Geron's Intention to Start ESC Tests on Humans Raises Concerns
by Mary Rettig
December 5, 2005
(AgapePress) - - A California research company has recently announced plans to move from working with animal embryonic stem cells to tests on human embryonic stem cells. However, medical ethics advocates and other critics of the plan say that company is moving too fast. Geron Corporation, a biopharmaceutical research and development company based in Menlo Park, has been conducting embryonic stem cell tests on rodents for some time. But recently, company officials have said Geron is ready to make the leap to human testing -- a move the head of the Christian Medical & Dental Associations (CMDA) feels is both practically and ethically wrong.
According to Dr. David Stevens, executive director of the CMDA, even many supporters of embryonic stem cell (ESC) testing say Geron is moving much too fast. "There's a lot of pressure on embryonic stem cell researchers to show some results," he explains. "They've been selling a lot of hype, and yet there's still not one clinical application of embryonic stem cells -- and we are seven years out from their discovery."
Meanwhile, Stevens points out, previous trials involving ESC use in humans have been seriously problematic. "Some of the studies that have been done in the past have shown some significant problems with tumor formation," he notes. "These cells can form what are called teratomas."
A teratoma, the Christian doctor explains, is a type of tumor sometimes found on a woman's ovary. "If you open one up," he says, it appears to be "a disorganized mass of all different kinds of tissue." Some ovarian teratomas are cystic tumors that have been known to develop hair and teeth, while others may contain a mixture of well-differentiated, mature tissues, including respiratory epithelium, hair follicle, fat tissue or nervous tissue. Teratomas can also develop on a male's testes or a child's sacrum and may be benign or malignant.
In light of the unpredictability of research using ESC in humans, Stevens observes, the lack of practical applications for human ESC testing is only part of the hurdles proponents of the research must overcome. "But the other side of it -- and the reason I think so many groups are cautious -- is the last thing they want is another horror story," he says. "It could have tremendous impact on their funding and on the future of embryonic stem cell research."
The CMDA executive director says scientists on both sides of the issue have good cause to be concerned about Geron's claim that it is ready to do ESC testing on humans. He says even many people who are generally in favor of this kind of research realize it is not a good idea at this point for the company to start experimenting on humans with these unproven and potentially tumor-producing cells.
At any rate, Stevens adds, no matter what Geron wants to do and claims it is ready to do, the decision to initiate ESC tests on humans does not ultimately rest with the research company. Rather, he says, the Food and Drug Administration has to okay such testing before it can begin.
Mary Rettig, a regular contributor to AgapePress, is a reporter for American Family Radio News, which can be heard online.
