Stem Cell Policy Change Likely After Bush
Wednesday, 07 May 2008
Seven years after President Bush blocked most federal funding of embryonic stem cell research, the controversial science is likely to get a fresh look from the next President, no matter who it is.
All three candidates left, Senators Hillary Rodham Clinton, Barack Obama and John McCain, have voted in favour of the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act, which would have provided federal funding for stem cell research, including research using embryonic stem cells left over from fertility treatments. The bill was passed twice by the US congress in 2006 and 2007, but was vetoed both times by President Bush.
Senators Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton both would overturn Bush's restrictions on the research quickly. Senator Hillary Clinton has several times during her campaign said she will immediately overturn President Bush’s executive order restricting the embryonic stem cell research. It is still slightly more uncertain how fast Senator Barack Obama will act, if he becomes president in January next year.
Senator John McCain will, however, be under great pressure from pro-life and conservative groups to change his position on this issue, even though the Arizona Senator twice voted for legislation that would have lifted the limits Bush imposed.
The Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act, based originally on a bill from Rep. Diana DeGette, Democrat from Colorado, would have allowed federal dollars to flow toward research on stem cell lines using embryos left over from in vitro fertilization, intended for disposal and donated by the parents.
"I knew it was only a matter of time," DeGette said of the likely change to The Denver Post.
"But I don't think anymore in this climate it's just enough to reverse the stem cell executive order."
DeGette on Thursday will chair a House subcommittee hearing on stem cell research advances.
DeGette plans to introduce a new stem cell bill, partly because of those advances and partly to lay the groundwork for the new president. She will propose the new legislation will direct federal researchers to launch a "Manhattan Project"-type effort on all stem cell research. The Denver Democrat also wants the National Institutes of Health to create an ethics panel on stem cell science.
DeGette plans to introduce the bill later this year only to assess the support for it, not to press for its passage.
"After two vetoes, President Bush will not sign my bill," she said to The Denver Post.
So far, Senator Hillary Clinton has been the candidate who has expressed the strongest and longest support for embryonic stem cell research.
The Candidates Views on Embryonic Stem Cell Research:
Hillary Rodham Clinton:
"It's time to unlock the potential of stem cell research and put an end to the backwards and restrictive policies of this administration," Clinton said. "Our scientists have been set back years in the race for life-saving cures because they've been held back by a narrow ideology that rejects sound science. As President, I will lift the ban on ethical embryonic stem cell research and allow our scientists to pursue treatments that could help millions of Americans."
Clinton Pledges to Lift Ban on Stem Cell Research as President
6/15/2007
Barack Obama: Fact Sheet on Investing in Science:
Advance Stem Cell Research: Despite recent advances pointing to alternatives like adult stem cell and cord blood, embryonic stem cells remain unmatched in their potential for treatment of a wide variety of diseases and health conditions. Barack Obama has been a long-term supporter of increased stem cell research. He introduced legislation while a member of the Illinois Senate that would allow embryonic stem cell research in Illinois. Obama has cosponsored legislation to allow greater federal government funding on a wider array of stem cell lines. Obama believes we need high ethical standards that allow for research on stem cells derived from embryos produced for in vitro fertilization, embryos that would otherwise be needlessly destroyed.
John McCain:
McCain has reaffirmed his support for embryonic stem cell research, which he said has split abortion foes.
"It's very tough for those of us in the pro-life community," McCain told reporters. "I've prayed a lot about it, but I've come down on the side of support for embryonic stem cell research. It has split the pro-life community."
September 17, 2007 statement to reporters (Published in The Boston Globe).
Legislation:
All three candidates voted in favour of the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act, which would have provided federal funding for stem cell research, including research using embryonic stem cells left over from fertility treatments. The bill was passed twice by the US congress in 2006 and 2007, but was vetoed both times by President Bush.
