New Breakthrough Calls Obama's Bluff on Alternatives to
Human Embryonic Stem Cells
Part Two of Two

If only the USA Today headline were true: "Stem-cell lookalikes may end controversy." But while not literally true, the latest dramatic improvement in the creation of embryonic-like stem cells is a dagger into the heart of the already sagging rationale for harvesting human embryos for their stem cells.

The latest news again comes out of a team of researchers from the University of Wisconsin headed by James Thomson. The "look-alikes" are induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS cells), about which we have written many, many times. You remember the basics, no doubt, about iPS cells.

What changes ordinary skin cells into iPS cells indistinguishable from embryonic stem cells is to inject certain genes which "trigger reprogramming," as Reuters put it. By rewinding the clock on ordinary skin cells, researchers are able to avoid the ethical baggage that goes along with killing human embryos for their stem cells.

The catch has been in the delivery system.

James Thomson

Prior to the last month or so, the published work all talked using viruses (or "vectors") to carry the genes. However some genetic remnant was left behind which "could cause mutations, block the cells from growing into more specific types and even lead to tumors," according to Mark Johnson of the Journal Sentinel.

The work of Thomson's team (which appeared Thursday online in Science), is the fourth in the last month to report the use of another vehicle to transport the genes. Thomson used a plasmid, described in the accounts as a "circle of DNA."

The plasmid is biodegradable, so to speak. It disappears naturally. What makes Thomson's research so significant is that other methods leave behind minute traces of added DNA, Thomson's technique does not. Thomson is the first to show that this plasmid technique works in human cells.

The timing is impeccable, for more reasons than one. On March 9, Obama overturned the carefully crafted policy on embryonic stem cells instituted by pro-life President George W. Bush. The federal government will now "fund research that exploits living members of the human species as raw material for research," as NRLC's Douglas Johnson put it.

Obama's decision was hugely controversial and still another poke in the eye not only of pro-lifers but also of anyone worried that soon federal dollars will fund human embryo farms, created through the use of human cloning.

But at Tuesday's press conference, Obama (sincere or not) said, "Now, I am glad to see progress is being made in adult stem cells. And if the science determines that we can completely avoid a set of ethical questions or political disputes, then that's great. I have--I have no investment in causing controversy. I'm happy to avoid it, if that's where the science leads us."

Okay, Mr. President, just what you said you wanted.

If you have any comments, please send them to daveandrusko@gmail.com.

Part One