Korea Lab Forms Group To Provide Stem Cells in U.S.
Facilities to Open in Seoul, London and San Francisco; Avoiding Legal Prohibitions
By SUZANNE SATALINE and DAVID ARMSTRONG in Boston and NICHOLAS ZAMISKA in Hong Kong
Staff Reporters of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
October 19, 2005; Page A11
A Korean laboratory prominent in animal cloning is forming an international alliance to make human embryonic stem-cell lines for researchers in the U.S., using methods and financing that steer clear of American prohibitions relating to human-embryo cloning.
The proposed consortium, spearheaded by Dr. Woo Suk Hwang of Seoul National University, was announced Wednesday in Seoul. Under the arrangement, Korean researchers will create embryonic stem-cell lines for scientists in privately funded labs based in the U.S. and the United Kingdom, according to Gerald Schatten, a University of Pittsburgh cell biologist who said he will lead the consortium's board of directors.
In an interview, Dr. Hwang said, "We have more than 10 research teams in the world that have already agreed to participate in this." He declined to be specific.
It's illegal in the U.S. for anyone to use federal funds to create human stem-cell lines derived from human embryos. But because many researchers believe stem cells' unique ability to be converted into other cells is important in seeking treatments for diseases, a number of American researchers have sought private funding to avoid the U.S. restrictions.
The new entity, to be called the World Stem Cell Foundation, could help bolster those efforts, utilizing Korean technology methods that are unmatched. Scientists said the initiative has possible long-term benefits for people suffering from blood diseases, Parkinson's disease and insulin-dependent diabetes. At least two U.S. researchers said they are eager to work with the Koreans, but others said they would stick with their existing arrangements.
Prof. Schatten said the project will rely on private foundation grants to open a lab near San Francisco and one near London that each could cost $17.5 million over five years. The South Korean government plans to pay for the Seoul research center, which Mr. Schatten estimated could cost $50 million.
The consortium would run satellite laboratories in San Francisco and Britain that would be associated with nearby in vitro fertilization centers. Scientists who want cells would apply to have cell lines created for their projects.
Prof. Schatten said foundations, not researchers, would pay for stem cells needed for their work. The consortium doesn't yet have funding commitments.
Evan Snyder, a pediatric neurologist at the Burnham Institute in La Jolla, Calif., said he is enthusiastic about the plan's potential to help cure Lesch-Nyhan Syndrome, an inherited genetic disorder. "The Koreans have been able to do this difficult technique better than anyone else," Dr. Snyder said. "It makes sense for us with knowledge of the disease to partner with someone who has the techniques."
George Daley, associate director of the Stem Cell Program at Boston Children's Hospital and a member of the Harvard Stem Cell Institute, said he welcomed the initiative, but "the details have yet to be divulged and the devil's in the details. What's the quid pro quo on the cell lines? We just don't know."
In June, Dr. Hwang co-authored a paper for Science magazine that announced his team had successfully spawned several lines of patient-specific, immune-matched human embryonic stem cells.
Dr. Hwang's method of cloning -- known as the somatic-cell nuclear-transfer technique -- replaces DNA from donated eggs with that from a person's skin or other adult cell. If technicians can coax the new cells to divide, they can recreate the cells' embryonic environment and trace what went wrong earlier in someone who has or carries a disease.
Dr. Hwang's lab is one of the most prominent in animal cloning. In August, it cloned a dog named Snuppy. Dr. Hwang is something of a celebrity in his native South Korea. Fans have approached him on the street for autographs and he sometimes is escorted to news conferences by bodyguards.
In addition to U.S. federal law, seven states ban human-embryo cloning. But only one of those -- South Dakota -- explicitly bans the importation of human embryonic stem cells, said LeRoy Walters, a professor at Georgetown University's Kennedy Institute of Ethics. The consortium, scientists said, could allow privately funded researchers in those other states to legally study cell lines obtained through the new consortium.
But researchers still could encounter obstacles to using Korean stem-cell lines, said University of Wisconsin law professor Alta Charo, because private organizations providing funding for stem-cell research have their own requirements for how cell lines are created and rules for egg donations.
Some researchers at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore have continuing collaborations with the Korean researchers, a spokeswoman said. The university, however, won't participate in the consortium, she said. An anonymous donor gave Johns Hopkins a $58.5 million gift to launch the Institute for Cell Engineering, where some researchers are doing embryonic stem-cell research.
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