Stem Cell Breakthrough Avoids Embryo Use

U.S., Japanese Scientists Report Success With Human Skin Cells; May Halt Cloning Controversies

(CBS/AP)  Scientists have made ordinary human skin cells take on the chameleon-like powers of embryonic stem cells, a startling breakthrough that might someday deliver the medical payoffs of embryo cloning without the controversy.

Laboratory teams on two continents report success in a pair of landmark papers released Tuesday. It's a neck-and-neck finish to a race that made headlines five months ago, when scientists announced that the feat had been accomplished in mice.

The "direct reprogramming" technique avoids the swarm of ethical, political and practical obstacles that have stymied attempts to produce human stem cells by cloning embryos.

"This is a huge breakthrough," said CBS News medical correspondent Dr. Jon LaPook. "It's an incredible breakthrough that involves the way we create stem cells."

LaPook said the announcement opens the doors to serious study of how stem cells act, and ways in which they can be used to treat people with conditions like cancer or Alzheimer's disease.

"This is extraordinarily exciting to study ways in which cells go wrong," he said. "Here you can look at living cells, as opposed to taking a specimen after a person has died, and see what has gone wrong."

Scientists familiar with the work said scientific questions remain and that it's still important to pursue the cloning strategy, but that the new work is a major coup.

"This work represents a tremendous scientific milestone - the biological equivalent of the Wright Brothers' first airplane," said Dr. Robert Lanza, chief science officer of Advanced Cell Technology, which has been trying to extract stem cells from cloned human embryos.

"It's a bit like learning how to turn lead into gold," said Lanza, while cautioning that the work is far from providing medical payoffs.

"It's a huge deal," agreed Rudolf Jaenisch, a prominent stem cell scientist at the Whitehead Institute in Cambridge, Mass. "You have the proof of principle that you can do it."

There is a catch. At this point, the technique requires disrupting the DNA of the skin cells, which creates the potential for developing cancer. So it would be unacceptable for the most touted use of embryonic cells: creating transplant tissue that in theory could be used to treat diseases like diabetes, Parkinson's, and spinal cord injury.

But the DNA disruption is just a byproduct of the technique, and experts said they believe it can be avoided.

Richard Doerflinger, deputy director of pro-life activities for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, tells CBS News producer Steve Baltin it's a breakthrough that can be accepted by anti-abortion advocates.

"This is a win-win. This is completely acceptable ethically and also perhaps more promising scientifically and medically than embryonic stem cells have been in the past," Doerflinger said. "Sometimes by being creative, science can help solve the moral problems that science raises."

The new work is being published online by two journals, Cell and Science. The Cell paper is from a team led by Dr. Shinya Yamanaka of Kyoto University; the Science paper is from a team led by Junying Yu, working in the lab of in stem-cell pioneer James Thomson of the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Both reported creating cells that behaved like stem cells in a series of lab tests.

Thomson, 48, made headlines in 1998 when he announced that his team had isolated human embryonic stem cells.

Yamanaka gained scientific notice in 2006 by reporting that direct reprogramming in mice had produced cells resembling embryonic stem cells, although with significant differences. In June, his group and two others announced they'd created mouse cells that were virtually indistinguishable from stem cells.

For the new work, the two men chose different cell types from a tissue supplier. Yamanaka reprogrammed skin cells from the face of an unidentified 36-year-old woman, and Thomson's team worked with foreskin cells from a newborn. Thomson, who was working his way from embryonic to fetal to adult cells, said he's still analyzing his results with adult cells.

Dr. LaPook described the process the laboratories used. "To do it," he said, "scientists dripped a solution with four genes into a petrie dish containing skin cells. The genes re-programmed the cells into stem cells, which can be coaxed into becoming other tissues."

"For example, LaPook explained, "doctors can take the skin cells from someone with Alzheimer's, turn them into nerve cells and try different drugs in the petrie dish, without experimenting on the patient. This technique can be used for many diseases - including diabetes and Parkinson's."

"People didn't know it would be this easy," Thomson said. "Thousands of labs in the United States can do this, basically tomorrow."

The Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation, which holds three patents for Thomson's work, is applying for patents involving his new research, a spokeswoman said. Two of the four genes he used were different from Yamanaka's recipe.

Scientists prize embryonic stem cells because they can turn into virtually any kind of cell in the body. The cloning approach - which has worked so far only in mice and monkeys - should be able to produce stem cells that genetically match the person who donates body cells for cloning.

That means tissue made from the cells should be transplantable into that person without fear of rejection. Scientists emphasize that any such payoff would be well in the future, and that the more immediate medical benefits would come from basic research in the lab.

In fact, many scientists say the cloning technique has proven too expensive and cumbersome in its current form to produce stem cells routinely for transplants.

