Posted by KS on October 17, 2002 at 06:43:39:
Thu 17 Oct 2002
Professor Austin Smith, the director of the Institute for Stem Cell Research
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US firms blocking stem cell research
ALASTAIR DALTON SCIENCE CORRESPONDENT
PIONEERING stem cell research that could revolutionise the treatment of major diseases is being blocked by US firms seeking financial gain, one of Britain’s leading experts in the field will warn today.
Professor Austin Smith, the director of the Institute for Stem Cell Research at Edinburgh University, said the log-jam had prevented all but a few scientists from using stem cells to tackle life-threatening illnesses such as diabetes, heart disease and strokes.
Prof Smith will tell a conference in Stockholm that research is being held up by US firms developing stem cells for their commercial interests.
Writing in The Scotsman, he says: "This is not philanthropy, it’s business and may, in future, afford the dollar a worrying new currency - holding the provision of healthcare to ransom."
He says the potential of stem cell lines is almost limitless: they can be grown in laboratories to multiply indefinitely, producing vast numbers of cells that can be "pasted in" to repair damaged body organs.
Prof Smith says: "The potential of stem cell therapies to revolutionise the treatment of everyday, life-threatening illness and debilitating disease is enormous, yet the pathway to medical progress is blocked. The science of human embryonic stem cells is currently at an impasse.
"There are few stem cell lines established, and those that exist are in the ownership of companies or individuals who are reluctant to release them."
Prof Smith is one of the few British researchers to be licensed by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority to work on human embryos.
He is studying the biology of embryo stem cells to uncover the process that allows them to develop into any cell in the body.
Today, he is addressing a life sciences conference jointly organised by the Royal Society of Edinburgh, the Karolinska Institute and the Royal Swedish Academy to increase collaboration between the countries.
He told The Scotsman that fewer than 20 groups of scientists worldwide were working on stem cells, but hundreds of teams would be involved if cells were more widely available. Prof Smith said: "The longer this goes on, the more frustrating and significant the situation will become."
He said researchers were being thwarted by having to sign restrictive agreements with firms supplying stem cells - including handing over control of any discoveries.
Prof Smith said: "Until things loosen up, people will be effectively prohibited from entering this research area. Private firms have every right to be involved in this area, but we need to get the balance right so they do not have a stranglehold. What’s good for a particular company is not necessarily beneficial for the rest of society."
Stem cells developed from embryos left over from in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) treatment can be developed into a wide range of different cells that could not otherwise be regrown by the body. Prof Smith said developing stem cells from adult cells was being researched, but may still be 20 years away.
However, the use of human embryos to produce stem cells could be largely dispensed with once several stem cell lines were compared to determine which worked best.
The creation of the first stem cell bank at the UK’s National Institute for Biological Standards and Control (NIBSC) offered a solution, he said, adding that the £2.6 million bank is expected to supply quality-controlled stem cell lines to licensed researchers in about a year’s time.
Dr Stephen Inglis, the NIBSC’s director, said: "This will facilitate research by making those few cell lines which are developed available to bona fide researchers. By doing so, it will reduce the overall need for the use of embryos in the future."
Dr Donald Bruce, the director of the Church of Scotland’s society, religion and technology project, expressed concern that stem cell lines should be controlled by private firms in the US, which were unregulated. He added the Kirk was against the use of spare embryos from IVF for stem cell research and preferred the use of adult cells.
Jeff Trewhitt, a spokesman for the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, said: "This is not an area we have addressed and are not in a position to comment."
Prof Smith’s attack on US firms follows the condemnation of US drug companies by Sir John Sulston, who shared the Nobel prize for medicine last week. Sir John attacked the rushing to patent parts of the human genome for commercial gain.
More Cloning & embryo research:
http://www.news.scotsman.com/topics.cfm?tid=10
Websites:
Chief Medical Officer - stem cell research report
http://www.doh.gov.uk/cegc/stemcellreport.htm
Human Fertilisation & Embryology Authority
http://www.hfea.gov.uk/
Roslin Institute cloning links
http://www.ri.bbsrc.ac.uk/library/research/cloning