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Science Stem cells produced without destroying embryo
Science Stem cells produced without destroying embryo | Stem cells produced without destroying embryo |
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| Written by William Atkins | |
| Sunday, 13 January 2008 | |
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In their experiment, the ACT researchers, headed by Robert Lanza, let a fertilized mouse egg divide three times (one cell to two cells; two to four; and four to eight). With eight cells inside the egg (at the stage before a cell mass, called a blastocyst, becomes implanted in the womb—or the embryonic stage), they remove one cell and, then, let the remaining seven cells grow normally just like the eight-cell egg would nominally grow. They state that the removal of one cell did not change the way the seven-cell egg developed when compared to the eight-cell egg. In fact, it was stated that one cell is already used as a test called preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD, also called Embryo Screening), which is used to evaluate for genetic defects within the human embryo. It is being reported that the PGD test has been shown not to affect the development of the seven-cell egg any differently than the eight-cell egg. If this technique can be applied successfully to humans, then it could provide scientists with a new source of cells and allow children born using the PGD test to have the one cell divide once—using one cell for the test and the other cell for growing embryonic stem cells to combat future degenerate diseases . Their technique could remove, or at least reduce, the debate in human stem cell research as to the destruction of embryos in stem cell research. The technique has not yet won over all the stem cell opponents because some say the preimplantation genetic diagnosis test is also unethical. A well-written article “Stem Cell Test Tried on Mice Saves Embryo” on the Advanced Cell Technology website, from The New York Times, discusses the Lanza method, named after Robert Lanza, chief scientific officer at Advanced Cell Tehnology, a biotechnology company based in Worcester, Massachusetts. Robert Lanza states the possible future of his technique, “It could be used to increase the number of stem cell lines available to federal researchers immediately. We could send these cells out to researchers tomorrow. If the White House approves this new methodology, researchers could effectively double or triple the number of stem cell lines available within a few months. Too many needless deaths continue to occur while this research is being held up. I hope the President will act now and approve these stem cell lines quickly.” [Advanced Cell Technology press release: “Advanced Cell Technology Announces Creation of Human Embryonic Stem Cell Lines Without the Destruction of Embryos”] The January 2008 paper “Human Embryonic Stem Cell Lines Generated without Embryo Destruction” performed by Lanza and his colleagues at ACT was published in the journal Cell Stem Cells. Co-authors of the paper are: Young Chung, Irina Klimanskaya, Sandy Becker, Tong Li, Marc Maserati, Shi-Hiang Lu, Tamera Zdravkovic, Dusko Ilic, Olga Genbacev, Susan Fisher, and Ana Krtolica. The pdf version of the article can be downloaded from the following website: http://www.advancedcell.com/scientific-papers/. {moscomment}
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