Feature Story - January 2010
More Embryonic Stem Cell Lines Open to Federal Funding
Embryonic stem cells can morph into any cell of the body, and backers of the research say they have the potential to repair or replace damaged tissues or organs.
The National Institutes of Health last month approved 13 new human embryonic stem cell lines. In addition, dozens more of the controversially derived stem cell lines were under NIH review.
Children's Hospital Boston developed eleven of the approved lines and Rockefeller University in New York City developed the other two approved lines, all with private funds.
In March, President Obama relaxed restrictions placed on federally-funded embryonic stem cell research in August 2001 by the Bush administration, which had limited such research to about 21 stem cell lines.
Scientists involved with embryonic stem cell research say the newer batches of stem cell lines were created in ways that made them better candidates for successful research.
However, the embryo is destroyed in the process of harvesting the stem cells, which opponents say is morally offensive, and amounts to the destruction of human life.
Under President Obama's directive, the NIH wrote new guidelines in July to ensure that any new stem cell lines are created from embryos that would otherwise be discarded from fertility clinics.
The approval of the new stem lines by the NIH also freed up 21 million dollars in federal stem cell research grants. Millions more in stem cell money from the 787-billion-dollar economic stimulus package was due to be allocated in the coming months.
In making the announcement, NIH Director, Dr. Francis Collins, said, "This is the first down payment. People are chomping at the bit for the opportunity to get started."
Collins, a geneticist and Evangelical Christian, defended the controversial research.
"In accordance with the guidelines, these stem cell lines were derived from embryos that were donated under ethically-sound, informed-consent processes.
This is an opportunity to celebrate the science that can now go forward, ending what has clearly been a time of some frustration on the part of the research community. I think that there is an argument to be made that what is being done is ethically acceptable, even if you believe in the inherent sanctity of the human embryo."
As for embryonic stem cell, and adult stem cell research, which derives stem cells from adult tissue samples, Collins added, "I think one could make a very strong case that we need both."
Just prior to the NIH announcement, the President established a new Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues. The President named Amy Gutmann, president of the University of Pennsylvania and a scholar of ethics and public policy, to chair the commission; and James Wagner, president of Emory University, which has a Center for Ethics on its Atlanta campus, as vice chairman.
The President, in a statement, said, "As our nation invests in science and innovation and pursues advances in biomedical research and health care, it's imperative that we do so in a responsible manner. This new commission will develop its recommendations through practical and policy-related analyses. I am confident that Amy and Jim will use their decades of experience in both ethics and science to guide the new commission in this work, and I look forward to listening to their recommendations in the coming months and years."
The White House said the 13-member panel, which has yet to be fully seated, will advise the President on bioethical issues that may emerge from advances in biomedicine and related areas of science and technology.
The President's actions were applauded by Americans United for Separation of Church and State, which took aim at embryonic stem cell research opponents.
"The Religious Right's opposition to embryonic stem cell research has been long- standing. Despite this strictly dogmatic opposition from the Religious Right and its allies; however, our government must continue to advance our society–medically, intellectually, politically and economically. We must not kow-tow to sectarian pressure groups who want to base our policies on their version of Biblical law," Americans United stated.
However, the moves by the President and NIH were denounced by a number of pro-life and conservative organizations.
Richard Land, president of the Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, said, "Our government is going to provide taxpayer funding for embryo-destructive research, killing supposedly excess babies left over from fertility clinics after it has obtained parental consent. We know that hundreds of these babies (stored as embryos in fertility clinics) have been implanted in their adoptive mothers' wombs and have developed into perfectly healthy, normal children. Each of these babies has the same potential to live the full and complete life God had planned for them if their lives weren't snuffed out to harvest their stem cells.
What makes this decision even more grievous is the callousness it shows toward unborn human life. This decision, based on the new Obama administration guidelines, is made out of disregard for the value of these children, or for the mere sake of convenience. In either case, it's a moral outrage," Land said.
Likewise, Catholic League President, William Donohue, said, "It is true that all the stem cell lines that were approved involve embryos left over from fertility clinics. But it won't stop there, and that is because those with the muscle to do something about this issue–beginning with the President–are essentially utilitarians who lack a principled ethical base.
What's next? Intentionally creating and destroying embryos with more stimulus money? To those who say it doesn't matter, remember this: every one of us started as an embryo, and it is impossible to do this kind of research without killing nascent human life.
One more thing that should give us pause: Germany has the strictest bioethical guidelines in Europe. They know when human rights are treated cavalierly," Donohue said, a reference to human experimentation during the Nazi regime.
Richard Doerflinger, associate director of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops' Secretariat of Pro-Life Activities, told The Washington Times, "We object to using taxpayer dollars for these 13 lines because it encourages scientists to destroy more embryos to obtain more new cell lines.
The politics is going in one direction, but the science is going in another, and NIH is behind in terms of the science. Even people fiercely devoted to embryonic stem-cell research have been moving in the direction we've been recommending all along (adult stem cell research). The smart money is going into other avenues."
In a subsequent commentary, Doerflinger observed, "Though at a very early stage of development, the human embryo is one of us–a living individual of the human species, with the innate potential to grow into a mature human being if given nourishment and protection. Here, as in all human research, we must never harm or kill an innocent, unconsenting human being solely for alleged benefit to others. Crossing that moral line leaves more ethical abuses in its wake. Americans want to be fair and humane. They do not seek out the most unethical way to pursue medical progress–rather, they want science and ethics to move forward hand in-hand. It is not too much to ask the same of our researchers and policy makers," Doerflinger said.
"Unfortunate," is how David Prentice, a senior fellow for life sciences at Family Research Council, characterized the new approvals.
"The real hope, as well as actual success, is found with adult stem cells, which are already helping thousands of patients right now. We are seeing good results for a variety of diseases, including spinal cord injury and multiple sclerosis," Prentice said.
Also, FRC recently launched a national education and awareness campaign, Adult Stem Cells Saved My Life, in Shawnee, Kansas. FRC said the Kansas City metropolitan area has become one of the strategic centers in the Midwest for the life sciences, including adult stem cell and cord blood research and treatments. Between St. Luke's Hospital, Children's Mercy Hospital, and the University of Kansas Medical Center, FRC said these pioneering treatment centers have treated over 1,500 patients with a variety of ailments with adult stem cells. Americans United For Life President and CEO Charmaine Yoest, noted, "Despite years of research, human embryonic stem cells have yet to be used in real therapies for patients. On the other hand, adult stem cell research–ignored by the Obama administration–has proven effective and is already being used to treat over 70 different diseases and conditions. The NIH's authorization to use human embryonic stem cells expands the destruction of lives at the earliest stage of development, and continues the administration's practice of ignoring ethical research that is already saving the lives of Americans."
Just two days before the NIH announcement on the 13 new stem cell lines, a new study released by researchers at ten universities on over 50 patients, found for the first time that adult stem cells have been shown to help repair heart damage. In the past, heart tissue was thought not to be repairable. The researchers said the findings could prove important and life-saving for many cardiac patients.
If confirmed by further trials, Dr. Joshua Hare, a University of Miami cardiologist, and the study's lead author, said, the new therapy could be in general use within five years.
In an editorial accompanying the new study in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, cardiologist, Dr. Marc Penn, wrote, "There is excitement in what the future holds with regard to advances in this field."
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