Huge "Ethical" Embryonic-Like Stem Cell Discovery Not So Ethical After All - Fetal Cells Used

LifeSiteNews ^ | 1/8/08 | LifeSiteNews

[wagglebee]

TENNESSEE, January 8, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Children of God for Life reports that a recent stem cell breakthrough that turns adult skin cells to "embryonic" is not a pro-life solution as currently done.  On November 21st and 22nd, Dr. Shinya Yamanaka and Dr James Thomson published back-to-back studies that were hailed as moral alternatives to embryonic stem cell research. Both studies involved introducing genes into adult stem cells through a lentivirus, which reprogrammed them to become "embryonic" or induced pluripotent stem (IPS) cells, without destroying human embryos. But pro-lifers may have celebrated too soon, without studying the methods used in the papers.

Both researchers used several versions of the 293 aborted fetal cell lines to modify the DNA of the host adult skin cells, in order to accomplish the reprogramming.

"Unless you read the papers published by Dr Yamanaka in Cell and Dr Thomson in Science, you would have no idea where the DNA came from that was used to transform the adult cells", stated Debi Vinnedge, Executive Director of Children of God for Life, a pro-life watchdog organization focused on stem cell research and aborted fetal cell lines in medical products.  "And even then you would have to know what you were looking for to understand it", she added.

For example, while Dr Yamanaka reports using PLAT-E, PLAT-A and 293FT cells in his paper, the proper name for these cell lines is HEK (human embryonic kidney) 293. The cells were obtained from an electively aborted baby by Dr. Alex Van der Eb, Crucell NV, the same company producing aborted fetal cell line PER C6, derived from the retinal tissue of an 18-week gestation baby.

In the second study, Dr James Thomson of the University of Wisconsin, Madison, also used aborted fetal cell line 293FT to produce DNA used to modify adult cells.  Furthermore, Dr Thomson obtained the DNA sequences he used from human ES cells. And before using foreskin fibroblasts, Thomson tested the reprogramming on IMR-90 aborted fetal cell line, taken from the lung tissue of a 16-week gestation female baby.

"Pro-lifers may be deceived by the excitement about these publications", Vinnedge cautioned.  "Using aborted fetal and embryonic stem cells from deliberately destroyed human beings is certainly not any kind of moral victory."

Vinnedge noted that the research is fraught with other moral and clinical problems, such as fatal tumors, which are a well-documented attribute of embryonic stem cells, and which also occurred with the adult reprogrammed IPS cells.  And while Yamanaka and Thomson allege the new cells generated would be "patient specific" with no immune rejection problems, this claim is premature because there is foreign DNA present from the lentivirus used to modify the cells. 

However, it is not necessary to use aborted fetal cells to produce the lentivirus at all, noted Dr Theresa Deisher, R&D Director of Ave Maria Biotechnology Company, a research firm dedicated to pro-life alternatives for unethical human therapeutics.

"There are other ethical ways to produce the DNA needed for transformation, efficiently and morally," said Dr Deisher.  "If these means were employed to produce the needed DNA, there would be no moral issues with the use of reprogrammed adult cells for research."

Read Dr Deisher's editorial Why Are We Celebrating the Reprogramming of Adult Cells?  http://www.cogforlife.org/reprogramandethics.htm ;

Dr Yamanaka, Induction of Pluripotent Stem Cells From Adult Human Fibroblasts By Defined Factors
http://images.cell.com/images/Edimages/Cell/IEPs/3661.pdf

Dr James Thomson, Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell Lines Derived From Human Somatic Cells, http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/1151526

[wagglebee]

Both researchers used several versions of the 293 aborted fetal cell lines to modify the DNA of the host adult skin cells, in order to accomplish the reprogramming.

In other words they lied.

[wagglebee]

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[wagglebee]

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[Das Outsider]

IPS is very workable without the use of human embryonic stem cells, and the literature lends opportunity to this. Of course, it is the “unsexy” option in biotech these days.

[cpforlife.org]

wagglebee wrote: In other words they lied.

Yep. It certianly appears so.

I always wait to see if cogforlife.org approves of the newest Discovery. I met with thier boss years ago and keep in contact with her. She is absolutly on top of this field.

[cpforlife.org]

Sad PING

[MHGinTN]

Ping ... you need to read this.

[Das Outsider]

I met with thier boss years ago and keep in contact with her. She is absolutly on top of this field.

The reprogramming of adult cells, or a reversal of adult cells to a pluripotent or embryonic state, is coming. ESCR will soon join the ranks of phlogiston theory. There are simply better, more ethical ways to produce real cures and treatments in human patients, as we've seen in adult stem cell research over the last decade or so.

[redgolum]

Can’t say I am that surprised.

When I was younger, I beheld the Science establishment in awe. So much that I wavered in my faith. But I did something that is looked down upon, I actually started looking at the data.

