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Stem Cells Technology, business, & ethics

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Title: Stem Cells Technology, business, & ethics


1
Stem Cells Technology, business, ethics
  • By Steve Mushero
  • www.SteveMushero.com
  • Swedish-American Chamber of Commerce
  • Silicon Vikings

2
Overview
  • A little about Stem Cells
  • What are they good for ?
  • Latest news, cool research
  • Swedish contribution
  • Ethics and the big issues
  • How can we make money ?
  • Future

3
What are stem cells ?
  • Stem Root Source
  • Stem cells are the source of all cells
  • Some stem cells can become any cell type
  • Eventually differentiate to 200 cell types
  • Very complex, poorly understood process
  • Several stages of differentiation
  • Stem, blood, red blood, . . .
  • Reversible ? Yes, no, maybe, perhaps, dont know

4
Where are the Stem Cells ?
  • Two choices Embryo Adult
  • Embryo
  • Start with one single cell - the fertilized egg
    !!
  • Most flexible - can become any cell type
  • Two choices of embryo source
  • Fertilized in the usual way (Man Woman)
  • Cloned (use your own cells)
  • Adult
  • Present in normal tissues, including brain
  • Have significant and poorly understood
    limitations

5
Getting Embryonic Stem Cells
  • Need an embryo
  • Old fashioned way - With egg sperm
  • In Vitro Fertilization
  • Most common
  • Excess embryos (usually dozens created)
  • Never implanted, so not aborted
  • Fetal (Abortion) Used for some RD
  • Therapeutic Cloning
  • More exciting allows use of own cells
  • Needed to eliminate rejection
  • Not reproductive cloning
  • Move in Congress to ban therapeutic cloning

6
Getting Embryonic Stem Cells
  • Egg divides - first 2 cells, then 4, then 8 . . .
  • Becomes Blastocyst
  • Hollow ball with key cells inside
  • Harvest at 3-5 days 30 cells in inner mass
  • Embryo is destroyed in process, key ethical issue
  • Two crucial embryonic cell characteristics
  • Not yet differentiated (pluripotent)
  • Can divide forever (key to culturing)

7
Adult Stem Cells
  • Extracted in VERY small amounts from normal
    tissues
  • Key to avoiding rejection issues your own cells
  • Traditional rejection
  • Graft vs. Host Disease The Stems Attack !
  • Key to avoiding embryonic ethical issues
  • Always partially differentiated (for now)
  • BUT, research points to plasticity
  • Liver stem cells to brain, muscle, and liver
  • Bone marrow to muscle
  • Brain stem cells to blood and muscle
  • Not found in many key organs (Pancreas)
  • Difficult to grow in culture cant mass produce
  • Holy Grail - Is there a real master adult stem
    cell ?

8
Using Stem Cells
  • Reverse damage
  • Central Nervous System (CNS) damage
  • Parkinsons Disease
  • Multiple Sclerosis
  • Heart Damage, Diabetes, Bone/Joint loss
  • Cancer - Bone marrow transplant avoidance
  • Fix genetic problems !!
  • Severe Combined Immune Deficiency (SCID)
  • Chronic Granulomatous Disease (CGD)
  • Make good cells as needed !
  • Make whole organs as needed !
  • Kidney, Liver, Pancreas, maybe a Thumb

9
Recent Research
  • Three ongoing key focal points
  • Understand basic processes, especially
    differentiation
  • Differentiation triggers
  • Expand uses (usually embryonic cloning)
  • Brain Lots of progress, especially in dopamine,
    neurons
  • Blood Lots of immune system work
  • Bones / Joints
  • Pancreas (Diabetes)
  • Liver Cells come from marrow ?
  • Weekly announcements eyes, veins, heart muscle,
    skin
  • Improve Adult Cells - Transdifferentiating /
    Plasticity
  • Found a receptor/protein that limits plasticity
    (GCNF)
  • Stanford found in Sept they cannot make other
    cells from adult blood stem cells
  • How do adult cells work fusion, division
    Cancer risk ??

