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Three days after the regents’ meeting, President Obama thrilled the science community when he announced that he planned to expand the number of ESC lines for research
The two pronouncements point out dramatically the different sides of the ESC research issue. Although polls show more than 60 percent of people favor ESC research, it does have its opponents.
The issue has generated immediate concern among faculty and staff at UNMC.
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“Embryonic stem cell research is absolutely critical to the research growth of UNMC and to the health of Nebraskans and its economy,” said Chancellor Harold M. Maurer, M.D. “Twenty-first century medicine will evolve based on the findings from embryonic stem cell research … not only on its repairable values but also on the learnings on how cells can be transformed to benefit people.
“The Bush stem cell lines are inadequate and almost useless. It’s unlikely that the government would provide any funding for research involving these cell lines. If UNMC is not allowed to use the expanded cell lines, Nebraska will be going counterclockwise. The citizens of the state would be at a loss and the impact would be university-wide.”
Dr. Maurer emphasized that UNMC has never destroyed embryos or engaged in human cloning. He said UNMC has always followed state, federal and Board of Regents guidelines.
Dr. Maurer said the restrictions would label Nebraska as an undesirable place to conduct research and would significantly reduce any chance UNMC might have of receiving a Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) grant from the National Institutes of Health. In addition, it would deny Nebraskans with serious health issues access to any clinical trials using embryonic stem cells in their home state.
“The new science of regenerative medicine will provide the most important, life-saving advances in the 21st century,” said Tom Rosenquist, Ph.D., vice chancellor for research. “Central to this modern marvel is the improved access of the research community to new lines of embryonic stem cells — not to use directly for therapy, but to study, and to apply the results to the development of technology for inducing pluripotent stem cells (iPS cells) from existing adult cells.
“We are on the right road toward useful iPS cell technology, but we have a long way to go, and we’ll be working in the dark without the ability to observe embryonic cells.”
Dr. Rosenquist emphasized that ESC research is the ethical thing to do.
“Remember — scientists don’t create the embryos that these cells are derived from, and scientists don’t choose to destroy the embryos,” he said. “Rather, the scientists provide the only possible, positive outcome for embryonic cells that are targeted for destruction.
“They convert this sad end into the possibility of cures for those who cannot walk or those who will otherwise never be cured of diabetes or neurodegenerative diseases. The moral high ground on this issue is as obvious as the folly of preventing Nebraskans from being part of this transformative period in the history of human health.”
Last year, the Nebraska Legislature enacted compromise legislation (LB 606), which allows the university to conduct research on human ESC lines as long as the cell lines were developed elsewhere. The legislation mandates that the university may not create or destroy embryos.
David Crouse, Ph.D., associate vice chancellor for academic affairs, said that only five states currently restrict ESC research — Arkansas, Indiana, Louisiana, North Dakota and South Dakota. These are five of the lowest ranked states in terms of NIH research funding.
“The message is pretty clear,” he said. “Leading scientists will gravitate to where there is a positive research climate.”
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Mario Fernandez, former president of the UNMC Graduate Student Association now working as a graduate student in the Cancer Research Graduate Program at the Eppley Institute, also voiced concerns about how ESC restrictions could hurt recruitment.
“I’ve always been in favor of doing embryonic stem cell research,” he said. “It’s an area of medicine we need to explore. If the university wants to recruit top scientists in this field and the brightest graduate students, we cannot limit ourselves by approving policies or laws that would restrict the type of work we can do.”