Category Archives: Stem Cell Research

I thought the TED Talk on stem cell research with Susan Solomon was very boring and was hard to watch. I think that she made some good points about stem cells, and showed how significant they could be in helping to solve different diseases in the future, but I dont think she was enthusiast enough for a TED Talk. I also do not think she did a good job explaining whatstem cells were, orhow they work. She did show different graphics to help explain her points, but I do not think an audience who had little background on the subject would be able to follow the pictures. Unless the entire audience were experts on the subject, I think they would have a very hard time following the presentation. Stem cell research is a very complicated topic, and I dont think this speaker did a very good job of explaining the topic, orkeeping the audience engaged.

Although I did not enjoy the TED Talk, I did think the 60 Minute documentary was interesting. I was very surprised that there are people who are selling stem cells online, and when the cells reach the United States, they are dead and harmful to patients. I also liked that the 60 Minute followed a family who has twins, with one twin who has cerebral palsy. This family was featured on the show because they had contacted a doctor who said he could help their son with cerebral palsy by using stem cells. After the family met with the doctor, 60 Minutes was able to question the doctor about his stem cell treatments. Although they were not able to charge this particular doctor, they have been able to catch doctors who have been promoting stem cell therapy in the past.

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Stem Cell Research | Catelyn Hill

Introduction

Are conservatives more concerned about a tiny clump of cells than the suffering of their fellow human beings? Is embryonic stem cell research (ESCR) really the cure-all for countless diseases? If you haven't kept up with the science involved in ESCR, this paper will jump-start your knowledge of the issues.

Embryonic stem cell research is a hot topic that seems to pit anti-abortion conservatives against pro-abortion liberals. The conservatives claim that there are better alternatives to embryonic stem cells, while the liberals claim that conservatives are blocking research that will provide cures to many tragic diseases. Much of the rhetoric is designed to muddy the waters to invoke emotional responses of those within each camp. This paper is designed to break through sound-bites and go the heart of the matter - what are the scientific issues that impact the question of stem cell research.

Much of what is promoted as being news is actually an oversimplification of the issues. Many news articles about stem cell research never distinguish between the kind of stem cell research that is being promoted. For example, the media often reports of breakthrough treatment for patients without mentioning that, in all cases, the source of stem cells is adult tissues. We know this to be true, because embryonic stem cells have never been used in human patients, and won't likely be used in the near future (see reasons, below).

Stem cells are classified as being pluripotent or multipotent. Stem cells that are pluripotent are capable of forming virtually all of the possible tissue types found in human beings. These stem cells can only be found in a certain stage (a blastocyst) in human embryos. Multipotent stem cells are partially differentiated, so that they can form a limited number of tissue types. Multipotent stem cells can be found in the fetus, in umbilical cord blood, and numerous adult tissues. A summary of this information can be found in the Table 1.

A list of the sources of stem cells, along with their advantages and disadvantages can be found in Table 2.

Although the controversy of stem cell research is only recent, research first began in the 1960's. The primary source of early human stem cells was adult bone marrow, the tissue that makes red and white blood cells. Since scientists realized that bone marrow was a good source of stem cells, early transplants were initiated in the early 1970's to treat diseases that involved the immune system (genetic immunodeficiencies and cancers of the immune system). Bone marrow-derived stem cell therapy has been extremely successful, with dozens of diseases being treated and cured through the use of these adult stem cells. However, because the donor tissue type must be closely matched to the patient, finding a compatible donor can be problematic. If you haven't already done so, you should become part of the Bone Marrow Registry.

With the advent of animal cloning, scientists had thought that patient-specific human cloning might provide cures without the tissue incompatibility problems usually associated with transplants. Specific stem cells, developed using clones genetically identical to the patient, would integrate optimally into the patient's body. Although ideal in theory, problems associated with human cloning have been quite formidable. After many years of trying to produce human clones, a South Korean group claimed to have done so in 2004,2 followed by a claim that they had produced patient-specific clones. However, subsequent questions revealed that all the research was fraudulent. Contrary to the original claims, the researchers failed to produce even one clone after over 2,000 attempts. Although a number of labs are working on producing human clones, none have succeeded - even after several years of additional attempts. At a cost of $1,000-$2,000 just to produce each human egg,3 therapeutic cloning would easily cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, if not more, for each patient. Therefore, these kinds of therapies would only be available to the wealthy, assuming the technical difficulties will eventually be eliminated.

