The Royal Society has urged the British government to consider setting up a bank of frozen human stem cells, in a report submitted this week to the expert panel on therapeutic cloning. The panel, headed by Chief Medical Officer Liam Donaldson, is currently considering the scientific, ethical and legal issues of therapeutic cloning, and the implications for stem cell research.
The Royal Society document stresses the importance of stem cells - which it defines as cells able to multiply and produce new, more specialised cells - in research into new treatments for diseases such as Parkinson's disease, hepatitis and diabetes. 'Organs damaged by injuries or disease do not always need replacing, and repair would be possible if a suitable source of tissues was available' said Professor Richard Gardner, chairman of the group that prepared the report. 'Stem cells are a potential source of such tissues.'
But the report also says that therapeutic cloning - creating human embryonic stem cell using cell nuclear replacement (CNR)- the technique used to clone Dolly - is likely to remain inefficient for the foreseeable future. Instead, it suggests that the technical and ethical problems associated with this approach could be avoided by using other types of stem cell, and by investigating ways to 'reprogramme' specialised cells such as skin or blood cells.
A human stem cell bank should focus on easily obtainable types of stem cells that can be extracted from adult tissues or discarded umbilical cords and placentas, rather than embryonic stem cells, says Professor Gardner. 'We felt that with the rapid rate at which people are identifying stem cells in different tissues - in adult blood, in adult liver, in adult muscle etc. - it would be better to concentrate considerable effort in enriching and purifying for these cells because they could be used more immediately' he said.
The government panel will decide next month whether to allow human therapeutic cloning in the UK. In the US, such research is currently permitted in the private, but not the public sector.
Sources and References
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Transplant? It's in the freezer
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Researchers urge bank of human tissue
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Call for stem cell banks
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