By Nonie Arora

Medicine is about more than difficult diagnoses and cutting-edge research. Research and treatments often raise tricky moral questions.

Jeremy Sugarman Credit: Berman Institute for Bioethics

Dr. Jeremy Sugarman, the founding director for the Trent Center for Bioethics, returned to campus last week to give a talk on the ethics of stem cell research and treatment for the Humanities in Medicine Lecture Series.

Stem cells are a hot topic that have captured the imagination of people around the world, he said.

Is it better to use leftover embryos from IVF or to create them for research? Sugarman asked. He said there is little consensus on this issue, and the question remains whether there is a moral distinction between discarded embryos or those created for research purposes. There is also the thorny issue of whether it is morally acceptable to destroy embryos to create human embryonic stem cells, said Sugarman, who is now at the Berman Institute for Bioethics at Johns Hopkins University.

Amidst the controversy surrounding the moral status of embryos, there has also beenscientific controversy within the stem cell field. Sugarman spoke of Hwang Woo-Suk, who claimed to have cloned human embryos and extracted their stem cells. However, his data was fabricated, Sugarman said. Sugarman elicited laughs from the packed audience when he joked about Woo-Suks former title Supreme Scientist of Korea, an honor that was later revoked. The laughter was tempered by the understanding of how unethical it is to fake any research, but especially on this scale. Still, Sugarman says Woo-Suks example serves to show the effectiveness of peer review in realizing false claims.

Human Embryonic Stem Cells. Source: "Follow the Money The Politics of Embryonic Stem Cell Research." Russo E, PLoS Biology Vol. 3/7/2005, e234 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.0030234

Another issue many people are concerned about are chimeras organisms that have parts from two different genetic lines. Already, bone marrow transplants create human-to-human chimeras, Sugarman explained. Some people have qualms about combining materials from human and non-human animals.

Other countries differ from the U.S. in policies on what can be done with human embryonic stem cells. For instance, in Germany it is a criminal offense to destroy an embryo to create a human embryonic stem cell line. It is also illegal for a German citizen to do such work abroad, Sugarman said. He brought up this point to illustrate why local oversight within academic institutions is necessary to not only make sure that research is ethically and scientifically sound but to also be certain that researchers are being protected.

Go here to see the original:
Stem Cells' Tricky Questions

08-10-2012 20:30 England's Sir John Gurdon and Dr. Shinya Yamanaka from Japan share the 2012 Nobel Prize in medicine for work on stem cells, revealing that mature cells can be reverted into primitive cells. Ray Suarez talks to Harvard Stem Cell Institute's Dr. David Scadden, who explains the implications and applications for stem cell medicine.

View post:
Stem Cell Scientists Win Nobel Prize in Medicine - Video

08-10-2012 11:59 The Japanese scientist who managed to transform mature cells into stem cells, without destroying embryos, has been awarded a Nobel Prize in Medicine. Shinya Yamanaka was awarded along with John B. Gurdon from Britain.

Originally posted here:
Yamanaka awarded Nobel Prize in Medicine for work with stem cells - Video

NEW YORK (AP) Two scientists from different generations won the Nobel Prize in medicine Monday for the groundbreaking discovery that cells in the body can be reprogrammed into completely different kinds, work that reflects the mechanism behind cloning and offers an alternative to using embryonic stem cells.

The work of British researcher John Gurdon and Japanese scientist Shinya Yamanaka who was born the year Gurdon made his discovery holds hope for treating diseases like Parkinsons and diabetes by growing customized tissue for transplant.

And it has spurred a new generation of laboratory studies into other illnesses, including schizophrenia, which may lead to new treatments.

Basically, Gurdon, 79, and Yamanaka, 50, showed how to make the equivalent of embryonic stem cells without the ethical questions those very versatile cells pose, a promise scientists are now scrambling to fulfill.

Once created, these blank slate cells can be nudged toward developing into other cell types. Skin cells can ultimately be transformed into brain cells, for example.

Just last week, scientists reported turning skin cells from mice into eggs that produced baby mice, a possible step toward new fertility treatments.

Gurdon and Yamanaka performed courageous experiments that challenged scientific opinion, said Doug Melton, co-director of the Harvard Stem Cell Institute.

Their work shows ... that while cells might be specialized to do one thing, they have the potential to do something else, Melton said. It really lays the groundwork for all the excitement about stem cell biology.

Another Harvard stem cell researcher, Dr. George Daley said, I dont think anybody is surprised by the award announcement. The fact that these two share it together is inspired.

In announcing the $1.2 million award, the Nobel committee at Stockholms Karolinska Institute said the work has revolutionized our understanding of how cells and organisms develop.

Read more:
2 scientists win nobel for research

NEW YORK (AP) Two scientists from different generations won the Nobel Prize in medicine Monday for the groundbreaking discovery that cells in the body can be reprogrammed into completely different kinds, work that reflects the mechanism behind cloning and offers an alternative to using embryonic stem cells.

The work of British researcher John Gurdon and Japanese scientist Shinya Yamanaka who was born the year Gurdon made his discovery holds hope for treating diseases like Parkinson's and diabetes by growing customized tissue for transplant.

And it has spurred a new generation of laboratory studies into other illnesses, including schizophrenia, which may lead to new treatments.

Basically, Gurdon, 79, and Yamanaka, 50, showed how to make the equivalent of embryonic stem cells without the ethical questions those very versatile cells pose, a promise scientists are now scrambling to fulfill.

Once created, these "blank slate" cells can be nudged toward developing into other cell types. Skin cells can ultimately be transformed into brain cells, for example.

Just last week, scientists reported turning skin cells from mice into eggs that produced baby mice, a possible step toward new fertility treatments.

Gurdon and Yamanaka performed "courageous experiments" that challenged scientific opinion, said Doug Melton, co-director of the Harvard Stem Cell Institute.

"Their work shows ... that while cells might be specialized to do one thing, they have the potential to do something else," Melton said. It "really lays the groundwork for all the excitement about stem cell biology."

Another Harvard stem cell researcher, Dr. George Daley said, "I don't think anybody is surprised" by the award announcement. "The fact that these two share it together is inspired."

In announcing the $1.2 million award, the Nobel committee at Stockholm's Karolinska Institute said the work has "revolutionized our understanding of how cells and organisms develop."

Read more:
Nobel awarded for stem cell, early cloning work