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To: Doc Bones who wrote (3169)	5/6/2004 6:41:29 AM
From: Doc Bones	Respond to of 7143

Diabetes Study Supports Use of Embryonic Cells Certainly ties in with Nancy Reagan speaking to a fund-raiser for diabetes in the previous post re stem cells & Bush - Doc By MICHAEL WALDHOLZ Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL May 6, 2004; Page D3 In another scientific assault on President Bush's ban on embryo cell research, a Harvard scientist has produced results supporting the argument that embryonic stem cells are essential for growing insulin-producing cells required for a new treatment for Type 1 diabetes. A report published today from Harvard researcher Douglas Melton is likely to fuel a debate over the use of human embryos as a source for stem cells. Stem cells have the ability to transform into many other types of cells, and medical researchers have been trying to use stem cells to grow human tissue that might one day remedy heart disease, Parkinson's and Alzheimer's disease, stroke, diabetes and other ailments. The new report in the British journal Nature is also certain to increase the growing attention to Dr. Melton's lab and its recent work with embryonic stem cells. In March, Dr. Melton caused a stir when he reported that his was the first U.S. lab to use private funding -- from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, along with Harvard and diabetes-research backers -- to extract new batches of stem cells from embryos left over from in-vitro fertilization procedures. In August 2001, President Bush banned the use of federal money to grow new embryonic stem cell lines, siding with abortion opponents. The ban meant government money could be used only for experiments on embryonic stem cells that had been created before that date. Dr. Melton and others argue new cell lines are needed for research. Some scientists have argued that the controversy over using embryos for treating diabetes can be avoided. They say it may be possible to grow insulin-making cells, called islet cells, in the lab from adult stem cells, which exist in blood, organs and other tissue of human subjects or cadavers. But Dr. Melton and his colleagues contend they have produced strong evidence from their research that islet cells can't be produced from adult stem cells, at least not in mice. The report will likely be used to bolster their arguments that the Bush ban on embryonic stem cells must be lifted or at least be changed. Over the past four years, doctors have begun transplanting into people with diabetes insulin-making "beta cells" from islets removed from cadavers. The experimental procedure allows patients to eliminate the need for daily injections of insulin. But use of the technique is limited because of the short supply of cadaver pancreases from which islets can be harvested. Although scientists have yet to figure out how to transform stem cells into islets in the lab, many backers of embryonic stem-cell research maintain that lab-made cells provide the best hope for making enough cells to greatly expand the use of transplants. Some scientists said they aren't convinced that embryos are the only route. "We still believe there may be other cells in the body that give rise to (the needed) beta cells," says Susan Bonner-Weir, also a Harvard researcher based at the Joslin Diabetes Center in Boston. Dr. Bonner-Weir and others who disagree with Dr. Melton's analysis say the new report confirms another important finding. The new report suggests insulin-making cells regenerate themselves in the body, although they do so in only small amounts. This means scientists also may be able to make islets in the lab from existing beta cells, suggesting another way to avoid the embryo controversy. Write to Michael Waldholz at mike.waldholz@wsj.com online.wsj.com