May 19, 2005

scientists comment on news of successful isolation of tailored stem cell lines.

We asked scientists to respond to research published in Science by a team of Korean scientists, who reported that they had isolated the first human embryonic stem cell lines specifically tailored to match the nuclear DNA of patients suffering from disease or spinal cord injury.

Dr Anne McLaren, of the Centre for Medical Genetics and Policy, University of Cambridge, said:

“These exciting new cloned cell lines, if validated, will allow research on quantities of cells from patients suffering from juvenile diabetes, a disease with complex genetic as well as non-genetic causation. But cell therapy is still a long way off.

“Some thought that Hwang’s earlier success with cloning only worked because it used a woman’s egg and the somatic cells surrounding it. But now, good news for men! Some of the cloned lines were derived from men’s skin cells.”

Professor Ian Wilmut, from the Roslin Institute in Edinburgh, creator of Dolly the sheep, said:

“Dr Hwang and his collaborators are to be congratulated for this research because these new observations make a very significant and important step forward toward the use of cells from cloned human embryos for research and therapy.”

Roger Pedersen, Professor of Regenerative Medicine, University of Cambridge, said:

“This work now provides ample evidence for the feasibility of replacing the genome of a human egg with that of an adult body cell. This will make it possible to understand whether there are important differences between stem cells generated using this procedure, and those from ordinary fertilization. Such insights will clarify the path towards future clinical applications of stem cell technologies.”

Professor Alison Murdoch, Chair of British Fertility Society and Dr Miodrag Stojkovic, Deputy Director of Centre for Stem Cell Biology and Developmental Genetics in Newcastle, said:

“We are delighted to hear of the great progress that is being made by Professor Hwang and his colleagues. They have shown conclusively that these techniques can be successful in humans. The promise of new treatments based on stem cell technology is moving nearer to becoming a realistic possibility.

“We welcome their decision to publish the details of this breakthrough so thoroughly so that other scientists will now be able to repeat and develop their work. During the past 9 months in Newcastle, our research in nuclear transfer has progressed well. Our preliminary data will be published soon. We have successfully derived a blastocyst following nuclear transfer but come to the same conclusions as Professor Hwang about the vital importance of the quality of the donated egg. We are pleased that this paper confirms our decision to review our protocol.

“The patients undergoing IVF in Newcastle have been overwhelmingly supportive of our research. They recognise the importance of this new development and over 80% have agreed to donate cells.”