Stem Cell Politics

1
Stem Cell Politics

• Erika Korinke
• UW AMSA
• 2.12.07

2
Stem Cell Basics

• Unspecialized cells with virtually limitless
  undifferentiating regenerative capacity
• Can be stimulated to differentiate to desired
  tissue (mechanism still in progress)
• May be used in cell replacement treatments to
  cure many terminal illnesses
• Diabetes
• Parkinsons disease
• Alzheimers disease
• Severe burns
• Arthritis
• Heart disease
• Potential uses in organ-specific drug testing

3
Embryonic Stem Cells

• Pros
• All are pleuripotent and easy to culture
• Readily available purposes of cell replacement
  therapy

• Cons
• Ethics are debatable
• Funding
• Possible legal ramifications in the future?

Neurons derived from hESCs
4
Adult Stem Cells

• Pros
• Plasticity
• Patient specific stem cell therapy
• Some results already established

• Cons
• Difficulty maintaining undifferentiated cultures
• Limited supply of cells per organ cell
  replacement therapy again
• Limited sites in the body

5
Moral Dilemmas Associated with hESC
research

• More conservative view
• Creation of human life occurs at conception
• Sanctity of life
• Argument for abortion or reproductive cloning
• False representation of results and hopes for
  future applications
• no such thing as excess life

• More liberal view
• A cluster of cells in a dish does not represent
  life cannot develop on its own
• Otherwise useless embryos would be discarded
  anyway (waste!)
• Healing potential of research more important that
  ethical concerns

Courtesy of www.theonion.com
6
President Bushs Policy (2001)

• Provide funding for the cell lines created before
  Aug 9, 2001
• Reproductive purposes - no longer needed
• Informed consent of donation without financial
  incentive
• Fund other forms of stem cell research (250
  million in 2001)
• Adult stem cells
• Umbilical cord stem cells
• Animal stem cells
• His question should I allow federal funds, your
  tax dollars, to be used for scientific research
  on stem cells derived from human embryos ?

7
State Response

• California
• Prop 71 promised 3 BILLION over the next 10
  years for hESC research
• Drawing the best and brightest in the field
• Illinois
• Surcharge on cosmetic surgery potential
• 1 billion over the next 10 years
• New Jersey
• 150 million to build Stem Cell Institute
• 230 million to fund the research over the next 7
  years

8
World Policy

• European Commission
• Funds established hESC lines throughout the
  continent
• Just as patchwork as state-by-state policies in
  the U.S.
• United Kingdom
• hESCs created specifically for research (or from
  IVF)
• Laborious approval process
• Sweden
• hESCs from IVF
• SCNT (somatic cell nuclear transfer)
• Israel
• hESCs from IVF
• No egg donation (ie no SCNT)
• Germany
• Heavy paperwork most restrictive country in
  Europe
• Payments to European Commission are funneled to
  more liberal countries, indirectly paying for
  research that it deems illegal
• Makes collaboration very difficult between
  countries

9
Resources

• Bush, George. "President Discusses Stem Cell
  Research." The Bush Ranch, Crawford, TX. 9 Aug.
  2001. 3 Feb. 2007 lthttp//www.whitehouse.govgt.
• Okie, Susan. "Stem-Cell Politics." The New
  England Journal of Medicine 355 (2006)
  1633-1637. 7 Feb. 2007 lthttp//www.nejm.orggt.
• Russo, Eugene. "Follow the Money -- the Politics
  of Embryonic Stem Cell Research." PLoS Biology 3
  (2005) 1167-1171. 9 Feb. 2007 lthttp//www.plosbio
  logy.orggt.
• United States of America. National Institutes of
  Health. Stem Cell Information. 20 Dec. 2006. 3
  Feb. 2007 lthttp//stemcells.nih.govgt.