[Pflienews] PharmFacts E-News Update: New stem cell reprogramming, methods not pro-life

Thu Feb 21 12:03:15 MST 2008

*PharmFacts E-News Update -- 21 Feb 2008 AD
*

*New stem cell reprogramming*
*methods not pro-life*

Second Yamanaka study and UCLA used aborted fetal and embryonic stem cells**

By Debi Vinnedge**

In November 2007, separate scientific studies by Dr. Shinya Yamanaka and 
Dr. James Thomson claimed to end the moral debate on embryonic stem cell 
research. Both scientists introduced genes into adult stem cells through 
a lentivirus, which reprogrammed them to become ?embryonic? or induced 
pluripotent stem (iPS) cells, without destroying human embryos. However, 
an inherent problem of embryonic stem cells is their propensity to form 
cancerous tumors and the reprogrammed iPS cells proved to be no 
different. Scientists believed they would eventually get around that 
problem.

On February 14 and 15, two more studies were published on reprogramming 
adult stem cells: the first by UCLA?s Dr. Kathrin Plath using neonatal 
foreskin cells; the second by Dr. Yamanaka, using mouse liver and 
stomach cells, in which he claimed to overcome the problem of tumor 
formation. Unfortunately, pro-lifers have hailed their work as a moral 
victory prematurely, because like the November studies, both researchers 
used fetal cells of aborted babies and embryonic stem cells in the 
reprogramming method.

As in his first study, Dr. Yamanaka used PLAT-E cells in the retrovirus 
for reprogramming mouse liver and stomach cells. PLAT-E cells are a 
derivative of HEK (human embryonic kidney) 293, obtained from an 
electively aborted baby.

In the UCLA study, Dr. Kathrin Plath used Phoenix-A aborted fetal cell 
line in her retrovirus and then cultured the reprogrammed foreskin cells 
on embryonic stem cells. However, non-objectionable animal, synthetic or 
ethically obtained human cells could have been used to produce the DNA 
needed for transformation quite efficiently. Likewise, Plath?s use of 
embryonic stem cells as a culture medium was unwarranted, though most 
likely an attractive choice considering the extensive funding UCLA 
receives for embryonic stem cell research. Such cell lines are plentiful 
in her labs.

Further, while some allege the iPS cells would eliminate immune 
rejection problems in patients, foreign DNA from both the retroviruses, 
and from the DNA segments of embryonic/fetal cells attached to them, 
render such cells clinically useless and dangerous. Additionally, the 
studies by Yamanaka were performed in reproductively cloned chimeric 
mice and while none of the 65 subjects developed tumors, Yamanaka notes 
that some of the mice died for ?unknown reasons.? Thus it is ludicrous 
to believe these cells would somehow be suitable for human applications 
from both medical and moral perspectives. Yet unless pro-life groups 
voice their disdain now while the research is still in infancy stages, 
one should not be surprised when clinical applications do emerge that 
utilize deliberately destroyed human beings. Aborted fetal vaccines are 
proof enough of what happens when science moves forward morally 
unchallenged.

Still the question remains, why are we trying to transform a perfectly 
good adult cell into a carcinogenic embryonic stem cell fraught with 
ethical and medical problems in the first place, when adult stem cells 
have already proven clinical success in over 3,500 patients? For the 
answer, all one needs to do is follow the money, the patents and 
especially the politics.

/*Debi Vinnedge is executive director of */*Children of God for Life* 
<http://www.cogforlife.org/>/*, a pro-life watchdog group focused on the 
use of aborted fetal cells, embryonic stem cell research and human 
cloning. It is an Associate group of */*American Life League* 
<http://www.all.org/>/*.*//**/

Dr. Yamanaka, ?Induction of Pluripotent Stem Cells From Adult Human 
Fibroblasts By Defined Factors,? 
http://images.cell.com/images/Edimages/Cell/IEPs/3661.pdf 

Dr. James Thomson, ?Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell Lines Derived >From 
Human Somatic Cells,? 
http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/1151526

Dr. Kathrin Plath, ?Generation of Human Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells 
 From Dermal Fibroblasts,? 
http://www.pnas.org/cgi/content/abstract/0711983105v1

Dr. Yamanaka, ?Generation of Pluripotent Stem Cells from Adult Mouse 
Liver and Stomach 
Cells,? www.scienceexpress.org/14February2008/10.1126/science.1154884 
<http://www.scienceexpress.org/14February2008/10.1126/science.1154884> 

###     

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