Stem cell breakthrough hyolds political promise

Tuesday, January 9, 2007 2:15 AM CST

Over the years we have come to raise a skeptical eyebrow when we hear the words "scientific breakthrough".

Often those promises are accompanied by qualifications and the fine print talks of the number of years it will be before there are practical application, etc., etc., assuming every goes well, etc., etc.s Still, it's human nature to get our hopes up and we're hopeful indeed that the announcement this week that stem cells in amniotic fluid appear to have the same benefits of embryonic stem cells is good news indeed.

"So far, we've been successful with every cell type we've attempted to produce from these stem cells," said Anthony Atala, director of the Institute for Regenerative Medicine at Wake Forest University School of Medicine.

Researchers there have been studying the stem cells from amniotic fluid for seven years now and have been able to transform them into new bone, heart muscle, blood vessel, nerve, fat and liver tissue.

Not only are the stem cells easy to harvest - they are taken from the fluid that helps cushion the fetus in the womb during routine amniocentesis checks given to pregnant women - but they also have not developed tumors when implanted in lab animals, which has been a drawback of embryonic stem cells.

Best of all the amniotic stem cells could end the huge political fight over destruction of embryos for stell cell research and open the door to unimpeded state and federal support for this promising line of regenerative medicine that holds hopes for a host of diseases and injuries from juvenile diabetes and Alzheimers' disease to Parkinson's' disease and spinal cord injuries.

The University of Wisconsin-Madison has been in the forefront of medical research on stem cells and therapeutic cloning thanks to some early discoveries here. But it has also been the site of repeated poltical fights as Republicans and Right to Life groups have worked to restrict such research over ethical concerns over the destruction of embryos used in that research.

Those arguments have fostered years of fighting at the federal level as well and resulted in biomedical researchers being restricted to a handful of lines of embryonic stem cells if they expect to receive federal funding support.

It would be a hopeful day indeed if Sunday's announcement would mean an end to those limits and give a green light to researchers to pursue some of the $25 billion in scientific research dollars that are available each year.

Yes, there are the Wake Forest researchers posited the caveats that are all too familiar with scientific research - it may be years before there are preliminary tests involving human patients.

Still, if it removes the roadblock of political feuding and offers even a fraction of the flexibility in research that these stem cells promise, it will hasten the day when science and medicine have another answer to deflect human suffering.

That would, indeed, cast Sunday's announcement as a scientific breakthrough.

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