem Cells Questions to debate Is it ethical
to use embryos from in vitro fertilization? Is
it reasonable to sink so much money into the
research? Could their replication become
dangerous in humans? Are the media, political
groups, and health organizations hyping the
issue? Can journals publish results illegal in
certain countries? How should political
policies be changed? Does it sound like
hocus-pocus? Do we want to be immortal?

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More Info University of Wisconsin-Madison http
//www.news.wisc.edu/packages/stemcells/ The
National Institutes of Health http//stemcells.ni
h.gov/index.asp