There’s been all kinds of controversy with stem cells. Not that they are or are not safe, but because virtually the entire science has been engulfed by the “Right to Life” movement and their anti-abortion crusades. Which means that ill patients are being deprived of the potential for treatment via stem-cell derived solutions.  Which makes this news very interesting.

This year, Dr. Shinya Yomaka was awarded the Nobel Prize for his research involving stem cells. His technique involved inserting four genes into a mouse cell (using a retroviral vector); once these genes were inserted, the cell became “pluripotent”, which means it became stem-cell like and could be turned into (almost) any kind of new cell. (The cells are termed induced pluripotent stem cells- iPSC.)

Drs. Gabsang Lee and Lorenz Studer of Johns Hopkins and Sloan Kettering (along with ten other researchers) used the techniques pioneered by Dr. Yomaka. Their results were published in Nature Biotechnology this month. They grew nerve cells from a patient suffering from a degenerative disease. But, the research goal was not to develop a new organ or even to have these cells grow within the patient.

No, instead, the researchers grew these cells in the laboratory and examined the reaction of 6912 potential chemical therapies to see if they were able to “fix” the single gene fault that leads to the patient’s disease. Amazingly, they did find one chemical of use; it induced the gene to be transcribed by the iPSC disease analogues.

This was a “proof of concept” research study.  The researchers were able to model the disease and determine exactly what was the cause- and the potential repair for the disease. One would expect that this therapy could be employed to treat the patient. But, there are too few patients that suffer from this ailment to truly test the results, unless the drug of choice is already approved. As such, a relative of the chemical, one that is already approved by the FDA, will be tested for its utility for this ailment.

Along these same lines, Dr. Amer Rana of Cambridge, along with 12 other researchers (also at Cambridge University) published another set of astonishing results in Stem Cells:Translational Medicine. The researchers found that they could convert stored blood cells into iPSC’s. These cells could then be employed for drug testing. (Cells from healthy subjects and those suffering from pulmonary arterial hypertension yielded success in these studies.)

As you can see, this leads to an alternative approach that could be employed in the future; one could mimic the cells of a patient, rather than that of a disease. One could grow iPSC’s for a specific patient to test various drugs for his/her ailments- say diabetes. In such a fashion, the best potential treatment could be discerned.

Perhaps we can reach that Brave New World- even if politics is slowing down the road of scientific progress.

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