This week at the Progress Educational Trust (27 January 2012)
Stem cells and mitochondria are the key themes this week at the Progress Educational Trust (PET). First, stem cells - PET Director Sarah Norcross attended one of London Regenerative Medicine Network's monthly meetings, which bring together the cell therapy, tissue engineering and regenerative medicine community to discuss ways to translate therapies into clinical practice. The topic this week was umbilical cord blood, and the event showcased four very different presentations.
The evening began with a presentation about the Palaces project, which uses a fantastic art-based concept to raise awareness about adult stem cells. Children are asked to donate a milk tooth, which artist Gina Czarnecki then uses to build a fantasy palace constructed by embedding those donated teeth in clear resin. Following this was an update on the Anthony Nolan Cord Blood Programme, a project organised jointly by the Anthony Nolan Trust and the National Health Service's Cord Blood Bank to increase the collection of cord blood in the UK. The presentation included details of how researchers and clinicians can access this supply of stem cells.
A clinician's perspective on the use of cord blood was given by Dr Rachael Hough, a Paediatric Haematologist at University College Hospital. Dr Hough's presentation was grounded in the use of cord blood in saving lives, and made for a very compelling discussion. The evening ended with a dramatic announcement by Dr Rajan Jethwa, Chief Executive of Virgin Health Bank, that his organisation would be collaborating with Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. This agreement, the first of its kind between a private cord blood bank and an NHS Foundation Trust, aims to reduce the cost burden on the NHS of high-cost stem cell transplantation services and to improve the availability of cord blood banking and stem cell therapies for patients.
Moving on to the topic of mitochondria, there have been several significant developments this week. The Wellcome Trust announced that it would fund a new Centre for Mitochondrial Research at Newcastle University, which will investigate techniques for avoiding the transmission of mitochondrial disease. This development was reported in BioNews - PET's free weekly digest of news and comment on assisted conception, genetics and embryo/stem cell research - in the article '£5.8m boost for mitochondrial disease research', written by Maria Botcharova under the auspices of the BioNews Internship Scheme for postgraduate research students.
Techniques for avoiding the transmission of mitochondrial disease raise ethical issues which the Nuffield Council on Bioethics is currently investigating, with its project Mitochondrial Donation: Ethical Issues. A call for written evidence has been issued by the Nuffield Council, which would like to hear from anyone who has an interest in this area. Details of the call for evidence, and background information on the relevant issues, can be found online here and the deadline for submitting your response is 5pm on Friday 24 February 2012.
PET has long campaigned for issues surrounding mitochondrial DNA and mitochondrial disease to be reported in a more accurate and meaningful way by the media, and this was reflected in the evidence given by PET Adviser Fiona Fox to the Leveson Inquiry this week. Fiona was called to give evidence to this high-profile inquiry - which is investigating the culture, practices and ethics of the press - in her capacity as Founding Director of the Science Media Centre. Towards the end of her evidence, Fiona discussed the fact that techniques involving mitochondrial exchange have been widely reported using the term 'three-parent IVF', despite the fact that this term is misleading and is not used or endorsed by those involved in the relevant research. A video of the inquiry session that included Fiona's evidence can be found online here, and a transcript of the session can be found online here (.pdf 149KB).
PET is very pleased to report that Fiona has also agreed to be the Deputy Chair of the charity's Advisory Committee, replacing Professor John Galloway, who recently became a PET Trustee. Indeed, the same day that Fiona gave her evidence to the Leveson Inquiry, she also attended a PET Advisory Committee meeting in the evening, and then the following morning she gave evidence to the Science and Technology Committee of the UK Parliament's House of Commons as part of its Inquiry into Risk Perception and Energy Infrastructure. She must be a glutton for punishment!
This week's meeting of PET's Advisory Committee, which is chaired by James Lawford Davies (with Fiona now joining him as Deputy Chair), focused on choosing a topic for this year's PET Annual Conference, following the success of last year's conference The Best Possible Start in Life: The Robust and Responsive Embryo. Also on the agenda was how to mark PET's 20th Anniversary this year - more on these auspicious events to follow!
Finally, an appeal to all of our supporters. The BioNews Christmas Appeal will be closing soon, and unfortunately, the target of £20,000 is still a long way off. But you still have a few days to contribute and help secure the future of BioNews - you can donate online through Paypal here, or text PROG23 £amount to 70070. And although the Christmas Appeal will be ending shortly, PET has also just launched its 2012 BioNews reader survey. If you read BioNews, please do take a couple of minutes to answer a few questions online. It gives you a chance to tell the editors what you do and don't like about BioNews, and what types of articles and features you'd like to see more of and less of. Understanding BioNews readers means that the editors can keep BioNews relevant and PET can attract more advertisers – meaning BioNews can continue to be enjoyed as a free resource. Thank you!
