Scientists Await Action on Stem Cells
Thursday, February 19, 2009
By Rob Stein
At the National Institutes of Health, officials have started draftingguidelines they will need to start funding human embryonic stem cellresearch that has been off-limits for nearly eight years.
Scientists Await Action on Stem Cells
Thursday, February 19, 2009
By Rob Stein
At the National Institutes of Health, officials have started draftingguidelines they will need to start funding human embryonic stem cellresearch that has been off-limits for nearly eight years.
Atthe University of California at San Francisco, scientists are poised todismantle the cumbersome bureaucracy they created to segregateexperiments that were acceptable under the federal restrictions fromstudies that were not.
At the Harvard Stem Cell Institute inCambridge, Mass., graduate students and other scientists paid withfederal grants are eagerly awaiting the day when they can contributetheir eureka moments to projects that are forbidden under the currentpolicy.
But in the month since Inauguration Day, the momentthey have been awaiting has not come, prompting some to ask: When willPresident Obama deliver on his campaign promise to lift one of the mostcontentious policies imposed by his predecessor?
"Everyone iswaiting with bated breath," said George Daley, a leading stem cellscientist at Children's Hospital in Boston. "We're all waiting tobreathe a huge sigh of relief."
President George W. Bushimposed the restriction in 2001, limiting federal funding to studies ofcell lines that were already in existence on that date to prevent taxdollars from encouraging the destruction of more embryos.
Thelimitation, welcomed by those who believe that destroying human embryosis immoral, has been denounced by many scientists for severelyhindering research on hundreds of new cell lines developed since then.Such cells could lead to cures for a host of ailments because they canbecome any type of tissue in the body, they say.
Proponentsexpected Obama to lift the restriction in his first week in office,when he issued a flurry of executive orders to close the prison atGuantanamo Bay, Cuba, make government less secretive and lift a ban onfunding international family planning groups that support abortion,among other things.
"We were surprised and disappointed itwasn't in there," said Amy Comstock Rick of the Coalition for theAdvancement of Medical Research, which has been leading the lobbyingeffort to lift the restriction. "We're wondering why it's taking solong."
Advocates on both sides still expect Obama to act.Obama repeated his promise in a private meeting with House Democratslast week, and top adviser David Axelrod said on "Fox News Sunday" thatthe president is "considering" an executive order and will act soon.
But the delay and the vague language are making proponents nervous. HasObama simply been too preoccupied with the economic crisis to focus onthe issue? Is he hesitant to wade into one of the flashpoints of theculture wars? Could he even be considering a moderate move as part ofhis broad strategy of seeking the middle ground on even the mostcontentious issues?
"The word the president is 'considering'it is too vague a word for me," Rick said. "I don't know entirely whatthat means. If it means he's just working out the details, that'sgreat. But if 'considering' means 'reconsidering' we would be veryupset."
In response to a query, White House spokesman Reid H.Cherlin wrote in an e-mail: "The president has made it clear thatincreasing stem cell research is a priority for his administration, andhe'll be acting soon to reverse restrictions on this critical science."
Not everyone, of course, is disappointed by the delay.
"We continue to oppose federal funding of research that destroys humanembryos," said David Christensen of the Family Research Council. "Wedon't think the federal government should fund or create an incentiveto destroy human life."
Some opponents have suggested thatObama might qualify his executive order to try to take the sting out ofthe move. Proponents, however, hope Obama will simply lift therestriction without caveats and let the NIH work out the details. Inanticipation, the NIH has started drafting guidelines that wouldaddress the many ethical issues raised by the research, using as modelstemplates compiled by the National Academy of Sciences and theInternational Society for Stem Cell Research.
"We want to beable to move as quickly as possible," said Story Landis, who headsNIH's stem cell task force. "The science is waiting."
Amongthe issues the guidelines will address is whether funding should belimited to cells from leftover embryos that are destined fordestruction at infertility clinics.
"We are assuming that whatwe will be asked to do is develop guidelines for stem cell linesderived from embryos produced for reproductive purposes in excess ofneed," Landis said.
Proponents of the research hope theexecutive order and resulting NIH guidelines would be more open-endedthan that, allowing research on stem cells derived in other ways. Butthat would make the move even more controversial.
Although theguidelines will need to be approved by the Health and Human ServicesDepartment and undergo 30 days of public comment before becoming final,Landis said she expects that the NIH could approve the firstsupplemental grants to current grantees to study new cell lines withinfour months and the first new grants within six to nine months.
"If I were a smart scientist, I would be writing a grant right now,"said Landis, noting that some of the $10 billion the NIH will receiveas part of the stimulus package could be used to expand stem cellresearch.
The 21 cell lines that scientists are permitted tostudy under the Bush policy have a variety of shortcomings, criticssay. Many, for example, may have defects that could make them dangerousto transplant into people. But perhaps more important, hundreds ofnewer lines have been developed that offer a host of opportunities.Many lines, for example, carry defects for specific diseases, whichcould provide crucial insights into Parkinson's disease, Lou Gehrig'sdisease, diabetes and other devastating ailments.
"People withthese diseases are running out of time every day," said Lawrence A.Soler of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. "That's why we needthis to move forward as soon as possible."
Opponents haveargued that research on human embryonic stem cells has becomeunnecessary because of scientific advances in the interim, includingpromising studies involving adult stem cells and the ability to turnadult cells into cells that appear to have many of the properties ofembryonic cells.
"We think the science has bypassed thedebate," Christensen said. "We think the administration would be betterserved to advance that kind of stem cell research."
But manyscientists say it remains far from clear which cells will ultimatelylead to the most important advances, making it crucial to continue tostudy those cells along with embryonic cells.
Whatever Obamadoes, Congress is also likely to get involved by consideringlegislation designed to prevent any future presidents from reinstatingrestrictions.
"We need to codify the opening up of theresearch so it doesn't turn into a Ping-Pong ball of administrations,"said Rep. Diana DeGette (D-Colo.), who noted that the legislation couldaddress another potential roadblock: the perennial Dickey-Wickeramendment that prohibits federal funding of research involving humanembryos. She has been consulting with the White House on both issues.