A lot of what is proclaimed to the press is fabrication. Most of the studies that make the headlines are slanted either by the reporter, or the researcher, to read the way they want.

[Sandreckoner]

“In other words they lied.”

No, they didn’t. I’m in complete support of expanded adult stem cell research, and have (unlike most here) actually had reason to benefit from treatment (stem cell transplant), but claiming the researchers involved “lied” is profoundly intellectually dishonest, or representative of a degree of ignorance that does this issue no justice.

[Coleus]

Adult Stem Cells Reprogrammed Using Aborted Fetal and HES cells
Moral methods could have been used

(Tennessee)  Children of God for Life reports that a recent stem cell breakthrough that turns adult skin cells to “embryonic” is not a pro-life solution as currently done.  On November 21^st and 22^nd, Dr. Shinya Yamanaka and Dr James Thomson published back-to-back studies that were hailed as moral alternatives to embryonic stem cell research. Both studies involved introducing genes into adult stem cells through a lentivirus, which reprogrammed them to become “embryonic” or induced pluripotent stem (IPS) cells, without destroying human embryos. But pro-lifers may have celebrated too soon, without studying the methods used in the papers. Both researchers used several versions of the 293 aborted fetal cell lines to modify the DNA of the host adult skin cells, in order to accomplish the reprogramming. 

“Unless you read the papers published by Dr Yamanaka in Cell and Dr Thomson in Science, you would have no idea where the DNA came from that was used to transform the adult cells”, stated Debi Vinnedge, Executive Director of Children of God for Life, a pro-life watchdog organization focused on stem cell research and aborted fetal cell lines in medical products.  “And even then you would have to know what you were looking for to understand it”, she added. 

For example, while Dr Yamanaka reports using PLAT-E, PLAT-A and 293FT cells in his paper, the proper name for these cell lines is HEK (human embryonic kidney) 293. The cells were obtained from an, electively aborted baby by Dr. Alex Van der Eb, Crucell NV, the same company producing aborted fetal cell line PER C6, derived from the retinal tissue of an 18-week gestation baby. In the second study, Dr James Thomson of the University of Wisconsin, Madison, also used aborted fetal cell line 293FT to produce DNA used to modify adult cells.  Furthermore, Dr Thomson obtained the DNA sequences he used from human ES cells. And before using foreskin fibroblasts, Thomson tested the reprogramming on IMR-90 aborted fetal cell line, taken from the lung tissue of a 16-week gestation female baby. “Pro-lifers may be deceived by the excitement about these publications”, Vinnedge cautioned.  “Using aborted fetal and embryonic stem cells from deliberately destroyed human beings is certainly not any kind of moral victory.”

Vinnedge noted that the research is fraught with other moral and clinical problems, such as fatal tumors, which are a well-documented attribute of embryonic stem cells, and which also occurred with the adult reprogrammed IPS cells.  And while Yamanaka and Thomson allege the new cells generated would be “patient specific” with no immune rejection problems, this claim is premature because there is foreign DNA present from the lentivirus used to modify the cells.   However, it is not necessary to use aborted fetal cells to produce the lentivirus at all, noted Dr Theresa Deisher, R&D Director of Ave Maria Biotechnology Company, a research firm dedicated to pro-life alternatives for unethical human therapeutics.

“There are other ethical ways to produce the DNA needed for transformation, efficiently and morally,” said Dr Deisher.  “If these means were employed to produce the needed DNA, there would be no moral issues with the use of reprogrammed adult cells for research.”

Read Dr Deisher's editorial Why Are We Celebrating the Reprogramming of Adult Cells?  www.cogforlife.org/reprogramandethics.htm 

Dr Yamanaka, Induction of Pluripotent Stem Cells From Adult Human Fibroblasts By Defined Factors http://images.cell.com/images/Edimages/Cell/IEPs/3661.pdf

Dr James Thomson, Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell Lines Derived From Human Somatic Cells, http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/1151526

[CatQuilt]

self ping

[Neidermeyer]

No, they didn’t.
*************************
Thats right ,,, adult cells from an aborted baby are the ones I would test with in this early stage as they would have the least amount of genetic damage from normal aging and presumably would respond most reliably to inserting code via a virus, you have to “prove the concept” ; apparently they have this figured out and the next step is the slightly more difficult trick of repeating the same with adult cells from an adult human.

[49th]

To be fair though, this is a flaw with the Media, not with Science - also a distinction must be drawn between ‘science’ and ‘the science establishment’. Continued work towards an ethical stem-cell alternative is good work.

[8mmMauser]

Pinged from Terri Dailies

8mm

[victim soul]

The truth always seems to be found by our relentless freepers.

[redgolum]

You are correct, in that there isn’t as much science in the establishment as one would think.