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Release date: 20-Jul-04 Stem Cell Research Hampered by Limits to Existing Cell Lines
Contact: As debate about federal limits on stem cell research nears with the Democratic National Convention, Emory University scientists believe there is a critical need for new stem cell lines for research in developing treatments for debilitating diseases, such as Alzheimer's, that have proven elusive to medical scientists. "Less than a third of the originally listed lines have actually materialized and important research is now being deferred or leaving the country. The need for new cell lines becomes more urgent with every passing day," says Robert R. Rich, M.D., executive associate dean for research and strategic initiatives at Emory University School of Medicine and past president of the Federation of American Societies of Experimental Biology. Embryonic stem cells are typically derived from fertilized embryos in a very early stage of cell differentiation that are created by in vitro fertility clinics in much larger numbers than can actually be implanted. These embryos are donated for research purposes with informed consent of the donors and housed in cold storage against future need. Embryonic stem cells are capable of developing into numerous specialized tissues, and many scientists believe they may be potentially useful in developing therapies for a number of diseases. Listed below is a sample of the Emory scientists conducting research with either human embryonic, hematopoietic (blood) or animal stem cells: • Marie Csete, M.D., Ph.D., John E. Steinhaus Professor of Anesthesiology at Emory University School of Medicine, conducts basic research on the effects of gases, particularly oxygen, on the biology of stem cells cultured in the laboratory. Most stem cells are cultured within oxygen conditions that differ considerably from human physiology. Csete currently studies brain stem cells and muscle stem cells, called satellite cells, and she is establishing a research program with human embryonic stem cells to determine whether more appropriate oxygen conditions will protect the cultured cells from chromosomal damage. • Samuel C. Dudley, M.D., Ph.D., associate professor of medicine (cardiology) in Emory University School of Medicine, has done some research with approved stem cell lines, trying to find out whether stem cell therapy for heart disease will have unexpected negative consequences, such as arrhythmias; how stem cell therapy for the heart actually works to improve heart function; and whether a cell-based or tissue-engineered approach for heart repair would be best. • Michelle C. LaPlaca, Ph.D., assistant professor of biomedical engineering at Emory and Georgia Tech, conducts research in mice on the use of stem cells in the nervous system and in tissue engineering applications. • Ned Waller, M.D., Ph.D., FACP, director of the Bone Marrow and Stem Cell Transplant Center in Emory's Winship Cancer Institute, uses hematopoietic stem cell transplantation for leukemia and lymphoma, and stem cell mobilization to treat peripheral vascular disease. |
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