WASHINGTON — Scientists in Massachusetts said Thursday that they had created several colonies of human embryonic stem cells without harming the embryos from which they were derived.
In June, scientists in Japan and Wisconsin said they had made cells very similar to embryonic stem cells from adult skin cells, without involving embryos. But that technique so far requires the use of gene-altered viruses that contaminate the cells and limit their biomedical potential.
By contrast, the work shows for the first time that healthy embryonic stem cells can be cultivated directly from embryos without destroying them. That means the work should be eligible for financing under President Bush’s 6-year-old policy of funding only stem-cell research that does not harm embryos, said study leader Robert Lanza of Advanced Cell Technology in Worcester, Mass.
But that is not likely, said Story Landis, who heads the task force that oversees grants for studies on the medically promising cells. The embryos Lanza used appear not to have been damaged, Landis acknowledged. But, she said, “it is impossible to know definitively” that the embryos were not in some subtle way harmed by the experiment.
U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette, D-Colo., who has championed funding for stem-cell research, was encouraged by the news. “The vast promise of ethical stem-cell research is underscored by the recent announcements of new research techniques,” she said in a statement. “The federal government needs to support all types of ethical stem-cell research, including embryonic stem-cell research.”
