Improving the Yield of Cord Blood Stem Cells

Improving the Yield of Cord Blood Stem Cells

A HealthDay News article printed on the Forbes website reports that researchers at the University of Toronto have found a way to increase the growth of stem cells in umbilical cord blood. Differentiated cells in cord blood secrete cytokines, which inhibit the growth of stem cells; the researchers removed the differentiated cells, leaving more room for stem cells to proliferate.

The press release from the University adds that the researchers have developed a so-called “bioreactor,” which allows cells to grow in a closed environment and remain uncontaminated. The team hopes to move to clinical trials within a year.

Cord blood does not produce many blood stem cells, rarely enough to treat an adult. So for cord blood to be a viable treatment option, there needs to be a way for the stem cells to safely proliferate to the needed levels prior to transfusion.

While this research is promising, it shows why stem cell research needs to proceed on multiple fronts, rather than having any area shut down.

Stem Cell Bill Delayed in Senate

Stem Cell Bill Delayed in Senate

According to a brief article in yesterday’s on-line edition of the Boston Globe, Senator Arlen Specter told the Senate that Majority Leader Bill Frist has decided not to schedule a vote on the stem cell legislation until sometime in 2006. The proposed legislation would lift the restrictions on federal funding for embryonic stem cell research. A Reuters alert on the same subject added the information that the spending bill which has been put forward to the Senate by the Health and Human Services committee does include money for a cord-blood bank.

An article written by a Chicago Tribune writer and re-printed in the San Jose Mercury News analyzes the implications of this. In the article, author Steve Ivey presents the issue as one that could cause political trouble for President Bush. Ivey reports that stem cell research has broad public support and a veto of the bill by Bush could alienate a large portion of his centrist support, who would see that he “is at odds with them on a key issue.”

Ivey also reports on the results of a Johns Hopkins University Genetics and Public Policy poll, which showed that 67 % approved or strongly approved of embryonic stem cell research. Even 50% of evangelical Christians approved or strongly approved.

My thoughts: Bush has shown himself to have a tin ear to the needs of people in trouble before, and vetoing this bills, if it comes to a vote and passes, seems like another opportunity for him to misstep with the public. The House has passed it and the Senate has debated and held hearings and probably could pass it now. President Bush needs to remember that he holds his position by election and has not been divinely chosen. ‘Nuff said.

Korean Views on Stem Cell Research

Korean Views on Stem Cell Research

Given Korea’s leadership in SCNT (somatic cell nuclear transfer) technology, I thought it might be of interest to have some info about the Korean point of view. In an earlier blog post this week (“Korean Stem Cell Bank Part 2”), I mentioned a Korean newspaper’s take on it; here is a little more thought on stem cells from other sources.

The Korean newspaper the JoongAng Daily today printed an opinion piece by the Dean of the College of Medicine at Seoul National University. Wang Kyu-chang gave a background on stem cells and on the World Stem Cell Hub that just opened in Korea, but he cautioned that stem cell research has a long way to go and that treatments cannot be expected immediately. He called for continued institutional and government support of all aspects of research and for “a process of active, sound and balanced discussion followed by the reaching of a consensus” in regard to the ethical issues.

The Website Geneforum posted an interview with Korea-born Insoo Hyun, Ph.D., a bioethicist at Case Western Reserve University and co-chair of the South Korean World Stem Cell Hub Ethics Working Group on its website. Dr. Hyun holds a Ph.D. in philosophy, rather than a medical degree, and was awarded a Fulbright research award to begin qualitative research on the ethical, legal, and cultural dimensions of human cloning research in South Korea. In the interview, Hyun talks about his personal background in bioethics, about Dr. Hwang’s work and how ethical discussions fit in, about the Stem Cell Bank, and about stem cell research in general, and the differences between adult and embryonic stem cells.