Three separate groups of researchers showed recently that normal skin cells can be reprogrammed to an embryonic state in mice.4 The fact that these iPS cells were pluripotent was proved by producing fetuses derived entirely from these transformed skin cells. Just five months after the mouse study was published, the feat was repeated by two separate laboratories using human skin cells.5 The ability to produce embryonic stem cell-like lines from individual patients removes the possibility of tissues rejection and avoids the high costs and moral problems associated with cloned embryos. Dr. Shinya Yamanaka, one of the study leaders later commented, "When I saw the embryo, I suddenly realized there was such a small difference between it and my daughters... I thought, we cant keep destroying embryos for our research. There must be another way." The moral problem of destroying a human embryo encouraged Dr. Yamanaka to pursue a more ethical way to generate human stem cell lines. See the full report.

Stem cells have been promoted as a cure for numerous diseases in the popular press, although the reality of the science suggests otherwise. For example, claims that stem cells might cure Alzheimers disease are certainly untrue. According to Michael Shelanski, Taub Institute for Research on Alzheimer's Disease and the Aging Brain (Columbia University Medical Center), I think the chance of doing repairs to Alzheimer's brains by putting in stem cells is small. Ronald D.G. McKay, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke says, To start with, people need a fairy tale.6 Stem cell research is widely promoted as a possible cure for type I and type II diabetes. However, these diseases involve the destruction of islet pancreatic cells by the patient's immune system. Even if tissue-compatible islet cells can be produced, transplanting them into a patient will be a very temporary cure, since the patient's immune system will attack the transplant in short order. So, a total cure for diabetes might have to involve a total immune compartment replacement (with its risks), in addition to an islet cell transplant. Parkinsons disease is another disease that is often mentioned as potentially curable through stem cell research. Proponents of ESCR cite studies in which embryonic stem cells produce dopamine in the brain of rats. However, only 50% of the rats had improvement of function and 25% developed brain tumors and died!7 A main problem for ESCR is that these stem cells spontaneously form tumors in virtually all studies that have been conducted to date. In addition, it seems that the number of dopamine-producing neurons declined over time, suggesting that the cure might be just temporary.8

According to many stem cell researchers, embryonic stem cells are the preferred stem cells for cell-based therapies. Although they tend be be more versatile than adult stem cells, other sources (including umbilical cord stem cells) have proven to be just as versatile.1 The same properties that make embryonic stem cells so versatile are also the properties that make them unusable for therapy. Unless completely differentiated prior to use in patients, these cells will migrate throughout the body to produce tumors. Experiments performed in mice and rats have shown that spontaneous tumor formation is a persistent problem.7-9 Maintaining and growing embryonic stem cell lines has also been problematic. Some of these lines have mutated, making them unusable in patients.10 The main problem with embryonic stem cell research is the problem is tissue incompatibility.11 Millions of lines must be established in order to serve a significant percentage of potential patients. The use of autologous adult stem cells (cells from the patient) eliminates the problems with tumorogenesis, mutation, and tissue incompatibility. However, since such individualized therapies could not be patented, the pharmaceutical companies have no financial incentives to pursue such therapies. In contrast, embryonic stem cell lines could be patented. Since millions of lines would be required to serve all the different tissue types of patients, pharmaceutical companies could charge a fortune for each patented line they produced. Scientists and research facilities that produced such lines would also reap large financial benefits. The highly favorable financial aspect of embryonic stem cell research is one of the main driving forces behind the push to fund this research.

The problems involved with embryonic stem cell therapies are so formidable that renowned neurosurgeon Dr. Keith Black remarked in 2004 (during California's Proposition 71 stem cell campaign) that his lab would pursue only adult stem cell research. In fact, his group (the Maxine Dunitz Neurosurgical Institute at Cedars-Sinai) recently announced that they had converted adult stem cells into neural stem cells.12