10
Treatment Progress
  • Modest to date Very early in clinical process
  • Parkinsons injections
  • Mixed, but promising results
  • Last week - Got neural stem cells to make
    dopamine
  • Multiple Sclerosis
  • Treat by killing own rogue stem cells
  • Israel in June
  • 22 month old infant with immune system failure
    (SCID)
  • Cured via repaired bone marry stem cells
  • Mouse research this year
  • Extract and fix cell DNA
  • Clone cells to get embryonic stem cells
  • Inject new stem cells to fix immune system

11
Fixing an Immune System
  • Baby with damaged immune system
  • Remove bone marrow stem cells
  • Fix genetic problem in DNA
  • Culture cells to get useful volume
  • Inject new immune cells into baby
  • Normal immune system results !!
  • Works when you have stem cells
  • Mouse Immune Research - Cloned embryonic cells
  • Remove ANY cell
  • Fix DNA problem
  • Clone cells to produce embryo/blastocyst
  • Harvest stem cells
  • Coax to differentiate into immune cells
  • Inject new cells
  • Crucial when body has no usable stem cells

12
Swedish Stem Cell Research
  • Leading stem cell research center
  • Over 30 teams, 300 people
  • 38 of NIH approved cell lines (25 lines)
  • Main centers - Karolinska, Sahigrenska, Lund
  • Work in all areas embryonic, adult, cloning
  • Legally favorable
  • Therapeutic cloning allowed
  • No embryonic issues
  • Many research firsts
  • Adult neural stem cell discovery
  • First human embryonic stem cell cultures
  • Number 1 or 2 per capita in patents, startups,
    biotechs, RD spending, researchers, funding

13
Swedish Companies
  • Cell Therapeutics Therapies and broad stem cell
    applications
  • Neuronova Adult neural stem cells for
    Parkinsons
  • NsGene Neural stem cell therapies
  • Vitrolife IVR and fertility system supplier

14
Ethics Whats Wrong ?
  • Most issues surround Embryonic Stem Cells
  • Embryo cannot survive cell extraction
  • When does life begin ? What is an Embryo ?
  • Does it matter if its cloned (no sperm) ?
  • Does it matter if not implanted (not aborted) ?
  • Is it okay if IVF embryos discarded anyway ?
  • Abortions also a source and worry
  • Will we harvest humans ?
  • Already having kids for marrow matching
  • But, must abort for stem cells (cord blood ?)

15
President Bush Chooses
  • Balance scientific needs versus ethical
    religious issues
  • Federally funded scientists may work only with
    existing lines
  • Cannot create any new stem cell lines (kill no
    embryos)
  • Bottom Line - 78 cell lines are now in registry
    (27 in USA)
  • 14 approved sources in 6 countries - UCSF has 2
    lines
  • 25 lines in Sweden, mostly in early stages (3
    ready)
  • University of Gotenborg had 50 other Blastocysts,
    but rejected because embryo not yet destroyed
  • 90 of mouse work over 20 years with only 5 lines
  • Controversial
  • Sufficient diversity
  • Quality and purity issues
  • Licensing, access issues
  • Federal funding issue only
  • Allows considerable private research and new
    lines
  • Co-mingling decision Allows mixed use in same
    lab Big deal

16
Business / Future
  • Significant funding for basic research
  • Very International Sweden, US, India, Israel,
    Korea
  • Massive promise in many of the most serious
    diseases
  • Opportunities all along the development tree, in
    many specialties
  • Suppliers, tools, equipment, reagents
  • Stem cell sources (extraction from fat, etc.)
  • Registries for matching (bone marrow)
  • Processes for differentiating
  • Actual therapies using cells (like drugs)
  • Actual therapies targeting cells
  • Entirely new views of the world

17
Future of Stem Cells
  • Immense promise, though much work remains
  • Therapies beginning to emerge SCID, Parkinsons
  • Embryonic cells from cloning
  • No actual embryo, reduced ethical issues
  • Adult stem cells will work eventually
  • Eliminate need for embryonic cells ethical
    issues
  • Tremendous progress with applications
  • Repaired genetic defects, maybe in womb
  • New therapies for non-genetic diseases (Heart)
  • New organs
  • Repairing genetic defects will be common
  • Change brown hair to blonde ? Ethics, ethics,
    ethics . . .

18
Thanks Questions
  • Steve Mushero
  • Steve_at_SteveMushero.com
  • www.SteveMushero.com
  • Swedish American Chamber of Commerce
  • Silicon Vikings
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