Georgia researchers react; ruling jeopardizes federal funding

By Katie Leslie

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Using federally funded dollars, a University of Georgia graduate student in the school's Regenerative Bioscience Center found a way to grow crucial dopamine-producing cells lost in the brain of people with Parkinson's disease. He did it with the help of embryonic stem cells.

His findings are now being tested for new compounds that scientists hope hold the key to slowing down Parkinson's debilitating course. It's that kind of work that UGA professor and leading stem cell expert Steve Stice and others among Georgia's progressive research community fear could be in jeopardy.

"I think it drastically affects the field," Stice said Tuesday.

On Monday, a U.S. district judge put the brakes on President Barack Obama's 2009 executive order expanding embryonic stem cell research. Chief Judge Royce C. Lamberth said the order violated a ban on using federal funds for research involving the destruction of embryos. His ruling potentially could reverse embryonic stem cell advances ordered by former President George W. Bush.

The ruling reignited a debate in Georgia among embryonic stem cell advocates and opponents, who just last year argued the definition and use of human embryonic stem cells at the state Capitol.

Stem cell research opponents such as Nancy Stith, Georgia Right to Life executive director, called the ruling another victory in the fight to classify embryos as human life. "We agree with the judge that it destroys a human life, and we do not feel like taxpayers should be used to take an innocent life," Stith said Monday.

Biomedical scientists are waiting to learn exactly what the ruling could mean for their research. What is certain is that Lamberth delivered a setback to stem cell advocates, who said they have only begun to examine human embryonic stem cell possibilities. Scientists said they need to do research with embryonic stem cells as well as adult cells, because the former are more flexible. The National Institutes of Health is funding both types.

Dr. Marc Hedrick, president of Cytori Therapeutics in San Diego, said the ruling primarily affects university- or foundation-based researchers who depend on federal dollars to support their research. He noted that universities could continue to develop embryonic stem cell therapies through private funding.

But with a lab largely funded by federal dollars, UGA's Stice said halting the development of future human embryonic stem cell lines could have a drastic effect on his work. In addition to human embryonic stem cells, much of his research involves adult stem cells and induced pluripotent stem (IPS) cells, which in simpler terms describes cells that can be programmed to act as other cells. The IPS cell technology is based on advancements with embryonic research, he said.

"I don’t think anybody would deny that the reason we have induced pluripotent cells is because embryonic stem cells came first," Stice said. "There are a lot of things predicated on what has been done in the last 10 years."

William Hill, Medical College of Georgia associate professor in the Department of Cellular Biology and Anatomy, said the ruling doesn't directly affect his work, which focuses on adult stem cells.

"I think, realistically, we’ll be able to get more of them in the clinic than with the use of human embryonic-derived stem cells," Hill said. "But I have to say that I’m not against the use of embryonic stem cells, because everything we’re able to do now is being driven by the use of embryonic stem cells in both humans and animals."

Stice said his lab uses stem cell lines approved by President Bush in 2001 that otherwise would have been destroyed. It's unclear if Monday's ruling will impact the ability to continue developing those embryonic stem cell lines.

"We’ve put so much work into these initial lines and we’d prefer not to give up on [them]," Stice said. "These lines can be propagated forever. ... They don’t have a finite life span."

The Associated Press contributed to this article.

Human embryonic stem cells

Human embryonic stem cells are derived from days-old embryos that typically have been developed  in a petri dish and have not been implanted in a woman's uterus. Opponents said because the embryos have the possibility of surviving if implanted, they should be considered human life. Proponents say the embryos, roughly the size of a pen's tip, are not yet a fetus.