Human embryonic stem cell research has been promoted as being the best way to pursue cell-based therapies for a number of diseases. Although embryonic stem cells are the most versatile type of stem cells, they are unacceptable for therapy because they spontaneously form tumors when transplanted into a compatible host. Embryonic stem cells also suffer from the usual tissue compatibility problems associated with donor transplants. The proposed solution to tissue compatibility problems, therapeutic cloning, is technically challenging (i.e., it hasn't been accomplished yet) and fiscally prohibitive (costs on the order of hundreds of thousands of dollars per patient). In contrast to embryonic stem cell technologies, adult stem cells have been used to treat dozens of diseases, with the list growing every year. Pursuing this technology would eliminate the tissue rejection problems associated with embryonic stem cells, and the high cost associated with therapeutic cloning. A new technique involving reprogramming of adult skin cells (iPS) has proved feasible, producing pluripotent ESC-like stem cells, potentially from individual patients. However, because individualized adult stem cell therapies cannot be patented, this research does not appeal to biotech companies and scientists and research centers seeking royalty payments for patents. With the announcement that embryonic stem cell-like lines can be produced by reprogramming adult human skin cells, the potential usefulness of embryonic stem cell research has been lost for many stem cell researchers, as they are now pursuing the new technology, which will be cheaper and provide fewer problems for use in patient-directed therapies.

http://www.godandscience.org/doctrine/stem_cell_research.html Last Modified March 31, 2009

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What is Wrong With Embryonic Stem Cell Research?

On the very first day of the fall session, the House took up and passed vital legislation authored by U.S. Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) to continue Americas bone marrow and cord blood donor registry.

Sponsored by Smith with lead co-sponsor Rep. Doris Matsui (D-CA), the Stem Cell Therapeutic and Research Reauthorization Act of 2015, H.R. 2820, ensures that two collaborative programs that support treatment and therapies derived from adult stem cell lines will not expire at the end of the federal fiscal year, Sept. 30. Under the legislation, the C.W. Bill Young Cell Transplantation Program will be authorized for 5 years at $30 million annually, while the National Cord Blood Inventory is authorized at $23 million annually for a 5 year period.Smith authored the original law (The Stem Cell Therapeutic and Research Act of 2005P.L. 109-129) that created the national cord blood program and expanded the C.W. Bill Young Cell Transplantation Program.

Breathtaking scientific breakthroughs have turned medical wastepost birth placentas and umbilical cord blood into medical miracles treating more than 70 diseases including leukemia, lymphoma and sickle cell anemia, said Smith. Not only has God in His wisdom and goodness created a placenta and umbilical cord to nurture and protect the precious life of an unborn child, but now we know that another gift awaits us immediately after birth. Something very special is left behindcord blood that is teeming with lifesaving stem cells. Click here to read Smiths floor statement.

The Senate must now take up the House bill before the September 30 deadline.

First passed in 2005, the original legislation established a nationwide integrated bone marrow and cord blood stem cell transplantation program. Stem cells derived from cord blood and bone marrow have been used successfully to treat tens of thousands of patients with such diseases as leukemia and sickle cell anemia, and genetic disorders. The enactment of H.R. 2820 will continue to build these donor networks, thus enabling more people to have access to these lifesaving treatments.

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Smith said that with the House taking such quick action to approve the bill, it is demonstrating a commitment to support lifesaving treatment.

It remains one of the best kept secrets in America that umbilical cord blood stem cells and adult stem cells in general are curing people of a myriad of terrible conditions and diseases in adults as well as children. Cord blood, what was once seen as medical waste, is now making miracles, Smith said.

Smith, who is also the founding co-chair of the Autism Caucus said the bill will ensure that thousands of present-day and future patients benefit from the exciting field of regenerative medicine.

At a House hearing on the bill earlier this summer Dr. Joanne Kurtzberg of Duke University testified that she and others are developing uses for cord blood to treat acquired brain disorders. Over the past six years she said we have initiated trials of autologous (the patients own) cord blood in babies with birth asphyxia, cerebral palsy, hearing loss and autism.

The bill has the support of the National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP), as well as the Cord Blood Association and the Robertson Clinical and Translational Cell Therapy program at Duke University.

Americans willing to volunteer are the heart of the success of this program, Smith said. In reauthorizing it we are grateful for the adult donors willing to provide bone marrow or peripheral blood stem cells, as well as mothers who donate their babies cord blood through public cord blood banks.

There are 13 public banks contracted through NCBI, including the New Jersey Cord Blood Bank, which collects cord blood from 5 participating hospitals.

The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) estimates that every year about 12,600 people depend on the programs made available by this law to find an unrelated adult marrow donor or cord blood unit for treatment.

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House Passes Pro-Life Bill to Fund Adult Stem Cell ...

