On October 19, the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education held a hearing to examine progress in embryonic stem cell research, the need for new stem cell lines, and why these additional lines should receive federal support. Under current law, federal funds may be used for research on 78 cell lines. However, only 22 lines have actually been made available for use.
The House recently approved a bill (H.R. 810), which would expand federal funding for embryonic stem cell research (see The Source, 5/27/05). An identical bill (S. 471), sponsored by subcommittee Chair Arlen Specter (R-PA), has been introduced in the Senate. The Senate Special Aging Committee heard testimony in support of that bill on June 10 (see The Source, 6/10/05).
In his opening remarks, Sen. Specter highlighted the fact that this was the subcommittee’s 16th hearing on the issue of stem cell research since 1998. He further lamented the United State’s lag behind the rest of the world in stem cell research. “Even as we speak today,” he said, “South Korea just announced this morning the creation of the World Stem Cell Foundation in Seoul which will assist in stem research around the world.” He went on to say that “if the U.S. devoted the same amount of money to this war as it does to other wars, we would be winning the war against cancer.”
Ranking Member Tom Harkin (D-IA) echoed Sen. Specter’s dismay with the slow progress on the issue and remarked, “For millions of Americans, stem cell research remains a life-or-death issue. That’s why I’m so disappointed that the White House and the Senate leadership seem to have no interest in bringing [the issue] to a vote.” Calling attention to progress in South Korea, Singapore, and China, he added, “Scientists in many other countries are already moving full speed ahead.” Witnesses focused much of their testimony in support of a particular research technique, somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT), which allows scientists to create embryonic stem cells that match a patient’s DNA for the purpose of repairing damaged and diseased tissue. This process also is known as therapeutic cloning and has been an area of contention among policymakers and others.
Dr. Steven Teitelbaum, the Wilma and Roswell Messing Professor of Pathology and Immunology at the Washington University School of Medicine, explained that “human embryonic stem cells can presently be obtained from two sources, namely the spare products of in vitro fertilization, which ultimately would be destroyed, and by somatic cell nuclear transfer, also know as SCNT or therapeutic cloning.” He noted that while both approaches have great potential, SCNT holds the added benefit of alleviating major cell and tissue complications that result in rejection and life threatening consequences. Addressing the debate surrounding the use of SCNT, he said, “This is not a contest between various types of stem cells. It is a contest between us as a society and disease. We should be moving forward on all fronts, adult, embryonic and umbilical cord stem cells, to win the battle. The tool is not important. What counts is curing our neighbors.”
Dr. Judith Gasson, director of the Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center and co-director of the UCLA Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Medicine, agreed. “The technique of somatic cell nuclear transfer would enable us to insert DNA from a cancer patient’s skin cell into an egg and re-program it from a skin cell to a pluripotent stem cell. In this way, the patient’s blood and immune systems could be reconstituted and genetically identical to the patient,” she said, adding, “Thousands of physicians and scientists represented by the American Association of Cancer Research and the American Society of Clinical Oncology issued public statements this year strongly endorsing the expansion of funding for embryonic stem cell research to improve prevention, detection and treatment of cancer.”
Dr. John E. Wagner, scientific director of clinical research at the University of Minnesota, told the subcommittee that “to restrict work with embryonic stem cells or bar SCNT would cripple our capacity to move all stem therapies forward. Embryonic stem cells are the gold standard and research with them will maximize the potential of cord blood and adult stem cells, and pursuit of multiple approaches will permit the most rapid translation of stem cells possible into efficacious clinical therapies.” He added, “SCNT is likely to be the key that will make embryonic cell therapies more widely available more rapidly.”
Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA), spoke in favor of expanding federal funding for embryonic stem cell research while opposing therapeutic cloning. “Women’s eggs and wombs should never be commodities sold to the highest bidders. But this is a very real risk of so called ‘therapeutic cloning’,” she stated. “We must be careful not to undermine human dignity in the pursuit of human progress.” She continued to say that “there is no doubt that embryonic stem cell research holds the promise of curing diseases such as Parkinson’s, diabetes, Alzheimer’s, and cancer.” However, “creating a human embryo for the sole purpose of its destruction through experimentation is wrong, unethical and should be illegal.”
