In what has been hailed as a major scientific breakthrough, two research groups have successfully cultured human embryonic stem cells, opening the possibility of creating donor organs and tissues on demand.
The findings drew wide publicity on November 6, the day one of the groups published its findings in Science (1998;282:1145-1147).
The embryonic stem cells "are different from all other human stem cells isolated to date," said James A. Thomson, VMD, PhD, of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, lead investigator of the report in Science. The cells, taken from blastocysts formed during attempts at in vitro fertilization, have the ability to develop into "virtually any and all cells and tissues in the body," said Geron Corporation of Menlo Park, California, the company that hold the license to the research.
The second group of researchers, led by John D. Gearhart, PhD, of Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, took a slightly different approach. Instead of isolating the cells from blastocysts, they isolated primordial germ cells from embryos that were aborted five to nine weeks following fertilization. Their research was published November 10 in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (1998;95:13726-13731).
The U.S. government does not pay for research involving human embryos, and all of the current research was privately funded, mostly by Geron.
Geron said in a press release that "human embryonic stem cells hold enormous promise for transplantation medicine because they can potentially produce unlimited quantities of any cell or tissue in the body. ... Examples of cells that Geron may develop for transplantation therapies include heart muscle cells for use in repairing the tissue damage inflicted by heart attacks, blood-forming cells for use in bone marrow transplantation procedures for cancer patients, and nerve cells for use in treating patients with Parkinson's disease, strokes, or Alzheimer's disease."
For Your Information:
Full text of the findings by James Thomson et al:
http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/282/5391/1145
Use links at this site to find related articles.Geron press release on the findings by James Thomson et al:
http://www.geron.com/GeronPress/hESC_Science.htmlAbstract of the findings by John Gearhart et al:
http://www.pnas.org/cgi/content/abstract/95/23/13726
The full text is available online to subscribers.Geron press release on the findings by John Gearhart et al:
http://www.geron.com/GeronPress/hESC_PNAS.htmlBritish Broadcasting Corporation covers condemnation of the research by antiabortion groups:
http://www.news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/sci/tech/newsid_209000/209390.stm
Also see "Relevant Stories" at this site on the righthand side.Alliance of Aging Research heralds new era of gero-technology:
http://www.agingresearch.org/news/press13.htm
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