Overview

The University of Michigan has recently emerged as a national leader in the three main types of stem cell research: embryonic, adult, and reprogrammed cells known as iPS stem cells. Read more about U-M's stem cell research

Stem cells: Second frontier unfolds in U-M stem cell work, 01/18/2015

Five years after Michigan vote on human embryonic stem cells, U-M effort is in full swing

UM researcher uses stem cells to fight Alzheimer's, 11/11/2014

Stem cells: Five years ago, this would have been impossible

Epilepsy in a dish: Stem cell research reveals clues to disease's origins and may aid search for better drugs

U-M start-up OncoMed has initial public offering

Divide and define: Clues to understanding how stem cells produce different kinds of cells

Spring cleaning in your brain: U-M stem cell research shows how important it is, 4/10/2013

Cells culled from adults may grow human bone, 4/2/2013

Beyond stem cells: U-M's Yamashita receives Keck award, 2/4/2013

Stem cells + nanofibers = promising nerve research, 11/7/2012

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University of Michigan Stem Cell Research

Pros And Cons in Research

The debate of the pros and cons of stem cell research clearly illustrate the difficult ethics evaluations researchers sometimes must do.

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All scientists must consider whether the positive effects from their research are likely to be significantly higher than the negative effects.

Stem Cells are crucial to develop organisms. They are nonspecialized cells which have the potential to create other types of specific cells, such as blood-, brain-, tissue- or muscle-cells.

Stem cells are in all of our body and lives, but are far more potent in a fetus (also spelled foetus, ftus, faetus, or ftus) than in an adult body.

Some types of stem cells may be able to create all other cells in the body. Others have the potential to repair or replace damaged tissue or cells.

Embryonic Stem Cells are developed from a female egg after it is fertilized by sperm. The process takes 4-5 days.

Stem cell research is used for investigation of basic cells which develop organisms. The cells are grown in laboratories where tests are carried out to investigate fundamental properties of the cells.

There are stem cells in the both placenta and blood contained in the placenta. Also the primary source of stem cells is from blastocysts. These are fertilized human eggs that were not implanted into a woman.

The controversy surrounding stem cell research led to an intense debate about ethics. Up until the recent years, the research method mainly focused on Embryonic Stem Cells, which involves taking tissue from an aborted embryo to get proper material to study. This is typically done just days after conception or between the 5th and 9th week.

Since then, researchers have moved on to more ethical study methods, such as Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells (iPS). iPS are artificially derived from a non-pluripotent cell, such as adult somatic cells.

This is probably an important advancement in stem cell research, since it allows researchers to obtain pluripotent stem cells, which are important in research, without the controversial use of embryos.

There were two main issues concerning stem cell research with both pros and cons:

The first issue is really not just about stem cell research, as it may be applied to most research about human health.

Since 2007, the second point, concerns about the methods involved, has been less debated, because of scientific developments such as iPS.

As you will most probably notice, the following arguments are not exclusively in use when talking about stem cell research.

Stem cell research can potentially help treat a range of medical problems. It could lead humanity closer to better treatment and possibly cure a number of diseases:

Better treatment of these diseases could also give significant social benefits for individuals and economic gains for society

The controversy regarding the method involved was much tenser when researchers used Embryonic Stem Cells as their main method for stem cell research.

DISCLAIMER: These points are based on the old debate about the methods of stem cells research, from before 2007. Since then, scientists have moved on to use more ethical methods for stem cell research, such as iPS. This section serves as an illustration of the difficult evaluations researchers may have to analyze.

The stem cell-research is an example of the, sometimes difficult, cost-benefit analysis in ethics which scientists need to do. Even though many issues regarding the ethics of stem cell research have now been solved, it serves as a valuable example of ethical cost-benefit analysis.

The previously heated debate seems to have lead to new solutions which makes both sides happier.

Stem Cell pros and cons had to be valued carefully, for a number of reasons.

When you are planning a research project, ethics must always be considered. If you cannot defend a study ethically, you should not and will not be allowed to conduct it. You cannot defend a study ethically unless the presumed cost is lower than expected benefits. The analysis needs to include human/animal discomfort/risks, environmental issues, material costs/benefits, economy etc.

Why was the debate regarding the stem cell research so intense?

First, it was a matter of life - something impossible to measure. And in this case, researchers had to do exactly that: measure life against life.

