In an earlier post, we tried to untangle some of the ethical issues surrounding the use of human embryonic stem cells (hESCs).
Miodrag Stojkovic (who incidentally produced Britain’s first human embryo clone) and his colleagues at the Prince Felipe Investigation Centre in Valencia, Spain, have managed to remove stem cells from blastocyst stage embryos that are technically “dead.” What does it mean to be a dead embryo? That’s where the continuing controversy comes in. For Stojkovic and his colleagues, an “arrested” embryo is one that does “not resume cell division and cannot be stated as live.”
The team was able to obtain a viable stem cell line from “late-arrested” blastocysts that had stopped dividing after the 16 to 24 cell stage. Not all researchers agree with the use of “dead” to describe the cells. Although they stop dividing, the source blastocysts remain “metabolically active.”
Another concern about the team’s new source is that arrested blastocysts are by nature abnormal–it is normal to continue dividing. Consequently, the cells derived from arrested blastocysts may also be abnormal. Here is further reading on that issue. Other researchers have also found abnormalities in arrested embryos.
The report of this new technique reminds us of the continuing controversy regarding the use of stem cells derived from embryos.
You can read the article by Stojkovic’s team here.
2 Comments
cableguy · October 8, 2006 at 12:01 pm
Is anyone familiar with Ann Coulter’s lastest book “Godless”? It was on the best seller list for months. In it she states that embryonic stem cell research has proven to be a dead end while most of the stem cell break throughs that have occured are actually a result of adult stem cell research. Does anyone know if there is any validity to her statements? Thanks….
Laura Freberg · October 8, 2006 at 2:05 pm
I know of Coulter’s book but have not read it myself.
Some adult stem cell researchers have protested that their accomplishments are being pushed aside in favor of work with embryonic cells. A good primer on the different types may be found at a site managed by the National Institutes of Health (NIH): http://stemcells.nih.gov/info/basics/
Comments are closed.