The new work shows that the direct reprogramming technique can also produce versatile cells that are genetically matched to a person. But it avoids several problems that have bedeviled the cloning approach.

For one thing, it doesn't require a supply of unfertilized human eggs, which are hard to obtain for research and subjects the women donating them to a surgical procedure. Using eggs also raises the ethical questions of whether women should be paid for them.

In cloning, those eggs are used to make embryos from which stem cells are harvested. But that destroys the embryos, which has led to political opposition from President Bush, the Roman Catholic church and others.

Those were "show-stopping ethical problems," said Laurie Zoloth, director of Northwestern University's Center for Bioethics, Science and Society.

The new work, she said, "redefines the ethical terrain."

Doerflinger called the new work "a very significant breakthrough in finding morally unproblematic alternatives to cloning….I think this is something that would be readily acceptable to Catholics."

Another advantage of direct reprogramming is that it would qualify for federal research funding, unlike projects that seek to extract stem cells from human embryos, noted Doug Melton, co-director of the Harvard Stem Cell Institute.

Still, scientific questions remain about the cells produced by direct reprogramming, called "iPS" cells. One is how the cells compare to embryonic stem cells in their behavior and potential. Yamanaka said his work detected differences in gene activity.

If they're different, iPS cells might prove better for some scientific uses and cloned stem cells preferable for other uses. Scientists want to study the roots of genetic disease and screen potential drug treatments in their laboratories, for example.

Scottish researcher Ian Wilmut, famous for his role in cloning Dolly the sheep a decade ago, told London's Daily Telegraph that he is giving up the cloning approach to produce stem cells and plans to pursue direct reprogramming instead.

Other scientists said it's too early for the field to follow Wilmut's lead. Cloning embryos to produce stem cells remains too valuable as a research tool, Jaenisch said.

Dr. George Daley of the Harvard institute, who said his own lab has also achieved direct reprogramming of human cells, said it's not clear how long it will take to get around the cancer risk problem. Nor is it clear just how direct reprogramming works, or whether that approach mimics what happens in cloning, he noted.

So the cloning approach still has much to offer, he said.

Daley, who is president of the International Society for Stem Cell Research, said his lab is pursuing both strategies.

"We'll see, ultimately, which one works and which one is more practical."

[dogband]

Conservative right wing christians had same *** marriage and stem cell research to rally behind. Now it looks as if they are down just one big cause.

Thank goodness we don''t have same *** marriages ... it only cost us election of ole W, an unending war, thousands of lifes lost and numberous casulaties, a debt for decades to come, our reputation damaged beyond repair, our rights eroded, etc. etc.

Seems like a good trade to me.

[liberalme]

Hmmmmmm now how will GI Joe try to stop this?

Perhaps he will try to clone himself--that way he can pick up where he left off.

I think he should clone about 160,000 of himself and send himselves over to Iraq and bring our troops home!

[jumkey]

Another example of the religious and the conservatives holding back human progress for their own egos.

[sassalin]

You''re no different than the people you are criticizing. You are the type of person who blames everyone else for your problems because it could not possibly be your fault.

Do some research. This is a huge breakthrough and can make both sides happy. I personally am against embryonic stem cell research. There are two many other proven donors of stem cells (adult, umbilical cord blood just to name a few). Embryonic has many problems associated with it. Growth of tumors, wrong tissue is formed and no known cures at this time.

Grow up and quit complaining. Not everything is about Bush.

[lochlan-2009]

DOGBAND - You''re not looking at the issue from a twisted, dimented mind of a fanatical religious neocon. Nothing matters except twisting the rest of the world and everyone in it to your cults beliefs from a 2000 year old story teller.

[frankly6]

Another reason why we need to take the nuts, who live their lives by the dictates of a two thousand year old book that contradicts itself, out of the debate altogether. They are completely beyond any kind of logic or reason. They would rather the stem cells die in a trash can than be used to eliminate human suffering and save lives.

[sevenveils]

Absolutely fascinating. To think a scientist has discovered a way to turn off DNA like a light switch to prevent a skin cell from being just skin.

[marcodele]

I''m sure the right wing neocon nutjob religious fanatics will find a way to label this new technology "immoral."

We''ll see bumper stickers soon: ''STOP THE MURDER OF SKIN CELLS''

[mcvett]

Bush has ALWAYS said he would support stem-cell research,
if it didn''t kill babies in the process


This will make the liberals mad, because it doensn''t kill babies.

.

[mcvett]

Bush has ALWAYS said he would support stem-cell research,
if it didn''t kill babies in the process


This will make the liberals mad, because it doensn''t kill babies.

.

[mcvett]

Bush has ALWAYS said he would support stem-cell research,
if it didn''t kill babies in the process


This will make the liberals mad, because it doensn''t kill babies.

.