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ZenMaster
For more on stem cells and cloning, go to CellNEWS at
http://cellnews-blog.blogspot.com/ and
http://www.geocities.com/giantfideli/index.html
Wednesday, 7 May 2008
Stem Cell Policy Change Likely After Bush
Tuesday, 6 May 2008
Embryonic Stem Cell Therapies for Liver, Bone and Cartilage
University of Edinburgh Human Embryonic Stem Cell Program Awarded UK Grant Funding Grant Supports University Collaboration With Geron Corporation Tuesday, 06 May 2008 Geron Corporation announced today two grant awards to the University of Edinburgh from the UK Stem Cell Foundation, with funding from the Medical Research Council and Scottish Enterprise. The awards, totalling £3.6 million (US$7.2 million) over two years, follow on from a collaboration set up in August 2006 between Geron and the University of Edinburgh to develop hESC-derived hepatocytes for the treatment of liver failure and for use in cell-based assays, as well as to develop osteoblasts and chondrocytes for the treatment of musculoskeletal disorders such as osteoporosis, bone fractures and osteoarthritis. The grants relate to preclinical safety and efficacy studies of three therapeutic cell types derived from human embryonic stem cells (hESCs). The projects are led by Dr. Brendon Noble and Prof. John Iredale at the University of Edinburgh’s MRC Centre for Regenerative Medicine. “These are the first grants we have awarded that use human embryonic stem cells,” said Sir Richard Sykes, Chairman of the Board of Trustees, UK Stem Cell Foundation. “Our remit is to support high quality translational projects whose direct aim is rapid and safe progression towards clinical application. These research groups combine scientific and clinical expertise within a centre of excellence for stem cell research at the University of Edinburgh and are therefore well positioned for achieving success.” “The UK continues to demonstrate international leadership in supporting development of embryonic stem cell technology,” said David Greenwood, Geron’s executive vice president and chief financial officer. “Because of the receptiveness in the UK, we have major collaborations in place at the University of Edinburgh, the University of Birmingham and Oxford.” “This funding and our continued collaboration with Geron will advance two important translational programs within the MRC Centre for Regenerative Medicine,” commented Professor Sir John Savill, Head of College of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine at the University of Edinburgh. “The government has made a major investment in creating the Centre and this grant will allow us to progress toward our goal of delivering new treatments for debilitating diseases.” Programs Funded by the Grant Hepatocytes Currently, the only treatment for chronic end-stage liver failure is whole organ liver transplantation, a costly procedure limited by the severe shortage of donor organs. A potential alternative therapy being explored within the collaboration is the use of hepatocytes derived from hESCs either to restore liver function, or to be incorporated into bioartificial devices for patients awaiting transplantation or in need of short-term hepatic support. In the liver program, recent improvements in the hepatocyte differentiation protocol have significantly increased the efficiency of producing functional human hepatocyte-like cells. These derived cells have important genetic and functional characteristics of normal human hepatocytes, such as the expression of genes required for liver cell function and the ability of the cells to metabolize drugs. The current funding will support preclinical studies to assess safety and efficacy of the hESC-derived hepatocyte-like cells. An immediate goal of the work will be the development of the cells for drug testing. Successful development of liver cells from hESCs will revolutionise and improve the way we are able to test drugs and novel therapies both for the liver and other organs in addition to the possible development of a stem-cell based approach to regenerate the liver. Bone and Cartilage Cells Similarly, orthopaedic indications are important targets for cell therapy, such as the replacement of degenerated cartilage in osteoarthritis, or of bone after trauma or osteoporosis, applications with major unmet needs. These hESC-based therapies are intended to be off-the-shelf products, delivered on demand, and centrally produced from a uniform renewable source of undifferentiated cells, allowing efficient treatment of large numbers of patients. The orthopaedic program has derived bone forming osteoblasts and cartilage-forming chondrocytes from hESCs in vitro by directed differentiation and demonstrated survival of grafted cells in bone and cartilage repair sites in vivo. Cells derived in this way have been shown to be capable of forming the authentic bone and cartilage material that is required to repair our skeleton and to be capable of doing this in sites in the body that need it. The current funding will support further studies to assess safety and efficacy of hESC-derived osteoblasts and chondrocytes in preclinical models. Bioactive scaffolds and cell carriers, developed at the University of Edinburgh, will be used to promote tissue regeneration in vivo. About the Participants of the Program: The University of Edinburgh’s MRC Centre for Regenerative Medicine (CRM) is based at Little France medical campus, combining the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh, an 870-bed teaching hospital, with the University of Edinburgh’s world-renowned Medical School and Queen’s Medical Research Institute adjacent to a 100-acre science park development, Edinburgh BioQuarter. The CRM was launched in December 2005 to advance basic research in stem cells and regenerative medicine with the goal of translating science and technology into clinical application. Under the directorship of Professor Sir Ian Wilmut FRS, who led the team that cloned Dolly the sheep, the CRM is already one of the largest critical masses of basic and clinical researchers in this field in Europe. It recently received full status as an MRC Centre of Excellence in regenerative medicine and stem cell research as part of the UK’s strategic investment in the field. The UK Stem Cell Foundation is a registered charity established in 2005 to support the advance of pioneering stem cell research into clinical practice and bridge the gap in the funding available for translational projects. A strategic funding partnership has been set up with the UK’s Medical Research Council (MRC) as part of a wider initiative to strengthen the Government’s commitment to stem cell research and boost investment in its translation in order to maintain a leading position in the field internationally. Scottish Enterprise (SE) is Scotland’s main enterprise, innovation and investment agency and is focused on supporting business growth and developing a competitive business environment. Working in partnership with industry, academia and the public sector, SE aims to play its part in delivering the Scottish Government’s new economic strategy to increase productivity in Scotland by helping businesses grow, encouraging greater innovation and creating the right conditions for companies to access property, markets and finance. Geron is a Menlo Park, California-based biopharmaceutical company developing first-in-class therapeutic products for the treatment of cancer and degenerative diseases, including spinal cord injury, heart failure and diabetes. The company is advancing an anti-cancer drug and a cancer vaccine that target the enzyme telomerase through multiple clinical trials. Geron is also the world leader in the development of human embryonic stem cell-based therapeutics, with its spinal cord injury treatment anticipated to be the first product to enter clinical development. ......... ZenMaster
For more on stem cells and cloning, go to CellNEWS at http://cellnews-blog.blogspot.com/ and http://www.geocities.com/giantfideli/index.html
Monday, 5 May 2008
How Cells Communicate in Cell Division
Intricate network of regulatory functions explained
Monday, 05 May 2008
A new study reveals how cells communicate to activate the cell division machinery. The finding made in the fruit fly may provide clues to address problems such as the proliferation of malignant cells and tumour growth in humans.
