Christian Worldview Concepts

The Superior Solution of Adult Stem Cells

Problems With Embryonic Stem Cells

What are some of the problems encountered by researchers involved with embryonic stem cells? According to David Stevens, a medical doctor and executive director of the Christian Medical and Dental Society, there is a problem keeping embryonic stem cells alive. This concern is echoed by Peter Andrews, a researcher at the University of Sheffield in Great Britain. "Keeping embryonic stem cells alive is a challenge. They are more tedious to grow." Maintain their viability is much more difficult than anticipated.

According to researchers at the University of Bonn in Germany, embryonic stem cells are difficult to produce pure populations of certain cell types which would be required for safe and reliable therapies. Some researchers found that embryonic stem cells were more likely to result in tumor formation than adult stem cells.⁷ In a Parkinson's trial, 20 percent of mice receiving embryonic stem cells died due to teratoma⁸ formation.⁹ This may be due in part to what is called "genomic instability" in embryonic stem cells. Because they are undifferentiated, embryonic stem cells retain a genetic instability that can produce unpredictable congenital or genetic defects.¹⁰ Keeping these cells in culture for long periods of time may be the cause of mutations or tumor formations when these cells are transplanted.¹¹

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⁷ Wakitani S et al.; Embryonic stem cells injected into the mouse knee joint form teratomas and subsequently destroy the joint. Rheumatology 42, 162-165; January 2003.
⁸ A teratoma is a type of tumor that derives from pluripotent germ cells. The word comes from a Greek term meaning roughly "monster tumor." Wikipedia Encyclopedia Online, accessed 11/14/2005
⁹ Nishimura F et al.; Potential use of embryonic stem cells for the treatment of mouse Parkinsonian models: improved behavior by transplantation of in vitro differentiated dopaminergic neurons from embryonic stem cells. Stem Cells 21, 171-180; March 2003
¹⁰ Humpherys S et al.; Epigenetic instability in ES cells and cloned mice. Science 293, 95-97; 6 July 2001
¹¹ Morshead, C.M., P. Benveniste, N.N. Iscove and D. van der Kooy (2002) Hemapoietic competence is a rare property of neural stem cells that may depend on genetic and epigenetic alterations. Nature Medicine 8:268-273.
Zhang YM et al.; Stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes demonstrate arrhythmic potential. Circulation 106, 1294-1299;3 September 2002