Stem-cell technique may spare embryo

WASHINGTON, Jul 25, 2005 (United Press International via COMTEX) -- U.S. scientists have devised a technique in a mouse model to obtain embryonic stem cells without harming or destroying an embryo -- an approach that, if successful on human embryos, could circumvent some of the moral objections to the research.

"With our methods, stem cells can be made available for groundbreaking medical research and no embryos are damaged or destroyed in the process," said Dr. Eric Scott Sills, a physician with George Reproductive Specialists in Atlanta and principal author of a new study in the journal Theoretical Biology and Medical Modeling.

Sills told United Press International he hopes the findings can be used to develop embryo-sparing techniques that will be acceptable to those opposed to their destruction.

"We're hoping it can be helpful to our leaders to show that there may be additional approaches to settle some of the more contentious aspects of human embryonic stem cell research," he said, "and it can maybe decompress a little bit of the controversy so more people can be at comfort with this type of research."

Embryonic stem cells are valued because they can give rise to every tissue type in the body. In addition to yielding insight about diseases, most scientists think the cells have the potential to be used to regenerate damaged or diseased tissues or organs.

The research remains controversial, however, because current techniques for obtaining the cells require the destruction of human embryos.

Scientists have been developing alternative techniques that spare embryos, and the topic was the subject of a Senate hearing earlier this month, but this is the first time an alternative technique has been used in an animal model and reported in a scientific journal.

Working with mice cells, Sills and colleagues devised two techniques to harvest stem cells from embryos. The first involves obtaining cells from embryos that are not considered viable and are destined to be discarded. This technique, however, still results in destruction of the embryo.

In the second method, the team biopsied an embryo and obtained cells that may have the potential to give rise to embryonic stem cells. The biopsy leaves the original embryo intact and available for implantation into a uterus.

Whether the biopsy technique will prove as successful with human cells remains to be seen.

"It's certainly an optimistic beginning (but) we will certainly need to follow that up with additional work," Sills said

Dr. Robert Lanza, a scientist at Advanced Cell Technology in Worcester, Mass. -- a company that focuses on using embryonic stem cells to develop medical treatments -- applauded the progress Sills' team made in showing the biopsy technique is a viable approach.

"They got further than other groups have gotten," Lanza told UPI.

Lanza testified during the Senate hearing July 12 that Advanced Cell has used a biopsy technique to create embryonic-stem-cell lines, but his researchers have not yet published the data in a scientific journal.

"I think you will be seeing further papers that will elaborate on this in the very near future," he said.

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