BobbyB
12-13-2006, 11:04 AM
Oversight key in stem cell research
Dr. Geoffrey Lomax speaks to MIIS students on the ethical, moral issues regarding controversial state program
By KEVIN HOWE
Herald Staff Writer
Allowing research into the medical uses of adult stem cells, but not embryonic stem cells, is the equivalent of sending astronauts to work on the international space station with a single tool, according to the man in charge of overseeing California's $3 billion stem cell research program.
Dr. Geoffrey Lomax, senior officer for medical and ethical standards of the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, talked about stem cell issues and policies in a seminar at Monterey Institute of International Studies on Tuesday morning.
Lomax, whose doctorate is in the field of public health, was invited by Raymond Zilinskas, senior scientist directing the chemical and biological weapons nonproliferation program at the institute's Center for Nonproliferation Studies, to speak to Zilinskas' class on emerging issues in international public health.
Focusing on the legal, moral, ethical and economic issues generated by California's stem cell research initiative funded by Proposition 71, which was approved by 59 percent of the state's voters in November 2004, Lomax said the key to successfully pursuing stem cell research lies in effective oversight of the program and developing "a culture of compliance" among scientists engaged in it.
Proposition 71 created the Institute for Regenerative Medicine, authorized $3 billion in funding, and also banned reproductive cloning, he said.
The moral status of a human embryo, Lomax said, is regarded differently by different people. The debate over stem cell research includes the morality of using embryos originally created for reproductive use but no longer desired for the purpose, embryos created solely for research, and embryos created using cloning techniques through somatic cell nuclear transplants.
A fertilized human egg at one point generates "pluripotent" cells that can form any of the components of the human body. These "stem" cells, Lomax said, have been harvested from laboratory embryos that were destined to be discarded.
Somatic cell nuclear transfer, he said, involves placing cell material from a patient into a fertilized egg so that the pluripotent cells it forms will match the patient. Those transplanted cells then won't be attacked by the patient's immune system.
These cells promise to be more accurate in assessing disease and more acceptable to the patient's system for treating disease, than those taken from laboratory embryos or adult stem cells from bone marrow.
Scientists are trying to get a better understanding of diseases such as ALS -- Lou Gehrig's disease -- by tracking them through the embryonic process and finding "points of intervention" where the pluripotent cells that might replace damaged cells can be developed without being damaged by the immune system, he said.
"The cloning issue comes up repeatedly," Lomax said.
Somatic cell nuclear transfer "is an ethically charged issue," he said, because it involves creation and destruction of an embryo in the process of obtaining stem cells, and cloning for purposes of research.
The policy of the Institute for Regenerative Medicine, Lomax said, is to ban reproductive cloning, authorize somatic cell nuclear transplants, obtain clear, voluntary consent from egg donors, require medical care for donors if health complications arise, reduce conflict of interest in choices of research, limit payments to donors and for eggs, embryos and cell lines.
"We're trying to get money out of the equation," he said, adding that medical practice is inconsistent in this regard, since people are routinely paid to participate in clinical studies or to donate blood.
Stem cell research is an international concern, Lomax said, and California has found itself representing the United States in the global stem cell field.
Different states have reacted differently to the concept of stem cell research, he said, not all of them in ways based on utilitarian principles. "The patchwork of response," he said, "is quite healthy." Ideally, he said, lines of stem cells and medical information developed from their study will be shared among laboratories in all countries.
Stem cell research has generated some unintended consequences, Lomax said. Improved therapeutic techniques can drive medical costs up, because all patients will want the new, expensive cures. Intellectual property questions have arisen over who or what agency "owns" the fruits of stem cell research financed by the taxpayers.
montereyherald.com.
http://www.montereyherald.com/mld/montereyherald/news/local/16228203.htm
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kevin Howe can be reached at 646-4416 or khowe@
Dr. Geoffrey Lomax speaks to MIIS students on the ethical, moral issues regarding controversial state program
By KEVIN HOWE
Herald Staff Writer
Allowing research into the medical uses of adult stem cells, but not embryonic stem cells, is the equivalent of sending astronauts to work on the international space station with a single tool, according to the man in charge of overseeing California's $3 billion stem cell research program.
Dr. Geoffrey Lomax, senior officer for medical and ethical standards of the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, talked about stem cell issues and policies in a seminar at Monterey Institute of International Studies on Tuesday morning.
Lomax, whose doctorate is in the field of public health, was invited by Raymond Zilinskas, senior scientist directing the chemical and biological weapons nonproliferation program at the institute's Center for Nonproliferation Studies, to speak to Zilinskas' class on emerging issues in international public health.
Focusing on the legal, moral, ethical and economic issues generated by California's stem cell research initiative funded by Proposition 71, which was approved by 59 percent of the state's voters in November 2004, Lomax said the key to successfully pursuing stem cell research lies in effective oversight of the program and developing "a culture of compliance" among scientists engaged in it.
Proposition 71 created the Institute for Regenerative Medicine, authorized $3 billion in funding, and also banned reproductive cloning, he said.
The moral status of a human embryo, Lomax said, is regarded differently by different people. The debate over stem cell research includes the morality of using embryos originally created for reproductive use but no longer desired for the purpose, embryos created solely for research, and embryos created using cloning techniques through somatic cell nuclear transplants.
A fertilized human egg at one point generates "pluripotent" cells that can form any of the components of the human body. These "stem" cells, Lomax said, have been harvested from laboratory embryos that were destined to be discarded.
Somatic cell nuclear transfer, he said, involves placing cell material from a patient into a fertilized egg so that the pluripotent cells it forms will match the patient. Those transplanted cells then won't be attacked by the patient's immune system.
These cells promise to be more accurate in assessing disease and more acceptable to the patient's system for treating disease, than those taken from laboratory embryos or adult stem cells from bone marrow.
Scientists are trying to get a better understanding of diseases such as ALS -- Lou Gehrig's disease -- by tracking them through the embryonic process and finding "points of intervention" where the pluripotent cells that might replace damaged cells can be developed without being damaged by the immune system, he said.
"The cloning issue comes up repeatedly," Lomax said.
Somatic cell nuclear transfer "is an ethically charged issue," he said, because it involves creation and destruction of an embryo in the process of obtaining stem cells, and cloning for purposes of research.
The policy of the Institute for Regenerative Medicine, Lomax said, is to ban reproductive cloning, authorize somatic cell nuclear transplants, obtain clear, voluntary consent from egg donors, require medical care for donors if health complications arise, reduce conflict of interest in choices of research, limit payments to donors and for eggs, embryos and cell lines.
"We're trying to get money out of the equation," he said, adding that medical practice is inconsistent in this regard, since people are routinely paid to participate in clinical studies or to donate blood.
Stem cell research is an international concern, Lomax said, and California has found itself representing the United States in the global stem cell field.
Different states have reacted differently to the concept of stem cell research, he said, not all of them in ways based on utilitarian principles. "The patchwork of response," he said, "is quite healthy." Ideally, he said, lines of stem cells and medical information developed from their study will be shared among laboratories in all countries.
Stem cell research has generated some unintended consequences, Lomax said. Improved therapeutic techniques can drive medical costs up, because all patients will want the new, expensive cures. Intellectual property questions have arisen over who or what agency "owns" the fruits of stem cell research financed by the taxpayers.
montereyherald.com.
http://www.montereyherald.com/mld/montereyherald/news/local/16228203.htm
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kevin Howe can be reached at 646-4416 or khowe@