Both an abortion and someone dying, suffering from a possible curable disease, is a tragedy. Which have the highest value? Does a big breakthrough in the research justify the use of the method in the present?

Would the benefits of studying abortions outweigh the costs? The choice was subjective: Nobody knows all the risks or all the possible outcomes, so we had to value it with our perception of the outcome. Perception is influenced by our individual feelings, morals and knowledge about the issue.

Second, at the time we did not know whether the research was necessary and sufficient to give us the mentioned health benefits.

Third, other consequences of the research are uncertain. Could the research be misused in the future or not? We simply do not know. All knowledge acquired, within research or other arenas, may be used for evil causes in the future - it is impossible to know.

The Stem cell research-debate is an example on how people value various aspects differently. It is also an example of how critics and debate can lead to significant improvements for both sides.

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Stem Cell Research Pros and Cons - Explorable

Americans Support Stem Cell Research

Do you favor or oppose expanding federal funding for research using embryonic stem cells?

Source: A Research!America poll of U.S. adults conducted in partnership with Zogby Analytics in January 2015.

Former President George W. Bush permitted federal funding for embryonic stem (ES) cell research only if the stem cells were obtained from a limited number of previously existing stem cell lines. In 2009, President Barack Obama issued an executive order expanding the opportunities for federally funded ES cell research by permitting the use of ES cells other than those obtained from the previously designated stem cell lines. However, legislation to protect this expansion in research opportunities has not been signed into law, giving future administrations the discretion to curtail or eliminate federally funded stem cell research.

On August 23, 2012, in a decision favorable to proponents of ES cell research, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit upheld a lower court ruling dismissing a lawsuit that challenged the Obama administrations expansion of federal funding ES cell research.

The Supreme Court declined to hear the appeal in an announcement on January 7, 2013. The announcement allows the decision of the appeals court to stand.

Many congressional members in the House and Senate seek to codify the stem cell rules established under President Obamas executive order, preventing future administrations from unilaterally restricting or eliminating federal funding for stem cell research. Bills such as the Stem Cell Research Advancement Act, which would permit funding for research on stem cells derived from embryos produced but ultimately not used for in vitro fertilization, have been regularly introduced in the House and Senate since 2009, but no legislation has been enacted.

The debate over stem cell research continues to be fought at the state level. In March 2015, the Oklahoma House passed a bill banning all ES cell research. This legislation is currently awaiting Senate action. The Oklahoma legislature approved a similar bill in 2009, but failed to override the governors veto.

Timeline of major events in stem cell policy.

Learn more about the science of stem cells.

Access additional resources about advancing stem cell research.

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Stem Cell Research | Research!America

Since the success in 1998 by the University of Wisconsins James Thomson in deriving human embryonic stem cells from embryos, the stem cell research field has exploded.

The discovery by Japans Shinya Yamanaka, MD, PhD,in 2006, of how to transform ordinary adult skin cells into cells that, like embryonic stem cells, are capable of developing into any cell in the human body, has revolutionized stem cell research.

At top, Robert Blelloch, MD, PhD, performs stem cell research. Above,Shinya Yamanaka, MD, PhD, a scientist at the UCSF-affiliated Gladstone Institutes, UCSF and Kyoto University, was recognized for a revolutionary achievement in the field of stem cell science with a Nobel Prize in Medicine in 2012.

In between and since, there has been major progress in scientists understanding of stem cells. Today, fueled in part by the robust research enterprise at UCSF, the field is burgeoning.Yamanaka, a senior investigator at the UCSF-affiliated Gladstone Institutes and a professor of anatomy at UCSF, shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine with John B. Gurdon of the Gurdon Institute in Cambridge, England, in 2012.

In about 125 labs of the Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regeneration Medicine and Stem Cell Research at UCSF one of the largest such programs in the country scientists are carrying out the basic research needed to understand how stem cells could be manipulated to treat diseases, to translate these findings into clinical research and to develop novel therapies.

In studies conducted in the culture dish and in animals, scientists are learning how to prompt stem cells to develop into specialized cells of tissues such as the heart, pancreas and brain. The ultimate goal is to transplant these cells into patients to regenerate damaged tissues.

The scientists also are exploring the use of stem cells as vehicles for delivering drugs into diseased tissues, and are using specialized cells produced by stem cells, such as liver and heart muscle cells, to test the effectiveness of experimental drugs in the culture dish. In addition, they are studying the role of stem cells in generating many forms of cancer, an important first step for targeting the cells for therapies.

