Stem Cells

 

Another advance for ethically acceptable non-embryonic stem cells

By Dave Andrusko
As I read a typically intriguing post by pro-life bioethicist Wesley J. Smith this morning, his lead paragraphs reminded me of a central medical/ethical truth we’ve written about at NRL News Today probably 30 or 40 times. Wesley wrote

Remember when THE SCIENTISTS! insisted that embryonic stem cells and human cloning were the ONLY HOPE to create a vibrant regenerative medical sector? People bought the mendacity, and as one consequence, California is now stuck with the borrow-and-spend-billions boondoggle known as the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine.

One Japanese scientist [Shinya Yamanaka] saw his own daughters in embryos under a microscope and invented induced pluripotent stem [iPS] cells–that is, stem cells (undifferentiated cells) made from skin cells, that can then be transformed (differentiated) into other kinds of tissues.

In other words the “authorities” adamantly insisted that the future of regenerative medicine will run through the harvesting of stem cells tissue extracted from embryonic humans.  But Prof. Yamanaka found an ethical alternative.
Wesley then referenced a report from New Scientist that talked about a marvelous study showing again the enormous potential of iPS cells. I asked David Prentice, our go-to guy for all things having to do with stem cells, what New Scientist was reporting on. His explanation follows:

There are several takeaways but at the top is that evidence continues to mount showing embryonic stem cells, harvested from unborn babies, are not needed to create medical miracles.  In another advance for non-embryonic stem cells, scientists have shown that they can coax stem cells to form beating heart-like structures in the lab.
These induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells were created from normal human skin cells using the “reprogramming” process that won the 2012 Nobel Prize for Prof. Yamanaka.  While iPS cells act like embryonic stem cells, no embryos, eggs, or cloning technology are used in the production of iPS cells, making them an ethically-sourced stem cell.
In the laboratory, the scientists grew the iPS cells as a 2-dimensional layer in the cell culture dish, then used treatments with specific growth stimulators and growth of the cells on a patterned surface. These actions directed the cells to form heart cells growing as small, beating microchambers.
The 3-dimensional growth and formation of the beating microchambers resembled the process seen during normal development in the womb.  The system can be used to investigate normal and abnormal heart development, as well as testing drugs to screen out those that might affect developing babies in the womb.
Eventually a similar system might also be used to create heart patches that could repair damaged hearts.  All with non-embryonic stem cells.

Source: NRLC News