[Syndicate]

Using new genes to simulate an embryonic cell is not the way to go. What we ned to do is map the epigenome. We need to find the methyl attachment sites on DNA. These are the switches that tell our cells what to be. As an embryo develops these switches get set and tell tissue what to be. I am curious if these genes introduced into the cells effect the epigenome. If they are changing the way the cell acts on all levels with four genes then they must be manipulating these switches. You can find out more on Epigenetics at NOVAs website.

[kimfin01]

superchez1, You have a sick mind and soul...

[katg21]

sassalin,

Well put.

[katg21]

superchez1,

I''ll pray for your soul.

[gunnerv1]

Maybe this will shut up the screaming left, the Gov''t won''t let us use Stem Cells. No, The Gov''t just wouldn''t let you use Tax Funds for it. thereby forcing civilian research to do it as it should have been done in the first place. Now will Michale Keaton take his meds?

[katg21]

Another example of the religious and the conservatives holding back human progress for their own egos.
Posted by jumkey

Umm, isn''t this article proof that progress has been made? Why is it that you feel the need to attack the beliefs of others? Pretty pathetic if you ask me. Isn''t it the motto of the left, "live and let live"?

[danstoned]

The only embryos to be used in stem cell research were to be discarded. Thus, WHO CARES! The Fascist Neocons are out of their braindead little minds.

[danstoned]

Posted by katg21
Isnt it the motto of the left, "live and let live"?

Not as long as US Conservatives are now the Fascists of the world, that same people who mindlessly spit on the 400,000 Americans that gave their lives during WWII to defeat Fascism. We will NEVER let you FASCISTS prevail! NEVER!

[blancadebree]

I''m very concerned about this development. If we start permitting science, which cannot be opposed on moral grounds, then what''s to stop science from taking over the world and reason from gaining a foothold? We cannot afford this insanity, not when we are on the verge of creating a truly holy state with Mike Huckabee at the helm to take over from our Saviour George W. Bush, with laws based on Leviticus and science based on the Gospels!

http://blancadebree.blogspot.com

[katg21]

Not as long as US Conservatives are now the Fascists of the world, that same people who mindlessly spit on the 400,000 Americans that gave their lives during WWII to defeat Fascism. We will NEVER let you FASCISTS prevail! NEVER!
Posted by danstoned

You don''t know what the hell you''re talking about. You''re very confused.

[katg21]

our Saviour George W. Bush????Posted by blancadebree

Okay now to say that is pretty wack and I''m a catholic conservative! As far as I''m concerned there is only ONE savior and he hasn''t returned yet.

[frankly6]

Libs don''''t want to hear that; their hatred deafens them to anything good this president has done or said.

Posted by katg21


Really? Educate us on what good things Bush has done for this country and the world.

[katg21]

Really? Educate us on what good things Bush has done for this country and the world.
Posted by frankly6

What''s the use? All that matters is that I know, I won''t even try to educate you.

[frankly6]

What''''s the use? All that matters is that I know, I won''''t even try to educate you.

Posted by katg21 at 12:08 PM : Nov 20, 2007


Oh that gave me a good belly laugh. Thank you. So you''ve got nothing. That''s what I thought. You don''t support Bush because he''s acomplished anything for the American people. You just support him because he hates the same people that you do.

[frankly6]

Posted by katg21


Really? Educate us on what good things Bush has done for this country and the world.


tick...tock...tick...tock...

[katg21]

The only embryos to be used in stem cell research were to be discarded. Thus, WHO CARES! The Fascist Neocons are out of their braindead little minds.
Posted by danstoned

You''re wrong. If that were the case then there wouldn''t be such a backlash against it. It''s the harvesting of embryos that is immoral and wrong. The argument for embrionic stem cells is pointless. It''s proven that there have been more successes with adult stem cells, why not keep pursuing that avenue instead of creating and then destroying potential life?

[katg21]

superchez1,

You''re pathetic! Why is it that you feel the need to ram your beliefs, or lack thereof, down other peoples throats. Oh, there must not be a god ''cause YOU say so. Kiss off.

[katg21]

tick...tock...tick...tock...
Posted by frankly6

What you waiting for?

[mcvett]

BUSH has ALWAYS said he would support stem-cell research, IF
it didn''t kill babies in the process.

This will make liberals mad, because it doesn''t kill babies.

.

[mcvett]

BUSH has ALWAYS said he would support stem-cell research, IF
it didn''t kill babies in the process.

This will make liberals mad, because it doesn''t kill babies.

.

[mcvett]

BUSH has ALWAYS said he would support stem-cell research, IF
it didn''t kill babies in the process.

This will make liberals mad, because it doesn''t kill babies.

.

[katg21]

This will make liberals mad, because it doesn''''t kill babies.
Posted by MCVett


It certainly makes superchez1 mad; he/she/it is dying to kill some babies or small animals for that matter.

