Stem cell findings change debate

Though the issue of embryonic stem cell research has been one of the most contentious political topics in recent years, a landmark discovery may finally bring an end to the debate.

In two separate studies published last week, researchers from Kyoto University and the University of Wisconsin — led by Shinya Yamanaka and James Thomson, respectively — announced that they had successfully reprogrammed normal human skin cells to act like embryonic stem cells.

"I think it's probably the most important finding in biology in 10 years," molecular biology and Wilson School professor Lee Silver said.

The findings may render moot the ethical debate over the use of embryonic stem cells for research. Developed in 1998, the original method for procuring the cells involved removing eggs from an ovary, fertilizing the eggs in vitro and removing embryonic stem cells from the resulting blastocyst.

The process raised concerns from opponents who argued that embryos, as nascent human life, merit the same protections as humans who have already been born.

In 2001, President Bush signed a bill that provided federal funding to research using the already existing stem cell lines and not to research using new lines, thereby limiting the amount of research that could be done. Additionally, New Jersey voters rejected a ballot referendum this month that would have lent $450 million for stem cell research in the state.

Under the new method publicized last week, skin cells are removed from a human, after which four genes are inserted into the cells. The inserted genes, transported by way of a retrovirus, then transform the skin cells into pluripotent stem cells, which are capable of differentiating into various cell types.

The transformed cells are referred to as "induced pluripotent stem cells," or iPS. The iPS method is so straightforward that its creator, Yamanaka, told The Wall Street Journal that "any scientist with basic technology in molecular and cell biology can do [the] reprogramming."

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Silver said that the method is "such that scientists could be able to repeat [it] easily."

"Once we have an understanding of the biology of cells, there's no limit to what we could transform," he said. Silver added that he expected the new method, if verified, would be immediately adopted by researchers around the world.

Though the new method is being touted as a far less controversial alternative to embryonic research, former University president Harold Shapiro GS '64 — a former chair of the National Bioethics Advisory Commission who in 2005 was named the overseer of stem cell research in New Jersey — said in an email that the value of embryonic stem cell research should not be minimized.

"It is worth noting that without human embryonic cell lines, the Wisconsin and Kyoto work could not have progressed, since the embryonic cell lines provided us with the 'markers' for pluripotency," Shapiro said.

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Shapiro added that, while he was confident about the legitimacy of the new findings, embryonic stem cells will continue to play a vital role in research. "It is quite possible that we will continue to need human embryonic stem cells for some aspects of the continuing research program surrounding stem cells," Shapiro said.

But politics professor Robert George, who serves on Bush's council on bioethics and has vocally weighed in against embryonic stem cell research in the past, lauded the new method as a way to balance the needs of science and ethics.

"From the beginning we have been arguing that we must do everything we can to advance the cause of stem cell science but without sacrificing our respect for nascent human life and the principle of the inherent and equal dignity of each and every member of the human family," he told the conservative publication The Weekly Standard last Wednesday. "This latest news just goes to show that it really is possible."

Silver said the new findings would level the playing field for researchers around the world. Because of the ethical issues surrounding embryonic stem cell procurement, many governments have banned embryonic stem cell research, while others — including those of California and Singapore — have legalized it. This has led many scientists to flock to jurisdictions that permit the use of embryonic stem cells.

With the iPS method, however, scientists will no longer have to relocate in order to legally conduct cutting-edge research. "There will be no more geographic disparity," Silver said.

Silver added that, though the iPS method has not been perfected, any problems with the procedure will likely be discovered soon.

One risk is that the genes in the transporting virus could become incorporated into the genes of the transformed cells, causing them to become cancerous or acquire other negative characteristics.

"Clearly some further work needs to be done to fully understand the potential of this discovery ... and continue to improve our understanding of genetic reprogramming," Shapiro said. "Most importantly, we need to let enough time to pass to carefully evaluate this discovery and its implications for a broad set of issues."