The center is structured along seven research pipelines aimed at driving discoveries from the lab bench to clinical care. Each pipeline focuses on a different organ system: the blood, pancreas and liver, heart, reproductive organs, nervous system, musculoskeletal tissues and skin. And each pipeline is overseen by two leaders of international standing one representing the basic sciences and one representing clinical research. The approach has proven successful in the private sector for driving the development of new therapies.

Among the basic science studies being conducted by UCSF investigators are:

Exploring a novel stem cell strategy for treating brain diseases Five UCSF labs are pioneering a novel approach to treating brain diseases and injuries, using a particular type of embryonic stem cell to manipulate the brains neural circuitry. They recently reported the first use of the cells, which mature into neurons, in creating a new period of plasticity, or capacity to change, in the brains of rodents.

The approachcould be used to treat neural circuits disrupted in abnormal fetal or postnatal development, stroke, traumatic brain injury, psychiatric illness, and aging. The labs alsoreportedthe use of the cells in dampening the excitation that occurs in the neural circuits of people with epilepsy and Parkinsons disease. If the research continues to show promise, the team ultimately will attempt to produce the cells in the culture dish from human embryonic stem cells.

Moving in on the cause of adult leukemia Scientists led by Emmanuelle Passegu, PhD, have discovered one key reason why blood stem cells are susceptible to developing the genetic mutations that can lead to adult leukemia. Their finding also may explain, they say, why some other age-related hematological disorders develop. The study opens a new frontier for studying the molecular underpinnings of adult leukemia.

Our discovery also suggests a strategy for reducing the risk of leukemia that results from chemotherapy used to treat solid tumors, says Passegu.Existing drugs, such as G-CSF and prostaglandins, could be used to induce blood stem cells to proliferate prior to the use of therapy with DNA-damaging agents. This could enhance the precision of DNA repair and thus reduce the risk of leukemia development. She is discussing this possible tactic with UCSF clinical researchers.

Obtaining a pure sample of stem cells for treatments Researchers led by Harold Bernstein, MD, PhD, have reported the first success in very rapidly purifying one type of embryonic stem cell from a mix of many different types of embryonic stem cells in the culture dish. The technique, which avoids the need to genetically alter the cells to distinguish them, is a key advance, the researchers say, toward obtaining the appropriate cells for repairing specific damaged tissues.

Identifying a molecular tool to manipulate stem cells and cancers UCSFs Robert Blelloch, MD, PhD, is pioneering studies of microRNAs, molecules that regulate the switch between proliferationand differentiationin both stem cells and cancer. He and others worldwide are excited about the prospect of using microRNAs to manipulate cells at will: either inducing adult cells to de-differentiate to stem cells which could be expanded, manipulated and returned to the patient or promoting differentiation to produce tissues of choice that would remain robustly integrated in the body once reintroduced.

MicroRNAs give us a new tool to manipulate the fate of cells, says Blelloch. The goal is to use them to reprogram adult cells back to an embryonic-like fate, so that they can then be prompted to specialize as specific cell types and be used to repair damaged tissues.

Discovering role of tiny filament in development, birth defects, cancers UCSF scientists led by Jeremy Reiter, MD, PhD, have discovered that primary cilia the tiny filaments extending from cells help orchestrate embryonic development. The finding could lead to insights into the development of stem cells, as well as birth defects and cancers, and thus fuel therapeutic strategies.

In studies in the culture dish and in zebrafish and mouse embryos, the scientists showed that primary cilia play a key role in a form of cell-to-cell communication known as Hedgehog signaling. This molecular pathway helps prompt embryonic and adult stem cells to differentiate into specialized cells, such as those of the brain, pancreas and skin. The finding, says Reiter, will advance scientists efforts to use signaling molecules to direct the differentiation of embryonic stem cells in the culture dish, with the goal of using them to replace or replenish damaged tissues in patients.

Revolutionizing the stem cell fieldthrough a major discovery Shinya Yamanaka, MD, PhD, now a senior investigator at the UCSF-affiliated J. David Gladstone Institute of Cardiovascular Disease, UCSF professor of anatomy and faculty member at Kyoto University, received the 2009 Albert Lasker Basic Medical Research Award often a precursor to the Nobel Prize for his breakthrough in reprogramming adult skin cells back to an embryonic-like state. He named these cells induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells.

