Stem Cell Problems Slow Research

Jeremy Erwin writes: "George W. Bush essentially closed the door on the creation of new human embryonic stem cell lines by restricting the funding to 60 existing cell lines, most of which are covered by patents of one sort or another. But now it seems that most of these cell lines were cultured using mouse cells, possibly infecting the stem cells with murine viruses. The FDA, concerned that cross species organ transplantation may hasten the spread of such viruses, has all but banned the practice. According to this Washington Post article, this could make it difficult, if not impossible to use stem cells in human clinical trials."

Comments

W's morally inconsistent position

[renard]

I defy anyone to explain to me how (as W would have it) it can be okay to finance research on human stem cell lines that were created before a certain date (date of W's speech?), and verboten to finance research on stem cells created after that date.

What is the moral value of a date? Either it is okay to create stem cell lines (all right, all right, "destroy embryos") or it is not. The fact that the cell lines were created (embryos destroyed) before W started paying attention to the subject has no relevance. And if it is not okay to create stem cell lines, then it cannot be okay to use them for research purposes.

And please don't tell me about how the net result will be fewer of these embryos destroyed. Frozen embryos are destroyed at fertility clinics every day, en masse, and W has not lifted even his pinky finger to stop that. Far more useful, in my opinion, is the approach now being taken by Harvard and Boston IVF, to use these embryos for research rather than simply dump them in the garbage.

-Renard

Bush's plan was unworkable anyway due to patent...

[hillct]

It doesn't really matter, because Bush's plan was unworkable anyway, due to a patent held by the University of Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation as mentioned in the Testimony of Maria Freire, Director of the Office of Technology Transfer at the National Institutes of Health before the Senate Subcommitte on Labor, Health & Human Services back in 1999 - meaning the patent rights exclusively licensed to Geron Corporation were well known long before Bush's policy decision and the stories oh stem cell research 'discovered' this patent issue. In her remarks, she said in part:

The University of Wisconsin provides us with a good example of how the Bayh-Dole Act is implemented. Early work by Dr. Thomson on non-human primates, such as Rhesus monkeys, was federally funded and therefore, the patent obtained on stem cells arising from this work is governed by this Act. In accordance with the law, the invention was disclosed to the NIH, a patent application was filed by the University, through the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (WARF), and WARF licensed the technology to a small company (Geron). Because federal funds were used for this non-human primate work, the government has a non-exclusive, royalty-free right to use the patented cells by or on behalf of the government. This would allow the government laboratories and contractors the right to use the patented cells for further research. In addition, in handling this invention the University must ensure that the goals of the Bayh-Dole Act -- utilization, commercialization, and public availability -- are implemented.

Based on this, I'd have to say that Bush purpetrated a fraud against the American People, since it was known that this patent would get in the way of research on any existing (and potentially future) stem cell lines. Unfortunately this doesn't matter, with respext to the existing lines because it appears they may be tainted, as the article suggest may have occurred.

--CTH