[Visit http://www.HandsOff
to women.]
Lack of eggs hurts stem cell research
Researchers argue for end to prohibition on payment
By MARCUS WOHLSEN • Associated Press • July 31, 2008
SAN FRANCISCO -- Facing a human egg shortage that they say is
preventing medical breakthroughs, scientists and biotech
entrepreneurs are pushing the top funders of stem cell research to
rethink rules that prohibit paying women for eggs.
While fertility clinics have long paid for eggs, the voter-approved
state ballot measure that created the $3 billion California Institute
for Regenerative Medicine specifically bans paying women for eggs
donated for research. Massachusetts, another center of U.S. stem cell
research, also bans payments.
The restrictions are necessary, supporters say, to avoid creating a
market for human eggs that encourages women to risk their health for
speculative science. But researchers argue that a shortage of eggs is
what's kept them from making the advances that prove their
technique's real potential.
"You need to have enough eggs to make this thing work, and when you
have enough eggs it does work," said Dr. Sam Wood, chief executive of
La Jolla-based Stemagen Corp.
"If these guidelines weren't in place, we'd already have many [stem
cell] lines and be much closer to a treatment for devastating
illnesses for which these are so well suited," Wood said.
The conflict centers on an effort to create stem cells from embryos
that are exact clones of adults. The hope is to one day use the cells
to generate transplant tissues or even whole body parts to treat
incurable diseases. The technique, known as therapeutic cloning,
requires donated eggs whose genetic material is replaced by DNA from
a regular adult cell such as a skin cell.
Therapeutic cloning holds such promise, its backers say, because the
body is unlikely to reject replacement parts that are an exact
genetic match.
Last month, the California agency doled out $23 million in research
grants but turned down all applications for therapeutic cloning
research because there was no guarantee of enough eggs. Stemagen was
among the applicants denied.
As the country's largest funder of stem cell research by far,
California's policy sets the pace for biotech firms and academic
researchers nationwide. National guidelines advising against egg
payments were developed to ensure any innovations would remain
eligible for California funds; any changes in the state's policy
would likely have an immediate ripple effect.
California could also face increasing competition for business and
scientific talent as New York prepares guidelines for its own $600
million stem cell research program. New York may allow payment for
eggs.
Critics of the egg-dependent approach to stem cells say the promise
of the research is outweighed by the potential harm to women.
Even under normal doses, drugs used to coax eggs for use by
fertilization clinics can occasionally lead to serious complications
caused by excessive stimulation of the ovaries. In rare instances,
the condition can be fatal.
The California agency's new president, Dr. Alan Trounson, caught the
committee off-guard at a February meeting when he suggested that the
egg-payment ban was hindering therapeutic cloning research.
At the same meeting, Harvard Stem Cell Institute researcher Kevin
Eggan said that a $100,000 advertising campaign seeking charitable
egg donations brought in just one egg.
Ultimately, resolution of the conflict could hinge on the success of
another approach that requires no eggs.
In November, scientists showed they could reprogram human skin cells
to behave like embryonic stem cells, cutting out the use of embryos
altogether. Backers of the egg-payment ban say researchers
complaining about the lack of eggs should focus their attention on
the new technique.
http://www.delaware
AID=/20080731/
«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«
¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯
StemCells subscribers may also be interested in these sites:
Children's Neurobiological Solutions
http://www.CNSfoundation.org/
Cord Blood Registry
http://www.CordBlood.com/at.cgi?a=150123
The CNS Healing Group
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CNS_Healing
____________________________________________
«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«
¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯
Change settings via the Web (Yahoo! ID required)
Change settings via email: Switch delivery to Daily Digest | Switch format to Traditional
Visit Your Group | Yahoo! Groups Terms of Use | Unsubscribe
__,_._,___
No comments:
Post a Comment