Advanced Cell Technology Researchers Create Embryonic Stem Cells
Using Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis, Company Says
Main Category: Biology / Biochemistry News
Article Date: 28 Jun 2007 - 3:00 PDT
Worcester, Mass.-based Advanced Cell Technology on Friday in a
statement announced that it has created human embryonic stem cells
using preimplantation genetic diagnosis, Reuters reports (Fox,
Reuters, 6/22).
Robert Lanza, medical director of ACT, and colleagues in the Aug. 24
edition of the journal Nature described a technique that could derive
embryonic stem cells without destroying the embryo. The technique was
described as removing a single cell -- known as a blastomere -- from
a three-day-old embryo with eight to 10 cells and using a biochemical
process to create embryonic stem cells from the blastomere.
Researchers removed 91 blastomeres from 16 thawed embryos donated by
fertility clinic patients and found that more than half of the
blastomeres began to multiply and that in two cases the blastomeres
became embryonic stem cells. The method of removing a cell from the
embryo is based on preimplantation genetic diagnosis, or PGD, which
usually is used to test the cell for genetic deficiencies. At the
time the Nature article was published, Lanza said that the research
destroyed some of the embryos used but that single-cell extractions
that leave the embryo unharmed should be feasible in the future.
Nature in its Nov. 23 edition added itemized changes and an addendum
to a study that included a clarification that Lanza and colleagues
destroyed the embryos they used in the study (Kaiser Daily Women's
Health Policy Report, 11/27/06).
Lanza last week at the fifth annual meeting of the International
Society for Stem Cell Research in Cairns, Australia, said that his
team had created new embryonic stem cell lines using single cells
removed from three separate embryos. "These embryos remain frozen,"
Lanza said, adding, "They are still alive." He also said, "These are
the first human embryonic cell lines in existence that didn't result
from the destruction of an embryo" (Reuters, 6/22).
William Caldwell, chair and CEO of ACT, said the company's "single
cell blastomere technology directly addresses" the "ethical concerns"
cited by President Bush when he vetoed legislation that would have
expanded federal funding of embryonic stem cell research. He added
that the company is calling on NIH to approve ACT's applications to
fund the technology (ACT release, 6/21). Lanza said he plans to
publish his recent research in a medical journal (Reuters, 6/22).
Bloomberg Television's "On the Economy," on Wednesday interviewed
with Caldwell on Bush's veto and ACT's research. The interview is
available online on ACT's Web site (Hays, "On the Economy," Bloomberg
Television, 6/20).
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StemCells subscribers may also be interested in these sites:
Children's Neurobiological Solutions
http://www.CNSfoundation.org/
Cord Blood Registry
http://www.CordBlood.com/at.cgi?a=150123
The CNS Healing Group
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CNS_Healing
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