The discovery has revolutionized the stem cell field, offering a new frontier for scientists to study embryonic development, the ways diseases develop and how cells respond to experimental drugs. The cells also have become a focus of research for their potential use in regenerating damaged tissues of the body. UCSF scientists Robert Blelloch, MD, PhD, and Miguel Ramalho-Santos, PhD, are leaders in efforts to perfect the technique.

With the February 2011 grand opening of its new headquarters building on the Parnassus campus, the Eli and Edythe Broad Center for Regeneration Medicine at UCSF continues to support a program that extends across all UCSF departments. The facility is constructed on a 60-degree slope, a metaphor for the ongoing political challenges faced by the field and the determination of the UCSF scientific community to pursue the research in spite of these challenges.

The building, a series of split-level floors with terraced grass roofs and solar orientation, consists of open labs that flow into each other, with office and communal areas located on the circulation routes between them. The layout is designed to allow the entire research community in the building to interact, a key to allowing the cross-pollination of ideas that fuels discovery.

The building, which at full capacity will house 25 principal investigators and their teams, will free up space in existing laboratories and offices, allowing for additional recruitments. UCSF has recruited 16 new faculty members to the center in the last three years. The building is located near UCSF Medical Center, symbolizing UCSFs long-term goal of translating basic science research findings into clinical treatments.

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Stem Cells - Research | UC San Francisco

What is a stem cell? A stem cell is an immature cell that has the potential to become specialized into different types of cells throughout the body.

There are two basic types of stem cells: adult stems cells and embryonic stem cells. Embryonic stem cells are produced when a newly fertilized egg begins to divide. These stem cells can become any type of cell in the body.

Adult stem cells somewhat of a misnomer because they can also be found in infants and children are stem cells that reside in already developed tissue. These stem cells can act like a repair system, dividing regularly to provide new specialized cells to take the place of those that die or are lost. Tissues where adult stem cells have been found include the brain, blood, muscle, skin and bone. Research with adult stem cells has been limited due to the difficulty in growing and differentiating them under laboratory conditions.

Why are stem cells important from a medical perspective? For decades, researchers have been studying the biology of stem cells to figure out how development works and to find new ways of treating health problems. Because stem cells can give rise to any tissue found in the body, they provide nearly limitless potential for medical applications.

Current studies are researching how stem cells may be used to prevent or cure diseases and injuries such as Parkinsons disease, type 1 diabetes, heart disease, spinal cord injury, Duchenes muscular dystrophy, Alzheimers disease, strokes, burns, osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, vision, and hearing loss. Stem cells could also be used someday to replace or repair tissue damaged by disease or injury.

How are stem cells being used today? Stem cell procedures currently provide life-saving treatments for patients with leukemia, lymphoma, other blood disorders, and some solid tumors. The three main technologies in use today are:

Adult stem cell transplant: bone marrow stem cells Stem cell technology has been used for more than 20 years in bone marrow transplants, where the patient's bone marrow stem cells are replaced with those from a healthy, matching donor. If the transplant is successful, the stem cells will migrate into the patient's bone marrow and begin producing new, healthy leukocytes to replace the abnormal cells.

Adult stem cell transplant: peripheral blood stem cells (PBSCs) While most blood stem cells reside in the bone marrow, a small number are present in the bloodstream. PBSCs can be obtained from drawn blood, making them easier to collect than bone marrow stem cells. However, PBSCs are sparse in the bloodstream, so collecting enough to perform a transplant can pose a challenge.

Umbilical cord blood stem cell transplant Umbilical cords traditionally have been discarded as a by-product of the birth process. In recent years, however, the stem-cell-rich blood found in the umbilical cord has proven useful in treating the same types of health problems as those treated using bone marrow stem cells and PBSCs.

Where do scientists get stem cells? This is the main area of debate that surrounds this technology. Adult stem cells can be removed from adult tissues with little harmful effect on the individual while embryonic stem cells are derived from multicellular embryos that have been cultured in the laboratory.

Numerous regulatory and ethical constraints exist for the use of embryos in research. There is also a limited number of human embryonic cell lines available for research that meet all criteria for federal funding, but many scientists remain skeptical over the quality of these cells.

Following is a list of current and potential sources of stem cells:

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Basics of Stem Cell Research

What Are Stem Cells?