The study was performed by researchers at the Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB Barcelona) on the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster, and unveils how distinct signalling pathways operate between neighbouring cells in order to activate the cell proliferation machinery that results in the organized growth of the fly wing. The signalling pathways involved in this process are also conserved in humans, and when altered in diverse tissues give rise to the appearance of different types of cancer, including cancer of the colon and skin, and leukaemia.
The study has been undertaken in the Cell and Development Biology Laboratory headed by ICREA Research Professor Marco Milán, at IRB Barcelona, and has been released in and advanced online format by the EMBO Journal.
The researchers have shown that the Notch and Wnt/Wingless signalling pathways exert control over the cell division machinery through two gene effectors, the proto-oncogene dMyc and the micro-RNA bantam. Regulated by Notch and Wnt/Wingless, these two genes instruct another gene, E2F, to activate the cell division machinery.
“All the components were already known but we have clarified the order in the signalling cascade and the interaction between the molecular elements that regulate proliferation for the correct development of the wing”, explained Dr. Héctor Herranz, first author of the article.
“Diseases like cancer cannot be understood without taking into account how the distinct molecular elements are integrated,” Prof. Milán said.
Notch and Wnt/Wingless play a key role in embryo development, cell growth (proliferation) and the transformation of cells into specialized types (differentiation). The interesting feature is that these two pathways are highly conserved in humans and when mutations arise tumours appear.
The fruit fly wing is a vital experimental model to find future biomedical applications. Prof. Milán goes on to say that “...this finding could provide clues about how to repress the cell proliferation signals in cancer”.
The context is relevant
Furthermore, the research has elucidated the relationship between Notch and Wnt/Wingless in the control of proliferation and the development of the fly wing. In fact, Notch has a repressor function, that is to say, when it is activated the cell division machinery is arrested. Only when Wnt/Wingless starts to work is Notch silenced, thereby triggering the cascade of genes that allow proliferation.
“Notch works in this context as a tumour suppressor while Wnt/Wingless acts as an oncogene, that is, by cancelling the action of Notch it allows the cell division machinery to operate,” Prof. Milán explains.
But the fundamental point for the researchers is that Notch and Wnt/Wingless can interchange their roles depending on the context in which they are operating because the true executors of the action are the genes that these proteins regulate, in this case dMyc and bantam.
Researchers ask how, for example, in function of the tissue that is affected, Notch can serve as a “tumour suppressor” or as an oncogene. The conclusions drawn from this study, point to effectors being regulated by this pathway.
“We have highlighted the importance of the context in which these signalling pathways work and that knowledge about the underlying regulatory elements is crucial to understand how a certain function is performed”, explains Dr. Herranz.
According to Prof. Milán, diseases like cancer cannot be understood without taking into account how the distinct elements are integrated: that is to say, crosstalk between neighbouring cells, effector genes and cell cycle machinery.
“Now we must look for similarities in vertebrates and humans to see whether these elements work in the same way in diseases”, he concludes.
Reference:
A Wingless and Notch double-repression mechanism regulates G1-S transition in the Drosophila wing.
Héctor Herranz, Lidia Pérez, Francisco A. Martín, and Marco Milán
The EMBO Journal, advance online publication 1 May 2008; doi: 10.1038/emboj.2008.84
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ZenMaster
For more on stem cells and cloning, go to CellNEWS at http://cellnews-blog.blogspot.com/ and http://www.geocities.com/giantfideli/index.html
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