Lord Winston accuses scientists of stem cell 'hype'

Speaking at the British Association for the Advancement of Science meeting in Dublin, Lord Robert Winston in his presidential address criticised scientists for over-hyping the potential clinical benefits of embryonic stem cell (ES cell) research. Lord Winston referred to work carried out in his own lab and others, that had highlighted the many problems that need to be overcome in stem cell research before clinical applications can begin. Problems mentioned by Lord Winston include the cells' slow replication in culture, possible selective pressure for abnormal cells and the general instability of embryonic cells. The Guardian newspaper reported that his address would attack ES cell research as 'a case study in scientific arrogance and the dangers of 'spinning' a good story.'

Lord Winston stressed that whilst supporting stem cell research as a valid scientific endeavour, particularly in the fields of cell biology and cancer, the over-selling of potential therapeutic advances could lead to a public and political backlash in the next few years as diseases such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and diabetes fail to find cures. In his speech Winston noted that, through lobbyists seeking to secure liberal UK laws on stem cell technology, 'some parliamentarians were clearly led to believe that a major clinical application was just around the corner'; and called for his scientific colleagues to use more moderate language when discussing potential breakthroughs in the new research. Controversially, Lord Winston named nobel laureates James Watson, who with Francis Crick discovered the structure of DNA, and David Baltimore, President of Caltech (California Institute of Technology), as providing particular examples of this trend. There was also a worry, he said, that failure to provide cures could lead pro-life groups to 'perceive the chink in our armour'.

Josephine Quintavalle, director of pro-life group Comment on Reproductive Ethics (CORE), this week responded on the CORE website that groups such as hers have 'long recognised the hype of the embryonic stem cell lobby' and 'have always been genuinely concerned at the untenable embryonic stem cell promises currently held out to many patient groups'. Professor Stephen Minger of King's College London, who created Britain's first stem cell line, said that in his opinion Lord Winston was 'overreacting'; he described how he sometimes receives 'ten phone calls a week from desperate patients and the last thing I want to do is sell them hype and false hope'. Professor Minger pointed out that although Alzheimer's is not a promising candidate for ES cell therapy, the build up for ES cell potential in this particular disease has not been created by scientists but has been driven mainly by US politics. Professor Clive Ballard, director of research at the Alzheimer's Society said that 'whilst we do not feel that the potential benefits stem cell research could bring have been 'hyped', we believe it will be some time before this area of research delivers a realistic treatment for Alzheimer's disease in clinical practice'. A spokeswoman for the Parkinson's Disease Society was quoted as commenting, 'there is a real danger that researchers can give out over-optimistic messages and mislead vulnerable people who may be anxious for a new treatment'.

Lord Winston, who last week was reported as having secured a Home Office licence to attempt to genetically modify pigs to provide organs for transplantation into humans, acknowledged that 'the study of stem cells is one of the most exciting areas in biology', yet he thought it 'unlikely that embryonic stem cells are likely to be useful in health care for a long time'. In his address he also criticised the commercialisation of science, which he considered could lead to scientists becoming compromised, an issue that may lead to the public ceasing to believe that scientists were sharing the benefits of research and that scientists may start to be perceived as not working for the public good.