[frankly6]

Posted by katg21 at 12:21 PM : Nov 20, 2007
+ report abuse


You stupid brainwashed moron. All the stem cell lines that we have were to be thrown out as extra tissue left over from invetro fertilization procedures. They die in the trash can. It happens every day and is happening even as you come here and put your ignorance on display for all to see. Let me clue you in on the crucial difference between adult stem cells and embryonic stem cells. Embryonic stem cells are undiferentiated. That means that they can be turned into any kind of tissue. That''s what makes them so usefull. Adult stem cells are not undifferentiated. It''s a lie that adult stem cells have shown more promise. A lie promoted by idiots like you who are afraid of science and rational thought.


By the way, what has Bush done for this country?

[mocalleo]

frankly6 is a pompus a-s-s

sad, but true

[mcvett]

BUSH has ALWAYS said he would support stem-cell research, IF
it didn''''t kill babies in the process.

This will make liberals mad, because it doesn''t kill babies.

.

[mcvett]

BUSH has ALWAYS said he would support stem-cell research, IF
it didn''''t kill babies in the process.

This will make liberals mad, because it doesn''t kill babies.

.

[mudrose-2009]

BUSH has ALWAYS said he would support stem-cell research, IF
it didn''''''''t kill babies in the process.

This will make liberals mad, because it doesn''''t kill babies.

Posted by MCVett

Righteous!

[mudrose-2009]

You stupid brainwashed moron. All the stem cell lines that we have were to be thrown out as extra tissue left over from invetro fertilization procedures. They die in the trash can. It happens every day and is happening even as you come here and put your ignorance on display for all to see. Let me clue you in on the crucial difference between adult stem cells and embryonic stem cells. Embryonic stem cells are undiferentiated. That means that they can be turned into any kind of tissue. That''''s what makes them so usefull. Adult stem cells are not undifferentiated. It''''s a lie that adult stem cells have shown more promise. A lie promoted by idiots like you who are afraid of science and rational thought.


By the way, what has Bush done for this country?
Posted by frankly6

Bush has done more for this country then you have, are and ever will.

[frankly6]

Posted by MCVett at 12:33 PM : Nov 20, 2007

What makes rational people mad is the fact that embryonic stem cells are thrown in the trash can every day and die there when they could instead be used to save lives and reduce human suffering. I''m sorry that you are a moron.

[katg21]

You stupid brainwashed moron. procedures.Posted by frankly6

Well now I suppose I could say the same thing about you. Your opinion is yours and I have mine; not trying to change your mind. Why do you feel the need to force your opinion on me? That''s what I can''t stand about you libs, you HATE anyone who doesn''t believe the same as you. Why so much hate?

As for your other question...have we been attacked since 9/11? I''d say that''s the biggest accomplishment of this administration.

[frankly6]

Bush has done more for this country then you have, are and ever will.

Posted by mudrose at 12:38 PM : Nov 20, 2007


Why don''t you take the oportunity to educate us on what Bush has done for the people of this country? Educate us.

[frankly6]

As for your other question...have we been attacked since 9/11? I''''d say that''''s the biggest accomplishment of this administration.



Posted by katg21 at 12:40 PM : Nov 20, 2007



What did Bush do to prevent us being attacked on 9/11? What has he done since then to prevent us from being attacked?

[frankly6]

Posted by katg21 at 12:40 PM : Nov 20, 2007


On stem cells, I didn''t give you opinion. I gave you facts. You gave opinion. What facts do you have?

[mcvett]

BUSH has ALWAYS said he would support stem-cell research, IF
it didn''t kill babies in the process.

This will make liberals mad, because it doesn''t kill babies.

.

[mcvett]

BUSH has ALWAYS said he would support stem-cell research, IF
it didn''t kill babies in the process.

This will make liberals mad, because it doesn''t kill babies.

.

[DaveGress]

Can the genius that is MUDROSE please tells us some of the sterling things that Bush has done for us?

Is it Double-U the gas prices?
Is it Double-U the housing prices?
Is it Double-U the national debt?

What, is this a pattern we see developing?

[lochlan-2009]

The religious nuts are back... and the name calling is at full bore, I see.

[jowand]

Is it Double-U the gas prices?
Is it Double-U the housing prices?
Is it Double-U the national debt?

What, is this a pattern we see developing?
Posted by degress12 at 12:52 PM : Nov 20, 2007

If we had started drilling and built refineries 10 years ago we wouldn''t have high gas prices now. Dems refuse to do either.

Housing prices are not double anything.

National Debt now is the same percentage of GNP as it was in the 1990s

The pattern is you can tell the truth.

[jowand]

Stem cells, BUSH WAS RIGHT ALL OF THE TIME.