More Good News Showing Embryonic Stem Cells Not Needed

Readers with memories far superior to mine may recall that a little over a year ago I wrote about the breathtaking work of Dr. Denise Faustman. At the time I explained about how the Lee Iacocca Foundation was raising money to support Dr. Faustman "whose research team in 2003 not only reversed, but actually cured Type I diabetes in mice. This is of particular interest to pro-lifers because her work is proving yet again that there is no need to lethally scavenge stem cells from human embryos to treat diseases."

Well, just last week three articles appeared in the Journal Science that confirmed the key findings of Dr. Faustman's research. And do ironies abound.

According to the Wall Street Journal's Sharon Begley, an author of one of the three confirmatory studies had co-written an extremely critical letter two years ago sent (but never published) to the New York Times. (The Times had run an article about Dr. Faustman's work written by reporter Gina Kolata.) Among other things, the letter, written by two fellow Harvard diabetes experts, described as "patently false" Dr. Faustman's assertion that she was the first scientist to cure diabetes in mice.

My, my, how times change. Kolata's March 24, 2006, story begins this way.

"Three groups of scientists report today that they independently replicated a controversial finding: severely diabetic mice can recover on their own if researchers squelch an immune system attack that is causing the disease.

"It is a discovery that was first published in 2001 and raised the hopes of people with Type 1 diabetes, which usually occurs in puberty and afflicts an estimated half-million to a million Americans. If the findings applied to humans, they might mean reversing a disease that had seemed incurable.

"The findings also gave rise to questions about using embryonic stem cells as replacement cells for diabetics, a method that is the focus of intense interest. If it is possible, in mice, for the pancreas to cure itself, and if the same finding holds true in humans - which, so far, is entirely unknown - adding embryonic stem cells as the source of new pancreas cells might provide little added benefit, if any."

In Type I diabetes the immune system attacks the insulin-secreting beta cells which reside in the pancreas. Insufficient insulin means blood sugar is not kept in check. This can lead to kidney failure, blindness, and amputations.

All three studies followed the formula outlined by Dr. Faustman in her paper reported in Science in 2003.

A mixture of "water, oil and parts of dead bacteria" was injected into diabetic mice. This "overstimulates the immune system cells that are attacking the pancreas, making those white blood cells self-destruct, effectively stopping the attack and allowing the pancreas to cure itself," according to Kolata.

Begley described it differently. The researchers from the University of Chicago, Harvard, and Washington University in St. Louis induced "beta cells in some (but not all) of the animals essentially to come back from the dead, curing their diabetes."

In her work Dr. Faustman also reported that cells transplanted from the spleens of healthy mice differentiated into insulin-secreting beta cells in diabetic mice. This could boost the response in mice, she wrote.

The three new studies were unable to replicate that portion of her work. "Denise Faustman was extremely helpful to us in duplicating her protocol, but it's possible we did something wrong, and so can't absolutely rule out the possibility that the spleen contains stem cells that can become beta cells," Chicago's Louis Philipson told Kolata. (It was the suggestion that adult stem cells residing in the spleen could "morph into specialized cells," Begley wrote, that "land[ed] her smack in the middle of the stem-cell debate." A number of scientists are heavily invested in harvesting stem cells from human embryos. Any suggestion that killing human embryos for their stem cells might not be necessary poses a direct threat.)

However, the studies all demonstrated that just stopping the immune system's assault was enough to cure the mice. The point, as one researcher told Kolata, was "that the pancreas cells came back on their own."

Speaking of Lee Iacocca, according to Kolata, he has raised $11 million for studies to test Dr. Faustman's initial discoveries, including clinical trials lead by Harvard's David Nathan. "Patients clamored to be included," Kolata wrote. "Even though she is not ready to begin even the most preliminary tests, she already has 600 on a waiting list."

Please send your comments to Dave Andrusko at dandrusko@nrlc.org.