American scientists are urging the country not to abandon human stem cells in the wake of the recent successes in cell reprogramming. Worried by proclamations from some that these successes ‘prove right’ the current US administration’s tough-line on stem cell and cloning work, the researchers have gone on the offensive.

Since the recent announcement of successful reprogramming, editorials carrying statements such as “®arely has a president – so vilified for a moral stance – been so thoroughly vindicated” have been springing up across the United States. Now the fightback seems to be gearing up.

Key to their argument is the fact that ‘reprogrammed’ cells – where instead of obtaining stem cells from an embryo ‘induced pluripotent stem cells’ are created from adult human skin – are not yet safe for clinical use.

“For doing basic research on human cells, IPS as a method has won – it’s huge. But for the ultimate goal of getting cells into a patient, it’s a lot less clear. These cells may never be useful for direct therapy,” says George Q. Daley, a stem cell researcher at Children’s Hospital Boston, in the Boston Globe.

Douglas A. Melton, codirector of the Harvard Stem Cell Institute, is even firmer, saying: “It will never be approved [by the FDA] to put these cells in a patient.”

See also

Follow up of the Globe piece in the Chronicle of Higher Education: Harvard Pledges to Continue Research Into Embryonic Stem Cells

Follow up in Wired: Cloning Still Holds Stem Cell Key, Say Leading Harvard Researchers

Previous post on the topic from Wired in November: Too Soon to Give Up on Embryonic Stem Cells