Stem Cells From Mice Could Help Conquer Disease

Jun 28, 04:58 PM

Current Headlines: By Fiona MacRae

A BREAKTHROUGH in stem cell technology could sweep away ethical concerns over embryo research and speed the development of treatments for incurable diseases.

Researchers from Oxford and Cambridge universities have discovered that mice can produce embryonic stem cells very similar to those found in human embryos.

The findings will make it easier to use mice and other animals to study human diseases and could lead to new treatments for conditions such as diabetes and cystic fibrosis in as little as five years.

A steady supply of animal cells will lessen the need for researchers to use stem cells taken from human embryos - a practice that is mired in controversy because harvesting the cells in the first days of life leads to the death of the embryo. However, scientists will still need to use human cells at the stage of synthesising organs and tissues for use in humans.

Seen as a 'repair kit' for the body, stem cells are able to turn into different types of cell and tissue, which can potentially replace the defective, dead and worn-out cells behind conditions from diabetes to Alzheimer's.

But researchers have struggled to obtain stem cells from animals other than a certain strain of mice.

And until now, those stem cells they have gleaned from mice have been very different to the ones found in human embryos. But in two landmark pieces of research, scientists have managed to obtain embryonic stem cells from mice that are virtually indistinguishable from their human counterparts, the journal Nature reported.

Not only do the cells - obtained at a slightly later stage of the embryo's development - look very similar to human cells under the microscope, they also rely on the same proteins for growth and have many genetic similarities.

Similar cells have also been obtained from rats, raising the prospect that human-like stem cells could be gleaned from a wide variety of animals.

Stem cells from sheep could provide particularly useful in studying cystic fibrosis, Britain's most common lifethreatening genetic disease - one of whose symptoms is chronic breathing difficulties.

The breakthrough could also lead scientists to harvest stem cells for the first time from a particular strain of mouse that provides a good insight into diabetes. Oxford researcher Professor Sir Richard Gardner said: 'We are reaching a critical mass of understanding about these cells which should enable us to make the most of them in coming years.' Cambridge researcher Professor Roger Pederson predicted new treatments could be tested on patients in as little as five years.

He added: 'Those would be very early studies.

'I think we can envisage larger-scale clinical trials occurring within a decade, certainly.' Ethicists say any reduction in human embryonic stem cell research can only be applauded.

Josephine Quintavalle, of the pressure group Comment on Reproductive Ethics, said: 'This would be greeted with much enthusiasm.

'We have always said that the move from animal-kind to human embryonic stem cells has gone too fast and animal research has never been properly explored.' f.macrae@dailymail.co.uk

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