Five years after Michigan vote on human embryonic stem …

Posted: August 26, 2016 at 1:47 pm

ANN ARBOR, Mich. Five years ago this month, Michigan voters opened the door for a full range of stem cell research in the state. Today, that effort is well under way at the University of Michigan, and yielding results that are expanding knowledge of a wide range of diseases.

The Michigan ballot initiative approved in 2008 amended the state constitution, and allowed for the first time the production of new human embryonic stem cell (hESC) lines in Michigan.

Since that approval, U-M founded what is now known as the MStem Cell Laboratories, based in the Medical School, to derive hESCs using donated embryos that would otherwise have been discarded by couples undergoing fertility treatment.

U-M also established a framework and oversight panel to guide this work under the appropriate state and federal statutes and regulations.

In less than three years, the research has flourished, and researchers from U-M and other institutions are able to use U-M-derived hESCs in their work.

At the same time, a broad range of other stem cell research continues at U-M, including research on adult and induced pluripotent stem cells, cancer stem cells, and treatments and clinical trials based on delivering stem cells into the body. This includes a Phase II clinical trial investigating the use of stem cells in patients with Lou Gehrigs disease.

Weve been working hard to do what the people of Michigan asked us to do -- and were starting to see benefits in terms of scientific discoveries being made, says Gary Smith, Ph.D., who directs the MStem Cell lab and is a professor of obstetrics and gynecology; molecular and integrative physiology; and urology. He notes that hESC work and other types of stem cell work complement one another.

Key facts about human embryonic stem cell research at U-M since 2008s vote:

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Five years after Michigan vote on human embryonic stem ...

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