Stem cells are undifferentiated, or blank, cells that have the potential to develop into cells that serve many different functions in many parts of the body, such as the heart, lungs, and brain. Most cells in the body are differentiated cells. This means that they can only serve a specific function in a particular organ. For example, red blood cells are cells designed specifically to carry oxygen through the blood.

All human beings start out as only one cell. This cell is called a zygote, or a fertilized egg. The zygote divides into two cells, then four cells, and so on. Eventually, the cells begin to specialize and take on the function of a particular part of the body. This process is called differentiation.

Stem cells are cells that have not yet differentiated. They have the ability to divide and make an indefinite number of copies of themselves. Other cells in the body can only replicate a limited number of times before they begin to break down. When a stem cell divides, it can either remain a stem cell, or it can turn into a differentiated cell, such as a muscle cell or a red blood cell.

Since stem cells have the potential to turn into many other types of cells, scientists believe that they can be useful for treating and understanding diseases. Researchers at the Academic Health Center at the University of Minnesota (UMN) believe these cells can be used to:

Embryonic stem cells are stem cells that come from a human embryo. These cells are harvested during a process called in-vitro fertilization, in which an embryo is fertilized in a laboratory instead of inside the female body. These cells can give rise to virtually any other type of cell.

Adult stem cells have a misleading name, because they are also found in infants and children. These stem cells come from already developed organs and tissues in the human body. They are used by the body to repair and replace damaged tissue in the same area in which they are found. For example, hematopoietic stem cells are found in bone marrow and make new red blood cells, white blood cells, and other types of blood cells. Adult stem cells cannot differentiate into as many other types of cells as embryonic stem cells can.

Adult stem cells do not present any ethical problems. However, in recent years there has been controversy about the way human embryonic stem cells are obtained. These cells are harvested through in-vitro fertilization, meaning that the egg is artificially fertilized in a laboratory.

The cells are harvested between five and 14 days after fertilization, when they undergo various testing for research purposes. In the process, the embryo (a fertilized egg that has begun cell division) is destroyed, and this raises ethical concerns for people who believe that destruction of a fertilized embryo is morally wrong.

Opponents believe that an embryo is a living human being, and do not want the fertilized eggs used for research. They believe that the embryo should have the same rights as every other human being and that these rights should be protected.

Supporters of stem cell research believe that the embryos are not yet humans, and note that they receive consent from the donor couple whose eggs and sperm were used to create the embryo. Additionally, supporters argue that the extra fertilized eggs created during IVF would be discarded anyway and might be put to better use for scientific research.

According to the National Institutes of Health, in August 2001, former President George W. Bush approved a law that would provide federal funding for limited research on embryonic stem cells, so long as research fit the following criteria (NIH, 2009):

In March 2009, President Barack Obama revoked President Bushs statement and released Executive Order 13505 entitled Removing Barriers to Responsible Scientific Research Involving Human Stem Cells. The order removed the restrictions on federal funding for stem cell research to allow the NIH to fund research that uses embryonic stem cells.

The NIH then published guidelines to establish the policy under which it would fund research. The guidelines were written to help make sure that all NIH-funded research on human stem cells is morally responsible and scientifically worthy. (NIH, 2009)

Executive Order 13505 can be found here: http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2009-03-11/pdf/E9-5441.pdf

Stem cell research is ongoing at universities, research institutions, government laboratories, and hospitals around the world. Examples of stem cell projects include:

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Stem Cell Research: Uses, Types & Examples - Healthline

Stem cells can give rise to any tissue found in the body and thus provide nearly limitless potential for medical applications (regenerative medicine). Numerous regulatory and ethical constraints exist for this area of research. Debates often focus onthe sourcefrom whichstem cells are derived: embryonicor adult tissues.

To learn more about recent scientific advances in stem cell research and AMA policy in this area, readthe 2003 AMA report entitledCloning and Stem Cell Research. To learn more about the ethical appropriateness of using embryonic stem cells in biomedical research, particularly where stem cells are derived from cloned human embryos, read the 2003 AMA report entitledCloning-for-Biomedical-Research(PDF, 112KB).

For more information on stem cell research, visit the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Stem Cell InformationWeb site.

Basics of stem cell research Questions and answers about stem cell research.

Human cloning Recent advances in applying somatic cell nuclear transfer technology to produce cloned human embryos has raised concerns about human cloning.

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Stem Cell Research - American Medical Association