Stem Cells: No Good Deed Goes Unpunished

In this issue of The Scientist, we bring you an article by Ricki Lewis on somatic cell nuclear transfer (p. 12) and a Vision by cloning pioneer Ian Wilmut on why research needs cloned human embryonic stem cells (p. 16). On the research front, things are progressing in leaps and bounds. But in other respects the stem cell phenomenon remains, to borrow Winston Churchill's famous observation on Russia, "a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma."Take the introduction of therapies. It's a riddle. Your horse can be treated today for injuries to tendons, ligaments, and fractures with stem cells,1 but when considering human therapies, no one knows if such approaches will work, and no one knows when we will know. The death of former president Ronald Reagan last year due to Alzheimer's disease had many pundits and even some scientists effusive about the potential for embryonic stem cells in treating that disease. But it is not fair, to patients and their families, to allow ourselves to be carried along on a tide of optimism. Let's be clear about the lack of clarity.Then take the therapies themselves, still a bit of a mystery. With the current pall hanging over certain small molecule drugs, and biologics only beginning to make an impression, it's a brave person who'll promote cell therapy – or any therapy – as an ideal treatment. Certainly it's the last thing that physicians will want to recommend. Nonetheless, there are a number of innovative and brave companies out there, such as Aastrom, Geron, and Advanced Cell Technology, who hope to make "prescription cells" as close to a routine as possible. We wish them every success in making standardized, reliable and cost-effective cell therapies.Finally, take the enigma of funding. Pledges large and small are being made all over, from New York to Singapore. The big daddy is of course California. The state's stem cell initiative, presented as Proposition 71, provides a jaw-dropping $3 billion in funding for stem cell research over the next decade. Just as well, because although the US Congress may vote this summer to roll back some of the government restrictions on such funding, it's unclear what effect that will have over the next four years. This gets us into the ludicrous and faintly sinister position of parallel facilities being set up to avoid the possibility of non-approved stem cell lines being worked on in a lab receiving from the National Institutes of Health.Stem cell issues actually extend beyond the riddling, mysterious and enigmatic, to the downright shabby. One recent example is the attempt to taint the California initiative, known as the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM), with allegations of conflict of interest. The advocacy group "The Center for Genetics and Society"2 purported to reveal that seven committee members have "significant business connections with companies connected with stem cell research." Although these revelations proved to be inconsequential – the absurd corollary is that no one with industry expertise should participate on the committee of a science funding body – the report did receive a lot of media coverage.The inescapable conclusion is that groups such as CIRM need to distance themselves from conflict in every way possible. In this case it has to extend to committee members divesting themselves of stock in unrelated, geographically distant companies purely for the sake of appearances, something that at least one committee member appears unwilling to do. Edward Penhoet, a former biotech executive, told the San Diego Tribune: "I'm spending an enormous amount of time and effort purely in the public interest," he said. "I'm not willing to sacrifice the entire rest of my life, which has been in the biotech world, because it doesn't make any sense."3Perhaps not, but sacrificing biotech stocks may be the price that has to be paid. This is particularly unfortunate as Penhoet and other committee members give their time freely and gladly. Just another oddity from the stem cell firmament. Truly, no good deed goes unpunished.

Stem Cells: No Good Deed Goes Unpunished

Apr 24, 2005

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