Keep stem cell research open, scientists urge

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- New National Institutes of Health (NIH) guidelines on using cells from discarded human embryos will help prevent private researchers from going too far and make benefits from the research available to many more Americans, top scientists said Thursday.

They urged Congress to keep the research legal and stressed that all lines of scientific research using stem cells -- the body's master cells -- need to be kept open.

Experts think research using stem cells has the potential to transform medicine, offering treatments and even cures for diseases such as juvenile diabetes, in which the pancreas is damaged, heart disease and spinal cord injuries.

The cells seem so powerful because, when taken from very early embryos, they still can become any kind of cell in the body. The hope is to direct this development so they can be used for tissue and even organ transplants.

Opponents say taking the cells involves destroying a human life -- even though the embryos used are left over from "test-tube" fertility treatments and would be discarded anyway.

Current law forbids the use of federal funds to actively derive these cells from embryos. But the NIH released guidelines last month that would allow federally-funded scientists to use the cells if provided by private researchers.

The guidelines are strict -- the cells can only be taken from embryos that were frozen and they may not be taken from any embryo created for any use other than fertility treatment.

"These guidelines will encourage openness ... and help assure public access to the practical, medical benefits of this research," Dr. Allen Spiegel, director of the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), told Thursday's hearing of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services.

"I think we need to harness the enormous brainpower that the NIH is capable of," Spiegel added.

"I think the NIH sets the standard for the world and for the field," said Dr. Gerald Fischbach, director of the National Institute for Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), another one of the institutes that make up the NIH.

Iowa Sen. Tom Harkin, ranking member of the subcommittee, agreed. "The NIH guidelines for stem cell research will give scientists a procedural and ethical framework to pursue this research in an ethical, sound manner," said Harkin, a Democrat.

"It is important to note that stem cell research in the private sector has been going on for years without any federal monitoring or ethical requirements."

Opponents of the use of embryonic stem cells argue that there is another source of stem cells -- adult stem cells. These cells were discovered in bone marrow but they have since been found throughout the body.

Some research suggests that these cells can sometimes be coaxed into differentiating into various cells.

But Fischbach said it is not yet clear whether adult stem cells are anywhere near as powerful as embryonic stem cells.

"I believe that stem cells have been discovered in adult tissues -- quite surprisingly in the brain -- and do have the capability to proliferate and differentiate," Fischbach said.

"But I think these are early reports," he added. It was not clear if these cells had completely converted into neurons. It was also not clear just how many of them could be grown.

"It would not be responsible of us to use these in place of embryonic stem cells," he said.

Pennsylvania Republican Sen. Arlen Specter, who chairs the subcommittee and who has called the ongoing series of hearings on stem cells, said the Senate would debate his proposed bill, The Stem Cell Research Act of 2000, later this year.

It proposes allowing government-funded researchers to derive their own stem cells.

"I think the Senate vote is going to be very, very important not only on this issue but on the ... future of medical research," Specter said, calling stem cell technology a "veritable fountain of youth."

Copyright 2000 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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American Association for the Advancement of Science - Stem Cells
National Institute of Diabetes - Digestive & Kidney Diseases
National Institute for Neurological Disorders and Stroke
The Center for Bioethics and Human Dignity

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