Critics Dubious of Critical Adult Stem Cell Study

September 13, 2002—Washington, DC: A new report questions the promise of adult stem cells, but not everyone agrees with its conclusions.

According to new research from Stanford University, adult stem cells do not hold much promise for forming a variety of tissues to heal the human body. But critics say the conclusion may reveal more about politics than science.

The Stanford researchers extracted a single adult stem cell from mouse blood and injected it into other mice to see if it would form other types of tissue. By and large, it did not.

Said Amy Wagers, a post-doctoral fellow at Stanford who worked on the project: "The blood-forming stem cells in bone marrow primarily make blood cells."

While a few rare cells did appear in the liver and elsewhere, Wagers said it's not promising.

"Their usefulness in generating tissues other than blood is fairly limited from what we've seen so far," she said.

The study took that a step further, claiming it strikes a blow at the idea that adult stem cells have the same potential as embryonic stem cells.

Professor David Prentice, an adult stem cell researcher at Indiana State University, disagreed.

"While this study is interesting, it's actually at odds with most of the published literature," Prentice said.

He said the study's perspective reflects the highly politicized nature of stem-cell research — and that these kinds of decisions cannot occur in an ethical vacuum.

"Many scientists would rather not be told that they can't do certain types of research," Prentice said. "But science really needs to be the one taking the lead here and saying, 'You know, there are ethical limits to science.' "

Jim Peterson, an associate professor of ethics and philosophy at Wingate University, in Wingate, N.C., said this result reflects only one study, and people shouldn't read too much into it.

"We have to take it in the context that it didn't work in that particular laboratory and in that particular place. That doesn't mean it will never work," Peterson said.

He added the stem-cell process is "very difficult and likely to take some time."