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November 30, 2007 --
I've always been somewhat of a stem cell skeptic. Although Conquer
Chiari has from time to time reported on advances in stem cell work,
I've always thought the hype was at such an extreme level that there was no
way the reality could live up to it. In fact, I actually thought the
media was (and probably still is) performing a huge injustice by adding to
every stem cell article that they may cure diabetes, heart disease, spinal
cord injury, etc., etc., etc.
Of course, the whole stem cell topic gets driven to hyper extremes by the
very real ethical issues involved in the research. Conquer Chiari has
not, and will not, take a position on embryonic stem cell research. As
an organization we feel that this is too far from our main focus and there
is nothing to be gained from taking a position or even editorializing one
position or the other.
Having said that, I've recently tossed aside my skepticism and am now becoming
cautiously optimistic about the potential for stem cell therapies. The
change occurred with the recent announcement that two separate groups of
scientists have successfully turned adult human skin cells into stem cells
capable of producing different types of cells, such as muscles and nerves.
While the mainstream media focused on the issue of whether this completely
sidesteps the moral quagmire of embryonic research, something else struck me
entirely. To date, advances in stem cell work have been laborious and
difficult to reproduce. There have been many failures and few
successes. However this was different.
This current line of work started a little more than a year ago when a
Japanese scientist was able to turn adult mouse cells back into stem cells
by turning on 4 genes (the genes were delivered in a virus). What
happened next is what gives me hope. Within months, several other
groups were able to duplicate the results. In essence, this means that the
underlying process is simple enough that many researchers will be able to do
it, and stable enough that it can be reproduced regularly. This was a
tremendous advance over other techniques.
The next step was even more amazing. Just months later, not years, the
same process was proven in human adult skin cells by two different research
groups. I think the most exciting aspect of this breakthrough is that
the fundamental process being employed appears to be easy to perform which
means that many researchers can start working on it. Of course
challenges remain; the current virus used to deliver the genes is considered
too virulent to use for therapies and the risk of introducing cancer remains
all too real. But perhaps these hurdles can be overcome, especially with
the attention this process will now receive.
It is difficult to say how long it will take until therapeutic trials are
started, but given the rapid developments so far, it may not be too far off.
It is also interesting (and required for Conquer Chiari) to think about how
this can be applied to CM/SM. There is a well established rat model
for both inducing a syrinx and assessing the existence of neuropathic pain.
It could be that in the not too distant future Conquer Chiari (and other
organizations) could fund work to see if a stem cell technique can reduce or
eliminate SM related neuropathic pain and disability in rat model.
Of course developing any type of human therapy is a long, difficult process
and many things look promising in the early stages but then fail to pan out.
But at least now I believe there is reason to hope...
-- Rick Labuda
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