Columns:: Athens laboratory among four U.S. sites approved by NIH for stem-cell rsearch pool

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Columns::September 4, 2001

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Athens laboratory among four U.S. sites approved by NIH for stem-cell rsearch pool

By Tom Jackson
tjackson@uga.edu

Athens-based BresaGen, for which University of Georgia cloning expert Steven Stice is a key consultant, holds four of the 64 lines of embryonic stem cells announced last week by the National Institutes of Health as being eligible for federally financed research.
BresaGen holds four of the 20 lines in the United States and is one of only four sites in the country with lines meeting the guidelines articulated by President George W. Bush earlier in August, according to the Aug. 27 NIH announcement.
Other sites and the numbers of lines they hold include the University of California, San Francisco (2); CyThera, San Diego (9); and the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation, Madison (5). Groups outside the United States are in Sweden (24), Australia (6), India (10) and Israel (4).
The announcement means researchers who depend on federal grants for their work, such as Stice, can work with the cells, and that such private companies may operate on the researchers’ campuses. Stice’s and BresaGen’s collaborative research focuses on Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s, diabetes, heart disease and spinal cord injuries.
In March, UGA President Michael F. Adams was among more than 100 college and university presidents who signed a letter urging the Bush administration to maintain federal funding for stem-cell research.
Stem cells can grow into a variety of cell types, and those derived from embryos can develop into any of the body’s more than 200 types of tissues. While some stem cells remain in adults, they are limited in the number of cell types into which they can develop.
Last week, the university issued a statement regarding its policies governing human stem-cell research. Drafted by newly named Vice President for Research Gordhan L. Patel and approved by Provost Karen Holbrook and President Michael F. Adams, the statement reads:
“It is the nature of research at the leading edge of scientific knowledge that the university will from time to time be involved in controversial and emotionally charged areas of scholarly activity on which there are widely differing opinions. As is true for all research and scholarly activities conducted by the University of Georgia, current and future research with human stem cells will comply with the laws of the United States and guidelines issued by federal regulatory and funding agencies.
“The university also must respect the principles of academic freedom and faculty governance in conduct of its primary missions--teaching, research, and public service and outreach. Accordingly, it is not appropriate, nor is it necessary, for the University of Georgia to establish any special policies for research on human stem cells beyond those dictated by law and by the federal regulatory and funding agencies.”
With the NIH announcement coming on the same day as the landmark decision on the university’s admissions process, UGA found itself in the midst of its second major national news story of the day. Reporters from national television networks and major metro daily newspapers visited or called campus to cover the announcement, and stories on both the admissions case and the stem cell lines ran in the Aug. 28th editions of major media outlets.

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