UK Stem Cell Breakthrough

HD Lighthouse Contributing Editor's Comment: Progress in implanting stem cells or controling a person's own stem cells to treat Huntington's disease is good news. --Jerry
Posted to the HDL: 13 Aug 2003

Stem Cell Progress

“We are very excited about this development,” said researcher Dr Stephen Minger. “Human embryonic stem cells are found in the earliest stages of development and are capable of giving rise to all the different types of cell in the body. This means their possible therapeutic uses are almost endless and could help in the fight against diseases ranging from diabetes to Parkinson’s.”

Scientists have made a breakthrough with the first ever human embryonic stem cells to be grown in a laboratory in the UK.

The potential value of human embryonic stem cells in providing treatments, and even cures, for many serious diseases has excited experts for some time. However, these types of cells are rare and notoriously difficult to grow.

Now researchers from King’s College London, based at Guy’s Hospital, say they have successfully grown the first line of human embryonic stem cells in the UK.

“We are very excited about this development,” said researcher Dr Stephen Minger. “Human embryonic stem cells are found in the earliest stages of development and are capable of giving rise to all the different types of cell in the body. This means their possible therapeutic uses are almost endless and could help in the fight against diseases ranging from diabetes to Parkinson’s.”

The research, published in Reproductive Biomedicine online, began with donations from people undergoing assisted conception treatment at the hospital.

This involved genetically testing embryos from patients with a serious genetic disorder and only replacing those that were free from genetic disease. The remaining embryos, which would have been destroyed, were then used to grow new embryonic stem cells.

The stem cells produced by the team will now be the first deposited in Europe’s UK based stem cell bank, which was set up last year.

The news of the breakthrough has been welcomed by many experts. Professor Sir George Radda, chief executive of the Medical Research Council, said, “This is an exciting day for UK science. The UK Stem Cell Bank has been set up to enable research in this revolutionary area of science to move forward and we hope to start banking lines this autumn.

“We’ve already had interest in banking foetal stem cell lines and it will be important to bank embryonic cell lines as well.”

However, human embryonic stem cell research still remains a controversial issue with many pro-life groups believing the practice to be unethical

Source: www.health-news.co.uk

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