On September 6, the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies held a hearing on a potential breakthrough in embryonic stem cell research. The new technique might allow the creation of human embryonic stem cells without damaging or destroying human embryos, a practice prohibited by the Dickey Amendment (Section 128 of P.L. 104-99).
In August, an article in the journal Nature identified a new method of creating human embryonic stem cells using material retrieved during pre-implantation genetic diagnosis (PGD). PGD is performed by removing a single cell from an embryo created during in vitro fertilization (IVF). PGD allows couples carrying a grave or fatal genetic disease to screen embryos for serious congenital defects. After retrieving the single cell for PGD, an embryo free of congenital disorders would be implanted and theoretically result in a healthy infant; the single cell would be developed into a stem cell line. Although the technique has been successful using animal models, it remains unproven using human subjects.
“Today, the subcommittee will identify the facts regarding this research, what has actually been accomplished, what remains to be done, and what implications these experiments may have on the stem cell debate,” said Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA).
Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA) applauded the potential advance but said, “What we need to do now is step back, examine what it was that ACT [Advanced Cell Technology, the company pioneering the new technique] really accomplished, and discuss what it means for the future of stem cell research.”
Both senators stressed that this new development is not a substitute for H.R. 810, the Stem Cell Research Advancement Act, which would have allowed the Department of Health and Human Services to use federal funding to conduct and support human embryonic stem cell research. President Bush vetoed H.R. 810 on July 19 (see The Source, 7/21/06). Dr. Kevin Eggan, an assistant professor of molecular and cellular biology at Harvard University, agreed saying the advance “represents a potential political, rather than scientific, solution” to the problem of stem cell research. To fully recognize the potential of stem cell research, he said, the government must not restrict federal funding.
The chair of the NIH Stem Cell Task Force, Dr. James Battey, provided the subcommittee with scientifically-detailed testimony on the potential advance. However, Dr. Battey cautioned the subcommittee that this method could still raise legal concerns. In some animals, the cell removed from a very early embryo can develop into a fully functioning individual. As no studies have conclusively confirmed or denied that a single cell taken from a human embryo can result in a healthy live birth, Dr. Battey said that a legal opinion would be needed to make sure this technique would not violate the Dickey Amendment.
Also testifying were Dr. Ronald M. Green, director of Dartmouth College’s Ethics Institute, and Dr. Robert Lanza, principal investigator of the new technique and vice president of research and scientific development at Advanced Cell Technology.
