Stemcell Hustle

I'm sick of writing about Lebanon and Israel and Hizbollah and Iran and the UN. I'm going to write about politics instead. It's called Embryonic Stemcell Research.

Some outfit called ACT (who cares what that stands for) in a press release claimed a new breakthrough. I'm going to quote some of that news release, but first I'll say a little about what apparently is actually in the research (To be published in Nature; I haven't read the paper, won't read it, but have read something about what it says).

From 16 8-cell embryonic units 91 cells (blastomeres) were removed and cultured. Note, from a total of 128 cells, 91 were removed, that's 5.69 cells removed per 8-cell unit (as I understand it was actually 4 to 7 cells removed per 8-cell unit).

There's something called Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis (PGD) a known process, by which one cell (sometimes two) is removed by mechanical means; that cell (or cells) is then used for diagnostic purpose but the remaining embryonic unit, now 6 or 7 cells, is implanted in the woman (In vitro Fertilization) and a viable baby can result. In other words, PGD removes one cell but does not kill the embryo. If it could be shown that this one cell removed by this process could then be used, not for diagnosis but to create a new stem cell line, leaving the embryo viable, then much of the moral objection to embryonic stem cell research would be removed, because then, at least in principle, the embryo need not die. Even if the research by which this procedure were established was brutal and resulted in the distruction of the embryo, nevertheless, once established, the brutality need not continue.

But for this procedure to be viably established it must be built upon known science. That means in this case that one (or two) cells must be removed by established PDG techniques, then must be cultured in isolation (or in conjunction with one other cell from the same embryo). Various other supporting cells might be used but no more than two cells from the same embryo. If a viable stemcell line could then be produced, then in principle it has been proven that embryonic stemcell lines can be established without killing the embryo.

The important thing to remember is that PDG removes one cell and is a proven technology; ACT removed 4 to 7 cells out of each 8-cell unit.

Here is the news release with relavent lines excerpted:

Advanced Cell Technology, Inc. today reported that company scientists have successfully generated human embryonic stem cells (hES cells) using an approach that does not harm embryos. The technique is reported...in the journal Nature. The article describes a method for deriving stem cells from human blastomeres with a single-cell biopsy technique called Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis (PGD)...The cell lines produced using this technique appear to be identical to hES cell lines derived from later stage embryos using techniques that destroy the embryo’s developmental potential.

“Until now, embryonic stem cell research has been synonymous with the destruction
of human embryos,” stated Robert Lanza, M.D., Vice President of Research
& Scientific Development at ACT, and the study’s senior author. “We have
demonstrated, for the first time, that human embryonic stem cells can be
generated without interfering with the embryo’s potential for life.

ACT’s approach generates human embryonic stem cells from a single cell obtained from an 8-cell-stage embryo.

To create hES cell lines, the researchers used single cells obtained from
unused embryos produced by IVF for clinical purposes....

“One of the major ethical objections of those who oppose the generation of
human embryonic stems cells is that all techniques, until now, have resulted
in the destruction of the embryo...This technique overcomes this hurdle..."

“Our policy will be to work together with the scientific community to make
new lines widely available for research...Our ability to create human embryonic cell lines and therapies without harming the embryo should assuage the ethical concerns of many Americans.

Does anyone get the impression that only one cell was removed, and that the embryo remained viable? Four to seven cells were removed, the embryos were destroyed! The whole release is a stunning flat-out prevarication, and this is the point: does anybody not innately a fool think that if ACT can lie like this in a news release it did not lie in its research? The same people who were part and parcel of that news release were the people who did the research, and they are as trustworthy in one effort as in the other.

Because they are innately liars it does not matter what the paper says and this is why I'm not going to read it. I don't care how they say the cells were actually cultured, I already know it's a lie.

My personal preference would be that the paper be true. In my opinion embryonic stemcell research holds out no hope at all, it's pure fantasy and hustle. I believe it will soon collapse from its own impossibility and will be fully replaced with adult stemcell research which is true science. But at the moment it doesn't matter if I'm right or wrong, this is the present infection and it must run its course; but at least if it were possible to create a stemcell line without killing an embryo then this part of science would not be so vile. But this paper was produced by ACT. It's its own particular vileness. It's a fraud.

Update:

This is from Secondhand Smoke by Wesley J. Smith in his Aug 26th post at 8:31 AM entitled: ACT's ES Cell Experiment Gets Smellier and Smellier.

ACT strongly implied that it had removed one blastomere (a type of early embryonic cell) and obtained ES cells without destroying the embryo. As discussed extensively here at Secondhand Smoke, that purported breakthrough was flat-out false. ACT's scientists had actually destroyed 16 embryos and removed 4-7 blastomeres from each, placing them in a medium in which they were not in direct contact, but in such a manner that the cells might have been able to communicate with each other.

A failed experiment , similar to that conducted by ACT, appears to demonstrate that this potential communication may have been key to the derivation of two ESC lines--casting doubt on whether ES cells will be able to derived from just one blastomere as ACT claims. In the experiment, scientists tried to create ES cells using two blastomeres. But when the two were removed from being able to communicate with several others, the experiment didn't take. According to the science paper published about the effort: "The results showed that it might not be possible to derive hESC lines directly from paired blastomeres. A minimum number of blastomeres in close contact with one another may be required to successfully generate an hESC line."

Of course, if that is so about two blastomeres, it is more than true about one. If other efforts show similar results--and it must be said that we don't know whether they will--ACT's experiment may have been worth not very much at all. Well, other than generating bounteous free publicity and obtaining millions in venture capital.

I've probably quoted more than is appropriate by the "fair use" doctrine but it seemed necessary to make the argument. --Kind of fun to see a man who shares my attitude. I seem to be more convinced that they're innate liars than he but then he might just be more discreet... or I might be slightly over the top. That's possible. Or maybe I just get very angry sitting here in my house alone and I ought to get out more.
Aug 26, 3:28 PM