Genetic Engineering News Reports on Stem Cell Fact and Fiction

NEW ROCHELLE, N.Y.

July 13, 2005--Scientists around the world are employing a variety
of methods to translate human stem cell research into bona fide
therapies for a host of diseases, reports Genetic Engineering News
(GEN) (www.genengnews.com). However, technical and, particularly in
the U.S., societal questions need to be addressed before stem cell
technology can reach its full potential, according to the July issue
of GEN.

"The bottom line is that stem cell research is young," says John
Sterling, Editor-in-Chief of GEN. "But this fact is often overlooked
as a result of some of the hype over stem cells and because of the
intense controversy the topic has engendered in a number of
religious and political circles."

While the U.S. is engaged in a debate over reinstituting the use of
federal funds to support new embryonic stem cell research,
scientific matters remain to be resolved. These include gaining more
knowledge about the stages of cellular differentiation, the numbers
of stem cells needed for therapeutic applications and the types of
delivery systems that will be required, the length of time that stem
cells can function in animal models, and the optimal combination of
growth factors and cell culture conditions for stem cells.

Some companies, such as Aastrom Biosciences (NASDAQ:ASTM) and
MultiCell Technologies (NASDAQ:MCET), are working with adult stem
cells. For example, in a clinical trial involving long bone non-
union fractures, all patients treated with Aastrom's tissue repair
cells exhibited both clinical and functional healing and, at six
months, five of the six showed bone regeneration at the fracture
site. MultiCell Technologies won a patent this spring that
incorporates hepatocytes with stem cells that can differentiate into
mature, functioning, hepatocyte or bile duct cells that eventually
may treat degenerative liver diseases or inherited functional
deficiencies in the liver.

Cytori Therapeutics (Frankfurt:XMP), formerly MacroPore Biosurgery,
sees a future in fat, which is an excellent source of stem cells.
The company, which works with large animals at several academic
centers in the U.S. and abroad and, in collaboration with UCLA, with
small animals, has published data showing the benefits of fat-
derived stem cells.

Geron Corp. (NYSE:GERN) demonstrated proof of concept injecting
oligodendrocytes and dopaminergic neurons derived from human
embryonic stem cells directly into injured spinal cords in rats and
found motor improvement. An early study to repopulate heart tissue
was also successful.

Stem cell research at ReNeuron and BioE is also covered in the GEN
article.

Genetic Engineering News is published 21 times a year by Mary Ann
Liebert, Inc.

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