More States to Fund Stem Cell Research; Interest to Increase in New Technology with Potential to Make Issue Moot

Nearly a half-dozen states will follow California’s lead and promote stem-cell research in 2005, while a new technology that could eventually make the entire debate moot will continue developing in the months ahead, predicts a University of Alabama biologist.

Dr. Kim Caldwell, assistant professor of biological sciences at UA, expects Wisconsin, Rhode Island, Colorado and Maryland to be among the states saying yes to stem-cell research, as California voters did last month. “These states will consider laws to promote stem-cell research — allowing either the public funding of it or the conducting of stem cell research in their state,” Caldwell says. “Ultimately, maybe a dozen states or more will end up with laws promoting stem cell research, but probably less than half of those will do so during 2005.”

Embryonic stem cell research is the most controversial. These cells are harvested from embryos that are five days old. Scientists believe these stem cells hold much potential in the treatment of disease because the cells, at this early stage, can be used to replace or replenish a variety of cell types damaged by disease or injury. The source of these embryos is often in vitro fertilization clinics, Caldwell said. Women seeking fertility assistance are sometimes given hormones causing them to produce many eggs. The eggs are extracted and fertilized by sperm in a laboratory. After the fertilized eggs divide and grow into embryos, scientists then select the best ones and implant them into the woman. The remaining embryos are frozen, and the patient is charged a storage fee. If patients stop paying the fee, the clinic disposes of the embryos, she said.

“Scientists want to obtain the embryos that are being thrown away every day at in vitro fertilization clinics,” Caldwell said. Some “right-to-life” supporters argue that embryonic stem cell research shows a disregard for human life and could lead to the creation of embryos solely for the purpose of research. President George W. Bush announced in 2001 a policy that allowed federal funds to only be used on embryonic stem-cell lines already in existence.

“There is some new technology that could make the whole embryonic stem cell research debate less of an issue,” Caldwell says. Eggs can now be chemically stimulated in the laboratory to begin developing as if they have been fertilized. This procedure, known as parthenogenesis, has the potential to create embryonic stem cells without ever creating an embryo. “I think there will be more work on parthenogenesis in the next year,” Caldwell predicts.

Also, on the fertility side of science, look for more women to opt to have their eggs frozen for later use, rather than freezing embryos. “The problem is nobody knows if this is going to work,” Caldwell said. “Most physicians who are in fertility clinics do not advise that people do this. But, I think more women will try it during the next year.”